Ibuprofen vs Tylenol

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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One is anti inflammatory and the other is for something else I can't recall what (Ibuprofen is anti inflammatory)

I use Ibu for injuries and Acet with codeine for headaches and muscle pain and it seems to work.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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Aspirin, Aleve, and Ibuprofin are NSAIDS. They're anti-inflammatory which makes them useful for muscle pain. Aspirin is more effective of the three at headaches. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is not an NSAID, so it does not have anti-inflammatory properties, however its a generally effective overall painkiller.

As far as side effects, NSAIDs are stomach irritants. Short term, you could get a stomach ache, overuse in the long term, ulcers or stomach bleeding. Acetaminophen, on the other hand, stresses your liver.

Its a lot easier to overdose and, ya know, die, from Acetaminophen, not to mention most of my pain is muscle related, so I lean towards NSAIDs. However, for a particularly nasty headache, I'll do Excedrin (Acetaminophen + Aspirin).
 

Mr. Pedantic

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Feb 14, 2010
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Ibuprofen is probably better for muscular and soft tissue inflammatory pain because of its role as an anti-inflammatory, whereas tylenol (paracetamol) is a general-purpose analgesic. Both have risks with use, but neither is as serious as a lot of doctors make out; it's interesting how much of an overreaction the medical community has had to use of ibuprofen because of the risk of peptic ulcers and nephrotoxicity.

That said, there is a risk to using NSAIDs (of which ibuprofen is one) for prolonged periods of time for pain relief; the risk of peptic ulcers is a real one. Using them for 1-2 weeks, however, is not going to cause much harm. It's really people who chronically use them for years and years at a time, 3 or 4 times a day.

With paracetamol, the major risk is NAPQI poisoning. Paracetamol is metabolized by the liver, and one of the minor metabolites is NAPQI. The body neutralizes NAPQI with the amino acid glutathione, but if too much is produced, the body runs out and the NAPQI builds up in the liver It is the most common cause of hepatotoxicity in the Western world, but if you follow the instructions on the packet when you take it you should be well under the limit required for overdose, even if you drink alcohol at the same time (and alcohol does decrease the threshold for toxicity). If you follow the instructions, you really have to be taking paracetamol for months at a time while having a remarkably poor diet to get liver failure.

So basically, use whichever works better for you.
 
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SunnyD

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Jan 2, 2001
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www.neftastic.com
Ibuprofen is probably better for muscular and soft tissue inflammatory pain because of its role as an anti-inflammatory, whereas tylenol (paracetamol) is a general-purpose analgesic. Both have risks with use, but neither is as serious as a lot of doctors make out; it's interesting how much of an overreaction the medical community has had to use of ibuprofen because of the risk of peptic ulcers and nephrotoxicity.

That said, there is a risk to using NSAIDs (of which ibuprofen is one) for prolonged periods of time for pain relief; the risk of peptic ulcers is a real one. Using them for 1-2 weeks, however, is not going to cause much harm. It's really people who chronically use them for years and years at a time, 3 or 4 times a day.

With paracetamol, the major risk is NAPQI poisoning. Paracetamol is metabolized by the liver, and one of the minor metabolites is NAPQI. The body neutralizes NAPQI with the amino acid glutathione, but if too much is produced, the body runs out and the NAPQI builds up in the liver It is the most common cause of hepatotoxicity in the Western world, but if you follow the instructions on the packet when you take it you should be well under the limit required for overdose, even if you drink alcohol at the same time (and alcohol does decrease the threshold for toxicity). If you follow the instructions, you really have to be taking paracetamol for months at a time while having a remarkably poor diet to get liver failure.

So basically, use whichever works better for you.

Oh good. So I should be safe taking them at the first sign of a migraine which usually happens a couple times a week.
 

Mr. Pedantic

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Feb 14, 2010
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Oh good. So I should be safe taking them at the first sign of a migraine which usually happens a couple times a week.

If you're getting migraines (proper migraines) twice a week you should see your doctor. There are medications that will work much, much better than either paracetamol or ibuprofen.

if i take some protein powder would that increase the toxicity threshold of NAPQI?

Don't know. Maybe? It's not really that important anyway. The analgesic effect of paracetamol lasts around 3 hours; you can take it every 4 hours; if you sleep 8 hours a night 4 times a day should tide you over well enough. You can use both paracetamol and an NSAID at the same time, alternating every 2 hours. If this isn't enough and you feel you need to supplement with glutathione specifically so you can take more paracetamol, you really should be getting something stronger.
 
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ichy

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Oct 5, 2006
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With paracetamol, the major risk is NAPQI poisoning. Paracetamol is metabolized by the liver, and one of the minor metabolites is NAPQI. The body neutralizes NAPQI with the amino acid glutathione, but if too much is produced, the body runs out and the NAPQI builds up in the liver It is the most common cause of hepatotoxicity in the Western world, but if you follow the instructions on the packet when you take it you should be well under the limit required for overdose, even if you drink alcohol at the same time (and alcohol does decrease the threshold for toxicity). If you follow the instructions, you really have to be taking paracetamol for months at a time while having a remarkably poor diet to get liver failure.

So basically, use whichever works better for you.

I believe the biggest problem with paracetamol/acetaminophen is that it's found in a lot of painkillers in combination with narcotics. Vicodin is the most obvious example. People take Vicodin, don't realize what's in it, and then take Tylenol with their Vicodin. That can get dangerous relatively quickly.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
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I believe the biggest problem with paracetamol/acetaminophen is that it's found in a lot of painkillers in combination with narcotics. Vicodin is the most obvious example. People take Vicodin, don't realize what's in it, and then take Tylenol with their Vicodin. That can get dangerous relatively quickly.

Indeed. The narcotic hooks you, the subsequent OD on acetaminophen has the real negative effects...
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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Ibuprofen is better. I find it to be more effective and it doesn't beat up your liver like acetaminophen does. Also, you get an anti-inflamatory effect from ibuprofen that can help even more in some situations.

But, you can take both at once if you need to. Don't mix NSAID's (naproxen, aspirin, ibuprofen) but you can take any one of those with Tylenol at the same time. I usually use naproxen because it lasts so long, and I can put Tylenol on top of it if need be.

When I had bad back pain my meds of choice were either 800mg of ibuprofen or 500mg of naproxen with one or two 10/325 Percocets. Percocet contains acetaminophen and of course the opiate pain reliever. No problem mixing those two.
 

Mr. Pedantic

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Feb 14, 2010
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I believe the biggest problem with paracetamol/acetaminophen is that it's found in a lot of painkillers in combination with narcotics. Vicodin is the most obvious example. People take Vicodin, don't realize what's in it, and then take Tylenol with their Vicodin. That can get dangerous relatively quickly.
Yeah, that's a problem too. I'm pretty sure the instructions take that into account though. With the instructions you should be getting around 4g of paracetamol a day max. You really need around 15g for an acute overdose to cause real harm, or around 10g per day for prolonged periods.
 

Matthiasa

Diamond Member
May 4, 2009
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I take acetaminophen because it it doesn't come with heart warnings... I shouldn't take it because it comes with kidney warnings. :(

No pain killer is all that safe for me to use but whatever. :p

And as pointed out its in everything so taking say most cough medicine followed by it is a bad idea.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
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I learned an interesting little factoid on the night when I cut myself on a mandolin slicer (PSA: they're sharp).

After a horseplay accident when I was in my early teens, cracking my neck (or sleeping on it incorrectly) typically results in terrible neck pains for hours. So, I normally keep Excedrin Migraine around to deal with it. On the day when I cut myself, I took an Excedrin over 12 hours prior. I had no idea that the blood thinning effect would last that long, but I was told that was why I had such a hard time clotting after I cut myself.

I ended up buying a bottle of Alleve just in case I would need a pain killer but not want to cause an issue with my wound. I found it worked pretty much just a well as the Excedrin, which I guess is nice.