At your drug store, you can purchase medicines to treat the common cold, yeast infections, eye infections and other minor illnesses...without a prescription. The most common one sold? Pain relief. Now this could be Tylenol (Acetaminophen) or Advil (Ibuprophen) and you can even purchase Naproxin now. There are various rubs and other treatments available. There are also other types of medications available without a prescription but they are closely monitored and can only be accessed by asking your pharmacist for them...Tylenol 1 & 2 is the drug that comes to mind first...but there are others as well.
The point behind all this is that even OTC medications can be abused and over used. There are dangers when using any kind of medications...even the ones readily available and in most stores.
Give some thought to your use of OTC medications....have you ever taken more than the suggested dosage? have you ever taken an OTC medication in combination with others to increase the pain relief you may feel? how often do you use OTC medications? Many people living with chronic pain can easily misuse and over use OTC medications.
Medications are a personal choice...all I ask is that you educate yourself on what you're taking and that you do so safely. Read all the information that comes with your OTC choices and use them accordingly. Do not try to manage your pain alone with them either okay? Be safe.
Today I'd like to share some information with you and ask you to take a serious look at how you use OTC medications and ask yourself...are you using them safely? Now keep in mind that this information is not meant to take the place of direct medical care from a qualified professional. If you have questions about what you read here...go talk to your doctor. If you notice or even think that your OTC usage may be problematic...go talk to your doctor.
MONDAY, Jan. 25, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Many people with chronic pain ignore dosing instructions on over-the-counter pain medicines and put themselves at risk for an overdose, a new survey suggests.
An overdose of these medicines can result in serious side effects, such as stomach bleeding, ulcers, liver damage and even death, according to the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA).
The AGA-commissioned poll of more than 1,000 U.S. adults aged 30 and older and 251 gastroenterologists found that 43 percent of chronic pain sufferers said they knowingly have taken more than the recommended dose of an over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicine at some point.
Common types of OTC pain medicines include acetaminophen (Tylenol) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and aspirin.
"Pain is incredibly personal, but taking more than the recommended dose of OTC pain medicine can cause significant stomach and intestinal damage, among other complications," Dr. Byron Cryer, councillor-at-large at the AGA Institute, said in an association news release. Cryer is also an associate dean at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
The survey also found that 38 percent of respondents did not know that combining two or more NSAID pain relievers, or two or more acetaminophen pain relievers, increases the risk of serious health complications.
Many of the gastroenterologists in the poll said many of their chronic pain patients use OTC pain relievers at a higher dose and for longer than recommended. Those patients often don't make the connection between the pain medicines and overdose symptoms, the doctors added.
While 66 percent of those with chronic pain had been plagued by pain for two years or more, only 12 percent had been diagnosed with chronic pain, the survey also found.
People with chronic pain should never try to self-manage their pain with over-the-counter medicines, according to the news release.
If you have chronic pain, talk to your doctor about all the medicines you're taking, read and follow all medicine labels, and only take one type of pain medicine at a time, the association advised.
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter