Are two Aleves Really as good as Vicodins with no side effects?

Dosage for Aleve is one every twelve hours, with food. Two at a time is an overdose and can cause harm to stomach and GI tract. Lots of damage can take place before vomiting occurs.

Vicodin is a narcotic and a different kettle of fish entirely.

One always starts with the weakest analgesic or pain killer possible. And then ratchets up on advice of Doc.

Google “Aleve vs. Vicodin” for more detailed info.

@gailcalled You can actually take two Aleve for the first dose of the day, not to exceed three pills in 24 hours. See here. Also, you can take it without food, so long as it doesn’t upset your stomach. A full glass of water is required.

@Aster If Aleve works for your pain, then it’s all you need. Maybe you only need one, or maybe you only need Tylenol. It doesn’t work on everyone’s pain, and they may need to bump up to something stronger.

@augustlan; Thanks, but on the advice of my orthopedic surgeon, as of last week, he said to try to stick with one Aleve a day with a second one twelve hours later as an occasional treat. So I am taking my single dosage during my waking hours and using meditation and audio books to fall asleep by.

I have to factor my age in also. It is safer to take medicine risks when one is under 60. The older body does less well and can expect more side effects, more’s the pity. You are still a spring chicken.

@Aster I rarely take meds, but when I do it’s an occaional Ibuprofen or Aleve.

You can also use a patch and not take any kind of pill, which I highly recommend if you do not have memory issues.

@KNOWITALL I take one Aleve or two depending on how my lower back feels before bed. My mother took 2 aspirin each night and died of a stroke at 83. I have no idea if there was a connection. I need to do a lot more yoga; I think it’s fantastic for just about everything.

To be totally honest, aleve and other OTC painkillers work a lot better, for me anyway, that Vicodin or Percocet.

I was given Vicodin when I had a root canal. It didn’t do much for the pain, which wasn’t that bad to begin with, but it made me feel really mellow.

When I had kidney stones, my Dr gave me Percocet. That is a devil drug. It didn’t touch my pain, made me vomit, and made me really tired, but I couldn’t sleep.

So yes, aleve is just as good, or actually better than, prescription pain killers.

Vicodin is not a narcotic. It is a controlled prescription. It consists of Tylenol another analgesic, hydrocodone.

Aleve is an non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that works by lessening inflammation.

Vicodin and Aleve can be taken together.

Of course, the goal is to take the lowest effective dose. If Aleve works, great. Some people can not take NSAIDs because of risk of gastric bleeding, or compromised kidneys, or any other reason. I can not currently take them due to pregnancy, which bums me out because they work far better than Tylenol for me.

To answer your question, both are effective in pain relief. Vicodin is usually considered a step up, like Tylenol with codeine. Going higher would be the narcotics, such as Percocet (Tylenol with oxycodone), oxycodone in various strengths including extended release (aka oxycontin), morphine, opana, etc.

Just an add on that no medication is without side effects.

@Taciturnu Vicodin is a narcotic.

@Aster If it works it works. My husband swears by Aleve. I take Ibuprofen for pain. I have never taken Vicodin. I was in a very bad accident just over a year ago and I didn’t take close to the amount of medication that I could have. When I left the hospital they gave me 30 pain pills. I filled 15 and still have 12 left. I took some ibuprofen here and there.

All pain relievers have some risks. Tylenol has caused liver damage in many a people. I am not sure what organ Aleve taxes most. Vioxx, a prescription NSAID, wound up recalled because it was harming people, sometimes they died.

@jleslie, I encourage you to call a pharmacy and ask. There is a difference between narcotic and a controlled substance. Both require an id to fill at a pharmacy. Codeine on is own is a narcotic. Tylenol with codeine is not. There are some drugs that are classified As narcs (like Adderall) because of their propensity for abuse, but are not true narcs. vicodin isn’t one of them.

“Vicodin contains a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone. Hydrocodone is in a group of drugs called opioid pain relievers. An opioid is sometimes called a narcotic.” Source

Aleve’s most common side effects:

“Gastrointestinal side effects have been reported the most frequently. These have included constipation (3% to 9%), general abdominal discomfort (3% to 9%), nausea (3% to 9%), dyspepsia (3% to 9%), diarrhea, and stomatitis.

Serious gastrointestinal side effects include peptic ulcerations, and, in rare cases, gastrointestinal hemorrhage or perforation. Ulcerative esophagitis, eosinophilic colitis, allergic sialadenitis, and pancreatitis have been reported.

Heartburn and stomatitis have been reported in patients receiving the controlled release formulation of naproxen (the active ingredient contained in Aleve)”

Read more at http://www.drugs.com/sfx/aleve-side-effects.html#RxxAGCYqlUUPgOQq.99

@Taciturnu Here is the Vicodin website. The pharmaceutical company calls it a narcotic.

I’m (unfortunately and hopefully temporarily) workingin a pharmacy as a tech. Pharmacy standards do not count it as a narcotic, regardless of its opioid roots.

@Taciturnu Do they just call it an opioid? It doesn’t make sense. Even if codiene for instance is combined with another drug, it is still a narcotic. I’m not a medical expert of any sort, just trying to make sense of it. If I take straight codeine and chase it with a Tylenol from my OTC bottle, the codience is still the same. I think possibly the term narcotic is used fairly broadly though. Maybe it is an umbrella term, and the pharmacy is more specific? Not sure, just guessing.

An opioid derivative.

There’s a lot of strange classifications. Butalbital-acetaminophen-caffeine is commonly used for headaches/migraines and is available without needing to present an id. Replace the Tylenol with aspirin, and its magically a controlled substance. Apparently its easier to abuse with aspirin in place of Tylenol.

I don’t dispute it is an opioid. Back when I was in college, over 20 years ago, I know codeine could be dispensed without a prescription in some states. I don’t know the rule now. I had a bad cough at one point when I was living in MI and I just went to the pharmacy and signed out some codiene with terpin hydrate like they now do for some of the sinus meds.

This is the wikipedia on narcotics. Not a very clear definition really.

I know you weren’t disputing… Just starting what we would say if someone asked. I’ll see if I can get you a firm definition tomorrow. I know my brain is fried past 11pm.

I broke my ankle once in a car accident and was prescribed Vicodin. I am not one to take any kind of painkiller, because I don’t want to become addicted and because I don’t like side effects. However, I had a family function to attend and I was in a lot of pain. I took the Vicodin and I ended up lying on a chaise lounge in my parents’ yard, staring at the sky, very mellow. I could hear my mom talk and respond to her, but I was in la la land. I thought to myself “This must be what heroin feels like.” I gave the rest away. Two years ago I had weight loss surgery and was prescribed Vicodin again. I still have the unopened jar in my dresser drawer. The pain wasn’t that bad but I wanted to have the prescription filled and on hand just in case.

I can tell you the one pill I took was way different than any aspirin or over the counter painkiller I ever had. I don’t think it is equivalent to multiple Aleves or any kind of aspirin or ibuprofen.

Vicodin is addictive and can have devastating effects on the mind & body.
Alleve is perfectly safe as long as you follow the directions.

Vicodin is a controlled substance that contains a narcotic, hydrocodone, and a non-narcotic pain medication, Tylenol. Tylenol works in a different way to potentiate opioids. These medications are greatly abused! That is why many prescribers now dose with the lowest Tylenol combination due to high rates of liver damage. Many drug producers are going back to the pure forms of narcotics to prescribe due to abuse and the addition of Tylenol not staving off abuse with resultant liver failure.
Adderall is a controlled substance as well due to is potential for abuse but is not a narcotic. Narcotics are opioids and synthetic derivatives that act as an opioid and can be very addictive.
Aleve is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that relieves pain due to inflammation and can be very effective when recommended to take by your doctor. Just know if you decide to take it follow all instructions. Be aware it can lead to gastric bleeding ulcers in certain people and kidney injury especially in dehydrated states and combined with certain medications.

So pharmacy and healthcare standards…

Hydrocodone is not a narcotic. it is an opioid derivative. Not all opioid derivatives are narcotics, but all narcotics are opioid s. In order to be classified as a narcotic, it needs to meet certain potency standards.

For example, tylenol 3 is tylenol with codeine, specifically 300 mg of acetaminophen and 30 mg of codeine phosphate. Codeine phosphate is not a narcotic, but it is a controlled substance. 30 mg of codeine sulfate is a narcotic. Why? The potency and effect in the body is much greater.

While vicodin is controlled, while it consists of Tylenol and am opioid derivative, the potency is not there for it to be classified as a schedule II substance, aka narcotic.

With all controlled substances, there is a risk of abuse. People try to get high of of them, but people also drink Otc cough syrup to get high. Tolerance varies from person to person.

@Taciturnu Interesting. Thanks.

@JLeslie no problem. :-)