To think current painkiller law doesn't work

[Soubriquet]

I'm on a lot of pain killers and have been advised to pair it with ibuprofen and paracetamol when severe.

However I can't buy 2 packs of each in one transaction. I can however pop to the next shop and buy 2 more and again and again

I know they are trying to stop overdosing but surely if you can go shop to shop buying them, Aibu to think this law doesn't really work?

Suicide suicide suicide linked to paracetomol paracetomol Parcetomol. Americans don't link those 2 things don't get the temptation by constantly talking about them in same breath.

If you want to reduce suicide by paracetamol, then say it's a very painful prolonged horrible way to die. Which, if it doesn't kill you, can lead you terribly disabled & unwell for rest of life. People who commit suicide want to stop the pain, not make it intensely worse for a week and then die or live in worse pain for years to come. They'll rethink their options.

I understand why the rules there but it does lead to some silly situations. We all had colds. I needed paracetamol for me, some aged 6-12 Calpol for dd and 0-3 for ds. The lady couldn't sell it to me. Well she did in the end. She pretended I was 3 different customers and did all separate transactions.

I agree iljk. A friend of my friend took an overdose from paracetamol to end his life. Didn't work, left him in a coma and when he came round both his legs had been amputated. Publicise that.

I appreciate the thinking behind it and as such have no problem

But it is irritating so i have 6/8 packs of cold relief, 10+of the dissolvable stuff, 10+ packs of ibuprofen, 4/6 packs of nuraphene meltlets as well as paracetamol and calpol

So i am finding it less of a pan as i am planning ahead

just

Same happened to me, i have to plan ahead now

I do agree it comes in handy with lemsip type products

Some people don't realise there is paracetamol in them and can end up accidentally ODing.

With the two max, it does make them aware.

I think people should get "permission to buy slips" from the doctor that means they can buy large quantities of cheap paracetamol rather than getting it prescribed

Beccles: "ACTUAL EVIDENCE OF BEFORE / AFTER SHOWS LESS PEOPLE ARE KILLING THEMSELVES THIS WAY. LESS MEANING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE."

Up to a point. I interviewed a suicide expert a couple of weeks ago, and he said these days a far higher proportion of people (women in particular) are killing themselves through hanging. The trouble is that hanging is almost always successful, whereas overdoses quite often aren't.

It is complicated, though. Long term, the suicide rate has declined. Every time you remove a method of suicide (e.g. ending the use of poisonous gas in gas ovens, or introducing catalytic converters to cars), it brings the suicide rate down because it makes it harder for people to kill themselves. But there is also a possibility that whereas people might have previously taken an overdose and survived, now they will choose to hang themselves and definitely die.

Its rubbish. When my uncle committed suicide he went to every chemist in a ten mile radius and had a boot full of them

You can buy massive boxes from the pharmacy counter and double strength ibuprofen.

However you can't buy 2 tubes of ibuprofen gel for muscle aches. If I was planning on overdosing I wouldn't do it by topical application! (Also I suspect one tube would be enough to make you pretty poorly if you ate it!)

Due to ongoing issues with my liver, I’m currently reducing my long term daily dose of Cocodamol 30/500 and am taking the Codeine separately, which is on prescription.

I regularly buy two packets of Paracetamol wherever I shop that sells them, but reading here that Pharmacists can sell larger quantities at their discretion is helpful.

I’m always mindful of the dosing for Paracetamol and rarely take the full daily allowance due to this. But I am aware of people whose pain is so severe and poorly controlled that they double dose with Paracetamol without realising the full extent of potential organ damage.

I’m in full agreement with the limits in the UK - I’d rather be inconvenienced by having to purchase regularly, than have it available in unlimited quantities to the vulnerable in society.

I'm so sorry to read about your friend, Lemonshark.
I didn't even know that was possible. :(
Publicise that these drugs are dangerous when taken incorrectly & lead to painful complications. Suicide ideators want to end the pain. Don't make them think a painkiller can do that.

I think people should get "permission to buy slips" from the doctor that means they can buy large quantities of cheap paracetamol rather than getting it prescribed

It’s called a private prescription. A dr will do it for any drug if you ask.

There are plenty of studies that show overdoses reduced after the pack size law was introduced.

I think/wish there was a way that the doctor or nurse who recommends paracetamol/ibuprofen could give some sort of note that allowed you to buy what you need.

you can already speak to the pharmacist and get that.
just not from the supermarket shelf...

I think people should get "permission to buy slips" from the doctor that means they can buy large quantities of cheap paracetamol rather than getting it prescribed

What would the advantage of a "permission to buy" slip versus a prescription? If anything it would take up more GP time than a prescription so wouldn't save NHS money.

It’s called a private prescription. A dr will do it for any drug if you ask.

No they might not do that if you are seeing them via the NHS and the drug is available on the NHS.

It's just so they can cover themselves. If you take 100 tablets, but Boots only sold you 20, and Lloyds Pharmacy only sold you 20, and Tesco only sold you 20 and so on, no ONE pharmacy can be blamed IYSWIM.

@poppl
I don’t need 500 paracetamol tablets, but I would like to be able to buy calpol, lemsip and cold capsules at the same time.....

Yeah this ^

I suppose the difference in the USA is that there are easier options for it eg guns much more freely available whereas in the UK we've not got that option generally.

Exactly to whomever sun is quoting

Im not likely to manline lemsip in a suicide attempt

Although warnings about not taking lots of things containing paracetamol should be very obvious

Mainline

Ffs

Things must have changed then roomster. I’ve not needed a prescription in years but our gp would always write a private script if the medication was cheaper than the prescription charge.

Thing with selling lemsip/calpol etc together is because a suprising amount of people don’t realise they all contain paracetamol and take paracetamol alongside their lempsip, with a night nurse at night. That’s why medised was banned, several children in the us were overdosed because parents would give it alongside an anti histamine (chicken pox, for example), and end up with a fit.

With something as serious as these medications regulators work to the lowest common denominator. Yes most people realise, but a significant amount dont, and these people come to harm.

Paracetamol has such a narrow therapeutic range, that it really is a dangerous drug. Especially for short, slim women, who can be at risk of overdose even by following the instructions on the packet.

For adults of 50kg and under, the maximum dose is 15mg/kg per dose, 4-6 hourly, 4 times per day, with a total daily dose of 60mg/kg. So a maximum for a 50kg adult of 6 tablets in 24 hours. The box directions say up to 8 tablets in 24 hours.

Acute paracetamol poisoning is awful, and people can need liver transplantation if their situation is caught too late for gastric decontamination with activated charcoal and administration of n-acetylcysteine. Often overdoses are taken in haste and repented of later.

However, the unappreciated danger of unintentional staggered overdose is desperately sad, as the patient has no idea what is wrong with them and it is often far too late when paracetamol becomes the suspect for the symptoms. They are more likely to go into multi organ failure, more likely to need life support, and more likely to die.

I've read, many times, that if paracetamol was being licensed now, it would not get an over the counter licence. Anything that makes people take it more seriously as a drug and see it less as the 'Smarties' of pain relief, before you get to the 'real' painkillers, is a good thing.

Looks like suicide by paracetamol is far from unknown in the USA.

However, the comments also suggest that a move to change the packaging will be regarded as unacceptable infringement of freedom. It does seem that people actively resist the idea that passing suicidal thoughts are completely normal in human beings.

Any way of making a method of suicide more inconvenient reduces the overall number of suicides. In other words, if people find it hard to get their hands on enough meds for an overdose, determined and committed people might find another way but many people who may have been feeling suicidal impulsively will simply never attempt suicide. As a pp said, one of the horrifying things about suicide is how very preventable most of them are.

That's why these laws are in place - not because pharmacies are "covering themselves", but because they save lives. Real lives, real people who are walking around right now because they didn't have enough paracetamol in the house to do them damage.

For adults of 50kg and under, the maximum dose is 15mg/kg per dose, 4-6 hourly, 4 times per day, with a total daily dose of 60mg/kg. So a maximum for a 50kg adult of 6 tablets in 24 hours. The box directions say up to 8 tablets in 24 hours.

That’s therapeutic dose though. Overdose is significantly higher at 150 mg/kg/day in a healthy individual. So that would be more than double a therapeutic dose in your hypothetical 50kg adult.