Acetaminophen Use
Acetaminophen Use
acetaminophen pills
What is acetaminophen?
Acetaminophen is a medicine used to relieve pain or to reduce a fever. Acetaminophen is a crystalline compound. It is an analgesic and antipyretic or anti-inflammatory. It is very similar to aspirin but its anti-inflammatory effects are not as nearly as strong.
Acetaminophen is used to relieve many kinds of minor aches and pain though. Aches and pains such as headaches, muscle aches, backaches, toothaches, cramps, arthritis, and the pains that are associated with colds.
Acetaminophen is most commonly found in Tylenol, Panadol, Aspirin, and Bayer. Acetaminophen can be bought without a prescription.
Acetaminophen use is not usually recreational although there are dangers associated with it. A lot of the times acetaminophen is hidden within other drugs and can cause overdose. Sometimes acetaminophen use can lead to liver transplant or death.
No one should exceed the normal dosage for acetaminophen. The normal dose of acetaminophen for children age 12 and over is 325-650mgs every four to six hours as needed. No more than 4,000mgs of acetaminophen should be used in a 24 hour period. Why? Because this amount of acetaminophen use can be very dangerous to the liver.
No one should use acetaminophen for more than 10 days to relieve pain. If the symptoms of pain do not go away acetaminophen use should not be continued, instead you should see a doctor. Also acetaminophen use has heightened effects when you drink three or more alcoholic beverages a day, so check with your doctor before you use acetaminophen.
Acetaminophen use is highly interactive with other drugs. So be careful and check the effects of mixing acetaminophen with any other drugs taken. Acetaminophen use can interact with alcohol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Motrin, oral contraceptives, blood thinning medicine, cholesterol lowering medicine, and antiseizure medicine and other certain antibiotics.
Acetaminophen use has few side effects if it is taken as recommended. The most common side effect of acetaminophen use is lightheadedness. Some people do experience trembling and pain in the side or lower back due to using acetaminophen. Sometimes people will even develop rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing due to their acetaminophen use. This is a sign of acetaminophen overdose and requires immediate medical attention.
Some other rare side effects of acetaminophen use are yellow skin or eyes also known as jaundice, unusual bleeding or bruising, weakness, fatigue, bloody or black stools, bloody or cloudy urine, and a decrease in urine. Acetaminophen use can also cause nausea, vomiting, sweating and exhaustion. Large amount of acetaminophen use can cause liver damage.
While acetaminophen use has tons of negative side effects if it is taken as recommended it can be a great over the counter pain reliever. Acetaminophen use is great for treating arthritis because it helps with inflammation of the joints that cause swelling and pain. It is also good for helping with physical and mental weariness along with inflammation. This is because acetaminophen is an anti-inflammatory along with a pain reliever.