I’ve started seeing adds for a new Advil brand product that contains not only ibuprofen but acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) too. I am personally flabbergasted that the FDA approved this drug combo since it seems ripe for causing more fatal overdoses.
Tylenol likes to call itself one of the safest pain relievers but I’m going to be honest about what it really is— it’s an ok pain reliever/fever reducer but it is vastly overused and it is DANGEROUS. Taken in large doses all at once, normal doses by a person who also consumes alcohol, or even just normal doses but daily for long periods of time can cause liver failure. Liver failure is a painful and messy way to die.
Now let’s talk about Advil. Advil is actually a much better pain reliever but unfortunately many people cannot take it. Taken in even normal doses it can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, which can be quickly fatal if not treated. Advil also impacts kidney function and can cause kidney damage leading to failure.
The makers of Advil now claim that this “first and only FDA approved pain relief medication to combine Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen… allows you to take a lower maximum daily dose of each medication and now get up to 8-hours of powerful relief.” (Advil website)
While this claim sounds great and is actually true, I still think that putting these 2 together will lead to more accidental organ damage than savvy & educated patients combining these 2 drugs on their own. But maybe that is just the paternalistic “doctor” part of my brain?