Thread: Wanna screw up your liver?

Forget the booze, go for the Tylenol!

The prescription painkillers Percocet and Vicodin should be banned and use of Tylenol, sold over the counter, should be reduced because the ingredient acetaminophen is linked to liver damage, U.S. advisers said.

Outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 20-17 today in Adelphi, Maryland, for the ban on Percocet and Vicodin, which also contain a narcotic. The panel agreed earlier that Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol should be given in lower doses than now recommended and the Extra-Strength version should be sold by prescription only.

Acetaminophen, an aspirin alternative in use for five decades to reduce pain and fever, has been a leading cause of liver injury for more than a decade, the FDA said.

Painkiller Restrictions Urged Because of Threat of Liver Damage - Bloomberg.com

This shit is stunning. And notice they want to pull Vicoden off the market not because of the opiates, but because of the TYLENOL.

How messed up is that?

Apparently taking drugs that don't get you high is really fucking risky.

So Tylenol destroys your liver and aspirin destroys your stomach. Ibuprofen causes your heart to explode or something, hey, I've got an idea. How about we go strait to the opiates for killing pain and forget the non-narcotic shit. Sounds a lot safer to me.

Originally Posted by Blueneck

Forget the booze, go for the Tylenol!



Painkiller Restrictions Urged Because of Threat of Liver Damage - Bloomberg.com

This shit is stunning. And notice they want to pull Vicoden off the market not because of the opiates, but because of the TYLENOL.

How messed up is that?

Apparently taking drugs that don't get you high is really fucking risky.

So Tylenol destroys your liver and aspirin destroys your stomach. Ibuprofen causes your heart to explode or something, hey, I've got an idea. How about we go strait to the opiates for killing pain and forget the non-narcotic shit. Sounds a lot safer to me.

I thought the fact that Tylenol fucked your liver was common knowledge.

Originally Posted by michaelr

I thought the fact that Tylenol fucked your liver was common knowledge.

Well, I did know. But I just heard it was "the leading cause of liver failure" in the US. Now I'm reading "a leading cause...", but damn, I thought it was massive doses and long term use. I had no idea it was that big of a problem.

A long time ago I was reading the PDR (something I used to enjoy tremedously) about Empirin with Codeine (Empirin is a brand of aspirin) and noticed there was one paragraph about the dangers and side effects of codeine, and 2 whole pages about the side effects of aspirin!!

So why are non-narcotic pain relievers such a great idea for people with chronic pain?

I take upwards of 12 ibuprofen a day due to arthritis only because getting something stronger is really hard to do if you don't have health insurance. But there's something just ass backwards about killing yourself with alternative medications just so you don't get high. How bizarre that is.

Originally Posted by Blueneck

Well, I did know. But I just heard it was "the leading cause of liver failure" in the US. Now I'm reading "a leading cause...", but damn, I thought it was massive doses and long term use. I had no idea it was that big of a problem.

A long time ago I was reading the PDR (something I used to enjoy tremedously) about Empirin with Codeine (Empirin is a brand of aspirin) and noticed there was one paragraph about the dangers and side effects of codeine, and 2 whole pages about the side effects of aspirin!!

So why are non-narcotic pain relievers such a great idea for people with chronic pain?

I take upwards of 12 ibuprofen a day due to arthritis only because getting something stronger is really hard to do if you don't have health insurance. But there's something just ass backwards about killing yourself with alternative medications just so you don't get high. How bizarre that is.

If you drink more than once a week, you should never take it or anything like it, you could end up deader that a hammer.
http://www.pkids.org/pdf/phr/08-06whichpainkiller.pdf

I rarely take pain meds, I have learned to deal with the pain, and I am pretty good at it, but it is aging me faster than I would like. Oh well, you can't win them all.

I think I'd like to know more about the claimed deaths resulting from Tylenol. From what I've heard (no links this time, sorry) the vast majority of all deaths that directly resulted from Tylenol* were people that were taking way, way, way beyond the proscribed dosages ... twenty pills per day and more. These people were usually elderly.

It's also a fact that when citing these results, the figures always include unrelated incidences. For example, if a controlled sample of 100 people take Tylenol, and one is hit by a bus and killed, then they have to state a 1% mortality rate, even though the death was unrelated to the drug.

Likewise, during clinical testing, if one of the Tylenol test subjects contracts an unrelated stomach virus, then "nausea and vomiting" must be listed as possible side effects.

Can anyone cite any information describing the circumstances of some of the deaths in this case?




* As opposed to interactions between Tylenol and another drug

I take upwards of 12 ibuprofen a day due to arthritis only because getting something stronger is really hard to do if you don't have health insurance

Just wanted to confirm that. You have been diagnosed with arthritis and cannot get medication.

What country are you in? Pakistan? Rwanda? Hati?

Originally Posted by Dr.Knuckles

Just wanted to confirm that. You have been diagnosed with arthritis and cannot get medication.

What country are you in? Pakistan? Rwanda? Hati?

In 1997 I fell down some stairs and wound up in the emergency room where I got an xray. They said I had slight degenerative arthritis in my lower back. I occasionally have problems with spasms, but if I do exercises regularly and don't spend hours leaning slightly forward working with my hands out in front of me, that's preventable. But I'm achy all the time, mostly my hip on one side and my knee.

That's as pre-diagnosed as I want to get, just in case the opportunity to get insurance does arise. But enough about me.

What's screwed up about Tylenol is that it's in everything. From sleep aids to cold medicine. The reason being, I assume, is that it's a "safe" drug.

This is anecdotal, but:

I never thought it would be Tylenol that brought about my father’s demise. The past three days I’ve been holding the hand of a man who will die from acute liver failure– due to Tylenol. We always suspected it would be the lifetime of drinking–not an over-the-counter pain reliever.

Of course, the man has a case history of liver disease, something that was unknown to me, but it was not something that was going to kill him, because he has ceased heavy drinking for 4 years now. He has relapsed just a few times, supposedly only for a day or two at a time.

However, the presence of liver disease or the consumption of alcohol require that you limit your Tylenol intake to half of the suggested dose.

Danger: Acetaminophen can kill you - A P.E.A.C.E, SCOOTER: A Patriot’s Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism, on a Scooter

I find it outrageous that's this person probably listened to years of "stop dirinking or you will die!" bullshit, then when he does quit the damn Tylenol kills him.

That would really piss me off. The "war on drugs" pisses me off, and after all the drama, people imprisoned, PSM's, interventions and "Just Say No" social engineering, it turns out you can end up dying from an OTC drug you took for pain that you chose so you could be a coherent and functional good citizen and get your work done. :hissy:

All based on the concept that anything that gets you high is bad, and anything that doesn't is safe.

I just wonder about our priorities sometimes. You know there are doctors who hesitate to give terminally ill patients opiates because they worry they'll become addicted? They probably recommend Tylenol for the pain! HA!

A dozen ibuprofens per day seems like a lot... Well above "normal" usage, and well-worth seeking alternatives.

But I'm not going to support those who would scare those who take two Tylenol to relieve the occasional headache.

This is what I'm talking about:

If a U.S. Food and Drug Administration expert panel has its way, prescription pain killers, like Vicodin and Percocet that contain acetaminophen will be eliminated from the country's formularies.

Yet, the very same panel voted to keep over-the-counter combination pills containing acetaminophen on the shelves.

Black Box, Mixed Message? FDA Panel Delivers Acetaminophen Recommendations - ABC News

I can think of a much more fun way to screw up your liver.