Acetaminophen And Your Liver

The most common type of acute liver failure in the United States is a result of people having unintentionally taken an overdose of acetaminophen

. Consequently, approximately 500 people per year die from overdoses of this readily available medication.

Generally considered effective and safe, acetaminophen does exhibit a dose-related toxicity. Approximately 50,000 people visit the emergency room every year because they have unwittingly taken too much of this "safe" drug.

Toxic levels of the drug can be reached by anyone who takes in excess of a certain amount.

And if the person who takes this over the counter medication is a heavy alcohol user then liver failure is an even more serious risk.

In other instances an acetaminophen overdose can accidently happen if you take too much of a medication such as Tylenol while you take another medication that contains acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is in a diverse variety of prescription as well as over-the-counter drugs including Darvocet, Vicodin, Percocet, some types of Alka-Seltzer, Execedrin migraine relief products, TheraFlu, and NyQuil.

Are There Antidotes for Acetaminophen Overdoses?

An antidote for an acetaminophen overdose is available. However the antidote needs to be administered within a certain time frame after the drug has been ingested. The window is usually between ten to sixteen hours after the drug is ingested.

You might think that this could be easily done. However, one of the very big challenge is that there are very few symptoms that are associated with such an overdose. A person may feel nauseous and might vomit. However even these symptoms tend to disappear rather quickly.

The patient then usually feels better for about two days. But by that time the life-threatening damage to their liver has already occurred.

What is the Safe Dosage for this Drug?

The over-the-counter companies that manufacture this medicine set a maximum dosage of four grams of acetaminophen per twenty four hour period. Since a number of companies manufacture 500 mg "extra strength" capsules, an overdose would be the equivalent of taking more than eight capsules.

However, a number of people recommend that no more than two to three grams of the substance be taken per day if you regularly drink alcohol.

One thing to be aware of is that some products that contain acetaminophen now contain seven hundred and fifty milligrams of the drug. So, if you do drink, you definitely should not take more than three of these tablets in any twenty four hour period.

by: Wendy Moyer

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