Acetaminophen in the news

[mommylamb]

DS is having a minor procedure that will require anesthesia next week. The nurse just told me that the entire week prior is is only supposed to take Tylenol (no aspirin or Motrin) for pain relief. Not sure what the reasoning is, I need to look into it more.

I'm sure he'll be fine, and that you'll keep a watchful eye out to make sure that you stay within the recommended dosage.

[elektra]

I'm sure he'll be fine, and that you'll keep a watchful eye out to make sure that you stay within the recommended dosage.

I might ask why or voice my concerns but I would still do recommended dosage of Tylenol if the dr. recommended it, if motrin was not a good option (maybe because of it's blood thinning?)

[egoldber]

Momit, do you know what anesthesia they will be using? I would ask and ask why the restriction.

And this is another thing I am concerned about. Right now there is a lot of information floating around about acetaminophen. So many people are looking to aspirin and ibuprofen (or other NSAIDs) instead. These drugs have their own concerns. For some people they are worse than acetaminophen. If a drug like Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) goes away then doctors may prescribe Percodan (oxycodone and aspirin). That may lead to people using too much aspirin/ibuprofen (which should not be taken together).

I think the answer is better labeling or patient information/counseling, but there are many issues to resolve there.

[BunnyBee]

DS is having a minor procedure that will require anesthesia next week. The nurse just told me that the entire week prior is is only supposed to take Tylenol (no aspirin or Motrin) for pain relief. Not sure what the reasoning is, I need to look into it more.

I believe the issue is that ibuprofen works as a blood thinner. When in doubt, call back and ask the nurse or doctor though! Actually, for drug info, a good pharmacist is invaluable.

[Dream]

Thanks for posting, I was't aware of this.

[essnce629]

It's definitely true and happens often. DH has been getting daily headaches for years (started in law school) and was basically living off of Excedrin Tension Headache which contains Tylenol. He was taking it 2-3 times a day for the past 5+ years. He had a physical at work last year and his liver function enzymes were high. I told him it was because of the Excedrin and also drinking wine every night doesn't help since that makes it worse and also affects the liver. I went with him to his last doctor's appointment and told the doctor about him taking Excedrin every day because I knew he wouldn't mention it. The doctor said that was a BIG problem and that it would take him 3 weeks off of it to get rid off all the rebound symptoms, etc. She also said to limit his wine consumption to 4oz a day (which is less than what he was drinking since our wine glasses are BIG!). He ended up quitting cold turkey and hasn't taken Excedrin for a few months. He's due for another physical soon so we'll see if his liver function enzymes are back to normal. I definitely didn't want my 31 year old DH dying of liver failure due to slowing overdosing on Excedrin-- which is exactly what I told him.

[Gracemom]

This is a concern for my DS because he is allergic to ibuprofen. He cannot take it or aspirin, so he can only take acetaminophen. He is very active in sports so I'm afraid that when he gets injured, he will not be able to take enough medicine to block the pain. He is a pretty tough kid so far, and I hope he stays that way. I would rather have him in some pain than with liver damage.

[Momit]

I'm sure he'll be fine, and that you'll keep a watchful eye out to make sure that you stay within the recommended dosage.

Yes, I'm sure it will be ok. I didn't think much of it until I read this thread 10 minutes after I talked to the nurse. It wasn't for pain relief pre and post procedure, it was starting a week prior to it if he happens to need pain relief for something else. It's most likely because of the blood thinning issue.

[Zukini]

This is a concern for my DS because he is allergic to ibuprofen. He cannot take it or aspirin, so he can only take acetaminophen. He is very active in sports so I'm afraid that when he gets injured, he will not be able to take enough medicine to block the pain. He is a pretty tough kid so far, and I hope he stays that way. I would rather have him in some pain than with liver damage.

Same concern here. I'm allergic to aspirin and NSAIDs so taking pretty much anything but Tylenol and Vicodin is out of the question for me. I'm super careful with it, adding up daily doses to watch the limit, and am a consistent label reader when it comes to meds simply because I've run into aspirin type meds in weird places (eg Alkaseltzer borrowed from a coworker about ten years back). I also carry all my own medications in my purse incl an Epi Pen and Benadryl. I don't borrow anything from anyone. And I watch and remind doctors and hospital staff like a hawk. You'd be surprised how often an error almost gets made or when the pharmacist would try to argue that I could take something. Uh huh.