General Chat

A lady has died after taking 1/2 paracetamol over recommended dose over 2 days -she took 16 1/2.
Ros xx

n

paracetamol can be very dangerous indeed - if you take them over a sustained period they have been known to cause liver damage

Thats awful Ros, I knew a lady here , who had severe depression but it was proved she took too much paracetamol for toothache,


Caz xxx

Glad i read all this i take 2 before i go to bed 2 in the morning and sometimes in the day, for leg pains due to long periods of standing as a hairdresser for 30 years, Is asprin any safer.

Julie xx

People tend to forget to read the leaflet that comes with them thinking they,re harmless,but they,re not, Julie,Baby or Soluable Aspirin may be OK.Best to consult your GP.though just in case.**M**.

don't know Julie - I know about paracetamol cos I had a friend who suffered chronic migraines - he took loads of paracetamol; and one day had to be rushed to hospital - he had turned yellow!! it had attacked his liver. I should check with your GP or pharmacist

Thank you all for your advice.
love Julie x x x

i once was on paracetamol flu tablets
mam bought me some new ones i tuk 2 every 4 hours not thinkin to read the new ones "was 1 every 4 hours" id tul 4 more tham i should

phoned nhs direct to be on the safe side they said r u sure everythign is ok at home and u didnt do it by accident

now im sure if ii was wantign to do somthing silly i wld have tuk more than four and i wldnt hav rang for advice doh!

as it was i was fine

altho they did say
best to take paracetamol then four hours later ibruaphen then 4 hours later parcetamol

luv
stray
xxx

I would like to know all the facts in this case, before I condemn this drug on the world wide web.

Paracetamol is dangerous if not used correctly, yes.... but is also extremely well tolerated by the majority of people if used as directed, in fact better tolerated than most drugs

I can't take asprin or Ibuprufen, or nasaids... I can only take paracetamol, codeine and other opiates... I have rheumatoid arthritis, fortunately not as bad as it could be... but I do need to take painkillers during the night to help me sleep through, even on the best of days.... it is just so difficult on the bad days to control the pain with the recommended dose, without going over, when I need to take them during the day as well as the night... and I admit to being petrified of becoming addicted so often *put up* with the pain during the day rather than risk overdosing!!

My personal opinion is that there must have been a long term regular little overdose with this person......or that she had a sensitivity to it, as I do with aspirin, which I only need to take one tablet of for it to kill me!! Even touching one is a no no.... this lady was clearly sensitive to the drug.

I just cannot, for the life of me, see how this was classed as an *overdose* for that amount over.... it seems much more likely to be a sensitivity IF that was all this lady had over the recommended dosage.

Love

Daff xxx

Presumably there is an inquest report to confirm this......?

And the link to it is....?

I have to agree with you Daff.
I also have to take painkillers for arthritis at night but only have them in the day if really really needed.

However, 2 years ago when I was very ill with severe tonsillitis I was unable to eat unable to stay awake for more that quarter of an hour and on paracetamol day and night for two weeks. I ended up being rushed into hospital due to fever and they gave me some more along with anibiotics.

Like Daff said she must have been sensitive. They can be dangerous but for just half a tablet to cause death seems extreme.

Hi Rosalyn,

That is an interesting statement. Could you elaborate and tell us more about the lady and when/why and where this happened.

Susan
x

I have checked with my sister, who is working nights.... she has confirmed that 1/2 a tablet over of paracetamol is extremely unlikely to cause death from overdose.

It is much more likely to have been a sensitivity or allergy....... or sensationalist reporting from the author of the report in the press, if it was in the press.


She has a degree in Pharmocology, by the way, as well as being a Sister on a very busy acute emergency ward.

Love

Daff xxx

I have just found this.... I still think that there is more to this..... than meets the eye...... and I do wonder if other medications which include paracetamol were also taken.... or she was very sensitive to the drug.

Paracetamol overdose 'accidental'

D******** R********* took the tablets to cure her flu symptoms
An inquest has found that an accidental overdose of paracetamol killed a 37-year-old woman from Limavady.

D********* R******** took 16-and-a-half tablets over two days to cure flu.

She was treated at hospital in Coleraine, then transferred to King's College Hospital in London where she died from kidney and liver failure.

Raymond Anderson, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland, said people need to be more aware of the dangers of paracetamol.

My son's best mate's Dad took an overdose of paracetamol on purpose, trying to end his life. He was resuscitated but almost caused complete liver failure. Sadly a year or so later he did the same thing, they had split up and after the first occasion my friend told him there was no chance of reconciliation and found a new man by advertising in the dating column of the local paper. Later when she became pregnant by the new man, and asked for a divorce, he took more paracetamol and died on his son's 5th or 6th birthday, coincidentally next Monday, so 20 or 21 years ago. I don't know how many he took tho. I think he drank more than was good for him too, so his liver probably wasn't in the best of health anyway, but such a sad thing to do.
(She has left the second husband a couple of years ago, for yet another man, leaving her daughter with her dad. Luckily this man is made of sterner stuff and is bringing his daughter up with infrequent visits from the mum.)
I feel very sorry for anyone who loses someone in this way, whether accidentally or other.

Lizx