Why avoid taking acetaminophen....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 10-16-2012

For starters, taking Acetaminophen is often done to lower a fever. 

Fevers are a protective effect generated by your immune system.  Unless quite high, you are more likely to return to health more quickly by drinking a lot of extra water and get a bit more rest if you take nothing at all to lower fevers.  That’s true for both adults and kids.  The extra water is essential.  The extra rest is quite desirable.  But lowering fevers below about 105 degrees F. with ANY OTC drug is actually a BAD idea because of this.

Acetaminophen, aka Paracetamol in the UK, does relieve pain but is quite risky to take -- it's fatal for some people -- and may make Asthma in children and Alzheimer's disease in adults more likely.

1.  Despite now being an over the counter drug, Acetaminophen is quite risky to take and can be dangerous to take. Liver damage from Acetaminophen can be hard to reverse and if bad enough it has killed people.

Some things make that more likely:

Do you take statin drugs?

Or, do you take the much safer and more heart protective niacin?

If you do either, taking acetaminophen may be risky due to heavy strain or stress on your liver.

Do you drink regularly though at a light moderate level?  Do you drink more than that regularly?  Do you binge drink sometimes having 4 or more drinks?

If so, morphine may be much safer for you to take than Acetaminophen.  Definitely taking extra strength Acetaminophen several times a day for days at a time could put you at extreme risk.

Do you take Ny-Quil or DayQuil or other OTC symptom removers that include Acetaminophen?  If so, taking Acetaminophen in addition may harm your liver since these other OTC products already have it.

2.  I recently read that children taking Acetaminophen are more or much more likely to get asthma.

It’s possible that this is because parents who give kids a pain killer too easily instead of hugs and help getting well or using other ways to make their kids feel better are also more likely to live in polluted neighborhoods or less able to clean their homes often.

But the correlation with asthma also may be due to the effects of Acetaminophen or the effects of Acetaminophen on the liver in children.  I’ve not read of such a correlation with taking NSAID’s for example.

Aspirin is not recommended for kids and young people as it has caused Reyes Syndrome.

Not taking a pain killer too easily; occasional use of an NSAID drug -- or an opiate drug prescribed by a doctor for more severe pain, looks like it may be a better choice than taking Acetaminophen.

3.  I also recently read that adults taking Acetaminophen are more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease.

That too may have the cause in the other direction to be fair.  People who never exercise or get too little exercise generate fewer endorphins and tend to have more aches and pains.  They also tend to get brain shrinkage and their risk of Alzheimer’s disease is higher.

But here too, I’ve not read of such a correlation with taking NSAID’s or aspirin.

NSAID’s may have some heart risk.  So taking them sparingly for only short periods is likely wise.  But unless you know you are at above average heart risk, taking an NSAID for a short time may be safer than using Acetaminophen.

Aspirin has a significant risk of bleeding.  So some people who are on blood thinner drugs cannot take it.  But usually taking a reasonable amount for a short time is safe.

So, avoid treating most fevers if you want to get well quickly.

And for adults, not taking a pain killer too easily; occasional use of an NSAID drug or aspirin-- or an opiate drug prescribed by a doctor for more severe pain, looks like it may be a better choice than taking Acetaminophen.

Personal note:  A friend of mine was someone who took some cold OTC drugs that contained Acetaminophen and took Extra Strength Tylenol too – even more Acetaminophen -- wound up in the hospital with liver damage.

His doctors thought it might be permanent and other than temporarily stopping drinking alcohol and for sure stopping all Acetaminophen, they didn’t know what else to tell him.

Mercifully a relative knew to tell him to take 3 capsules of milk thistle 3 times a day for several weeks.

He did that and gradually his blood tests show his liver recovered.

Now you know about Acetaminophen, hopefully you can avoid that kind of hassle.