Is it better to take medicine to rid the pain, or be aware o

cmonskinnylovee

As many of you might know I have serious stomach issues, and soon I am going to go to the doctor for it. But until then I have a silly question- Should I take pain medicine or not?

I really want to because it hurts, but I also don't because I want to see if the pain changes, develops, or moves to other areas so I can tell the doctor

_Ben

Pharm student here.

If you are in pain, take medicine. Absolutley. But make sure you write down, journal, or just remember when you first felt the pain. How often you feel it, and what the pain feels like. Does it feel like a knot in your stomach? Pain? Gas? Bloated? Have you eaten recently? What have you eaten? Specific time of day? Are you on any other medication? Make sure to note these all down. That being said, what kind of pain are you feeling, and what medication are you planning on taking

jenilla1

Some pain relievers actually cause or worsen stomach problems. I would wait and talk to the doctor first to see what will work best for your situation. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

_Ben

Some pain relievers actually cause or worsen stomach problems. I would wait and talk to the doctor first to see what will work best for your situation. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

As jenilla1 said, you need to let us know what kind of pain you are feeling, and what kind of medicine you have

cmonskinnylovee

Some pain relievers actually cause or worsen stomach problems. I would wait and talk to the doctor first to see what will work best for your situation. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

As jenilla1 said, you need to let us know what kind of pain you are feeling, and what kind of medicine you have

Sharp intense pain throughout my abdomen, and I have basic pain relievers such as ibuprofen and tylenol

YogiGirlLucy

I'm not big on meds, especially pharmaceuticals. I always prefer a holistic route if one is available. I also agree with you, as far as not masking the symptoms so you can accurately communicate everything to your doctor. A journal is a great idea. Having said that, how severe is the pain? What kind of pain is it? ie., cramping, stabbing, etc. Are you thinking about taking Advil, or something heavy duty? Some of those pain killers are scary because of how addictive they can be. Of course I don't think you should be in horrible pain either. I would go to the doctor sooner than later and try to limit the drugs as much as possible while keeping yourself comfortable.

PegasusDeb

Wow, good post! I was just talking to my doc about this! I am having back spasms & he put me on steroids, and muscle relaxers. He asked if I wanted anything for the pain. I declined. After reading about the relaxers, not using while working or driving (which is exactly WHEN it hurts!) I was thinking about calling him & getting the 'scrip, but so far things are feeling way better already. I was concerned about feeling too froggy with no pain that I would do more damage cuz I couldn't feel when it hurt! I am NOT going to take the killers, but seriously, how bad is your pain?? Talk to your doc about your concerns, maybe he'll give you something light. I do heavy lifting at work, so I want to be able to feel if I've pushed too far.

_Ben

Some pain relievers actually cause or worsen stomach problems. I would wait and talk to the doctor first to see what will work best for your situation. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

As jenilla1 said, you need to let us know what kind of pain you are feeling, and what kind of medicine you have

Sharp intense pain throughout my abdomen, and I have basic pain relievers such as ibuprofen and tylenol

Neither of those will really actually work on the problem, they will just mask the pain. You said your not big on antiacids like Tums, and if something like Pepto doesnt sit with you well, you may want to just tough it out. If you HAVE to take medicine, take the ibuprofen, as the acetametophine can really bother your stomach if its already bothering you. Also as others said, could it be related to your working out?

significance

My rule of thumb is: take the pain killer (being careful about dose) when you know what has caused the problem and you're not doing anything to exacerbate it. If you've made a doctor's appointment and don't know yet, that's okay, too. Any pain killer you can get without a doctor's prescription is not going to be enough to mask serious pain anyway (at safe doses), so if it gets worse, you'll know.

What I think is dumb is taking a pain killer so that you can continue an activity that caused the pain in the first place (e.g. popping a pill and continuing to type when you have an RSI, or heading back on to the rugby field when you've fractured a rib) or so that you can ignore a pain that should be sending you to the doctor or dentist, and do nothing about it.

With stomach problems, avoid aspirin (which can exacerbate ulcers and bleeding) and avoid codeine (which can cause constipation) until you know what the problem is.