GroundhogDay

I sometimes take aspirin and have a hot bath to relieve joint pain, particularly after strenuous physical exercise such as skiing. However, I have also noticed that it relaxes me, and I sometimes use it for that purpose now that I am sober. I try not to do it too much since aspirin can be hard on the stomach and/or liver. I was interested to find this:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...ty-pop-tylenol

SoberLeigh

Interesting article, GroundHogDay.

The active ingredient in Tylenol (acetaminophen) has been proven to cause liver damage at certain dosages and frequencies. OTC medicines in the US which contain acetaminophen must clearly and prominently disclose the ingredient.

GroundhogDay

Aspirin is not acetaminophen, but is also dangerous if you take too much, particularly if you also drink alcohol.

SoberLeigh

You are absolutely correct; aspirin and tylenol are very different. The article also mentioned Tylenol which is potentially very dangerous to the liver so I wanted to comment on that.

I don't know very much about aspirin.

GroundhogDay

Aspirin can cause stomach bleeding, and alcoholics already have stomach issues. In my case, it is not a problem, but for many people it is.

GroundhogDay

I think my primary concern is that I am using the hot bath/aspirin technique to "come down" from drinking too much coffee earlier in the day. However, I just can't bring myself to give up, or even cut down, on the coffee yet. I need to stay focused on staying sober for now.

Oh, and I'm going to preempt the "see your doctor if you are concerned" comment by saying that she has been nagging me for two years to cut down on my coffee drinking. Oddly enough, she is just fine with my alcohol consumption.

SoberLeigh

I have cut down a little on coffee but still drink at least three cups a day; I try to make 11:00 or 12:00 my cut off times but I'm not always successful.

GroundhogDay

I am the same--I think it's that third cup that does me in. If I was exercising, it would probably be a non-issue, but it's just too cold outside to run right now. I'm not close enough to the slopes to ski more than a few times each season.

PurpleKnight

Aspirin is NSAID, I take it for migraines, it's the only thing I've found that does the trick, it's not a prescribed drug for everyone not in the know, it's a buy over the counter medicine!!

I guess my only concern would be if used for something not recommended by a Dr or a medical professional, for example the relaxing result that you're looking for, that's probably not a great reason to take a painkiller if that's the only purpose!!

Substitution of alcohol with a painkiller, could simply open up a whole new can of worms, if alcohol was used for the same purpose!!

All I'm saying is be careful!!

Soberwolf

Try this GHD A breathing exercise that calms panic attacks.

3 Anxiety Breathing Techniques You Can Practice Anywhere - Self help for anxiety - @AnxietySlayer

GroundhogDay

Hence, my post. I've substituted one drug (aspirin) for the other (alcohol). I can't win. That said, I am aware of the problem and will take steps to keep it from becoming a new addiction.

Unfortunately, I am getting older (I'm over 50), so joint pain is becoming a more frequent issue. My doctor recommends aspirin for that (it's not so bad that I would call it arthritis yet). So, even if I don't use it to relax, I'm likely to continue using it to stay active.

GroundhogDay

Thank you, Soberwolf.

WritingFromLife

CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR, of course--a low dose aspirin taken daily can help prevent heart attacks. DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT CHECKING WITH YOUR doctor, as with anything, including vitamins. They are not all harmless.

newhope01

Very interesting article to read GHD. Thanks for sharing it.

Some people even argue that an aspirin a day keeps the doctor away because of its benefits with preventing a heart attack or alzheimer's. Never thought about it effecting one's emotional pain though.

Dee74

Due to my condition I have a lot of joint pain. I've found that a gentle water based exercise programme really helps, and glucosamine seems to help too - as a result I no longer need to take daily painkillers.

Obviously your pain situation might be different but I think it's really it's worth the time and effort investigating other avenues if you feel, or fear, you have an emotional dependency developing.

D

Soberwolf

The gentle water based exercise sounds seriously helpful

I take Glucosamine for the arthritis in my ankle its helps it untold

& i take cod liver oil for my joints im 32 but i want to look after the joints etc you can get it in capsule you dont have to drink it or taste it & it really helps

Serper2014

I really have to comment on this. I read the psychology today report and then the articles it cited. These articles, are poor science and inconclusive. The methods that they used to induce social anxiety and rejection were questionable and the measures were very subjective. That is ok in a psychological study, but then they used FMRI to try and support the psychology with a physical measure. It's been known for a long time that the dorsal ACC and Insular cortex are activated during acute physical pain as well as emotional pain. However, FMRI doesn't currently have the resolution to tease out the neural circuits. They are basically taking cross sectional areas which contain thousands of neurons and saying that there is a correlation between those areas being activated and emotional pain and tylenol reducing the responses in those areas. The cross sectional area is way too large and has overlapping circuits.

For those that don't know a lot about the brain or science let me explain it this way.

They are taking areas of the brain that are activated by both physical and emotional pain.
Then they use a technique that averages that activation, but doesn't separate the physical areas and emotional areas. (It's impossible to do that right now in humans anyway.) So if they decrease the physical areas with tylenol, then the whole area's average (physical and emotional) is reduced.

That being said, pain itself can cause anxiety, and you taking tylenol and relaxing in a bath is certainly going to calm you down because you are reducing your joint pain, and heat is relaxing. Try taking the bath without the tylenol and seeing if you have an effect, or better yet...have a partner give you the tylenol or a vitamin with your eyes closed and then go take a bath and write down how relaxed you feel after. My bet is that you won't be able to tell the difference between the tylenol or the vitamin. (A simple experiment to cure your tylenol" addiction" which is purely psychological. Of course clear this experiment with your doctor first, but it's just tylenol lol. Tylenol gets a bad rep because of accidental OD's but it's actually a pretty great drug, and sort of in a class of it's own.

GroundhogDay

I already take a 81 mg daily aspirin with my doctor's full support. I will see her for my annual physical in a few weeks. I'm going to ask her if my taking 650 mg doses up to three days a week is a problem.

GroundhogDay

I forgot about glucosamine.

PurpleKnight

This is semi related but my dad, who later went on to die of alcoholism, used to take an aspirin a day, my dad used to be set in his ways, and would keep telling me it was good for the blood, and blood pressure, he'll be grand, no problems here, I'm on an aspirin a day etc etc

My dad had never been near a Dr in 40 years when all of a sudden he had a mini stroke, his blood pressure was off the charts.

NEVER EVER take aspirin and think everything will be simply ok, check with your Dr people!!