paracetamol

[baratron]

Can anyone explain from where I absorbed the belief that taking a therapeutic dosage of Paracetamol will kill me horribly?

Paracetamol is a dangerous drug - yes. It causes horrible liver damage if misused. However, every single packet of the damn drug comes complete with the same warnings on the back:
1 to 2 tablets (500 mg - 1g) to be taken three or four times a day. Do not repeat the dose more frequently than every 4 hours. Maximum 8 tablets (4g) in 24 hours. Do not take for more than 3 days, unless your doctor agrees.

So by that token, I can take 1g of paracetamol every 5 hours I'm awake for the 3 days I have horrible period pain, and it shouldn't do me any harm at all.

So why do I think it will? and not take as many tablets as I should? and put up with the pain, even though period pain on top of my usual chronic pain pushes me from ok to irritable and miserable? It's not even as if paracetamol actually helps that much with the pain, but it's the only painkiller I can actually take - all aspirin derivatives are contraindicated for me, and codeine does terrible things to my gut.

Meh. Self-preservation instincts that lead to a failure to look after myself properly are just ... less than helpful.

Comments

[redbird]

You probably got that from a combination of how close (especially compared to most other common medicines) the therapeutic dose is to the dangerous one, and the real dangers of combining it with alcohol (unlike aspirin and its relatives).

[nitoda]

Can't begin to speculate on why you don't feel happy taking full dose of paracetamol.
Are you able to take ibuprofen or mefenamic acid, both of which I've found useful? The mefenamic acid is something I've had prescribed specifically for period pain; ibuprofen is something I routinely alternate with paracetamol when ill these days; 2 ibuprofen + 4 hours; 2 paracetamol + 4 hours; repeat at will.

Alternatively if you prefer the electrical approach to pain I have a TENS machine that isn't being used because my periods aren't painful any more. Would you like to try it?

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

Some people do react to it badly, which is why St John Ambulance have a "paracetamol protocol" (a laminated document that gets pinned to the wall in first aid stations). I don't remember all the questions off-hand, but they include things like "Have you ever had an allergic reaction?"

More generally, I tend to avoid taking pain-killers unless I really have to. My basic attitude is that pain is my body's way of saying "don't do that", so I'd rather listen to the warning than stick my fingers in my ears and say "My leg's on fire, and I don't care, la la la!"

[supergee.livejournal.com]

It seems to be a cultural think. In the US (where we call it acetaminophen), it's thought of as "like aspirin, only less rough on the stomach." In the UK it's considered scary. I don't know which is right. (I use ibuprofen.)

[judiff]

everytime i mention to my mum i'm taking pracetamol she says id a big serious voice "You will be careful won't you" and gets all worried and we have to go through the whole asprin and other NSAIDs being a very bad idea for us thing.
I think it's like partly becos a few years ago there was a lot of publicity about people accdiently overdosing becos they dint realise things like lemsip etc had paracetamol in and took them along with just pain normal paracteamol and then died or had horrible liver damage.
But it is safe at the thraputic dose (and a TENS machine can be helpful too)

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Ibuprofen and mefenemic acid are both aspirin derivatives and thus might kill me :(

I used to own a TENS machine but my parents "helpfully" lost it. I think I posted last month (or at least mumbled about it somewhere online) that I need, in my copious free time, to ring up the TENS Care people and find out what their electrodes are made of. If it transpires I can't use the self-adhesive electrodes, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do as the non-adhesive ones can only be stuck on with Micropore tape or the like and I'm buggered if I can find non-latex Micropore tape in the shops. I imagine it must exist, but from where to get it I don't know... Also, trying to glue something like that onto your own back is really quite difficult.

Bloody allergies!! *angry face*

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the idea that pain is the body's warning system, so I shouldn't ignore it is a lot of the reason I try not to take painkillers. However, when you suffer from a chronic pain condition, that isn't necessarily the case. I get pain from fairly ordinary mundane activities, and not as a sign of anything *new* being wrong at all. And period pain is absolutely not a warning system, it's just... exasperating. I'm at the stage now where between physical pain and headaches I end up having to take a day off work every single month because of my period, which is just silly.

I used to be able to stave off the worst of period pain by avoiding eating or drinking any acidic fruit (especially citrus fruits) for a couple of days in the month. That doesn't seem to work any more. I take raspberry leaf tablets (although I've heard the tea is better) and evening primrose oil, and it sort of helps. But the only drugs that actually gets rid of the pain completely are aspirin derivatives, which I can't take anymore owing to danger of death. Meh.

[nitoda]

:-(((

Sorry! If it turns out that the TENS unit can be used and you would like it, do let me know!

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I vote with everyone else: the dangerous dose is fairly close to the therapeutic dose, alcohol is a really bad combination, and people overdose when they don't realise what else they're taking has paracetamol in it.

It is a real shame about the asprin-derivative allergy because I found paracetamol didn't do anything useful for my period pain, aspirin itself makes me vomit, and ibuprofen is the wonder drug I pay homage to every month.

You are no doubt Different From Me, but I've found sleep, exercise, and water all help reduce period pain (particularly if I pay attention to those in the few days before the period itself), and eating less also helps: PMS chocolate and icecream cravings are not a good thing for me to indulge in, retrospectively.