SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It may be tempting to take Tylenol or Advil before you get a COVID-19 vaccine to prevent the side effects.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against it – at least until there is more research.
The science is mixed, but doctors believe there is a possibility that preventative pain medication could dampen someone’s immune response to the vaccine, based on research on mice and previous studies on children.
If there is no solid evidence, experts encourage people to try other drugs first. They recommend that people only use medication after the survey if they experience side effects such as pain, headaches or fever that they cannot tolerate.
“If you had a choice, I would not take it before,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, doctor at UC San Francisco, said. “I’ll take it afterwards.”
Some over-the-counter medications that cause pain work by blocking chemicals in your body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are hormones that cause the feeling of flu-like symptoms, and they can provide relief if you block them. But the chemicals also play an important role.
They are like a ‘bugle horn’, Dr Chin-Hong said, because prostaglandins evoke immune cells.
The use of painkillers before vaccination can alleviate the bug and lead to fewer “troops” – antibodies – being called to the battlefield.
At least that’s the theory, though he notes that science is thin.
One study found that mice given ibuprofen produced fewer antibodies to the coronavirus. Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin.
In a 2016 study on children who took pain medication before vaccination, it was found that they also produce fewer antibodies. But a larger analysis of several studies found that the pain medication did not really make a difference.
The clinical trial in Oxford / AstraZeneca tested preventive acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and found that it did not significantly affect the immune response, said Dr. Christian Ramers of Family Health Centers of San Diego said.
The Oxford vaccine does not use the mRNA technology found in the shots of Pfizer and Moderna.
“The evidence is not conclusive yet,” said Dr. Chin-Hong said.
He says people should first get the chance, and then try simple remedies like a hot towel or arm movement if they feel pain at the injection site. If that doesn’t work, he says it’s okay to reach for the pain medication.
By the time side effects appear after the survey, the immune system is already mobilized. “You will not let it mobilize any less,” he said.
Some experts have suggested that people consider paracetamol as a side effect against vaccination instead of ibuprofen, as ibuprofen affects prostaglandins the most directly.
“Personally, it probably doesn’t really matter,” Dr Chin-Hong said.
Although the CDC recommends that people avoid pain medication before getting the vaccine, doctors say that people who use the drugs regularly for chronic conditions such as inflammatory diseases or arthritis should stick to their usual routine.