points by watwut 1 day ago

The only issue with treating pain with paracetamol is that it does not work at all against the pain.

It works against fewer or maybe mild inflammation and what not ... but it does absolutely nothing with actual pain. It is placebo at best.

sitharus 1 day ago

> but it does absolutely nothing with actual pain

Neither paracetamol nor ibuprofen work by blocking pain. Depending on the type of pain and your physiology it can range from really effective to not at all.

I only take paracetamol, it works better than both ibuprofen and opioids for me. I know other people who have the exact opposite experience. There’s no absolute here.

  • omnimus 1 day ago

    Yeah paracetamol does absolutely nothing to me with pain. I thought its mainly fever medicine.

    • cassianoleal 1 day ago

      Same here. Paracetamol also gives me pretty strong stomach aches whereas ibuprofen rarely has a gastric effect and when it does it's mild at best. I've been told by many people that the opposite should be true but oh well.

      I wish they dipyrone was sold here, but alas I can only get it when I travel abroad.

      • sitharus 1 day ago

        With medicine both can be true, the response depends on so many factors in your body. Same way that for some people, particularly those with ADHD, taking stimulants can make them sleepy.

  • tpm 1 day ago

    Yeah, for me paracetamol is worse in everything - fever, pain, etc.

    For mild stuff I use ibuprofen, if it gets worse, diclofenac works every time.

arethuza 1 day ago

Many years ago I had 4 surgical procedures done around my nose/throat at the same time - straightening a deviated septum, turbinectomy, enlarging the openings into my sinuses and removing my tonsils. This meant I couldn't breath through my nose for about a month - and breathing through your mouth when you've just had tonsils removed is quite painful.

Soluble paracetamol literally turned the pain off like a switch - of course I was limited as to how much I could take, which I was careful to stick to but I was almost in tears waiting for the time to come where I could take more paracetamol.

So in some situations paracetamol can be an extremely effective painkiller.

  • SirMaster 21 hours ago

    Yes, I had a herniated disc and had severe nerve pain. While waiting for a time when I could get surgery to fix it acetaminophen reduced the pain even more than opioids! ibuprofen and an oral steroid like methylprednisolone did nothing...

    Acetaminophen is like a wonder drug for me while ibuprofen doesn't seem to ever do anything for me.

ViktorRay 1 day ago

Your statements are factually incorrect.

Double blind placebo controlled trials have shown that acetaminophen/paracetamol is superior to a placebo at controlling pain.

danlitt 1 day ago

It may not work for you, I don't know. But it absolutely does work in general!

postexitus 1 day ago

What is actual pain?

  • watwut 1 day ago

    When it hurts. Like, when your head hurts for example.

    • postexitus 1 day ago

      And if it stops the hurt - does it stop the actual pain?

      • stbede 1 day ago

        Yes, but the thing causing the pain may still be there

      • watwut 23 hours ago

        What is the difference between the two? I treated them as synonym.

        I did not said it cures the root issue, frankly I dont care that much. I am taking it so that the pain stops and I can function normally.

        Paracetamol does not stop pain/hurt. It is like taking nothing and just waiting. It may help with fewer or some such, but I am not taking Ibuprofen for fewer.