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[–] 13 points 3 years ago (6 children)

Not all pain killers fit into those two categories.

The normal headache pill, paracetamol (most notably sold as "Panadol"), is neither NSAID nor opioid.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    That's Tylenol (acetaminophen) for the US folks.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    Oh yeah, that's right. That's a weird one. Not sure why they have two such different names.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    It's para-acetyl-amino-phenol vs para-acetyl-amino-phenol.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago

    Your distinction is correct, but I simply listed NSAIDs as an example, not an exhaustive list of pain relievers. You also make assumptions on "the normal headache pill" based on your locale. In the US paracetamol/acetaminophen/Tylenol is very common, but so is ibuprofen/Advil, naproxen sodium/Aleve, and aspirin/Bayer. In fact, I'd argue ibuprofen is far more popular here based on how much larger the ibuprofen section is compared to acetaminophen in pharmacies. Granted acetaminophen is a bit more common in compound OTC meds like cold and flu medicines.

    That being said, paracetamol functions extremely similarly to NSAIDs, but it's not anti-inflammatory, and works on the nervous system only, whereas NSAIDs affect the brain and body as well.

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