Amazing! Pain relief at last!

[TXTony]

For those of you who have been following my rocky road to recovery, I have some amazing news. This has occurred over the past 3 weeks but, given my often up and down pain levels, I have been hesitant to report what has happened.

During the Christmas holidays I caught a nasty upper respiratory infection from my grandkids and was treating it using sudafed nasal decongestant. When I returned to work following New Year's day, I forgot to bring along sudafed and went to the company's medicine cabinet for some, but found it was available only in combination with 500mg of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Considering the liver-damaging effects of acetaminophen, I wasn't thrilled that the tablets contained that level of the drug. I had tried acetaminophen alone before and it had never provided any discernable relief for me. I was concerned about taking multiple Norco hydrocodone/acetaminophen tablets at the same time for that very reason. But I needed the sudafed and didn't have the time to go to the pharmacy right then, so I took 2 of them and skipped my usual Norco dose for the morning.

After a couple of hours when it was time to get up and take my usual stretching/walking break, I noticed that I didn't feel nearly as crappy as usual, but I went on with the break and then returned to work. Four hours more passed and I wasn't feeling any significant pain and I had somehow missed my afternoon break. What's up with that?!

I talked with my internist on Friday about this and he assured me that, as long as I don't exceed 4000mg per day of acetaminophen, I shouldn't have any liver problems. He'll be doing my usual liver-function tests in April, so I should know by then. Actually, given my high blood pressure, he was more concerned with me taking sudafed!

I'm not absolutely sure that the max-dose acetaminophen or the combination with sudafed is doing the trick. It could be that something that was a pain generator just got better. In the meantime, I'm enjoying this pain relief immensely.

Tony

[Harrison]

Way to go, Tony! There's something to be said for serendipity...but that still sounds like a lot of NSAID. Maybe you can tinker with the dosage to get it down to the right balance?

Either way, welcome to the pain free world!

[Justin]

Tony,

Great news! The "max" dosage of acetaminophen in a 24 hour period is 4 grams (4000 mg). This amount is greatly reduced if one is an alcoholic, etc. I don't think you will be taking anything close to this amount. With that said, it is always best to consult with your physician.

I hope you have many more days like the one you described.

Justin

Tony -

I all this comes down to acetaminophen Im going to slap you on the head!!

Just think cautiously Tony, you know how much it sucks to think you find a solution and then to be "let down." I hate to ask...but is there any chance your relief is due to laying down a lot when you were sick?

Tony,

Glad to hear of some relief for you. The liver is very strong and able to take alot of abuse. Short term effects of higher doses of tylenol are not much to worry about. It is the long term abuse that will do the damage.

I hope your relief continues

Pat

[TXTony]

All,
Thank you all for your very kind words.

I'm not at all "sure" that it is the acetaminophen alone that's doing the trick. I do know that it is not from resting--I run a small ranch and work has never stopped regardless of my pain level. It may, however, have been delayed while I'm waiting on drugs to take effect. I worked on the ranch all weekend doing repairs, fencing, feeding, and maintenance. I even worked on my car, replacing a steering bushing that was located in the center of the car between the engine and the firewall, probably the worst place to have to access when you have back problems, and had only a small increase in my pain level.

The only different meds that I'm taking is the sudafed/acetamenophen combo and the antibiotic that my doc prescribed for my back pain followup. By that time, I was already doing great pain-wise. All my other meds are those I've taken daily for BP and cholesterol. As soon as I lose this congestion, I'll stop the sudafed and see what effect, if any that it had. Then I'll see what not taking the acetaminophen does. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy this freedom from pain!

By the way, in my researching this, I found an interesting PowerPoint document from the Louisana State University Health Science Center that you may find informative at the following address:

http://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/inte...s/08122004.ppt

Copy/paste the URL into your address field. Sorry, the URL seems to work only if you have PowerPoint installed on your computer. If you would like a PDF of the file, PM me and I'll email it to you.

Harrison, while acetaminophen is an analgesic, it is not classed as an NSAID, rather:

"GENERIC NAME: acetaminophen
BRAND NAME: Tylenol and many others
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Acetaminophen belongs to a class of drugs called analgesics (pain relievers) and antipyretics (fever reducers). The exact mechanism of action of acetaminophen is not known. Acetaminophen relieves pain by elevating the pain threshold, that is, by requiring a greater amount of pain to develop before it is felt by a person. It reduces fever through its action on the heat-regulating center of the brain. Specifically, it tells the center to lower the body's temperature when the temperature is elevated. Acetaminophen was approved by the FDA in 1951."

[Harrison]

Thx Tony, I didn't know that about Acetaminophen.

(I checked the URL but I think the URL is incorrect.)

[TXTony]

Fixed the URL. Must copy/paste to get to it AND, more importantly, you must have Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer for the URL to work. If anyone is interested in getting a PDF copy of it, I'll be happy to email one to you. Just PM me.
Tony

[SenecaGirl]

Hello all -- I work in the pharmaceutical world, and Tylenol, or acetaminophen (called APAP for short) is the safest OTC drug you can take. APAP is considered a Non-NSAID. The best way to explain the difference between Non-NSAIDs and NSAIDs (Non Steriodal Anti Inflammatory Drug) is this:

Non-NSAID (Tylenol): they pill goes to your brain and tells your brain, "Hey, that's not pain, no need to feel that!" and poof, you don't feel the pain.

NSAID [Motrin, Advil (Ibuprofen), Bayer, St. Joseph, Ecotrin (Aspirin), & Aleve (Naproxen)]: These pills go to the actual site of the pain and say, "Hey, hey, I'm here now, its okay, calm down, there's no more pain."

And no need to worry about liver damage, as long as you are sticking with the recommended dosage (as with any drug!). In fact, liver disease patients are only allowed to take Tylenol. Also, Tylenol is the safest to take with other drugs (which I'm sure we all take quite a few to help our damaged bodies out!!). Tony is very smart to ask his Dr. about Tylenol -- always check with your pharmacist or Dr. when you are on a Rx to make sure the OTC drug will not interact.

Everyone is different, and every body reacts differently to drugs. For instance, I get absolutly no pain relief from Aleve, even in Rx doses. However, I pop 2 Motrin and I feel soooo much better. Both NSAIDs, but they just work differently.

With all that said, I am so glad that you found a combo that works for you Tony. If anyone has any questions on OTC drugs, please let me know, I would be happy to help out.

SenecaGirl

Asprin, tylenol, Aleve, ibuprofen..none of these drugs has ever relieved anything but a headache for me. And even then they are marginbally effective.