What is your go to pain med?

[bluedog225]

Assuming you are not on prescription narcotics…..

I was surprised in portugal that they had absolutely no Tylenol or Advil. I would have thought a big company like Johnson and Johnson or Phizer would have world-wide reach. And certainly Eurpoe.

The locals took (handfulls) of some other drug I’d never heard of.

It was also odd to have to go into an actual drug store and talk to a pharmacist to get just about anyting. Tons of stuff over the counter here is just stocked in the supermarket.

In the US, if you have a headache or pain, Tylenol, Advil, or maybe Alieve.

What over the counter pain drugs do you take other countries?

[Peerie Maa]

Paracetamol or Ibuprofen.

I treat bruises with Witch Hazel jell.

[ERGR]

Paracetamol + ibuprofen is almost always sufficient. Brands vary.
/Erik

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Paracetamol is known as acetaminophen in the USA. Acetaminophen relieves mild-to-moderate pain, headache and fever. It is available as brand names such as Tylenol, Mapap or Panadol, and also as generics.

Assuming that a proprietary name will remain constant across different continents?

[LeeG]

At times I thought I took alcohol for the pain of awareness but it turns out I wasn’t that aware, just liked being drunk. The usual NSAIDS but they have limitations. Time and stretching works the best. Ice cream. Baths. Maybe it’s time to get back into yoga.

[John B]

There's a willow tree out by the pond, I gnaw on it.
I've always wondered what Tylenol is, good to know.
We have Docs on this site but in the battle of life I have learned to be wary of any of the anti inflammatory drugs and save em up for when they are really necessary. They burn your gut.

[goodbasil]

Heroin

[Rich Jones]

Booze.

Honestly, it is Anacin which is a combination of Aspirin and caffeine.
Both not good for me, but it works better than anything else.

[bluedog225]

goodbasil wins. Sorta

[Todd D]

Acetaminophen for head ache and mild muscle pain. For more intense paint I take ibuprofen. I avoid acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) because it can cause bleeding and I have a chronically low platelet count. However, ASA is widely available, cheap and many people find it very effective. Acetaminophen is cleared by the liver and ibuprofen is cleared by the kidneys. So take your choice based on the state of your liver and kidneys. Personally, some years ago I had gout and took a lot of ibuprofen which damaged my kidneys, so I generally use acetaminophen and only take ibuprofen for pretty bad pain such as after my abdominal surgery a few years ago. Even then I take as little as possible. I never buy brand name pain killers if the generic is available.

[LeeG]

goodbasil wins. Sorta

From what I’ve seen of morphine that’s the stuff I want if there’s big pain.

[TerryLL]

I've had hydrocodone a number of times and can recommend it highly. Pain? What pain?

[CWSmith]

For knee pain after surgery and similar problems once the need for a narcotic has passed, doctors here recommend alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen. At least, that's what they tell me.

[Rumars]

Tylenol = paracetamol
Advil = ibuprofen
Aleve = naproxen

Drugs have a chemical name, an international non-proprietary name, several country specific adopted/approved names (US, UK, AU, JP) and proprietary brand names. Google knows them all, just use it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inte...oprietary_name

What is OTC and where it's available is depends on the country. The EU is very diverse in this regard, one place you can buy OTC's at the gas station, next country pharmacy only. For example in France codeine became a prescription drug only in 2017, and there are still countries where it is OTC in certain combinations and dosages, while in others it's strictly controlled because it's an opioid.

Ketoprofen and diclofenac are also popular pain medications in some countries.

[Too Little Time]

From what I’ve seen of morphine that’s the stuff I want if there’s big pain.

I like it.

I have bad knees, when I hike too far I use Naproxen Sodium. Best to take before the pain starts.

[bluedog225]

I hate morphine. Nasty stuff. Not that great for pain. Can’t **** for a week.

[David G]

Depends on the injury. They all have their strengths & weaknesses.

[Hugh MacD]

I've had hydrocodone a number of times and can recommend it highly. Pain? What pain?

Couldn't do the hydrocodone. Liked the pain better! I can use tylenol (acetominophin) but my Doc says I can't use ibuprophen which used to be my go-to. Most of the time I find a good dark ale does the trick

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Magic* brownies.

[Canoeyawl]

I've had hydrocodone a number of times and can recommend it highly. Pain? What pain?

Bingo!
Morphine if the pain is worse than Vicodin can handle
Kidney stones, eh?

[L.W. Baxter]

i aint got time to bleed

[StevenBauer]

Tylenol = paracetamol = acetaminophen
Advil = ibuprofen
Aleve = naproxen

Fixed.

[TerryLL]

i aint got time to bleed

Sure you do. A little blood loss during a project is certainly the expectancy. Putting up drip edge yesterday I sliced my finger open, bled all over the new concrete below. Sorta made my day. And now I have a story to share with the grands, explaining all those blood splotches.

Now, where's that dang bottle of iboos?

[Bob Cleek]

I don't know about for pain, but for ED I take mycoxaflopin.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Grit.

Since my one and only MRI I now know I have a compressed disk in my back. So I wake up every morning with horrible back pain, I’m so stiff with pain I have a whole morning routine so I don’t throw it out completely and end up whimpering like a little girl on the floor. I grit my teeth and get moving, pour myself a cuppa Nespresso and by 11:00 it’s all worked its self out. No pills no therapy.

When I had surgery on my wrist the doctor gave me Norco I took it for 2 days and slept the pain away. After day 2 I was sick of the feeling of the drug and dumped them down the toilet. I might have taken Aleve, but generally I don’t like how I feel on pain meds, I like to experience the pain it lets me know I’m still alive.

[Stiletto]

Paracetamol alone doesn't work for me but with 8mg of codeine added it's fine. I also very occasionally take Naproxen for gout.

[L.W. Baxter]

Sure you do. A little blood loss during a project is certainly the expectancy. Putting up drip edge yesterday I sliced my finger open, bled all over the new concrete below. Sorta made my day. And now I have a story to share with the grands, explaining all those blood splotches.

Now, where's that dang bottle of iboos?

i bled on one of my employees once, and he filed a comp claim.

[Ted Hoppe]

Bourbon. It stops the hurt of a broken heart.

Advil for everything else.

[Hallam]

[WszystekPoTrochu]

Assuming you are not on prescription narcotics…..

I was surprised in portugal that they had absolutely no Tylenol or Advil. I would have thought a big company like Johnson and Johnson or Phizer would have world-wide reach. And certainly Eurpoe.
The locals took (handfulls) of some other drug I’d never heard of.

The first trick is to always learn the active ingredient names and ask for that, not for brands. If the pharmacist didn't find her licence in a bag of crisps, she'll know. Tylenol is acetaminophen/paracetamol. Advil is ibuprofen. Aleve is naproxen and is a prescription drug in my part of world. I've learned both just now simply by looking for packaging on google images it's always clearly written in smaller font, often cursive.

Paracetamol is primarily a painkiller, ibuprofen is also anti-inflammatory. If I have a headache, I'll take paracetamol. For a flu, a ready paracetamol+pseudoephedrine mix. For muscle pain, creeping headaches, all cases where it seems that fighting the cause and not only symptoms makes sense - ibuprofen. Naproxen will be prescribed for respiratory tract inflammation, primarily for its anti-inflammatory qualities. For migraines, I have a small stash of diclofenac (again, prescription only). Check your local brand names. I'd expect to find diclofenac as Voltaren worldwide in one form or another. I can buy it OTC as a joint/muscle pain relief gel applied topically.

This is the second tip: if possible, apply the painkiller where the pain is. The same liver safe dose will do a lot more when not having to get from your guts to wherever needed first.

[wizbang 13]

tumeric
magnesium baths

[Norman Bernstein]

I rarely ever take any OTC pain medication… but if I do, say, for something like lower back pain (rarely), I find both ibuprofen and acetaminophen to be completely useless.

I rarely ever get a headache… may once a year or less… but when I do, there is only one thing that helps: plain old aspirin.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Anyone for codeine?

[WI-Tom]

Yoga. And swimming.

Prevention is better than addressing symptoms.

Tom

[willin woodworks]

Tylenol.
When I had my hip replaced, (Second replacement coming soon) they had me on a Tylenol drip after surgery. They gave me a scrip for Oxy but the doc recommended sticking with Tylenol unless the pain got too bad. I hardly touched the Oxy. Three extra strength Tylenol every four hours does the trick.
On grey crappy days I will take two when I head out to the shop to get a jump on relief.
Ibuprofen plays hell with my guts and I havent taken it in years.