Tylenol has a particularly narrow window of safety for an over-the-counter drug.
OTC Tylenol (acetaminophen) comes as:
325mg: regular strength
500mg: extra strenth
650mg: maximum strength (Tylenol Arthritis)
The max daily dose for Tylenol is 4 grams- or 4000 mg. Anything over that has potential to produce toxic levels and overdose symptoms (and has been reported at slightly above 4000mg).
Let's say you suffer from horrible pain one day. I know that the regular strength bottle says 1-2 tablets every 4-6 hours, so you take 2 tablets roughly every 3 hours for the entire day (it's close to four...right?). You wake up at 8am and go to sleep at 10pm. For that day, you took 325mg x 2 tablets= 650mg every three hours for 14 hours for a total of 3033 mg that day.
The next day, you're in the same boat. Since you did fine with two, you decide to take three tablets instead. You're still taking a dose every 3 hours instead of four, so for that day, you take 325mg x 3 tablets = 975mg every 3 hours for 14 hours that day...that's a total of 4,550mg...550mg over the maximum daily dose and in danger of toxicity.
Once again, let's even say the next day you do all the same things except you buy Tylenol Extra Strength and don't read the bottle instructions. Now, you're taking 500mg x 3 tablets = 1500mg every 3 hours for 14 hours for a total of 7000mg that day.
You land in the hospital 3 days after that.
Pay attention to all label instructions, and don't mix Tylenol with alcohol- it can lower the amount needed to produce an overdose. Pick something else for your morning after hangovers.
For those who are taking prescription drugs for pain, such as Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, Ultracet, and some migraine medications, keep in mind that Tylenol (acetaminophen) exists in ALL of these medications along with hydrocodone, caffeine, etc. So, if anyone is taking any of these, talk to a doctor or pharmacist before taking Tylenol with them!
Something to think about.
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3 comments:
For those interested, this is an interesting article I came across while researching OTC overdoses. It's not meant to scare anyone- all OTCs are safe within the doses instructed on the bottle. Most of these are extreme cases, but it's always helpful to recognize the symptoms of various overdoses. It's written with some medical jargon, so if you have any questions about it, please let me know.
http://www.emsresponder.com/print/EMS-Magazine/Over-the-Counter-Overdoses/1$10587
You may have to cut and paste the web address into your browser.
What are symptoms of a tylenol overdose?
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