" the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S." guess what?

TYLENOL


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/


It took Tylenol (a brand of acetaminophen) quite a while, and not a bit of money, to recover from the deaths from tampering a few years ago.

If you switched to aspirin, naproxen sodium, ibuprofen, cold compresses or drinking less you may have made a good choice.

Unadulterated (i.e. regular, not tampered-with) Acetaminophen turns out to be the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S.

Revere writes:
"This has been known for a few years, but the general public (and many health care providers) remain unaware of it. The 'therapeutic window' (the difference between a safe and harmful dose) is narrow and the drug is found in many different formulations (an estimated 200), often labeled non-aspirin pain relievers. Thus it is relatively easy to take several different over-the-counter and even prescription drugs (e.g., Percoset and Vicodin) that have acetaminophen in them and exceed the maximum recommended daily dose..."
---------------------------------


big pharma doesn't want us well or to cure us. they want us sick and chronic sick so their profits stay high.

big pharma looks at your liver as a money maker for them. greedy, corrupt dumbfucks.

My husband had Hepatitus C, and was told NEVER to take Tylanol again.

WOW. I had no idea.

Like AC/DC says best: HAVE A DRINK ON ME!
Shit! I don't feel so bad being a booze hound now!!!!!!!!!!

Lu

I was just going to run to the grocery store... but I think I'll stop off at the liquer store to.

:)

for chronic liver failure. So drink up boozehounds. And fire up a cigarette while you're at it. The two deadliest legal substances of abuse will continue to tear up the country for a long while yet (Note: no medical value either), while the Schedule One Lie stands idly by in the corner.

Tylenol is very toxic to liver cells acutely. Chronic low-dose use is not known to be particularly dangerous, unlike alcohol where 10-15% of chronic abusers will develop cirrhotic liver disease.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Welcome to DU anyway, Doc.

:)

Take Ibuprofen or aspirin to prevent hangovers before you go to sleep.

did you mean Ibuprophen?

I mean Ibuprofen. I just woke up. Sorry.

I took Darvocet for months last year for a disc problem before my surgery. After the fact I found out it is really a high dose of Tylenol! I am pissed the Doctor never told me. I drank during the time but never before or after I had just taken a darvocet. I tried to keep a few hours between. But still... :(

It could kill you instantly, so hopefully you don't have a problem. I remember reading an account of an Italian who would drink a glass or two of wine every night with his dinner. But when he took Tylenol one night, he died.

I take Milk Thistle, which is an herb is said to prevent or repair liver damage.

wow! Thank you for the tip. I was wondering what sort of herbs might be helpful. I will get some when the ice melts here in NC today.

:hi:

but use children's Advil or something, if necessary.

And of course no aspirin either for children.


edited to clarify about aspirin.

nt

I had never heard anything about it being bad for adults, but everyday there is a new study so you never know.

Rhye syndrome (did I spell it right?)

... it is Reyes syndrome.

has been linked to Reyes Syndrome a potentially lethal condition. Give kids Kids Motrin etc.
Excessive tylenol has been known to cause liver failure for YEARS. Especially when linked with alcohol use (over 3 drinks). Aspirin is fine for adults...but be careful of your tender tummy lining.

I had broken a collar bone, and my orthpedic doc said here, try this new painkiller, better than aspirin. I tried it and broke out in hives within an hour. I was allergic to one of the inert ingredients. I've stuck with the good old tried and true aspirin ever since. I'm not allergic to it, it works well, and it has a proven track record going back centuries.

But big pharma doesn't like it because it isn't a profit booster, thus they come out with the new thing. Trouble is sometimes that new thing is worse than what it is replacing, but they don't care, they're laughing all the way to the bank.

by people who avoid other hepatotoxins like alcohol and by people who don't have viral liver disease is reasonably safe. It is hard on the kidneys, though. The best way to use it is rarely, according to the label, and as an antipyretic (fever reducer) more than pill for everyday pain. Most people who run into serious trouble just don't read the labels, and are taking the drug during a case of the flu by itself, plus in cold tablets, plus in cough syrup, overdosing without realizing it.

Some of us have no alternative, though, as allergy to aspirin and the other anti inflammatories like ibuprofen aren't that rare.

Most nurses will tell you that the worst attempted suicides out there are the Tylenol overdoses. Oh, some of them will eventually manage to die, but not until they've spent about three weeks puking and bleeding as their livers fail completely.

Just because something is sold over the counter doesn't mean that idiots who don't bother to educate themselves won't run into trouble with it. The cure for that sort of thing is education, not alarm.

in the ICU, not pretty.

I also have a cousin who took a bottle of Tylenol to kill herself. She was sick for a long long time after that but she did recover. I have no idea what has happened to her since then but I would guess she has to be careful with her liver now.

symbolic gesture than actual attempt, incorrectly thinking that it can't hurt them too badly.

An acetaminophen OD is one of the worst. MKJ

reactant to it, it's probably fine.

There are people who eat painkillers like candy, and I would assume that it could build up in the body...as anything could.

I'll stick with Ibuprofen, although it's probably bad for me too.

I still take it for fever. The side effect gets swamped by the general sick feeling.

both accidentally took tylenol and Vicodin,which has tylenol,for orthopedic pain.Both in their 20s.I can't tell you how many kids I had to give mucomyst(the only antidote,that I know of)to...it smells like rotton eggs,and gives people TERRIBLE diarrhea...but it beats dying.

When I was growing up ('80s) my mother wouldn't give me asparin because I was under 18, but Tylenol never worked for me, so I suffered many days in pain. I praised every deity known when ibuprofen came out!

Thanks for posting this!

This is shocking to me, as I've taken Tylenol for pain for years. Luckily, I don't get headaches that often, but still, everytime I do, that's what I take.

I wonder what I should switch to. I can't take aspirin; it hurts my digestive track too much. Maybe Advil? Anyone have any suggestions? I should talk to my doctor.

it would be a risk to you.

Queensryche rules!! :headbang:

Yet another reason to get away (if you can) from the big chains and internet-driven pharmacies. It helps if your pharmacist is a friend and golf buddy, too, but just establishing a good relationship works as well and pays multiple dividends.

Not news, folks.

ibuprofen and aspartame

so am pretty much stuck for pain relief. I always avoided Tylenol because of the dangers but now I can't take any of the NSAIDs. I can only hope I remain pain free for the rest of my life.

Mz Pip :dem:

And that people with liver problems shouldn't take Tylenol.

I'll stick with ibuprofin, I guess.

the problem with Tylenol's toxicity is that it takes some days before you notice symptoms. People who make a suicidal gesture by taking a handful of Tylenol won't have any immediate problems. Then a few days later, after they decide what the heck, they wanted to live anyway, find that their liver's shot and suddenly they're on death's door.

My friend was manic depressive and claimed he had quit drinking. He quit taking his meds and took tylenol as a 'suicide gesture' and when he finally went to the hospital they told him if he had come immediately they could have helped him, but basically because of the number of tylenol he had taken and how much time had passed he was going to die...it was just a matter of days. We spent 5 days in intensive care with him and the doctors explained that if only he had drank some alcohol at the same time he took the tylenol that the liver 'prefers' alcohol and that the kidneys would have been forced to excrete the toxins from the tylenol...well after 5 days sleeping in the waiting room of the intensive care and telling one doc..that I did not like they way she delivered the news at every meeting and that all we had was hope..and that the other doc offered us some hope and we wished he would give us the news...turned out my friend LIVED..HE DID drink alcohol, but was ashamed to tell his mom...can you imagine that...OK to attempt suicide..MOT okay to drink beer?

But I do know that it is only if you take them simultaneusly...and not at different times.

Ibuprofen is the only way to go.

It sure does work, but is it tylenol or a clone?

Just wondering.

The cholesterol lowering drugs alter liver function and the use of them has increased dramatically. I wonder if there is a connection there. Of course, I would not expect the pharmaceutical companies to necessarily tell us, or the FDA to protect us.

When I hear the side effects mentioned in the ads for drugs, I wonder how this crap makes it to the market. It is truly frightening.

i esp. hate to hear of a heavy drinker or alcoholic taking tylenol, they don't need the double hit to the liver

sadly i learned abt this because a friend, a non-drinker, was diagnosed w. cirrhosis of the liver in his thirties, at first the doc didn't believe he didn't drink, he went to several other docs before he learned the cause was the 8 (!) tylenols he was taking each day for headache, he'd been taking them for only 6 months at this dose before the problem developed

i had better edit to clarify my friend was not an idiot who didn't read directions, he was taking the tylenol on advice from doc #1 for severe headache pain, this was in the 80s before we have the migraine medicines we do now

i thought all docs were well-versed in the risk of tylenol by now & were more cautious abt telling people to use this painkiller, however i was shocked that a relative was prescribed an Rx acetaminophen product (yes, i believe it was vicodin) over the phone when she ran out of a narcotic pain killer, i know he wanted to make it easier for me to fill the Rx for her, but hopefully he was very aware of her health, the pharmacist was good & asked me to sign something saying i was aware that she should not drink while using the product, i knew that, she knew that, but i think not all patients would have known if not fully informed

a good pharmacist will save your rear end


on the good side, it looks like the medical community is trying to get the info out there in a non-alarmist way, and we do need non-narcotic pain medicines available for people

what the hell is left to take?

HEP C is the fastest growing blood borne illness in the United States. LIver failure due to HEP C is a huge problem right now.

:crazy:

I always use naproxen anyway, but that's horrible

Any medicine has its dangers when used not in accordance with the recommendations. In Tylenol's case, I have known for years the liver complications associated with it, but have also known just as long that it is only relevant when taken in too high a dosage and too frequently.

I love tylenol, and see no reason whatsoever to condemn it. Sorry.

recently that said Tylenol was the only safe over the counter pain killer and how Advil was dangerous.

This recent thing is probably Advil's way of getting even with Tylenol! Who can you trust!?!!?

can cause increased blood pressure - in women. I discovered, on my own, that taking it increases my own blood pressure.

at the early learning center where I worked.

I was told to give my dogs aspirin, not Tylenol. That Tylenol would fry their liver. Excess aspirin dosage would result in stomach problems long before the toxicity buildup became lethal. Stomach problems which could be treated. With Tylenol, the toxic damage to the liver would occur with no warning.

As a result, I started keeping two types of aspirin in the house. I have Ascriptin for the dogs (I monitor the date stamp for expiration dates) - it's a lot more expensive but it contains a stomach buffer; and a cheap generic for myself.

(I became aware of this when my two year old dog had to have reconstructive knee surgery on both hind legs and I didn't want to give him a prescription paiinkiller on a regular basis if he didn't need it. I preferred an over the counter alternative and I was advised to use the Ascriptin.)

WTF? Isn't that a bit young to have such problems like that? Poor dog, where'd he come from?

I am pretty sure that is the case but check the label.

They all have their problems. Take any of them in moderation and you're probably fine.

all drugs are lethal at some concentration level. hell, pure oxygen will kill you as well. all potent things need moderation and dilution. remember, the only difference between a drug and a poison is concentration and usage.

the big advantage to tylenol is it has a very low interaction rate with other medication. so if you are in an accident and need emergency assistance, acetaminophen is quite useful in that there's very little risk of dangerous mixed interactions, unlike quite a bit of the OTC pain killers out there. that said, it is lethally dangerous at high doses and has horrendously lethal potential with interaction with alcohol. all of this is readily available at your local library in the pharmacological desktop encyclopedia (something everyone should look at at some point in their life).

the scariest drug in terms of interactions is by far alcohol. that sucker mixes with just about everything. makes dosage calculations during emergencies nigh impossible.

what really started to piss me off lately is the sheer neglect many big pharma corps treat acetaminophen. just because it has a low interaction rate doesn't mean it's candy. by them adding it to just about everything under the sun is only asking for problems. does it really need to be in variants of meds like... midol, cough suppresant, nasal congenstion, sleep remedies, etc? no, it really shouldn't, but it's there anyways. and that's where this article shows where the problem is. people are ODing without knowing it; and it's downright irresponsible for big pharma to treat any drug like a child's toy. people are often quite ignorant and trusting in their busy lives; that trust and ignorance is being exploited.

so... don't worry about the tylenol, unless you eat it like pez candy, consume N+ medications a day w/ "mysterious benign pain reliever included," or chase it with a 5th of jack daniels. then you are just asking for it.

..... 10 grams can be a lethal dose.

I've been harping on this for years. You cannot eat these things like candy to try to make your headache go away.

Almost all medicines are dangerous if used incorrectly. You can certainly screw yourself up on aspirin if you take enough of it.

My only beef with Tylenol is that the makers practically disavow this well-established knowledge.

supposed to be the only safe one until I read this.

Be concerned about the ones your doctor prescribes for you, like if you hurt your back or something. Those suckers can fuck up your stomach & intestines but good!

avoid Tylenol if you can,
take aspirin

"The antidote to acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose is N-acetylcysteine (NAC). It is most effective when given within 8 hours of ingesting acetaminophen. Indeed, NAC can prevent liver failure if given early enough. For this reason, it is absolutely necessary that acetaminophen poisoning be recognized, diagnosed, and treated as early as possible." http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/19765-1.asp

You can buy NAC over-the-counter at a health food store. Also, it wouldn't hurt to pick up some Milk Thistle which helps with liver damage when you are there.

During a recent hospitalization, I wanted to ask my doctor for Oxycodone instead of Percoset, because I avoid Tylenol due to the liver complications. Unfortunately, Percocet was designed both for additional pain control, and to discourage those seeking an oxycodone "high" -- for this reason doctors are wary of prescribing oxycondone without acetamenaphen.

It should be noted that drugs like aceptamenaphen and ibruprofen were approved before the FDA and "big pharma" started looking hard at things like liver damage. As many doctors say, "if it were to go before the FDA today, aspirin would never be approved."

I am kind of tired of the black-and-white thinking that assumes that all pharamceutical companies are up to nothing but evil deeds. There are some pretty useful things being produced - ask Lance Aremstrong, or my friend Jean who is a breast cancer survivor.

One of my other good friends is able to work and be a mother to her kids today because those "greedy corrupt dumbfucks" make a highly toxic medication called Enbrel, which relieves and stops the progressive of her severe rheumatoid arthritis, which had almost completely crippled her. Before Enbrel, she had actually had to pay a person to come to her house every morning and dress her, because she was unable to put on her clothes before her NSAIDs took what little effect they could. After Enbrel, she became 100% functional. She knows the stuff is toxic, but it's all about trade-offs. And she chooses mobility. There's not an herb in the world that would restore her mobility like Enbrel.