7 ms·

For those not recognizing the title, I know it as paracetamol (or tylenol in movies). The article reports on several studies of various sizes where, indeed, pe

by lucb1e 6y ago

For those not recognizing the title, I know it as paracetamol (or tylenol in movies). The article reports on several studies of various sizes where, indeed, people all took a pill (some placebo and some not) and those with the real thing rate activities as less risky or underestimate the risk of the balloon bursting by adding one more pump. Of course, the article mentions the ongoing pandemic where those on this drug may perceive meeting people to be less risky. Another thing I found interesting in the article is that "nearly 25 percent of the population in the U.S. [takes] acetaminophen each week". I wouldn't know where to find numbers for other countries, I'm curious if it follows a similar pattern as opioid usage (or even the "opioid epidemic", as Wikipedia's article is titled) in the USA versus other countries, but regardless, this stuns me.

hliyan 6y ago
I too come from a country where this is called paracetamol, and here too, over the counter usage is very common. I'm surprised more people are not worried about the alcohol interaction.
- lucb1e 6y ago
  In Germany they always (n=2) act surprised when I ask for more than a single box. I don't even take it myself, my girlfriend uses one dose (usually 2x0.5g before going to sleep) maybe every tenth day or so; I myself might use it once a year. But the stuff lasts for years and I don't fancy running out or not having some with me when I (or someone near me) needs it, so we just buy it in bulk and replace when empty or after the expiry has sufficiently passed. I get a lecture from the apothecary every time. Does nobody else buy ahead, especially in the pandemic?
  - code-is-code 6y ago
    They just want to protect you from yourself, do not take it personal.
    - lucb1e 6y ago
      I don't really, and I am polite and do thank them for the info they give / the concern they express. It just surprises me a little that they don't consider this normal.
  - DominikPeters 6y ago
    In the UK, paracetamol and ibuprofen are sold in supermarkets, but you're limited to buying two packs of 16 pills per visit. Of course, you can easily build up a stash over time.
    - cmckn 6y ago
      That’s really interesting. I have a bottle of probably 300 acetominophen caplets from Costco, it’s my go-to hangover cure. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are incredibly common in the US.
      - DominikPeters 6y ago
        Yeah, US bottles seem crazy to me, for drugs where overdose is lethal. I think the theory behind the UK pack size restriction is that suicide attempts are often spontaneous, so it's life-saving not to have a lethal amount in the house. Also, accidentally popping hundreds of pills out of the blister packaging (rather than a bottle) is pretty unlikely. The restrictions seem to work, with a 40% reduction in paracetamol-related deaths: https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/smaller-paracetamol-packs-may-have-reduced-deaths/ https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/smaller-paracetamol-packs...
        fallingfrog 6y ago
        What’s really funny is that if you go to Amsterdam, you can get paracetamol in a quick dissolving pill that works much faster than the really hard ones you get in the states, but it’s in a bubble package and fewer doses so it’s harder to commit suicide with. But in the states you only get the hard pills, which are harder to crush and use to make illicit drugs out of, but in unlimited amounts. So.. we don’t care if you kill yourselves, as long as you don’t have any fun doing it?
        Arubis 6y ago
        > we don’t care if you kill yourselves, as long as you don’t have any fun doing it? This is actually a good summary. As mentioned in sibling threads, most pharmaceuticals that could potentially be enjoyable are formulated stateside in combination with things that will either make you feel terrible or outright kill you at high enough doses.
- pessimizer 6y ago
  It's the #1 cause of acute liver failure in the US, I always find it shocking that the British take it like we take aspirin.
  - Spooky23 6y ago
    The issue with it is that people unknowingly take does. You may pop a Tylenol for a fever, then take it again in your NyQuil and not realize it. It’s a well tested and safe drug. Both aspirin and ibuprofen have significant risks if used daily. Aspirin causes stomach bleeding, and ibuprofen causes significant kidney issues over time.
    - aarongolliver 6y ago
      For this reason I try my hardest to buy single-active-ingredient versions of everything. I can keep a list of what pill combos combine into nyquil/mucinex/whatever, and can avoid doubling up on anything unintentionally.
      - jiggawatts 6y ago
        It drove me crazy that in Japan OTC painkillers had a minimum of 4 active ingredients and up to 6 in one case. I could not find any that did not contain caffeine, for example. The pharmacist explained that caffeine reduces headaches. Well that's great, but I didn't have a headache, I had muscle aches, and I was trying to sleep. He looked at me like I was crazy.
        dragonwriter 6y ago
        > The pharmacist explained that caffeine reduces headaches. Also, IIRC, caffeine specifically has been identified to help with migraines, not headaches more generally.
        karlerss 6y ago
        My headaches (and I guess many others) are often caused by caffeine withdrawal. Taking caffeine without a painkiller usually solves the problem.
- DominikPeters 6y ago
  In the UK, the NHS advice for anything mildly painful is "take paracetamol or ibuprofen" (e.g. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/common-cold/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/common-cold/), so they must judge the risk at typical doses as very low.
cgriswald 6y ago
It’s ignorance. I legitimately had no idea until I looked into it. Others I’ve talked with have said they had no idea. Ibuprofen makes me feel like I’ve been poisoned if I take too much or on an empty stomach. So acetaminophen was just what I took. (And when I had significant sleeping problems and was working three jobs so it really mattered if I slept or not, I took a PM version which was also not great.) Now I generally don’t take pain medication even if I’m pretty severely hurting, but if I do I stuff my face and take ibuprofen.
- OJFord 6y ago
  > Ibuprofen makes me feel like I’ve been poisoned if I take too much or on an empty stomach. Yes well, it will. Do not take it on an empty stomach. IANA doctor, but if one prescribed you ibuprofen it would say 'with a meal'.
throwaway201103 6y ago
"nearly 25 percent of the population in the U.S. [takes] acetaminophen each week" That's crazy. I take it maybe once or twice a year. And I will generally take ibuprofen in preference to acetaminophen. The idea of taking an OTC drug that often is bizarre to me.
- jjeaff 6y ago
  It might not seem that bizarre if you frequently experienced chronic pain.
  - tsimionescu 6y ago
    So your theory is that a quarter of the US population experiences chronic pain?
    - watwut 6y ago
      Would it be that shocking? Considerable proportion of population are old people and those have all kinds of chronic pain. In women, anemia is frequent and can manifest through head pain. So you end up taking innocent looking pills to make it better. The periods can hurt too, so. Plus, I have rather small social circles and I know about at least three people who have chronic pain ever since they were kids. Nothing life destroying, but constant annoyance or mood killer. And those are frequent pains I know about without googling. It is not unusual.
    - diydsp 6y ago
      Unfortunately with so many overweight, joint pain may be frequent
    - musingsole 6y ago
      Not a theory, fact: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db390.htm#:~:text=Summary-,Overall%2C%20the%20prevalence%20of%20chronic%20pain%20was%2020.4%25%2C%20and,65%20and%20over%20(30.8%25) https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db390.htm#:~:te....
- 6y ago
enimodas 6y ago
>"nearly 25 percent of the population in the U.S. [takes] acetaminophen each week" my guess: half of half the population takes them 4 days every month, eg menstruation pains.
- musingsole 6y ago
  My mother always pushed ibuprofen for menstrual issues, though I suspect that will still be a portion of this 25%. Chronic pain of some type is an issue for most anyone over 40.

by lucb1e 6y ago

hliyan 6y ago

I too come from a country where this is called paracetamol, and here too, over the counter usage is very common. I'm surprised more people are not worried about the alcohol interaction.

lucb1e 6y ago
In Germany they always (n=2) act surprised when I ask for more than a single box. I don't even take it myself, my girlfriend uses one dose (usually 2x0.5g before going to sleep) maybe every tenth day or so; I myself might use it once a year. But the stuff lasts for years and I don't fancy running out or not having some with me when I (or someone near me) needs it, so we just buy it in bulk and replace when empty or after the expiry has sufficiently passed. I get a lecture from the apothecary every time. Does nobody else buy ahead, especially in the pandemic?
- code-is-code 6y ago
  They just want to protect you from yourself, do not take it personal.
  - lucb1e 6y ago
    I don't really, and I am polite and do thank them for the info they give / the concern they express. It just surprises me a little that they don't consider this normal.
- DominikPeters 6y ago
  In the UK, paracetamol and ibuprofen are sold in supermarkets, but you're limited to buying two packs of 16 pills per visit. Of course, you can easily build up a stash over time.
  - cmckn 6y ago
    That’s really interesting. I have a bottle of probably 300 acetominophen caplets from Costco, it’s my go-to hangover cure. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are incredibly common in the US.
    - DominikPeters 6y ago
      Yeah, US bottles seem crazy to me, for drugs where overdose is lethal. I think the theory behind the UK pack size restriction is that suicide attempts are often spontaneous, so it's life-saving not to have a lethal amount in the house. Also, accidentally popping hundreds of pills out of the blister packaging (rather than a bottle) is pretty unlikely. The restrictions seem to work, with a 40% reduction in paracetamol-related deaths: https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/smaller-paracetamol-packs-may-have-reduced-deaths/ https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/smaller-paracetamol-packs...
      - fallingfrog 6y ago
        What’s really funny is that if you go to Amsterdam, you can get paracetamol in a quick dissolving pill that works much faster than the really hard ones you get in the states, but it’s in a bubble package and fewer doses so it’s harder to commit suicide with. But in the states you only get the hard pills, which are harder to crush and use to make illicit drugs out of, but in unlimited amounts. So.. we don’t care if you kill yourselves, as long as you don’t have any fun doing it?
        Arubis 6y ago
        > we don’t care if you kill yourselves, as long as you don’t have any fun doing it? This is actually a good summary. As mentioned in sibling threads, most pharmaceuticals that could potentially be enjoyable are formulated stateside in combination with things that will either make you feel terrible or outright kill you at high enough doses.
pessimizer 6y ago
It's the #1 cause of acute liver failure in the US, I always find it shocking that the British take it like we take aspirin.
- Spooky23 6y ago
  The issue with it is that people unknowingly take does. You may pop a Tylenol for a fever, then take it again in your NyQuil and not realize it. It’s a well tested and safe drug. Both aspirin and ibuprofen have significant risks if used daily. Aspirin causes stomach bleeding, and ibuprofen causes significant kidney issues over time.
  - aarongolliver 6y ago
    For this reason I try my hardest to buy single-active-ingredient versions of everything. I can keep a list of what pill combos combine into nyquil/mucinex/whatever, and can avoid doubling up on anything unintentionally.
    - jiggawatts 6y ago
      It drove me crazy that in Japan OTC painkillers had a minimum of 4 active ingredients and up to 6 in one case. I could not find any that did not contain caffeine, for example. The pharmacist explained that caffeine reduces headaches. Well that's great, but I didn't have a headache, I had muscle aches, and I was trying to sleep. He looked at me like I was crazy.
      - dragonwriter 6y ago
        > The pharmacist explained that caffeine reduces headaches. Also, IIRC, caffeine specifically has been identified to help with migraines, not headaches more generally.
        karlerss 6y ago
        My headaches (and I guess many others) are often caused by caffeine withdrawal. Taking caffeine without a painkiller usually solves the problem.
DominikPeters 6y ago
In the UK, the NHS advice for anything mildly painful is "take paracetamol or ibuprofen" (e.g. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/common-cold/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/common-cold/), so they must judge the risk at typical doses as very low.

cgriswald 6y ago

It’s ignorance. I legitimately had no idea until I looked into it. Others I’ve talked with have said they had no idea. Ibuprofen makes me feel like I’ve been poisoned if I take too much or on an empty stomach. So acetaminophen was just what I took. (And when I had significant sleeping problems and was working three jobs so it really mattered if I slept or not, I took a PM version which was also not great.) Now I generally don’t take pain medication even if I’m pretty severely hurting, but if I do I stuff my face and take ibuprofen.

OJFord 6y ago
> Ibuprofen makes me feel like I’ve been poisoned if I take too much or on an empty stomach. Yes well, it will. Do not take it on an empty stomach. IANA doctor, but if one prescribed you ibuprofen it would say 'with a meal'.

throwaway201103 6y ago

"nearly 25 percent of the population in the U.S. [takes] acetaminophen each week" That's crazy. I take it maybe once or twice a year. And I will generally take ibuprofen in preference to acetaminophen. The idea of taking an OTC drug that often is bizarre to me.

jjeaff 6y ago
It might not seem that bizarre if you frequently experienced chronic pain.
- tsimionescu 6y ago
  So your theory is that a quarter of the US population experiences chronic pain?
  - watwut 6y ago
    Would it be that shocking? Considerable proportion of population are old people and those have all kinds of chronic pain. In women, anemia is frequent and can manifest through head pain. So you end up taking innocent looking pills to make it better. The periods can hurt too, so. Plus, I have rather small social circles and I know about at least three people who have chronic pain ever since they were kids. Nothing life destroying, but constant annoyance or mood killer. And those are frequent pains I know about without googling. It is not unusual.
  - diydsp 6y ago
    Unfortunately with so many overweight, joint pain may be frequent
  - musingsole 6y ago
    Not a theory, fact: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db390.htm#:~:text=Summary-,Overall%2C%20the%20prevalence%20of%20chronic%20pain%20was%2020.4%25%2C%20and,65%20and%20over%20(30.8%25) https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db390.htm#:~:te....
6y ago

enimodas 6y ago

>"nearly 25 percent of the population in the U.S. [takes] acetaminophen each week" my guess: half of half the population takes them 4 days every month, eg menstruation pains.

musingsole 6y ago
My mother always pushed ibuprofen for menstrual issues, though I suspect that will still be a portion of this 25%. Chronic pain of some type is an issue for most anyone over 40.