SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It may be tempting to take Tylenol or Advil before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine to avoid side effects.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend this – at least until there is more research.
The science is mixed, but doctors say there is a possibility that preventive pain medications could lower someone’s immune response to the vaccine, based on research on mice and previous studies with children.
In the absence of firmer evidence, experts are encouraging people to try other remedies first. They advise people to use painkillers only after the injection if they really experience side effects like pain, headache or fever that they cannot tolerate.
“If you had a choice, I wouldn’t have chosen before,” said UC San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. “I would take it later.”
Some over-the-counter pain relievers work by blocking chemicals in your body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are hormones that trigger flu-like symptoms, so blocking them can provide relief. But chemicals also play an important role.
They are like a “bugle,” said Dr. Chin-Hong, because prostaglandins summon immune cells.
Taking painkillers before vaccination can drown out the bugle and result in fewer “troops” – antibodies – summoned to the battlefield, he said.
At least that’s the theory, although he notes that science is scarce.
One study found that mice that received ibuprofen produced less antibodies to the coronavirus. Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin.
A 2016 study of children who took painkillers before vaccination found that they also produced less antibodies. But a wider analysis of several studies found that painkillers didn’t really make a difference.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca clinical trial tested preventive paracetamol, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and found that it did not substantially affect the immune response, said Dr. Christian Ramers, of the San Diego Family Health Centers.
The Oxford vaccine does not use the mRNA technology found in Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
“The evidence is not conclusive at this point,” said Dr. Chin-Hong.
He says people should get the injection first, 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 get the painkillers.
By the time the side effects appear after the injection, the immune system is already mobilized. “You are not going to make it less mobilized,” he said.
Some experts have suggested that people consider paracetamol for vaccine-related side effects instead of ibuprofen, since ibuprofen affects prostaglandins more directly.
“Personally, it probably doesn’t matter that much,” said Dr. Chin-Hong.
Although the CDC recommends that people avoid pain medication before receiving the vaccine, doctors say that people who regularly take medication for chronic illnesses such as inflammatory diseases or arthritis should follow their normal routine.