Pain: How To Treat It Right
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Certain things are meant to be mixed. Strawberries and deep, dark chocolate. Gin and tonic. But for pain relievers, paring down is better than pairing up, because it's easy to get far too much of a good thing. For instance, if you take a pill for sinus congestion on top of something else for head pain, you could cause stomach pain or worse.
Your rule should be to never take two or more different kinds of over-the-counter pain medications together unless your health care provider says "go ahead." Why? If you're taking NSAIDs -- pain relievers other than acetaminophen, otherwise known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- popping different types at the same time (say, ibuprofen and naproxen) can dramatically increase your risk of stomach ulceration. Exception: Two types of the same medication may be prescribed by your doc -- maybe a pill and a patch of ibuprofen -- but that's under her supervision.
Also, layering ibuprofen with aspirin causes them to fight in your arteries, so you don't get their vascular protective effects -- and may get too much of a negative stomach effect.
Another rule that smart patients live by: Don't take more than the label recommends. The Food and Drug Administration expects you to take OTC meds with common sense, not eat them like candy (we expect that, too). In one survey, more than a quarter of users took more than the recommended dose, and 60 percent said they didn't know there could be consequences. If you're tempted to take extra to squelch the pain, you need to see your doc for a healthier strategy.
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The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, are authors of "YOU: The Owner's Manual." Want more? See "The Dr. Oz Show" on TV (check local listings). To submit questions, go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2009 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Read more about By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. at ArcaMax.com.
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