I beleive that the WHO analgesic ladder suggests that any pain relief plan should have a non-opoid (ie, acetaminophen or an NSAID) at its base, with narcotics such as codeine or morphine added on top of this.

Quote from aussie_jono:

I beleive that the WHO analgesic ladder suggests that any pain relief plan should have a non-opoid (ie, acetaminophen or an NSAID) at its base, with narcotics such as codeine or morphine added on top of this.

Do you have a reason they recommend this? I've always been curious as to why there's tylenol in my Percocet. I did ask my pain doc about it, with regard to my concerns about my liver, but he said I didn't take enough of it for it to be a concern, since it's not something I take on a daily basis, but on an 'as needed' basis.

Percocet has worked well for me to manage my pain, so I can't complain about that, but it does bug me 'just a little' that I'm having to take something which, in my mind, isn't doing much good. If I don't need it, why put it in my body? So, unless the Tylenol interacts with it in some way, I'm curious as to why they would recommend the combination.

Thanks,
Caat

acetaminophen/paracetamol or an NSAID

In Australia, paracetamol 1gm 4 times a day is almost universaly considered the basis of any long term pain relief plan, and is subsidised by our national health service for this purpose, 300 tabs per month. Opoids or NSAID's are added onto this base, not substituted for it.

I dont beleive that rates of kidney disease or liver faliure are any higher in Australia or New Zealand than the US despite this difference in drug useage.

I have taken 4gm of paracetamol/acetaminophen daily for years.