To not realise just how dangerous paracetamol is?

[HarshingMyMellow]

My friend is currently in hospital after taking an accidental overdose of paracetamol.

I say 'accidental', she was taking more than she should because she had a killer toothache but not huge amounts.
I think she took around 8 doses in a day instead of 4 and the repercussions aren't pretty.

I didn't realise a basic, widely available drug was so toxic.

Toothache is horrendous I agree. Your poor friend

It’s the accidental od that is particularly scary like taking the full daily dose of tablets and then having a couple of lemsip too. You might be OK doing it once but do it over a couple of days and you are in trouble.

I saw someone in the bed next to my Mother when she was in hospital dying slowly over the course of a week, it was truly awful. Thank god my mother had been a nurse, I could not have coped in her place.

DH works in pharmacology industry, he says theres no way a drug with the toxicity of paracetamol would be licensed for OTC sale if it were a new drug coming on the market, he won’t have it in the house

@FVFrog it's so scary. I've done it a few times without even thinking, after roughly 2 hours because the first dose hadn't helped the pain.

Didn't know I could be getting myself into trouble!

Rocinante1 - well you were told wrong.

OP - I hope your friend is ok.

harshingmymellow thank you what made me realise how idiotic was the look on my dads face when he walked in and saw me lying there. It was an image thats burned in my mind even now ill never forget how scared, sad, angry and lost he looked. I sincerely hope your friend is going to be okay

If you need to take paracetamol and ibuprofen together it is better to stagger taking them so as one wear off the other one is still working.

My other bugbear is paracetamol and codeine eg cocodamol. Codeine is addictive so people take the combo drugs when they can’t get codeine. The paracetamol is more dangerous than the codeine.

@Miladamermalada so this could be avoided but won't be because of money? Sounds about right!

@ItsNachoCheese you poor thing, that sounds awful. I wish you all the best.

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude that annoys me also. You can buy Co-Codamol over the counter easily too!

The frightening thing is that you feel fine at first so people don't seek help, once symptoms appear it's often too late for the antidote to work and irreversible damage has been done, particularly to the liver.

As far as I was led to believe yes it could.
And the info I wrote is as correct as I remember it but don't take it as certain.

You have to be VERY careful with paracetamol as it can cause liver damage when taken in overdose. It's also ESSENTIAL to make sure you check the labels of any combination products. Many medications for cold, flu, and even back pain have paracetamol/acetaminophen in them.

For most people, the max safe daily dose is 4 g/day. If you're taking it long-term, the max recommended dose is 2.7 g/day.

If you're going to alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen, make sure you keep track of when you take them. It's easy to forget which one you took last and to accidentally overdose. This is why we usually don't recommend that parents do this for their children. (Nurses will sometimes do it in hospital, but that's because every dose of medication is recorded. It's possible to determine very easily which was given last.)

Harshing absolutely, if the correct doese hasn’t worked after 2 hours you need something different!

@1mouse2 I'm prescribed GP strength co-codamol to take everyday, 4 times a day. I dread to think what my body is doing with that.

@FVFrog fortunately my doctor has given me stronger painkillers to deal with my pain. Still containing paracetamol though.
Funnily enough, I was more worried about the codeine than I was the paracetamol.

Well, 8 doses instead of 4 is double. Sales of paracetomol are restricted to a certain amount - you can only get packs of 16, and you can't buy multiple things containing paracetamol ( eg lemsip and tablets). I remember 30 years ago being able to buy 100 tablets in a jar. But it is surprising that there are not prominent warnings on the packaging given that it is so toxic in relatively low doses. I hope your friend will be ok.

A Doctor I knew in Chile told me he has seen fatalities with as little as 1000 mg. And in France I was sold one 500mg tablet by a late night pharmacy. I couldn’t buy a packet.

Yet no one I’ve spoken to about it here knows how dangerous it can be.

I hope your friend recovers well OP

Thank you hardshing! I still take co codamol as I have a back issue but I do so very responsibly!

But there are warnings on the packet about not taking it with other products eg lemsips.
These should be in huge letters akin to cigarette packets.

@FVFrog - genuine question - but why? If he understands the risks surely he can trust himself and you to take it sensibly? It doesn't have any effect sitting in the blister packs in the cupboard.

A friend's brother died from taking a handful of paracetamol
it was terrible - he had chronic back pain and must have taken too many in desperation - his organs shut down
you have to be so careful
most people don't realise