You may be hitting the bottle too hard and not even know it. Each year about 8 percent of the 100 million Americans who take acetaminophen visit the ER for accidentally overdosing on the drug, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While that number isn't astronomically high, the problem is that you may not even realize you're putting yourself at risk. That's why a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning is asking doctors to stop prescribing combination medications that contain more than 325 milligrams (mg) of acetaminophen per pill.
Prescription painkillers packing more than that limit include big names: Vicodin, Percocet, Lortab, and Codeine with Tylenol, to name a few. Some versions can have as much as 500 to 750 mg of acetaminophen per pill. Why that matters: According to the FDA, there's no evidence that the larger doses of acetaminophen deliver additional benefits. And too much could put you at an increased risk of serious liver injury.
It's not just prescription meds that are worrisome
"It's very easy to unintentionally overdose by taking two or three different over-the-counter medications that contain the drug," says Robert Geller, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. You might swallow Extra Strength Tylenol for pain, pop Sudafed for allergy symptoms, and then down NyQuil to help you sleep sans sniffles. Even when following package directions, you could gulp down a total of 9,200 mg or more within 24 hours--estimating you're taking four doses a day, one every 4 hours. The maximum amount of acetaminophen that's considered safe to swallow: 4,000 mg per day.
Signs something could be wrong--and what to do
An accidental OD can masquerade as nothing more than the flu--which you may be taking acetaminophen to treat in the first place. Symptoms include nausea, fatigue, abdominal pain, or vomiting. And within 24 to 72 hours, your risk of liver toxicity increases--in the U.S., half of liver failure cases each year are due to acetaminophen poisoning.
Protect yourself by always reading labels, which contain acetaminophen amounts. Follow package instructions to ensure you're staying within or below the 4,000 mg range. Check with your doctor that your prescription pills fall within the safe limit--even the powerful pain pills are available in smaller, safer doses that are still effective against what ails you.
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