EDIT; I can’t reply to everyone individually but thanks for all the suggestions! Opiates are out of the question, doctors here will only prescribe those in terms of absolutely extreme suffering or end of life care. I also don’t particularly feel interested in developing a hard drug habit. Diclofenac and such are available but also only on separate prescriptions, I’d have to visit another doctor for that. I’m well stocked on paracetamol & ibuprofen, and apart from that, lots of ice cream, pudding & soup :)
Also, since a fair few people seem to doubt the veracity of my story, here’s the 22 extracted teeth (the other 10 were already gone in previous extractions).
I recently had to deal with a very painful tooth surgery. Unsafe amounts of combined paracetamol, ibuprofen and more did not help. It hurt enough that I considered grabbing pliers and pulling my teeth out.
Eventually I was given opioid medication. I did not remember much of my time on it, but that’s better than the pain
I had 6 teeth removed at once. I can remember the pain. I found crushed or blended ice was helpful and doesn’t have risk of getting stuck.
It will be okay. Setting your expectations will help mentally. It’s still really rough. Did they prescribe you anything in terms of pain management?
OTC: Tylenol didn’t touch the pain. Ibuprofen helped some but was still pretty mild.
fyi tylenol is a brand name drug of paracetamol (or in the US i believe acetaminophen)
i believe it and ibuprofen relieve different causes of pain, and in australia we’re advised that both paracetamol/acetaminophen and ibuprofen work well in conjunction
… also ibuprofen and caffeine are acrually a great combo for pain relief! so much so they they sell the combination as a product
I had 8 teeth pulled at once, many years ago. I couldn’t take Tylenol 3s as they made me sick. I did my best with ibuprofen and acetaminophen (one Motrin, one Tylenol extra strength). My father kept me distracted as much as possible. His advice was to keep your mind distracted as it can help with the pain.
Yeah this is a good option - too much ibuprofen is harmful, as is too much acetaminophen. But you can take both together and get double the pain relief.
NO DO NOT TAKE THEM TOGETHER.
You need to alternate them. Taking them together creates negatively synergistic effects which ruins your health.
FOR ANYONE READING DO NOT MIX IBUPROFEN AND ACETAMINOPHEN
As I said lower down, you can take ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol) together . It’s advised you wait an hour after you take one type before you take the other to see if the first medication works well enough. There are even medications sold as a combination of both. What detrimental “synergistic effects” are you talking about?
that’s SO wrong… in australia our doctors and surgeons FREQEUENTLY tell us to take both ibuprofen and paracetamol (which is what most of the world calls acetaminophen) together
perhaps you’re thinking of taking <brand name> and <other brand name or generic form of>
ie do not take tylenol and paracetamol/acetaminophen, since they’re the same and you’re double dosing
to add:
too much paracetamol/acetaminophen causes liver damage
too much ibuprofen effects your stomach, intestines, and kidneys
their overdose effects are different
Diclofenac was my aid to sleep with a broken arm
I have no useful advice but much sympathy.
