Posted on 02/16/2023 9:00:24 PM PST by anthropocene_x
A decade ago, most people thought of Tylenol (acetaminophen) as a medicine for fever, malaise and minor aches and pains. Nobody imagined that it would become the go-to drug for treating moderate, let alone severe, postoperative pain.
But this is just what has happened. Thanks to pressure from lawmakers, government agencies and policymakers who inserted themselves into the patient-doctor relationship, patients became the victims of the never-ending war on drugs.
Now, doctors frequently offer only acetaminophen to treat painful conditions despite the drug’s inability to remedy them.
Policymakers’ exaggerated fear of opioids has pressured hospitals, doctors and dentists to switch to acetaminophen, no matter how severe the patient's pain. Sometimes, the drug is given intravenously in high doses as part of "opioid-sparing protocols." We believe using the drug in this way is ill-advised, cruel and borders on malpractice.
(Excerpt) Read more at acsh.org ...
I can’t take anything BUT acetaminophen for pain. Aspirin can cause intestinal bleeding ( I have Ulcerative Colitis), and about 1 1/2 years ago I had a liver transplant- not because I took too much Tylenol, but my immune system was destroying my liver. I can’t remember the pain killers I had in the hospital, or what I was prescribed when I came home. Believe me, 14” incision across my abdomen hurt like hell for a while. I never exceeded the recommended dosage with the prescribed painkiller, and even now I only take the recommended dosage if I need any at all. I DO however take one baby aspirin as well as a prescription blood thinner because of a stent they inserted in a re-attached blood vessel.
Nothing, but NOTHING hurt worse than trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom for a while after I came home. Even with my wife’s assistance.
I remember taking acetaminophen and aspirin for bad headaches many times. I think that’s what Excedrin Migraine is. Also used to take pain killers, aspirin and or Tylenol to prevent hangovers before going to bed after a night of binge drinking back in my college days in the 70s.
Likewise.
Ibuprofen has always been pretty effective though, and I’ve had others tell me the same story.
So, after recent surgeries I got, you guessed it, acetaminophen, even after I requested ibuprofen.
Many specific pain remedies contain caffeine in case your headache is caffeine withdrawal
At 71, three years ago, I had a total gastrectomy but it was by a world class cancer surgeon. There was a button triggered opioid drip but I barely used it. I could not believe how little pain I had, Out of the hospital on day six,
My sternum to belly button scare is now invisible as well and It makes me think that the skills involved make all the difference.
“I would sooner local fet dog.”
Joetato, is that you?
I have chronic back pain from work injuries years ago. I get trigger point shots in several places on my back every 4-6 months. I also have been taking Tylenol (1 650mg) per day for a long time which helped me a lot because I refuse opioids. My pain doctor has now put me on Celebrex 100mg once a day which helps some days and not others. It has been rather an up and down experience with the pain and I think of just doing the trigger point shots and when the pain gets bad, having a couple beers! Forget the other drugs.
Tylenol never relieved any pain for me, maybe I’m immune to it.
Aspirin is prohibited (by policy) in Canada.
Trump was not perfect.
There is no one politician with whom I agree with on every position they take.
But he was the best we had for a long time and he really did have or seem to have, the interests of the common man at heart.
My wife in her late 50’s had 18 surgeries in her late 40’s to deal with Stage IV colon cancer. She underwent chemo and radiation. She can take pills due to Crohn’s. She goes to a junkie-infested ‘pain clinic’ which has staff turnover of 75% every 3 months. He MD/NPs always try to get her off the phentenol patch’s but by her second or 3rd visit with they (monthly) they all fight like heck for her. The current problem is nobody in CO can get the patch here. Apparently, the patent ran out and the generics are not yet on the market. So another reason they are trying to get everyone off is that in the future there will not be much $$$ in it for the drug companies.
Withdrawals from this will hospitalize and possibly kill her. Not that this is important, but she is a former model and looks to be in her late 30’s.
I had major foot surgery last year where Tylenol was given as a pain killer. On a pain scale of 1 - 10, the pain was a 12 for the first two days and Tylenol did absolutely nothing. I threw the crap away and started use ibuprofen which gave some relief.
I might as well take M & M’s instead.
Acetaminophen is tylenol.
If your pain is constant and not relieved or worsened by the position you’re in, the Celebrex might work.
OTOH, if your pain comes and goes, and at times is better depending on the position you’re in, then you might be suffering from a lumbar derangement, and this will improve with specific exercises.
Of course, you could have two or more things going on.
IF you happen to have a McKenzie therapist near you, I would definitely get a referral to one. You can private message me with your location, and I can find one for you.
I’ve seen many people with chronic back injury pain that get better quickly with specifdic exercise. Emphasis on “specific” that is tailored to you.
It’s a crap drug for anyone with chronic liver issues of any kind.
Bears repeating. To find one with an open mind, who is truly a scientist and willing to try various methods with you but not dictate to you or reject you if, for instance, your supplements are working just fine and you don't want to take BigPharmaCrap, is like Diogenese with the lamp searching for an honest man.
But they balance it out by denying opioids to patients dying of terminal cancer so they won't get addicted.
Those are valuable thoughts. However, if an individual such as my dear friend has non-alcoholic liver problems, could such a person take aspirin short-term, perhaps buffered aspirin or in combination with a stomach-protecting agent such as bismuth?
A friend of mine had oral accesses and lost a tooth, which her dentist attributed to ibuprofen use for other issues.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.