What do you think a paracetamol dose is

[2021hwg]

So. Neither dh or I take many painkillers.

Tonight I had a bad headache so grabbed the box and took two! Dh was appalled and Said. What are you doing. It's one tablet not two.

We can't agree. I think on your normal box of paracetamol the dose is two.

For adults is 1G which is 2 tablets. However if you weigh less than 50kg you take 1 tablet which is 500mg.

If it's a bad headache take 2 and then 1-2 every few hours before the headache comes back. So many health professionals have explained to me that painkillers work better if you take them before the pain returns. You can intersperse them with Ibuprofen too without bad effects.

Paracetamol is weight-based, as above the 500mg dose will be for adults who are under 50kg. Common dose for petite women in their 80s and 90s, not often for working-age men!

@PickAChew

"That poor woman, on a ward with women in labour, at term :("

It was terrible, she was having a quite late miscarriage (17 weeks, the whole thing has really stuck in my mind) and me and the other woman on the ward were both being induced. My baby was being monitored with a CTG a lot due to potential complications, so she was literally listening to my baby's heartbeat while losing her own. And all she got was one bloody paracetamol. I know capacity in hospital is what it is, but this shouldn't be allowed to happen.

Always 2

2 for an adult, one for a younger teen.

2 tablets. Unless under 50kg.

But my DH is like yours, he looked at me in shock when I suggested taking more than one.

I pointed out he is not a child and has not been for >30 years.

If you want to get technical the dose should be calculated by body weight. Think how light a 12 year old might be with the stated dose of 1-1.5 tablets and then think of your weight or an average fully grown man and think about how much you could really take without it doing you harm.

I always take 1 unless the pain is too awful, then it's 2.

Standard dose is 2, I'd say the 1 is for teens etc

2 is perfectly normal. My husband - who is a doctor - sometimes takes 4 at once. If I've got a particularly bad headache he gets me to take 2 paracetamol and 2 ibuprofen together.

It’s 1g every 4hrs, no more than 4 doses in a 24hr period.

Adjust for children or people with liver issues. Read the box/inside leaflet of your medicines if you are ever unsure.

The proper adult dose is 2 tablets unless you weigh less than 50kg.

I'd say standard is 2 but I take one because I find that works fine and then I can take the second a few hours later to stretch out the pain relief time

500mg - 1-2 tablets up to four times a day (3 times a day in the over 70's) no more than 8 in 24 hours.

Always two. If I’m in pain, I’d like an effective dose please.

If I was very tiny I might only take one, but probably not.

He’s wrong it’s two. I’ve been known to take 2 Ibuprofen as well at the same time for a bad headache (he’s be having the wobbles if he saw that 🤭😄)

Take the correct dose as it will work to control the pain. Don't take a half dose, it will be ineffective and you will need more drugs ultimately over a longer time. For paracetamol be very careful of the 24h max though

I'm another 2+2 taker here (paracetamol and ibuprofen together). If I want pain relief, I want pain relief.

I did spend a few days in Spain not realising the paracetamol I'd bought were double strength, and still took two at once! It certainly stopped the pain from my ear infection!

My understanding (which may be wrong) is that you need to take the right amount for your body weight or it doesn't work. So taking one won't actually be effective at all. It isn't like taking a bit more if you are in more pain.

On one of the ambulance documentaries this week they had someone and the paramedics told him off for only taking one, told him the dose was 2.

Having said that dh will only take 1.

If I could get by with just 1 then I wouldn’t bother taking it. 2 is the standard dose.

1. What on earth is he appalled about. I don't understand this competitive under taking of painkillers.

But also,
My BIL is a doctor, and their dd has a heart condition. When she had a fever as a child they had to give her max dose in order to protect her heart from the fever.
he knows how much to give per body weight, as her consultant had told him and trusted him with the dosage as he is a doctor himself.
The safe amount of paracetamol is much much higher than the actual dose allowed on the kids' bottles etc. The margin of error is huge.
(sorry, side track, as kids and adults packets are obviously not the same)

@FudgeFlake

Paracetamol (and ibuprofen and aspirin) are deliberately only sold in 5mg doses, so that it doesn't matter what the brand name might be, dosage is the same, you take one or two, no more, at a time, and wait for four hours before taking any more. And no more than eight all together in any 24 hour period.

None of the medication you mention is sold in 5mg doses.

Ibuprofen can be bought in 200 or 400mg tablets. The standard dose is 400mg so you should only (under normal circumstances) take 1 if it's a 400mg tablet, which you can buy in a pharmacy.

In most of Europe it's 1 x 1000mg tablet
In UK it's usually 2 x 500mg tablets