How Well Do You Know Your Medicines?

If you're an adult with pain, such as arthritis, the medicines you take for pain may interact or interfere with other medicines you take for other conditions. When the medicines interact, it may change the way one or both of them work in your body. This may cause unexpected, and sometimes dangerous, side effects.

Drug Interactions
Many of the medicines frequently used to treat arthritis pain belong to a class of medicines called NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories). Commonly used OTC NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin® IB), and naproxen sodium (Aleve®), as well as traditional prescription NSAIDs (such as indomethalin, ibuprofen, etc.) and COX-2 inhibitors, like Celebrex®. These drugs work by blocking the production of substances in the body that cause pain and inflammation.

NSAIDs may interact with common prescription medicines for high blood pressure.

The medicine in Tylenol is not an NSAID. It’s a pain reliever that works differently. And unlike Aleve, which may interact with many blood pressure medications, Tylenol won’t. Patients should always read and follow labeled directions on the medications they are taking. Tylenol should not be used with other acetaminophen-containing products.

Tylenol is the over-the-counter pain reliever doctors recommend most for patients who have kidney disease, asthma, and ulcers, and who take medicines for high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and even patients who take prescription NSAID for arthritis.