Is it safe to take ...?!
Question: Is it safe to take ....?
... 1000 mg of acetaminophen (active ingredient in Tylenol) with 500 mg of acetylsalicylic acid (active ingredient in Aspirin).? My understanding is that it is safe (due to the drugs being metabolized by different enzymes in the liver and kidneys), but I wanted to check and make sure. I have terrible back pain right now from a previous injury.
Only intelligent answers that explain why it is safe or why it isn't are to be submitted please.Health Question & Answer
Only intelligent answers that explain why it is safe or why it isn't are to be submitted please.Health Question & Answer
Answers:
You can indeed take both of these medications at the same time, and in fact your doctor may recommend that you do so. These drugs do not exhibit any inherent, dangerous interaction with each other, and have been in the field for a long time, so no new findings are likely or anticipated.
However, as toxicity is always a function of dosage, any time you take any active medication, you need to be aware of how much you take, and what other medications you're taking that act in the same manner. Ibuprofen and Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) belong to the group of drugs called NSAIDs - Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. They work in a very similar but not identical way. Acetaminophen is not considered an NSAID and is thought to work in the brain rather than peripherally. They are gastrointestinal irritants (APAP, the least irritating, also doesn't perform as well as an anti-inflammatory). They work as pain relievers by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis. And, even though these drugs do not specifically interact with each other, unsupervised or self-medication has the risk of overdosing, if the patient takes very high doses or two or three of these meds concurrently.
The makers of Tylenol (APAP) specifically do not recommend the patient mixing these drugs without medical supervision. The reason for this is, while the drugs can themselves be safely used concurrently, dosage and over-dosage is always a concern. Understandably, they are worried about accidental overdose resulting from ignorance of the contents of all the medications their customers can take, and they've opted for the most conservative if not the most medically effective course in issuing this warning.Health Question & Answer
However, as toxicity is always a function of dosage, any time you take any active medication, you need to be aware of how much you take, and what other medications you're taking that act in the same manner. Ibuprofen and Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) belong to the group of drugs called NSAIDs - Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. They work in a very similar but not identical way. Acetaminophen is not considered an NSAID and is thought to work in the brain rather than peripherally. They are gastrointestinal irritants (APAP, the least irritating, also doesn't perform as well as an anti-inflammatory). They work as pain relievers by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis. And, even though these drugs do not specifically interact with each other, unsupervised or self-medication has the risk of overdosing, if the patient takes very high doses or two or three of these meds concurrently.
The makers of Tylenol (APAP) specifically do not recommend the patient mixing these drugs without medical supervision. The reason for this is, while the drugs can themselves be safely used concurrently, dosage and over-dosage is always a concern. Understandably, they are worried about accidental overdose resulting from ignorance of the contents of all the medications their customers can take, and they've opted for the most conservative if not the most medically effective course in issuing this warning.Health Question & Answer
Chances are you've consumed much worse in the past.Health Question & Answer
people in general-Health Question & Answer
It would probably be pretty stupid. You never want to mix drugs, regardless of whether they are OTC or not. I would go with acetaminophen first, and if the pain is not relieved in 4 hours, go with the ASA.Health Question & Answer