I often take painkillers (acetaminophen aka paracetamol), but I’ve noticed that it’s much more effective if I take them TOGETHER with my ADHD medication (ritalin aka methylphenidate) + my morning coffee. If I don’t take them AT the same time, the painkiller is far less effective.
I do not exceed the maximum dosage of painkiller (1gram per intake, mornings), but alone this would barely suffice to kill my morning headache.
My hypothesis is that since the LIVER has to convert all three, I am effectively overdosing on either substance (painkiller or ADHD meds), and damaging my liver in the process.
Talk to your doctor, do not get medical advice from the internet, it is too risky.
Counterpoint: Do more drugs the internet says so.
Half a pack of cigarettes will make the headache go away. Make sure to sprinkle them with turmeric.
Wrong question, I would argue. If you have a morning headache, you should really find the root of that and try to resolve it making the medication unnecessary.
I know, but I’ve headaches since I was about 10 (now almost ~30), and the only causes for this that I can seriously come up with is: being sensitive af in general, which then leads to being (subconsciously) easily stressed, which then, results in headache. This happens during the day, but I also (more) frequently wake up with a headache for no reason. This even happens in the summer, when I’m not doing ANYthing (no school, university, work). I am generally perfectly healthy. I am hydrated, eat healthy, etc. I don’t exercise an awful lot, but when I do (for months), I barely notice any difference.
Being “sensitive” (whatever that means exactly) is the only weird but plausible explanation. Reading the other comments, though, like sleep apnea, I’m curious if that’s anything…
If you have the option, I would suggest going to a Dr before assuming anything is the only plausible explanation.
Personally, I found out about my neck / posture issues (even though outwardly I have decent looking posture so I never assumed it would be that), got some excercises from a physio and a completely different pillow, and that combo drastically reduced my headaches
But did you talk about it with a medical trained person ? In the end its just a damaged nerve in your neck or sonething that can be easily fixed with proper care.
I did many times but most of the time I was just advised to “try eating and sleeping better” which I kind of already did, but improving those did not make a difference whatsoever. I also went to many physiotherapists and one manual orthopedic doctor. Nothing was ever improved.
Except one time when I went to a acupuncturist who also added some spiritual woo, and that actually remedied a part of it.
Find another doctor, and another one after that…
Unfortunately, most doctors SUCK, if you have even a slightly complicated or unusual problem.
I have some chronic pain issues as well, some of which were solved and some are managed. I’m sorry you’re going through this. Have you tried getting a second opinion or maybe a different type of medical provider? I had headaches as well that turned out to be largely brought on by stress and also some bad posture. I did get an MRI+MRA just to be sure nothing was actually wrong in the brain itself, but techniques to reduce the causes were helpful to me. Good luck!
Ok, follow up question. If you don’t take a painkiller in the morning, how does the headache progress?
Usually it will not go away the whole day. Only in the evening that it starts to subside. And when I decide to take it, I need to do it in a specific way. E.g. direct lying extremely comfortably, but not sleeping, or it won’t be as effective. Or drinking coffee in front of my pc. And a few other ones. I don’t get why but I usually just feel what specific ‘ritual’ works best for any given moment. Sometimes I guess wrong and the headache won’t disappear. This combination with coffee and adhd med seems to work best though.
Another hypothesis is bruxism (teeth grinding). Some people have it during the day, others (like me) have it during sleep. Stress and anxiety makes it worse. I only discovered I had it because people heard me biting my teeth against each other while asleep. I went to a dentist, she made me a mouth guard that I use every night before going to sleep, and the morning headaches stopped since then.
I tried this as well. I bought a (DIY) mouth guard. Did not do much if anything, unfortunately.
This was at the same time I heard about injecting botox in your head skin and jaw to relax muscles. Sounds weird but worth a try
Many countries have lowered the max dosage of Paracetamol from 1000mg since there’s indeed a worry that it will cause liver damage. I’m in one of the countries that still go with 1000 (Sweden) and my suggestion would be to use 500mg Paracetamol and 400mg Ibuprofen taken together instead. That’s what the medical professionals themselves do.
That said, something in your life is causing you to have morning headaches and it’s a better idea to fix that. Regular painkiller usage is one of the things that causes it (!). Other possibilities can be waking up during the wrong sleep cycle (deep vs light), sleep apnea causing bad sleep in general, overdosing on caffeine causing withdrawal symptoms in the morning etc.
/Not a medical professional
In the US, you can get varying dosages based on a variety of commercial factors.
That being said, 1000mg a dose not to exceed 4000mg in a 24 hour periods is the standard… well, was, its been a while since I was a pharmacy tech.
Long time headache adventurer here.
You are basically making a homemade Excedrin (acetaminophen + aspirin + caffeine). Stimulants cause your body to metabolize the pain reliever more quickly.
As for if you’re ruining your liver, I can’t say, other than you should probably go see you doctor and ask for a blood panel/ liver function test. Even if your liver values are normal, you’ll know for sure, and have a baseline to compare future tests against. Plus your doctor may have some thoughts on why you’re having a headache everyday.
For me it turned out that while i had acceptable blood pressure, it was high “for me”, and a beta blocker took care of the most frequent headaches. But we didn’t figure that out until we had ruled out a whole bunch of other things.
It was a frustrating journey to be sure. I wish you luck in yours.
Perhaps you’re hitting the nail on the head. My blood pressure is apparently normal (at least during the day). But perhaps it is indeed too high for me. It feels plausible but idk what that is worth. I’m going to ask my doctor to test this idea. Not sure yet which med for lowering blood pressure is good. I thought that Beta blockers were specifically for headache patients. Perhaps this is why… Also, apparently ACE inhibitors and ARBs are also blood pressure lowering agents. Any experience with those…?
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Why do you have morning headaches? That’s not supposed to be a thing. Sleep apnea? Dehydrated? Other valid medical reasons? Sorry I can’t answer you initial question, but it seems easier to treat the underlying cause (yeah I’ve watched house 8) )
I got diagnosed with sleep apnea couple of years ago and everybody asked me if I had headaches in the morning. It’s easy to test for.
Sleep apnea very sounds interesting, I haven’t thought about that. Perhaps worth testing for, thanks for the suggestion. I do not have any other medical issues, nor can it be any withdrawal symptom since I did not take any other medication before my adhd or coffee habit. So did you have headaches in the morning? Is that solved now?
Well…no. I personally didn’t have headaches, but supposedly it’s very common, which is also why it flew under the radar for me. The tech kept asking, like it was almost a requirement. She also said I might feel fine now, but in 10 years I could develop heart problems, so the wearing the mask became an easy choice.
Wrote a bunch more but the accidentally deleted it. No undo on Android so fuck it, have half a post :D
Probably a lupus. (Would suck it turned out to be the case xD)
Here’s a question for you: Do you regularly drink anything that doesn’t have caffeine or alcohol in it, at all?
Yes. Don’t drink alcohol. I have had many long periods when I don’t drink any caffeine at all. No difference in experience/headaches
It’s best to talk to a doctor instead of asking random people on the Internet.
But since you asked, weed helps to mitigate headaches better than paracetamol and doesn’t affect your liver.
I get headaches from weed
Well, there’s your problem, then.
can’t argue that!
Another thing to talk to your doctor about.
good point, but I always thought this was not very uncommon actually, idk
Talk do your doctor.
a) Paracetamol on it’s own isn’t healty for your liver if taken regularly. I don’t know the specifics or if there is a safe dose.
b) Headache is one of the adverse drug effects of Paracetamol. Maybe you’re getting part of your headaches from it in the first place.
I asked the doctor that prescribed the adhd meds, but he said it’s no problem with paracetamol. However, I did not explicitly mention taking it at the exact same time. If I take them 5 minutes apart, the painkiller is already far less effective. All taken on an empty stomach.
Not taking paracetamol for many months did not lessen the headache whatsoever.
Ah, alright. Yeah interaction of medication is a complicated thing. I’d advise you to ask your specific questions to a doctor. Is it okay to take them at the same time, is it okay on an empty stomach, is it okay for my liver to take that dose of paracetamol x-times in a month… Maybe they suggest an alternative to Paracetamol that works better and has less side-effects, thus being more appropriate for you, individually. And I think doctors have access to databases and general recommendations concerning drugs and reciprocity and (case) studies. They’re probably more qualified to make a judgement and know about possible superior alternatives. (If there are any.)
They can also just test your blood and see if your liver is fine with what it’s been subjected to.
Yeah, I’d say abstaining from the medication for months and still having the same headaches pretty much rules out it being the cause of that.
I hope you’ll be granted an appropriate solution to your problem. Living with regular pain… isn’t nice.
Btw, we’re all gonna want an update if you figure it out. I’m invested now
I’ll try. Don’t think it will have a happy ending though
How come you have a headache every morning ? Sounds pretty worrying to me.
good question, I wish I knew… I am perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. Have had it since I was 10. Perhaps stress that I am incapable of getting rid of, even if don’t have ANY obligation. It’s like its an inherent part of me, never letting go of me…
There is a plethora of causes for “headache”, but you could maybe figure it out based on where and how it hurts. Get it checked.
Every morning headaches can be a sign of sleep apnea. Not saying you have it. Go to a doctor.
They are not great for your liver. Especially long-term consistent use. You should be taking periodic liver function tests.
You should be taking periodic liver function tests.
That’s not a bad idea… :(
N-acetyl-L-cysteine, commonly sold under the name NAC, is an amazing over the counter liver aid you should think about adding to your med list. It’s one of the most energy intensive detox molecules made by your liver. Taking it orally provides your liver a helping hand and allows it to focus more on detoxification rather than producing the required tools for detox. But definitely talk to your doc about it all, yet it’s something you can do to help out without much worry as its basically a fancy amino acid.
I see! I thought about this as well. I was indeed also worrying whether this itself had any (unforeseeable) side-effects. Hmm, just a fancy amino acid? I hope this is indeed as innocent as it sounds.
I’ve taken it for years, only thing to be sure of is to cycle it. I go for a month on month off, but definitely see what your doc’s rec is there over mine 100%.
Just for clarity, according to mountsinai.org “Cysteine is an amino acid, a building block of proteins that are used throughout the body. When taken as a supplement, it is usually in the form of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The body makes this into cysteine and then into glutathione, a powerful antioxidant.”
Seriously talk it over with the doc that prescribed you the ADHD meds. 1 gram of ace is a lot!
Be clear about what you’re doing and when.
In my personal experience that may differ from your own. The morning headache could simply be dehydration or minor withdrawal from the meds.
Generally speaking taking a 2 week break from the pain medication and caffeine may clear up your symptoms. But this is not professional advice, I’m not a medical professional. You should ask a doctor about this suggestion or any other remedies the good people of Lemmy suggest.
My doctor recommended strongly against having caffeine with the ADHD medications and could potentially indicate that your dosage needs adjusted. It’s bad for your heart and eyeballs.
If you read the long piece of paper that comes with those medications there is a warning about not consuming them at the same time as other medications. There’s a bunch of good reasons for this disclaimer.
The liver has different enzymes to break different molecules, so those drugs might all use different ones, not slowing down the breakdown of others. I didn’t check. Wikipedia usually tells drug metabolism in detail.
Good point. I’ll check. Though I’m not sure if that is the only point of relevance. What if the overal ‘output’ of the liver is still exceeded? Aka it’s just working overtime producing those different enzymes.
