Comment by applfanboysbgon
10 hours ago
This can easily happen over the course of 24 hours if you're in "fuck me I'll do anything to make it stop" levels of pain. I've taken more than 20 ibuprofens in a day a few times in my life, which, while not medically advised, did not kill me. I actually had no idea acetaminophen was so dangerous.
Just in case, ibuprophen does not work well for pain relief [at lest for some kind of pain]. Paracetamol [acetaminophen] usually is much better against pain. And paracetamol + ibuprophen can help with strong pain for which neither paracetamol or ibuprophen work at normal doses.
Not really. Both address different sources of pain, and do so using different processes.
Ibuprofen is a Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) that reduces pain and inflammation, while acetaminophen does not. (Acetaminophen is believed to act mainly in the brain rather than at the site of injury).
Ibuprofen- Fundamentally, if the pain is caused by inflammation, reducing the immune systems response to it can reduce pain, but if the pain is more acute it won't make a dent.
With acetaminophen, taking more isn't a solution in most cases, you need another method to reduce the pain further if it doesn't achieve its goal.
(That's why it's combined with things like codeine, which affects the brain in a different way for an additive effect)
> you need another method to reduce the pain further
I don’t know about “most cases” but often you don’t want to reduce the pain _further_, you want to reduce the pain _again_. (Having an alternative definitely helps in the meantime.)