Paracetamol does not relieve back pain

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Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
I've had on and off back ache for years. When i was younger it was crippling,making me lean to the left or the right for days. A doctor recommended exercise to relieve it. At the time i was a lazy type who shunned physical exercise but i took up swimming and it certainly helped,so much so that i got shorter lasting back pain every now and then. I tried painkillers in the old days when it was bad but they didn't work. Now it's official!http://www.theguardian.com/society/...ol-back-pain-arthritis-study-reserach-doctors
 

Mad Doug Biker

Just a damaged guy.
Location
Craggy Island
After my op a few years back now, I had been lying in the same position for an extended period, so I started to get back pain which was hell.

Anyway, they gave me Diasapan to help me sleep.... Except it made my back pain worse (how I don't know).

So don't accept diasapan!! :giggle:

I was eventually drugged out on something else, except that it gave me strange dreams that made me wake up and alert the staff (one I was the head of a drugs company in Barrhead (of all places - Glasgow people will know) and I rang the nurse to tell her what my job involved and that one of my partners had left.
In another dream, I became a world expert in breathing properly and went on the telly and everything!).

I must have kept people up THAT night! :blush:
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Voltarol (diclofenac) is my friend. Anti inflammatory, takes a few hours to act and maybe a couple days of tablets usually relieve my discomfort. You're still stiff, but at least relatively pain free.
Deep down I know exercise or stretching is the real answer, but I struggle to make myself do any long term.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
All paracetamol does is reduce temperatures, and wreck your liver (if taken too often) according to one of my doctors.
Best pain relief I've had with back pain is the Voltarol gel but you've got to get someone else to rub it in (well I have to cos when my back has played up I can't reach it)
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
Massaging the area increases blood flow and icing for 10mins is my prefered fix.
ibuprofen tablets which I shouldt't take but its better than any gel which my physio said are a bit of a con as the rubbing does more good.
I take paracetamol for headache and colds
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
I burst a disc in my back some 30+ years ago. I was in agony and the doc' gave me some pills labelled DF118. He also warned me not to move around too much after I'd taken them. Given I was in so much pain I'd called him out I laughed and he repeated the warning!

Whatever they were they really took the pain away and the doctor's warning that I could do a lot more damage by moving after taking the pills made sense.

They were so 'good' that had I a plentiful supply I'd have never worked again and by now would bobbing around on the yacht, bought by my ill gotten gains, somewhere warm!
 

ScotiaLass

Guru
Location
Middle Earth
Voltarol (diclofenac) is my friend. Anti inflammatory, takes a few hours to act and maybe a couple days of tablets usually relieve my discomfort. You're still stiff, but at least relatively pain free.
Deep down I know exercise or stretching is the real answer, but I struggle to make myself do any long term.
My drug of choice too.
I can't take codeine, morphine etc. I have found Paracetamol good for headaches etc but it never worked for my back!
They should have asked me, I've arthritis in my spine since I was 30 :laugh:
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
I can tell you're not a pharmacist. As well as being an antipyretic paracetemol is also an analgesic.

As for wrecking your liver, you have to take too many too often to get that effect - and frankly, given the warnings all over the packets, if you do that it's no ones fault but your own.
The only time I have taken paracetamol in the last 35 years was when I was in hospital following the 2 lots of surgery on my broken femur (once when they inserted the pin/nail and 7 months later when they removed the pin/nail, drilled the inside of the bone to size and fitted a bigger one)
As for pain relief its either 30mg Codeine, Morphine or nothing for me, in that if it hurts enough for me to need pain relief I want something that works otherwise I'll just put up with it, unless its muscular in which case Voltarol works for me and as for headaches (which I rarely get) Anadin every time.
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
don't do paracetamol. ibuprofen or diclofenac IF I get so desperate I need them.

I find a selection of single malts in the evening helps tremendously but that might be bolloxing my liver. who knows
 

Jody

Stubborn git
Paracetamol has never done anything for my back pain.

Voltarol (diclofenac) is my friend.

Voltarol works well for me also. 30/60mg Codeine is good but I prefer to save them for the odd occasions its needed.

I had pain in my lower back constantly for over a year until about two months ago. Physio helped slightly but didn't resolve it. In the end I spoke to the doctor and he suggested Amitriptyline which is an anti depressant to "reset" the nerve pain and to take a course of 2+ months. Initially didn't believe him but took them anyway. They seemed to knock me out by about 9pm, had a very heavy nights sleep and they made me feel a bit groggy the next day. However 3 months in and they did indeed stop the pain.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Paracetamol works pretty well for certain monthly pains, taken with ibuprofen as required. However, there are times when nothing with touch it, I've even tried codeine and tramadol as well, to no avail

Diclofenac makes me feel quite acidy and icky even with food
 
Be careful with Nsaid's. Take them on a full stomach. I can no longer tolerate them due to a bout of gastritis, caused by NSAID's. It's quite common too and Gastritis stops you drinking beer, so it's serious.
 
It depends on what you're using them for. OTC NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or naproxen may be more effective if taken on an empty stomach.
Advice seems to vary, better for faster onset but if you've already had gastric troubles from NSAID's, even they will unsettle it, though they are way better than evil diclofenac.
 
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