Hacker News Reader

Comment by awiesenhofer | Hacker News Reader

Why the paracetamol?

Usually tension headaches and brain fog are intertwined for me. On the occasions that I've taken paracetamol it's seemed to help. Far from as clear cut as I insinuated above, though.

Paracetamol certainly can have mental side-effects, which may be beneficial. Perhaps this could explain part of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/14/paracetamol-...

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1440/20130418/tyleno...

It could be due to inflammation

Paracetamol doesn't have a significant anti-inflammatory action.

This is literally the purpose of paracetamol. What do you feel it is for, if not as an anti-inflammatory aid?

EDIT: Interesting discussion in child comments, certainly news to me!

True. An analgesic drug will help cope with the pain caused by inflammation, but an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen will reduce the cause of the pain.

Oddly, I've just found this concept to be analogous to many other 'ills' we face as humans. And not just the physical ones.

Sometimes we just want to stop feeling pain.

Sometimes we feel the need to try and stop the cause of it.

That's fair. I wish we had more properly selective COX-2-only inhibitors, despite the scare about heart issues. I may misunderstand how inhibiting COX 1 would balance that out, but I'd be surprised if it does. Many herbs are selective to COX-2, it's like every polyphenol and its mother seems to inhibit it.

I looked and you are correct, I did not realize that acetaminophen was not considered an anti-inflammatory. It certainly is antipyretic, and it appears to have some selective COX-2 activity and some potentially mysterious endocannabinoid activity, which I'd personally consider to be anti-inflammatory in one way. That's truly puzzling, I felt I knew that space decently well due to looking into the inflammatory pathways due to MCAS, I stand corrected on the generally public perception of acetaminophen.

Hopefully endocannabinoid-class drugs and supplements will enter the mainstream/be developed in a generic, OTC fashion with the easing of perception and laws in cannabinoids. I legitimately wonder how much OTC medication has been held back by analog similarities to the (currently and previously) federally illicit substances in those plants.

All good stuff around, I stand corrected and my apologies for any curtness. Have a good one!

As someone dealing with some painful dental issues during lockdown over the past few months, I have to say, I approve of the endocannabinoid approach.

I've heard of Ketamine as another non-opioid approach to pain, I don't know how effective it is quite for pain or dental issues.

Dental pain is awful. I'm so sorry. I had a hospital-and-hydrocodone-worthy case of oral thrush a few years back and beyond losing the ability to speak...well, at all, for a time, I found myself slamming the counters with my fist so the new pain in my bruised arms took away from the roaring, unending pain in my mouth.

I can't imagine having that kind of pain for more than a day or two before being in a dangerous mental state with respect to my own personal safety.

I wouldn't touch Ketamine. Too many bad side-effects.

I've always had a high pain-threshold, but recently I've been 'beside myself' with pain (and a ringing in the ears, driving me mad at night, at times). Cannabinoids have been hugely helpful.

Thankfully, I have managed to get an appointment with the dentist next week. But I've had to wait longer than I wanted for it.

Years ago, I snapped my leg in half. Tibia and Fibula cleanly snapped. Had Titanium plates put in. That was easier to deal with than dental pain. ;)

Paracetamol doesn't have any significant anti-inflammatory effects. It's just an analgesic (painkiller).

There's even some interesting research on exactly /why/ it isn't - but like many drugs there's not really consensus on how exactly it works (a summary is available: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-9592.... )

I've seen lots of people confuse paracetamol and ibuprofen - maybe that's what's happened here?

I touched on it in my other comment -- I got hung up on its CB1... Agonism, I believe? Which I'd always asserted was strictly inflammatory in addition to maybe any other analgesic side effects.

I'll hold it in some level of mystery until I can figure out what the divide is founded on, it's certainly an unexpected result from my perspective.

Thanks for clarifying, much appreciated! :)

Pain killers can reduce the sensation of pain in other ways than by reducing inflammation - paracetamol is one of these.

You should take Ibuprofen for inflammation. Paracetamol is 'just' an analgesic.

Indeed, however most people do not know this :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com