Myth or fact: the body can become immune to panadol(or other average painkillers)

[<3 Theater Gal <3]

Just wondering if taking to much panadol for chronic pain, will eventually lead my body to be immune to the drug (or the drug wont work as good as it used to)
I have heard soooooooo many different answers to this. Even surfing google gave me different answers.

[Mai Y]

Hi paranoids,

Taking any painkiller regularly over an extended period of time can cause one to become "tolerant" of the drug ( a word physicians and the medical community use instead of "immune").Which basically means that higher and higher dosages of the drug may be needed to achieve pain relief.
Even with simple over the counter meds like Panadol. Also there's a danger of liver toxicity with Panadol taken often for an extended period of time.

As for barbiturates, opiates and narcotics, well, you know the rest. They can be extremely addicting and again the body can become VERY tolerant of these very quickly.

Are you in the UK, NZ or AUS? I'm guessing because you used the word Panadol. Here in the USA Panadol is called Tylenol. Essentially they are the same drug i.e. Paracetamol in the UK=acetaminophen here.

Personal story: I used to have mild frontal headaches. I would take over-the-counter EXCEDRIN which is a combo of Panadol+aspirin=+caffeine.
I was going through a lot of tension and anxiety at the time and the headaches became more frequent. So I began "popping" this stuff like it was candy. And then I found myself so worried that I would be felled by a headache at work, that I began to take the tablets prophylactically when I had no pain. Took'em "just in case". Then, whenever I DID get a headache, it was more severe and the "normal" dose didn't work at all. And I began doubling the dose not realizing that what was developing were what docs call "rebound" headaches. What happens with rebound headaches is that the body "adapts" to the meds and then if you stop taking them suddenly, even for a day, the headache returns and often much worse than before. I had to wean myself off the stuff and suffer some pretty horrendous headaches doing so during "withdrawal".

So bottom line is yes, one can become tolerant of pain meds. Used properly, in the correct dosage, no problem. But if you find yourself taking Panadol more than just occasionally, it's best to find out why!

zuzu xxx

[Snoop S]

Hi zuzu8,
Thank u for the response. Its scary to think panadol could slowly not work as good as it used it. So i'll keep that in mind.
And yeah, im from Aus.
Thanks again.

[lady_bella]

just be VERY very carfeful with any use of the panadol/tylenol thing? this is defintiely one particular med that you DO NOT want to keep on raising up. as the above poster mentioned, you CAN suffer a level of not only liver toxicity with this but it also afects your kidneys too. if your pain is that chronic, first you just need to truely find out what the exact generators really are(and can they possibly be fixed?), and second, see if you can get into a pain management clinic where they will in most cases, try and give you meds that are just much more appropriate for chronic daily use. tylenol and any products containing it are just being wayyy too overly used these days(mostly for chronic pain type situations) and it IS leading to some really horrid side effects/repercussions like liver and kidney failure. there ARE just much better and safer meds out there that can be used to better manage pain. see about getting into a pain management facility where they just know better in most cases. good luck and please keep us posted, FB

[samsbc12]

Hi feelbad, thanks for ther reply.

My pain is back pain. (from over training at the gym for sooooo many years)
Its left my spine in not a good state. Although its not vey bad yet, i am 30 years old, and i have a spine of a 50 year old (so ive been told)
The pain comes and goes. Some days good, some says bad. I havent been taking anything yet (just panadol once every few weeks) And im scared if the pain grows, that i'll be living off these medications.
As far as today, my backs been ok. Bought a big gym ball to bend my back on, and trying to do a few excersises and see how it goes.
Thanks guys for the responses. Its much appreciated. As u can tell from my name, i'm always overly scared on everything, lol.