To think paracetamol overdose is just too easy sometimes

[Soubriquet]

Asked Dh to pick me up some decongestants today as I have a terrible head cold

He gave me some paracetamol before he went out in the mean time

He brought home some sudafed and luckily handed me the box instead of the pills themselves with a drink

Just as I was about to open the box, I quickly spotted one of the added ingredients was paracetamol which meant I couldn't take the pills until now which is 4 hours after my initial dose of paracetamol

Dh didn't notice it at all

Now I know common sense would say to read the box carefully to make sure you know exactly what was in it but hands up honestly who does that? I do because I'm paranoid but I know many who don't.

So AIBU to think that paracetamol overdose is too easy sometimes with it being added to a lot of medications

I think YABU. I always read the notice with all of my (many) medications before taking any. Same with meds for the DC.

Once when I queried a side effect with a Dr he rolled his eyes at me and told me not to take any notice of the notice otherwise it'll put me off

Still, when I stopped taking that particular med the (very painful) side effect went away. Funny that....

I think accidentally taking two Sudafed on top of two paracetamol is hardly putting you into accidental overdose territory. And stop trying to make your poor husband out to be some kind of blithering idiot. Most things like that contain paracetamol.

Paracetamol overdose is one of those tricky things that I would never be blasé about. People can and do die of overdose from taking Paracetamol and Lemsip.

January 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042947/Woman-25-dies-paracetamol-overdose-self-medicating-Lemsip-cough-medicine-pills-cold.html

October 2015 www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3392697/Coroner-warns-paracetamol-dangers-mother-three-taking-tablets-osteoporosis-died-took-Lemsip-flu.html

A study (I haven't looked for it)found that staggered overdose is worse than single deliberate overdose. m.westernmorningnews.co.uk/warning-winter-remedies-lead-tablet-overdose/story-14124044-detail/story.html

I'm on a combination of tablets to deal with severe pain whilst waiting for an op; at least two of the ones I'm on contain paracetamol and I am always given warnings about not combining the two when either I or hubby pick up the prescriptions, and not to take any cold/flu meds with them.

I am also on a daily dose of brufen medication that means I cannot take anything containing ibuprofen unless it's been specifically prescribed and will stay within the safe dosage.

It is far too easy to just keep taking them and then accidentally build up to a lethal dose but most labels I've seen have "contains Paracetamol / Ibuprofen / Aspirin" in pretty large letters on the front so not sure what else could be done?

DD is also aware of the safe limits for tablets and time frames in which to take doses (and I always try to leave 5 - hours between anything containing paracetamol, just in case).

Unfortunately I do think YANBU this time.

I think they could highlight the paracetamol more. - make the label read "PARACETAMOL for Cold & Flu" rather then "Cold & Flu" with the paracetamol separate.

But people really ought to be reading the labels properly and know what's in the pills they are taking. I don't think it's OK to shrug it off with "But who does that?".

Years ago I had a really bad cold and felt rotten, but like a trooper I went into work armed with my Lemsip. I had about 3 Lemsips in a row as they were making me feel better and then all of a sudden they weren't so much. I felt so ill, very dizzy and sick and was then sent home. It was only a few days later I realised I had taken too much paracetamol in the Lemsip and that had made me feel really ill.
Now I have copious mugs of hot honey and lemon slice and paracetamol every 4 hours. At bedtime I have a hot toddy
My child also tried to od on them. Took 15 over the space of a day and they aren't a large child. Ended up spending two nights in hospital, on a drip to flush their system and make sure the liver was ok. Thankfully it was.

it's not always that simple is it?

Yes, it is. If putting it all over the box, and the leaflet, and having rules about how much you can buy isn't enough, what exactly do you want to be done?
What more could there possibly be to let you know not to poison yourself?

Although it is not sensible to take more than the recommended dose of any medication, it is a lot harder than people think to do yourself any serious harm by taking a few extra paracetamol tablets unless you have a pre-existing problem.

when you're feverish and coldy, it's not always that simple is it? Particularly if you don't regularly take medication, it's easy to forget
Sorry but I just cannot agree that it is ever that difficult to read a label when you have merely got a cold.

It is important to remember that, when used at therapeutic levels, paracetamol is usually safe and effective. However, taking 4 g per day (or slightly more) for a few days has been known to result in hepatotoxicity

That's from a poison control page I googled.

How many tablets is 4g?

Why do they make such a big deal about not buying more than two packets etc?

Perhaps it depends on your definition of a cold. I only call really proper flu 'flu' - the kind where you need to be in hospital because you are hallucinating with fever and struggling to breathe. Everything else up to that point is a bad cold.

Paracetamol overdose is actually frighteningly easy. Each tablet is usually 500mg, meaning that just 20 tablets can kill you (i.e. you can take less than two standard packets and die a horrible death). If you don't take one large overdose, then the build up of tablets over a few days, if you exceed the maximum dosage, can also kill you.

Given how toxic the drug is, it is surprising that there aren't more restrictions on its use.

DameDiazepam - 4 g is 8 tablets.

Freckled -that's I always thought and once the level was too high it was irriversable. So if you OD'd on purpose then changed your mind it was actually too late by then as the damage is already done?

I'm American and the advice on RX is so different. As a teen I would often take three or four pills of Paracetamol for a headache, same with Ibuprofen.

Honestly I think you'd struggle to overdose by accident.

I think I heard somewhere that long term slight overdose, for example taking 5 or 6 doses a day for long term conditions for a longer period of time was more harmful than one massive overdose. Lots of people with chronic pain conditions take maximum doses every day just to exist, so if they then take extra it Dan be dangerous. But then most people would check the labels, wouldn't they?

if you need something to 'unstuff' your nose, nose spray (otrivine for example) works better.
I never buy decongestant tablets, they take ages to work.

There is a window, following an overdose, in which the effects can be reversed. The problem is, someone may take an overdose, feel ok (the effects don't actually start for a day or so) and by the time they begin to feel ill, it's too late to do anything (and they die a horrible death from liver failure).

I woman I worked with nephew od'ed and it was probably accidental.
He had his wisdom teeth out and was taking painkillers, without being aware enough after the anesthetic, how many he was taking.
He was found dead the next day.

As mentioned earlier I'm on long-term medication to manage pain and my GP Practice keeps an eye on the combination I'm taking due to the build up effect of paracetamol. I have to swap to non-P based ones every so often to clear the system out and I'm advised to drink plenty of water. I also have a sheet on which I record, religiously, the times at which doses are taken, as it's too easy to take more if the pain gets worse and accidentally od.

However, other than swapping the order of the wording I don't know what else can be done?

"Of course it's a person's responsibility to read the label, but when you're feverish and coldy, it's not always that simple is it?"

Yes. Yes it is. Yes.

"I woman I worked with nephew od'ed and it was probably accidental.
He had his wisdom teeth out and was taking painkillers, without being aware enough after the anesthetic, how many he was taking.
He was found dead the next day."

Bloody hell, Coco, what an awful story.

It is so easy not to remember even when you've had minor surgery, let alone when you've had other drugs. When I was in and out of hospital, DH had to put the codeine out of reach and issue it at intervals because I honestly couldn't remember what I was taking.

Yabu it's a medicine, just cause it's easily available, still a powerful drug. Read the box

It was over 25 years ago but Ive never forgotten her telling me.
My DH kept a note of what I was taking after having my tonsils out. I was knocking painkillers in me like nobodys business

I only call really proper flu 'flu' - the kind where you need to be in hospital because you are hallucinating with fever and struggling to breathe. Everything else up to that point is a bad cold
I find it really annoying when people are out and bout and they say "I've got a touch of the flu".

I always think no, you have got a cold. Flu is a terrible illness that can and does kill.

One (totally in-scientific) test I heard of once for telling the difference between a cold and the flu is that if there was a £20 note in the middle of your garden, a person with cold would go and pick it up and a person with flu would be so ill that they would leave it there.