The Dangers Of Acetaminophen Overdose
Acetaminophen is the ingredient in Tylenol. It is used as a buffer in many pain medications.
What all the advertisements and few doctors tell you is: It Can Kill You.
In a past airing of their show, Dateline focused on a person who took 100 Vicodin a day. They overlooked the fact that this person had more to fear from the acetaminophen in Vicodin than the actual Vicodin.
Each Vicodin tablet contains 500 mg. of acetaminophen. Pharmacists interviewed say that in adults, toxicity of acetaminophen can occur at a level as low as 5.85 grams with 10 grams being considered fatal. Anyone taking 100 Vicodin a day would ingest 50 grams of acetaminophen. Their liver would give out and they would drop over dead.
Overdosing on Plain Old Tylenol
It happens to teenagers every day. They swallow the Tylenol like candy for cramps, muscle aches, or just because they're angry at their parents. Then they go about their day until suddenly they become very ill. Rushed to the hospital, they often die en route. Was it Ecstasy? Oxycontin? No it was plain old Tylenol.
There are situations where Vicodin and other medications containing acetaminophen are used long term under a doctor's care. The problem with stories like Dateline's is that the public hears this and is afraid to use a very effective pain medication or suspects anyone taking Vicodin of being addicted.
Addiction is defined as needing more and more of the drug, a desperation so deep that the addict will do anything to get the drug. It has nothing to do with pain control.
Most Recommend Pain-Killer
An estimated 125,000,000 Americans suffer from chronic pain. The drug most recommended? Tylenol. The recommended dosage on the bottle? Eight tablets per day. Taken day are day after day, the patients blissfully go along free of an upset stomach. Meanwhile their liver is ticking away like a little time bomb. When wlll it hit ENOUGH?
It depends. Does the person also drink? Worse, does the person take Tylenol to prevent a hangover or cure a headache the next day? Double trouble for the liver is also filtering the alcohol from the blood stream.
Along with any other medications and toxins, the liver is an active orgam.
People in pain aren't known to eat a healthy diet, so how many times is that Tylenol taken on an empty stomach, going right to the blood stream and hence to the liver for cleansing.
Again, not good.