Normally I don’t like jumping into other people’s arguments, but, hey, I’m jumping in.
I think having range of pain-fighting tools at your disposal would be best, so that you have alternatives if one wouldn’t work in that particular scenario.
Maybe start by looking for ways to prevent pain, such as minding your posture to prevent headaches (I get an awful migraine if I lean my head forward for too long, such as when reading). Look for ways to increase your pain tolerance so you don’t need painkillers as often, maybe learn meditation or self-hypnosis. Then, if you really need the help, maybe rotate using different painkillers to mitigate the side effects of sticking to just one?
Also, keep the side effects in mind when deciding which to take. For example, aspirin is a blood thinner, so if you have an open wound, or get one shortly after taking it, it might mean losing more blood than you otherwise would have.
Did that make sense?
“Normally I don’t like jumping into other people’s arguments...Did that make sense?”
Well jump right in :), though I would think of it as discussion rather than argument. And yes, everything you wrote makes sense. I agree with you. As for side effects, I have gotten nose bleed from overdosing on aspirin, so though I think aspirin is ‘safe’, I limit its use.
Overall, we use no prescription meds and few OTC. We are into ‘natural’ healing and have stuff we use as needed.
We even have stuff (alpha lipoic acid, selenium, silymarin) that can regenerate a liver that has been severely damaged. We have DMSO, and DMSO will stop a stroke...it dissolves bloodclots. Vitamin D3 was mentioned earlier by someone in this thread as being good for depression. 10,000 units of D3 a day will boost the immune system and make a person much more resistant to colds and flu. There are simple things (diatomaseous earth) that will kill intestinal parasites. and will also keep moths and weevils out of pasta, rice, flour. And so on. Needless to say, our ‘prepping’ includes these things too.