Would you know if you was dying of acute liver failure?

[worryinglike]

I'm sending myself barmy. I have post natal depression, well anxiety and ocd, which I've always had but every pregnancy I've had seems to trigger it off really bad.
I've convinced myself I'm going to die of liver failure. I take cocodamol everyday and have done for the last 6 years. The last 3 years codeine has been added to my prescription.
The other day I accidentally took x4 extra tablets than I should have. I made myself sick once I realised which was within the hour. This was Saturday. Total 6g.
I've been shitting myself ever since, I've not stopped googling and researching, I didn't realise how dangerous paracetamol is.
Please don't tell me to go to hospital, I won't do that. It was 5 days ago now, NAC won't do anything at this point. All that would happen is a referral to social services which I really don't fucking need, my kids are loved, looked after, fed and happy.
I have no symptoms of liver failure. But I am convinced. I keep checking to see if my eyes have turned yellow.
Would I know if I had acute toxic hepatitis ?
I'm telling myself even though it was not a lethal limit because I take it everyday anyway then there would've been enough in my system.
I feel like an absolute mad woman. I can't stop worrying.

Last week I was convinced my baby was going to die. I fucking hate saying those words, it makes me feel sick. But I'm trying to get across how bad I am atm.
Inside I know it's my irrational brain doing this but I can't shut that fucking voice off. I feel almost delusional I'm so convinced !!

I have posted here for support so please please be kind I can't cope with the nastiness some posters bring

Hi OP, I’m sorry you’re struggling right now. Yes you would know.

You need to see a doctor or your midwife or other health professional and tell them what you said here.all the best

I can't speak to your wider problems but my brother died of acute liver failure and was visibly seriously ill. He lost weight suddenly and became jaundiced and weak.

I really don't think you have done yourself any harm at all.

What help are you receiving for your postnatal depression/anxiety? I had this and it's awful, my heart goes out to you.

You would know and it wouldn't happen from 4 extra tablets.

And I think you know that too and it is your anxiety talking.

Hi, I know you don’t want to attend hospital but you really should. Is there a reason that you are worried about a referral to SS? this was an accidental OD not intentional At the least please let your MW know

4 extra tablets as a one off are not going to cause liver failure

Between over reacting to this & your thoughts about your baby dying suggests you're suffering from anxiety. It might be worth speaking to your doctor or midwife about that. You will make yourself ill if you over react to or worry about un necessary things

Yes you would know.
But OP, this post is telling me you need more help for your PND/anxiety.
Book yourself in for a GP appointment and say all of this. It’s ok to need help, we all do sometimes.

Please seek some help.

Even if there is a referral to SS, which I don't see there being as you're looking after your dc, and not having intrusive thoughts about harming them, they don't just swoop in and remove your children.

SS can actually provide valuable support in many different ways, so don't be scared of them.

For context about liver failure, I've known 3 people die from it, all in their 70s, and all after spending at least 40 years drinking daily, and it was very evident that their livers were failing, bloating, yellow tinge, pain, bleeding that wouldn't stop. You woukd be very aware.

The thing is when your mind is at rest about your liver then there will be something else, and something again after that. You need to break this cycle in your own mind, and the only way to do this is to reach out for support.

It's really awful having these thoughts, it takes up every waking moment and really takes the joy out of your life. You deserve happiness op 💐

If you had liver failure, life threatening, your skin and eyes would be yellow, really swollen belly, feeling really sick etc. it's extremely unlikely you'd have it from taking a few extra tablets. You have to take loads of paracetamol in one go to harm the liver fatally. I think.
Please try not to worry. You can get a blood test from the GP which will measure the liver enzymes, just to put your mind at ease. The liver is a very strong organ, it replenishes itself a lot. Of course it can be damaged but liver failure is something that would be the most extreme case.

You would know if you had acute liver failure.

go and speak to your gp about your health anxiety.

I have health anxiety and it’s awful, I’m on meds now and it is better x

That is not a significant overdose of paracetamol. You will be fine.

But I am very worried that a) you have a lot of symptoms of untreated mental health needs and those need treatment and b) you are taking both cocodamol and codeine daily for pain

You need to see your GP/HV or midwife urgently and discuss your mental health. They will not treat this as a safeguarding matter and get social services involved. Postnatal anxiety is incredibly common especially if you have had it before. It's also very treatable. If you don't feel ready to talk to a healthcare professional try calling the PANDAS helpline

You also need to discuss you pain management with whoever prescribed the cocodamol AND codeine. If you need daily codeine do you need the cocodamol too? If you do because the paracetamol increases the effectiveness of the codeine it might be safer to take just paracetamol tablets and just codeine tablets so you have clear idea of the dosage of each med you are taking and there's less risk of accidental overdose.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, and yes you’d know and days ago.

but you are mentally unwell as you know, so please speak to your doctor, you don’t need to live like this, help is available.

Yes, you would know. It's not nice and the fact you can type a post on MN makes me think you're probably OK.

Thank you for the replies. I know I'm being stupid, and that's easy to see as an outsider but to me it's so so real, the worrying is all consuming. As the days have gone on I've felt better but I'm still going to bed each night waiting to turn yellow in the morning, twice in the night I checked my eyes. I know that's not normal behaviour of a rational person.

I am waiting to be assessed again by the perinatal mental health team (I was referred to them in my last pregnancy which wasn't really that long ago)
My gp was abit of a twat to be honest, I was on 100mg of sertraline throughout my second pregnancy since I had had dd1, by the time dd2 arrived I need to go up to 150mg as the intrusive thoughts had come back, I went up and they just got worse and worse, I left it a good 12 weeks until I had a massive meltdown and told my mum and husband what had been going on in my head. When I spoke to the doctor who initially referred me to mental health (which is what I asked for) he said they would sort my meds out, so left me on 150mg which wasn't working anymore. My appointment isn't until 26th of June, that would mean I've waited a whole month with no meds!
Since then I've spoke to another doctor (this is the twat) who said he couldn't help me, that the reality is I have to wait, when I asked for something to calm me in the meantime he refused and said I would get addicted to diazepam. He then put my sertraline up to the maximum and it still isn't working.

I agree with everyone else, you'd know if you were in liver failure.

My heart goes out to you, you're clearly struggling at the moment and having had PND myself I know how it feels.

It's good you've told people close to you how you've been feeling.

You might need a change in medication, some are better than others for anxiety.

Have you ever looked into CBT op?

I'm not sure how much it would cost to get some online sessions, but there are plenty of free videos, workbooks etc online, it helps change your thinking patterns and stops your initial intrusive thought escalating.

Definitely worth a look.

Yes you would know, 4 extra tablets will not cause liver failure. My dd had a liver injury for 5 months before it caused her liver to be unable to cope and sent her into the start of liver failure. During those 5 months she was extremely unwell, slept a HUGE amount, was yellow all over her body like a minion … so yes, you’d know if you were in liver failure.

Are you receiving treatment for your conditions? Please see your GP/HV for further help

Go to the gp to get off the opiates.

They will be messing with your mind.

Is that what they do?

I have had cbt 4 times, doesn't work, I wish it was that easy to change my mind set, I've always been like this, always had ocd, it's just got a million times worse since I had children

I suffer from health anxiety but I'm managing it OK at the moment. It's hard though sometimes being convinced you are about to drop dead.
Please see a doctor as soon as possible to get yourself back on track.

Yes liver failure is very painful and you can see people change colour etc. You need psychiatric help for your anxiety and dependency on codeine. It is addictive but it is possible to come off them, many people do. Go to your GP to discuss.

I'd second GP.

Don't fret too much, plenty of people can get health anxiety and think everything under the sun is wrong with them. It sounds like you're obsessing and need some reassurance, it's highly unlikely you have liver failure.

Its not listed as a side effect. Long term opioid use is associated with depression, but correlation is not causation. To prove causation they'd have to find some way to control for depression caused by the pain/life limitations versus depression possibly caused by the drug. Its best if you discuss this with your GP. The mental health issues associated with opioid use are usually around physical or psychological dependence. I checked for drug interactions and it's possible your sertraline is reducing the effectiveness of the codeine, but couldn't find anything the other way around. If you're on anything else that may need to be checked. Im not in the UK what's the active ingredient in cocodamol? You do have to be careful with Sertraline and some pain killers because of serotonin syndrome.

Without taking you of the Sertraline, it may be helping more then you realise, there's probably not much a GP is qualified to do when you're on 2/2+ other medications and high dose antidepressant. The GP may not feel that they have an adequate handle across the different medications and interactions. There's usually an adjustment period going off one antidepressant and trialing then slowly increasing once they find something that works. Again GP might not feel able to manage this process.

I was like this so I got sterilised to make sure I didn’t get pregnant again. That’s just me though. I since had a hysterectomy too to make completely sure