5 ms·

My second hand knowledge from a talk with a pharmacist: both paracetamol (tylenol) and ibuprofen are much more dangerous, than I previously believed. Both have

by trymas 6y ago

My second hand knowledge from a talk with a pharmacist: both paracetamol (tylenol) and ibuprofen are much more dangerous, than I previously believed. Both have very tight margins between normal dose and overdose. If I remember correctly overdosing is 50% over the normal dose. So take couple more pills a day than it says on the label - and you can land in the hospital. I was super glad for that info, because I treated instructions more as a suggestion. Now I am much more cautious. _Never_ go above what's instructed, use them as instructed (before/after a meal, etc.), do not mix drugs unless explicitly allowed by your doctor and for the love of god do not mix medicine and alcohol. It's too easy to overdose these common drugs.

tptacek 6y ago
The maximum safe dosage of Tylenol is 4000mg; an extra-strength pill is 500mg, and a normal dose is 2 pills, meaning the dose you'd have to take to push the danger zone is 400% over the normal dose.
- btach 6y ago
  4000mg in a 24 hour period.
  - tptacek 6y ago
    That's true, but the half-life is apparently 2 hours (if you have a normally-functioning liver). I don't want to downplay it, I just felt like "50%" sort of suggested a single extra Tylenol might kill you, which is very unlikely.
    - refurb 6y ago
      Yes, but Tylenol’s toxicity is due to glutathione depletion. Your body can handle the toxic metabolites with no issue, as long as there isn’t a lot of them. Once you’ve depleted your liver’s glutathione stores (too much tylenol, too much alcohol, not enough food to replenish glutathione) then the Tylenol becomes very toxic to liver tissue.
- refurb 6y ago
  But Tylenol’s label says a maximum of 4g per day or 8 extra strength tablets (500 mg each). From what I’ve gathered, you can detect some liver damage as you get close to 10g per day, but we’re talking mildly elevated ALT/AST enzymes. But if you’re sick, or drink a lot or not eating, you could see serious toxicity at 200% of the maximum daily dose.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> If I remember correctly overdosing is 50% over the normal dose. No, it's closer to 100% over the maximum daily dose. (maximum daily dose is 4g, toxic dose for a single ingestion is 7.5-10g.) https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/acetaminophen-safety-be-cautious-but-not-afraid https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/acetaminophen-safety-be-... https://www.medscape.com/answers/820200-27208/what-are-the-minimum-toxic-acetaminophen-dosages-in-adults-and-children https://www.medscape.com/answers/820200-27208/what-are-the-m...

by trymas 6y ago

tptacek 6y ago

The maximum safe dosage of Tylenol is 4000mg; an extra-strength pill is 500mg, and a normal dose is 2 pills, meaning the dose you'd have to take to push the danger zone is 400% over the normal dose.

btach 6y ago
4000mg in a 24 hour period.
- tptacek 6y ago
  That's true, but the half-life is apparently 2 hours (if you have a normally-functioning liver). I don't want to downplay it, I just felt like "50%" sort of suggested a single extra Tylenol might kill you, which is very unlikely.
  - refurb 6y ago
    Yes, but Tylenol’s toxicity is due to glutathione depletion. Your body can handle the toxic metabolites with no issue, as long as there isn’t a lot of them. Once you’ve depleted your liver’s glutathione stores (too much tylenol, too much alcohol, not enough food to replenish glutathione) then the Tylenol becomes very toxic to liver tissue.
refurb 6y ago
But Tylenol’s label says a maximum of 4g per day or 8 extra strength tablets (500 mg each). From what I’ve gathered, you can detect some liver damage as you get close to 10g per day, but we’re talking mildly elevated ALT/AST enzymes. But if you’re sick, or drink a lot or not eating, you could see serious toxicity at 200% of the maximum daily dose.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> If I remember correctly overdosing is 50% over the normal dose. No, it's closer to 100% over the maximum daily dose. (maximum daily dose is 4g, toxic dose for a single ingestion is 7.5-10g.) https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/acetaminophen-safety-be-cautious-but-not-afraid https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/acetaminophen-safety-be-... https://www.medscape.com/answers/820200-27208/what-are-the-minimum-toxic-acetaminophen-dosages-in-adults-and-children https://www.medscape.com/answers/820200-27208/what-are-the-m...