Ibuprofen is a Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) that reduces pain and inflammation, while acetaminophen does not. (Acetaminophen is believed to act mainly in the brain rather than at the site of injury).

Ibuprofen- Fundamentally, if the pain is caused by inflammation, reducing the immune systems response to it can reduce pain, but if the pain is more acute it won't make a dent.

With acetaminophen, taking more isn't a solution in most cases, you need another method to reduce the pain further if it doesn't achieve its goal.

(That's why it's combined with things like codeine, which affects the brain in a different way for an additive effect)

I did toss on the other option, stand alone, at one point so I could get some sleep.

It left the medication I was more comfortable taking as an add-on option if things got bad enough. (This particular medication has much lower risk of overdose, so if I got stupid and took it again there would be no significant additional risk.)

It's ironic, but taking the combined medication with a known higher risk of its own was better than taking the lower risk medication.

One was controlled, higher risk, taken at specific times, while the other was taken in addition, on demand, as required.

I'm aware of acetaminophen's down sides, and yet recently I was taking it combined with 2 other medications at the time.

Why? Because all three medications are recommended for dealing with the issue I had. (Alone and in combination)

The moment it wasn't helping further? Done.

There is this broken idea, particularly apparent in North America, but in western society that more is better for many things. It's not.

More pain killers don't do anything if they max out the relief they can give you, overloading their mechanism doesn't reduce anything, but taxing your liver or your kidneys.

All medications are potentially toxic, your body wants to dispose of them. In appropriate dosages they will benefit you, but more isn't inherently better.

Even water can kill you in sufficient quantity.

We do the same with diet; where someone declares one ingredient in a meal healthier than another; it isn't. A single ingredient isn't better or worse for you in a meal. Your diet however can be good or bad; over time that matters.

While our precise perception of red may not match, the interplay between colors is such that people perceived them to go together, or clash, etc, in a somewhat consistent fashion.

This means that, over the general population the perception of color is very similar from person to person. Ignoring genetic defects.