• Zagorath@aussie.zone
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    1 year ago

    Not all pain killers fit into those two categories.

    The normal headache pill, paracetamol (most notably sold as “Panadol”), is neither NSAID nor opioid.

    • enki@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Your distinction is correct, but I simply listed NSAIDs as an example, not an exhaustive list of pain relievers. You also make assumptions on “the normal headache pill” based on your locale. In the US paracetamol/acetaminophen/Tylenol is very common, but so is ibuprofen/Advil, naproxen sodium/Aleve, and aspirin/Bayer. In fact, I’d argue ibuprofen is far more popular here based on how much larger the ibuprofen section is compared to acetaminophen in pharmacies. Granted acetaminophen is a bit more common in compound OTC meds like cold and flu medicines.

      That being said, paracetamol functions extremely similarly to NSAIDs, but it’s not anti-inflammatory, and works on the nervous system only, whereas NSAIDs affect the brain and body as well.