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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It can be tempting to take Tylenol or Advil before you get a COVID-19 vaccine to avoid side effects.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against it – at least until there is more research.
The science is mixed, but doctors say it’s possible that preventative pain relievers may dampen a person’s immune response to the vaccine, based on research in mice and previous studies in children.
In the absence of stronger evidence, experts are encouraging people to try other remedies first. They advise people to only use pain relievers after the injection if they actually experience side effects such as pain, headache, or fever that they cannot tolerate.
“If you had a choice, I wouldn’t take it before,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, UC San Francisco infectious disease specialist. “I’ll take it after.”
Some over-the-counter pain relievers work by blocking chemicals in your body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are hormones that trigger the sensation of flu-like symptoms, so blocking them may provide relief. But chemicals also have an important role.
They are like a “bugle horn,” said Dr Chin-Hong, because prostaglandins invoke immune cells.
Taking pain relievers before vaccination could stifle the bugle and result in fewer “troops” – antibodies – summoned to the battlefield, he said.
At least that’s the theory, although he notes that the science is thin.
One study found that mice given ibuprofen produced fewer antibodies against the coronavirus. Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin.
A 2016 study of children who took pain relievers before vaccination found that they too produced fewer antibodies. But a larger analysis of several studies found that pain medications didn’t really make a difference.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca clinical trial tested preventative acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and found that it did not substantially affect the immune response, said Dr Christian Ramers of Family Health Centers in San Diego.
The Oxford vaccine does not use the mRNA technology found in the injections from Pfizer and Moderna.
“The evidence is inconclusive at this point,” said Dr Chin-Hong.
He says people should get the shot first, then try simple remedies like a hot towel or arm movement if they experience pain at the injection site. If that doesn’t work, he says it’s okay to take the pain relievers.
By the time the side effects appear after the shot, the immune system is already mobilized. “You are not going to make him less mobilized,” he said.
Some experts have suggested that people consider acetaminophen for vaccine-related side effects instead of ibuprofen, as ibuprofen most directly affects prostaglandins.
“Personally, it probably doesn’t really matter,” Dr Chin-Hong said.
Even though the CDC recommends people avoid pain relievers before getting vaccinated, doctors say people who regularly take medication for chronic conditions like inflammatory disease or arthritis should stick to their usual routine. .
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