Opoids + OTC pain meds

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glfngrl
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:50 pm
Location: Thomson, GA

Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by glfngrl »

Has anyone else noticed that opoids + Tylenol (Percocet, for instance) are less effective than opoids alone? For me, also, more than 3 doses of Tylenol in succession can aggravate symptoms; same is true for any other OTC pain meds! Especially bothersome were the older versions of sleep aids containing Tylenol; have not tried any in years, so not sure if formulas have changed. Maybe my body just has a strange reaction to these meds, period, but thought I'd mention this to the group to see if anyone else gets the same results. Most info on OTCs do not caution against Tylenol and RLS.

Jane in GA
Give up is not in my vocabulary!!

ViewsAskew
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Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by ViewsAskew »

Jane, I've never used any of the ones with Tylenol in them. Interesting....I've never seen anything about Tylenol, either.

Are any of these generic? That could be part of the difference....
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

QyX

Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by QyX »

Tylenol is paracetamol. Percocet contains paracetamol. My recommendation is to always use a pure opioid to avoid side effects from the other pain medication since they have no use for RLS.

Also the additional pain med limits the amount of Percocet you can take. Adding a 2nd pain med like paracetamol might also decrease the potential for abuse because life threathing symptoms can develop if you take a certain amount of paracetamol.

Joanie60
Posts: 197
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:48 pm

Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by Joanie60 »

Let me start by saying: I am weird. My body is weird.

I was taking percocet (combo of opioid with tylenol) 10-15 mg per day. My doc wanted me to try straight extended release oxycodone 10 mg (which I think has the terribly misaligned name oxycontin, so people think you are serious snorting/shooting addict lol) with 5 mg percocet as needed. I tried it and it backfired for me. I had terrible nausea, constipation, and fatigue. After a month, I switched back to Percocet and the nausea, constipation, and fatigue disappeared.

I would stay far far far away from any OTC sleep meds. Anything that has antihistamine in it (benedryl, tylenol PM, etc) is a pretty well-known aggravator of WED/RLS

QyX

Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by QyX »

Yes, antihistamines suck. I was taking them for years before I knew about my RLS. Every night it was a nightmare to fall asleep.

Rustsmith
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Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by Rustsmith »

Be careful not to write off all antihistamines. It is the first generation ones that cause the problems. The second generation antihistamines do not cross the blood brain barrier and so are less likely to cause WED problems. The second generation products are the non-sedating antihistamines and are sold under the tradenames of Claratin, Allegra and Zyrtec.
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Joanie60
Posts: 197
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:48 pm

Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by Joanie60 »

But still take careful note. Claratin messes with me so I have to decide which is worse, allergies or aggravated RLS. It took several weeks and a really good doc to figure that one out. I was popping a claratin every day without giving it any consideration...thought I was augmenting on opioids (because, of course, I would be the one person in the world to do that lol). It was the Claratin.

Good luck Jane!

Suckerbeagle
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Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:00 pm
Location: Albuquerque
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Re: Opoids + OTC pain meds

Post by Suckerbeagle »

glfngrl wrote:Has anyone else noticed that opoids + Tylenol (Percocet, for instance) are less effective than opoids alone? For me, also, more than 3 doses of Tylenol in succession can aggravate symptoms; same is true for any other OTC pain meds! Especially bothersome were the older versions of sleep aids containing Tylenol; have not tried any in years, so not sure if formulas have changed. Maybe my body just has a strange reaction to these meds, period, but thought I'd mention this to the group to see if anyone else gets the same results. Most info on OTCs do not caution against Tylenol and RLS.

Jane in GA

Don't know about effectiveness, but Vicodin is available with ibuprofen instead of Tylenol. Oxycodone is available without either. You could try talking to you doc about this issue. Hope you can figure it out.

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