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Source please? I haven't been able to find anything credible about whatever danger it is you're referencing - unless the danger is overdosing because the person didn't know they were taking acetaminophen in different forms? If the danger is people not bothering to check what they're ingesting, I'll concede that's a clear and ever-present danger - just not one specific to acetaminophen.
I think the reason people overdose on Tylenol, and often don't realize that's the problem until their liver is failing, is that for decades Tylenol was presented as the "safe" choice for fever and pain control. Which really just means it's not going to give little kids Reye Syndrome. But because you've absorbed that idea as a little kid, you're not looking for danger unless you specifically re-learn about overdose hazard. And too many people don't, because shitty education. Then you add all the mixed "cold and flu" OTC medications with the ingredients in tiny print, and the fact that by the time you have uncomfortable symptoms it's probably too late to pump your stomach, so people die. And that's without counting in the little ones who got into the grape chewables or drank the whole bottle of the baby's bubblegum liquid.
Editing to add: In my experience, Tylenol just doesn't do a very good job of easing pain, which might also lead to overdose. It never worked for my severe period cramps, which Advil did. And there's a case of a man dying because he took 5 extra-strength every hour trying to control his dental pain, which I would never do but I can affirm it doesn't do shit for toothache either.
But autism? Nah.
A combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol) is a crazy effective painkiller. It's been found to be even more effective than some opioids. Watch your dosage, know what you're taking, and it's perfectly safe.
If you do that, be sure to space them out, alternating, with at least a couple of hours between. Having done it on doctor's advice, I've noticed the Tylenol is barely enough to keep me hanging on as the previous Advil wears off and until I can take the next one. I'm not 💯% sure it was helping at all, but at least I could say to myself, "surely it will be kicking in any moment now..." until I got through to where I could start saying "Only half an hour more until you can take the good stuff."
I think people have idiosyncratic responses to pain meds. I don't respond to Aleve either. Aspirin is mildly helpful. But a single Motrin was all I needed the day after a C-section.
Huge risk of liver toxicity. Mix two drugs then drink like an average American and the liver has no chance.
People take 2x doses of ibuprofen to recover from hangover.
Then don't drink. Why would you mix poison with medicine and think that's an ok thing to do? No shit that's bad for you.
If you are taking any kind of medicine, don't drink. If people are too stupid to realize that, then they are deserving of the Darwin Award.
Also, don't eat grapefruit when taking medicine. That one is more forgivable because it's not obvious it's a problem.
Preaching to the choir haha.
Regarding your point on the efficacy of acetaminophen: agreed wholeheartedly. Like /u/i_has_a_hat said, if you combine it with ibuprofen it's far more effective. My go-to for bad pain is 500-1000mg acetaminophen and 400mg ibuprofen; I stole the idea from my ex's neurologist when he prescribed it for dealing with the side effects of her main medication (and he also specifically said it would help with her period cramps too, hers were always bad).
As to the guy taking 5 an hour... That's an incredible amount of acetaminophen, even "normal strength". You said you wouldn't, I think I couldn't take that many pills. Just the idea has me gagging 🤢 I think it's fair to call that one an outlier in the data.
My doctors have said to take them alternating, not at the same time, and it has worked to smooth out the waves a bit although I'm definitely aware of the difference in effectiveness.
And yes, that dude must have been crazy, badly misunderstood directions, or just in such agonizing pain he didn't care he was killing himself. Sadly, liver failure is also a painful way to go.
Yeah, it’s easy to take too much.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441917/
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/820200-overview
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/acute-liver-failure
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5962381/
https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/acetaminophen-toxicity-what-pharmacists-need-to-know
You ... You didn't try at all, did you?
The dosage they describe as overdosing in adults is 24x that of a high strength recommended dosage. That does not seem "easy" to OD.
I appreciate the sources, but I don't appreciate the
Because nothing you've posted here is news to me. I think you'll find I said:
So I'll just quote directly from your very first link, because the rest of them don't say anything different:
And
So, in around 50% of cases, the danger is people not bothering to check what they're ingesting. They took other medications containing acetaminophen and didn't know it, or they took other drugs that amplified the ability of the acetaminophen to cause damage (like alcohol, which is made very clear you're not supposed to take with acetaminophen).
In the rest, overdoses were intentionally taken, so you can't really count those in the danger statistics since the goal was to use it dangerously.
To put this in perspective:
Just do the maths on how much acetaminophen you normally take for any given ailment, and you'll realise just how far beyond those doses the danger really lies (or maybe that you're one of the people who doesn't check what they're taking).
So, to conclude: acetaminophen is indeed dangerous if you don't pay attention to what you're taking or how much. Other examples of things that are dangerous if you don't use them right: cars, ovens, lawnmowers, cotton buds, the internet... the full list is quite long, actually, but I'm sure you get the idea.
Lol who downvoted this
I'll give you one guess :P
What a tool.
Many countries discourage these drugs. Switzerland and Germany, most of EU.
It sounds like the health care sector in the EU generally is worried about the misuse of acetaminophen, like for a "Paracetamol Challenge" on the level of the "Tide Pod Challenge": https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/what-is-the-paracetamol-challenge-that-has-europe-nervous/
The misuse of any OTC drug is worrying, but this doesn't translate into a general discouragement, and certainly not because of the "danger" that some people might not take it as directed.
US consumers have been completely brainwashed into taking drugs for any minor inconvenience and told they are safe. The only truly safe drug is drug that does nothing.
Because they are directly marketed to, they overdose or mix NSAIDs until their kidneys and livers fail.
I think the point is that it can cause serious damage/death if you take too much... Which is maybe a bit unique among OTC medications specifically
Yeah no. Aspirin is lethal at much lower doses.
Nobody said acetaminophen is the only one like it, just that it's not common
"a bit"
But I suppose I was listening to something on NPR a few months ago where someone complained about describing things with varying degrees of uniqueness (eg, "a bit") because unique is technically a binary descriptor. Something I learned in that moment and apparently forgot soon after.