Tylenol products, PLEASE be careful

[jeninflorida]

In the past three months I have had three close friends suffer from Tylenol poising. Taking Tylenol products can be dangerous even by following the directions on the label. Guess that the dangers are a little known secret that the medical community is not sharing.

One friend was taking Tylenol PM to sleep at night (2 pills at night for about a year).

Another friend was taking Tylenol as a pain killer (not sure how many pills after playing golf).

Last week we got a call from a friend from another friend who was in the hospital having back surgery and the pain killer that he received also contained Tylenol, all of a sudden his liver enzymes were off the chart.

One of the chemicals or drugs if you will in Tylenol over time builds up in the system and will shut down the liver. After the liver shuts down the kidneys will shut down. If the doctors can catch it in time the damage could be reversed.

Granted, a lot of people don’t like me here but I have nothing to gain from this message. Just wanted to pass on the info!

 

[lance gt]

I like you Jen, so no worries here. I agree with the stats on Tylenol. A friend of mine also had liver problems after using Tylenol for over a year after a torn tendon in his shoulder. He started to get concerned when his stool came out black and had a sample analysed. His liver was almost shot and ended up in hospital for four months reversing the damage. I can't remember the name of the compound in it, but it does build up and strikes without notice. Thanks for the heads up Jen.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I have nothing against you, Jenn

All the "over the counter" pain remedies have a problem. Aspirin causes ulcers. Ibuprofen inhibits blood clotting. And so on. It's not surprising that Tylenol causes liver damage.

The problem is, most of these products were "grandfathered" in before the rules were tightened up to require extensive testing by the FDA. How many others are out there?

 

[SeaCat]

Jen,

Good post.

Tylenol, (Acetominophine) should not be taken for more than ten days unless ordered by an M.D. as the Liver Damage is a known side effect. If the M.D. does order the use for ten days or more they should be also ordering Blood Tests.

Then again the ten day rule is good for most over the counter medications.

Cat

 

[MagicaPractica]

I've always thought you weren't supposed to take any pain killer on a continuous basis without doctors supervision. They are drugs after all and should be used with care.

 

[AngeloMichael]

You also have to be careful with perscription meds for pain, they can have Tylenol (Acetominophine) in them and you not know unless you read the medication information.

My mother has a nightly argument with my dad because he's on oxy-contin for pain but he also wants to take Tylenol, my mother keeps telling him the oxy-contin has Tylenol in it too.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Unfortunately, there are those of us who, being allergic to any narcotics, must rely on Tylenol for any serious pain conditions, including post-surgical. So, all in all, I will make serious effort to avoid surgery in the future.

 

[Noor]

Unfortunately, there are those of us who, being allergic to any narcotics, must rely on Tylenol for any serious pain conditions, including post-surgical. So, all in all, I will make serious effort to avoid surgery in the future.

So far narcotics don't work on me and I have always been afraid of tylenol because of liver damage. I really liked Vioxx, and Orudis/Oruval but can't get those any more. Use Celebrex and muscle relaxers when I need to. Ambein seems to work on pain as well.

 

[vrosej10]

In the past three months I have had three close friends suffer from Tylenol poising. Taking Tylenol products can be dangerous even by following the directions on the label. Guess that the dangers are a little known secret that the medical community is not sharing.

One friend was taking Tylenol PM to sleep at night (2 pills at night for about a year).

Another friend was taking Tylenol as a pain killer (not sure how many pills after playing golf).

Last week we got a call from a friend from another friend who was in the hospital having back surgery and the pain killer that he received also contained Tylenol, all of a sudden his liver enzymes were off the chart.

One of the chemicals or drugs if you will in Tylenol over time builds up in the system and will shut down the liver. After the liver shuts down the kidneys will shut down. If the doctors can catch it in time the damage could be reversed.

Granted, a lot of people don’t like me here but I have nothing to gain from this message. Just wanted to pass on the info!

We call this drug paracetamol in Australia. It is not widely know that this is the easiest drug commonly available to overdose on. A fatal overdose is little more than the daily dose limit taken at once. We have had some many accidental fatal overdoses in Aussie that they are talking about restricting the drug to pharmacy sales.

I have nothing against you, Jenn

All the "over the counter" pain remedies have a problem. Aspirin causes ulcers. Ibuprofen inhibits blood clotting. And so on. It's not surprising that Tylenol causes liver damage.

The problem is, most of these products were "grandfathered" in before the rules were tightened up to require extensive testing by the FDA. How many others are out there?

Ibuprofen gives me both ulcers and thins my blood. I have to use it for an anti-inflamatory because I don't react well to the prescibed ones and I only take on dose a day (i am under medical supervision), but when I first stated I was bleeding so bad, I ended up being tested for leukaemia because I was bleeding so badly.

I've always thought you weren't supposed to take any pain killer on a continuous basis without doctors supervision. They are drugs after all and should be used with care.

In Aussie for many years, one adult dose of paracetemol daily has been reccomended as a treatment for the inflammatory effects of arthritis. It works brilliantly for my husband. Didn't work at all for me.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

So far narcotics don't work on me and I have always been afraid of tylenol because of liver damage. I really liked Vioxx, and Orudis/Oruval but can't get those any more. Use Celebrex and muscle relaxers when I need to. Ambein seems to work on pain as well.

Vioxx was taken off the market because it caused heart attacks, heart damage and death, not good side effects.

 

[jacks4u]

Jen,

Thanks for the heads up.

By the way, I don't know you well enough to dislike you. You seem to be a caring soul, sharing information that can help folks avoid medical problems.

Thank you.

Jacks

 

[Katyusha]

It's been known for awhile now that acetaminophen causes liver damage and is the number 1 cause of liver failure in the U.S. now. It's not just Tylenol...Excedrin has a lot of acetaminophen in it too. So do a lot of cold and flu medicines that contain fever reducers. Vicodin is mostly acetaminophen. And so on...acetaminophen in an awful lot of stuff and a lot of people OD on it without even realizing it because of that. Many others do what's been stated here; take it daily, sticking to the recommended dose or not, for too long a period of time.

It's a good idea to check the ingredients of every OTC and prescription painkiller/cold-flu drug/etc. to make sure they don't contain acetaminophen before taking anything else containing acetaminophen. Of course, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor or pharmacist (I sound like a commercial) about possible drug interactions/overdoses whenever you're going to be taking more than one med at a time anyway.

 

[Noor]

Vioxx was taken off the market because it caused heart attacks, heart damage and death, not good side effects.

I was on it a long time, no damage in my case.

 

[Noor]

We call this drug paracetamol in Australia. It is not widely know that this is the easiest drug commonly available to overdose on. A fatal overdose is little more than the daily dose limit taken at once. We have had some many accidental fatal overdoses in Aussie that they are talking about restricting the drug to pharmacy sales.



Ibuprofen gives me both ulcers and thins my blood. I have to use it for an anti-inflamatory because I don't react well to the prescibed ones and I only take on dose a day (i am under medical supervision), but when I first stated I was bleeding so bad, I ended up being tested for leukaemia because I was bleeding so badly.



In Aussie for many years, one adult dose of paracetemol daily has been reccomended as a treatment for the inflammatory effects of arthritis. It works brilliantly for my husband. Didn't work at all for me.

I have been trying the topical gel Valteren recently, it works pretty slick but gives me interesting bruises. Topical ibuprofen doesnt work as well.

 

[lostandlovely]

One thing that I noticed hasn't been mentioned in tandem with taking tylenol is to be sure you do Not have ANY alcohol within a 24 hour period of taking acetamenophin. Thats also because of the liver damaging probability.