Painkiller effectiveness for people with ME/CFS

For pwME: do aspirin and acetaminophen/paracetamol have little/no effect for any pain at OTC doses?

  • Yes, those two painkillers don't do much for me.

    Votes: 15 48.4%

  • No, one or both of them is effective for my pain.

    Votes: 12 38.7%

  • Maybe, I've only tried one, and it's not effective.

    Votes: 4 12.9%
  • Total voters
    31
I can’t take ibuprofen at all due to being on anti hypertension medication (before being on the meds I would definitely use ibuprofen for any kind of pain but I didn’t have ME then.

I do use paracetamol which reduces ME daily pain aching to a lower level than if I don’t take it.
 
Just looked at the poll again, and I keep getting the impression that the answer I gave indicates paracetamol is effective for ME/CFS pain ("No, one or both of them is effective for my pain"). It seems to have no effect at all on the daily above-the-skin nerve pain and burning muscles I get with ME.

As @NelliePledge says it does help with aching, specially the bone ache and headache that often come with a cold. I find it more effective for that than tramadol and DHC, I just don't get it often enough to finish a box before they're out of date.
 
oldtimer said:
Neither works for me but I've discovered that paracetamol has a synergistic effect with codeine, making it more effective.
Click to expand...

I find the same although I take mine with morphine :). I take modified release morphine daily and do have a small top up dose available for bad (worse?) days, but I try not to take it unless I’m in desperate straits. I always take paracetamol first, mostly because it works much faster than the modified release stuff which can take up to two hours to kick in, but also because although it’s never done anything for me pain-relief wise, it does make the morphine more effective.

I take modified release ibuprofen to help with inflammation if my arthritic hips are kicking off, which seems to soothe them a bit although it doesn’t relieve the pain, just makes them less stiff. Morphine is a godsend for bad days - I really should have a hip replacement but I just don’t think my body could cope with the surgery. A minor laparoscopic gallbladder removal ten years ago left me completely bed-bound for nine months, and that was when I was moderate….
 
I seem to remember listening to a BBC radio 4 program where they suggested research shows that paracetamol only has an analgesic effect in thirty percent of people. Perhaps it was the other way round but there are a lot of non responders apparently. I think that is the case for me anyway.

Anyone know about this?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom