Tylenol

[violette]

Do any of you take meds on a ride? When I did the MS130, I took Tylenol at the halfway mark and it made the ride a lot easier. My legs weren't so sore. I was just wondering if it is all in my mind or does it really help.

[ttaylor508]

I occasionally take ibuprofen when my knees start to give me a bad time. I have used it the last two years on a one day double century. I don't usually take it until the 100 mile mark and then only one tablet. Then I take another about about 150. Usually two is all I need.

[Blueberry]

I took advil at the MS Ride this year (Saturday only). Yes - it helped.

CA

[Tokie]

Advil is my drug of choice too! Be sure if you are taking ibuprofen that you are well hydrated. If you are significantly dehydrated when you take it, you run the risk of kidney damage. Sometimes when I can't take ibuprofen (sore stomach) I am surprised at how well tylenol does work. Tokie

[sundial]

Tylenol is great for pain but doesn't help with inflammation like ibuprofen. I prefer ibuprofen for that reason.

[OakLeaf]

I've read that ibuprofen can interfere with rebuilding muscle tissue.

Guess we just have to suffer Or, somebody pass the Tramadol.

[Skierchickie]

Rarely, but sometimes. I've never had much luck with Tylenol for anything. It has never worked on my headaches, anyway. If I do take anything, it's ibuprofen for the anti-inflammatory effects. I don't want to just kill pain, but remove the cause. I don't usually, unless I'm sure I'll be better off with it. Yesterday I did take some preemptively before my 120 miler. And in the middle of the night last night, when I realized I was pretty achy and it would help - especially my knees from a killer uphill. I was up at 2am cleaning up kitty puke anyway.

[alpinerabbit]

I take pain killers for headaches.

For rides, I prefer to train - the idea seems wrong to me, doing more km than I am ready for, and compensating that with pills - I am afraid I'd ride through pain that shows you are overusing your body.

that was a polite way of saying, are you nuts - you're doping.

But I do know folks who do it.

I do take diclofenac cream for sore sitbones though.

[michelem]

I've read that ibuprofen can interfere with rebuilding muscle tissue.

Apparently, that was from an old one-day study. A newer study shows that it actually enhances muscle growth over time!

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...7040-1,00.html

However, I have to agree with alpinerabbit that it's not good to take something that will dull pain BEFORE AND DURING workouts. This can lead to injuries due to not feeling the warning signs (pain) that something is wrong.

Personally, I take ibuprofen for a day or two after a long (15+ miles) pounding run, but I don't take it on a regular basis or for muscle soreness related to other types of workouts (weights or cycling). I just REALLY don't like taking any medications unless I have to.

[Tuckervill]

Some people have pain no matter what, so if taking ibuprofen makes the ride a little more enjoyable, what the heck?

Tylenol never works for me, either.

Karen

[Aggie_Ama]

I have off and on issues with my knees swelling, even with a dialed in bike fit. No matter the amount of training and prep I am still sensitive to knee issues so I take 4 ibuprofen before a long ride. The 4 is the recommended dose by my doctor for my condition and was given with the caution not to do it every ride and to drink lots of water. My right knee has had three injuries (nothing serious) mainly tendonitis type things from running and my past life bowling. I would rather dull the pain and go on than sit on the sidelines. Mine is not a recent injury though more a sensitivity that is lingering from past abuse of my knees.

I also get very intense headaches, a couple of doctors have said they may be migraines but I hate people throwing around the term when I have friends with real migraines. I take Excedrin Migraine for them. Otherwise I try to live with the pain on muscles, use Bio Freeze or Epsom Salt baths and avoid more ibuprofen. I have always heard it can cause kidney issues and ulcers if not taken in moderation.

[OakLeaf]

A newer study shows that it actually enhances muscle growth over time!

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...7040-1,00.html

Yeah, I saw that when it came out, but just as it's been shown that studies on adult men don't always translate to women's or children's bodies, I'm wary of assuming that test results on a sample aged 60+ apply to younger persons.

Just taking the simplest possible explanation into account, did they survey the subjects for pain before beginning the study? (None of the accounts that I've read says that they did, although I haven't found the full text of the journal article.) Just as a number of posters have stated, if you're in chronic pain anyway (as unfortunately a lot of older adults are), and if you understand (or have a trainer explaining) when it's appropriate to work through the pain vs. when it's going to injure you further, then anything that relieves the pain is going to help you work harder and, over time, build more muscle.

It's also notable to me that the acetaminophen group performed MUCH better than the ibuprofen group in that study.

I think we're really talking about two different things in this thread: (1) whether a healthy individual without chronic pain should take a maintenance or prophylactic dose of pain relievers (IMO absolutely not), vs. (2) whether someone WITH chronic pain should try to relieve that before and during exercise (IMO, yes, as long as they have a good understanding of how to avoid injuring themselves either by over-exertion or by medication side effects).