FDA Lowers Amount of Acetaminophen Allowed in Prescription Painkillers

FDA Lowers Amount of Acetaminophen Allowed in Prescription Painkillers

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THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials announced Thursday that they will lower the maximum amount of the pain reliever acetaminophen allowed in prescription opioid products such as Vicodin and Percocet because of reports of severe liver damage.

Over a period of three years, the upper threshold of acetaminophen in prescription drugs containing opioids such as codeine will be set at 325 milligrams per dose. Right now, such products can contain up to 750 milligrams...

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Well there you go, I personally suffer from liver damage due to high concentration of this drug. (Thankyou Army) I guess the next time we see our doctor with this issue, we know who to blame.

It's ironic, because I opted to take non-narcotic "Tramadol" in tandem with 100mg Tylenol every four hours due to the side affects and addiction possibilities of narcotics. Good to know I could have been in the same shoes either way.

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The last time I took a tylenol was when I was still in high school. I was aware of the liver toxicity issue more than a decade ago. People think others are, "waking up". Just take this one single example. I've told people about this stuff for years, and next to nobody listened and still popped these poison pills. I say let the bastards have exploded livers. Ignorance is bliss, eh?! Sure buddy.

wow music to a drug attics ears. acetaminophen is what stops people from taking to much! everyone know your max doseage is 1,000 mg of acetaminophen in one sitting. lower it to 375 and people will pop more pills to get higher.

great call FDA!
Thats the drug attics look on things.

for people like me who have cronic back pain ( 3 slip disks and a cyst in my spin) its good to hear. those pain killers where killing my liver and the doc was getting worryed. I had to lower my dose of pain killers and now im in pain again. good to hear for me.

I don't take any medication period. If I can I try to change my diet to help with whatever problem I have at the moment and just deal with the pain. It strengthens you, and you're not taking poison pills. The FDA and big pharma will never get a dime from me unless I'm ambulatory!

reply to post by Aquarist


its easy to say you will just deal with the pain but when you cant get out of bed or walk because it hurts to much then you will know what i go through. its not fun. trust me i would love to not take pain pills but its the only thing that helps me get up and walk. sucks but it is what it is

Is this more about the combination of the prescription pain killer combo or the abuse of such drugs and/or over-the-counter acetaminophen?

I don't get the impression from this that someone who takes an extra strength tylenol once or twice a week is in any danger. Instead, it is the long tern heavy use of such things, but then again that is the case with most things, from pills to french fries.

Like the article says, right now, OTC acetaminophen, such as Tylenol, can contain up to 500 mg in a pill, and they suggest up to 2 pills every 4 to 6 hours, not to exceed 8 in 24 hours.

I find that a lot, but under extreme pain and for a short period of one to three days, I suppose I can understand. After that, I would hope someone is seeking medical attention for something significant.

reply to post by camaro68ss


If I were in your position, I would consider researching and trying eastern medicine or therapeutic practices. I have never tried such, but I would not want to be committed to a pill (or three) related to pain for the rest of my life. If it didn't work out, you still have the pills, but I would think its worth a shot.

...good find, sbc... thing is, all meds taken long term will cause liver damage eventually... some just do the job a lot quicker - like depakote, for one...

...a dear friend of mine developed a severe mental issue late in life... she's got it under control now but that would slip away in just a matter of a few weeks if she did not take a handfull of meds twice a day... headaches are common side-effect to some of her meds and she has a bad back but the only thing she's allowed to take for discomfort is acetaminophen...

...she was warned that ibuprofen was a huge no-no and thats what she needs for her back issues because its an anti-inflammatory and acetaminophen is not... of course, ibuprofen has its own drawbacks... too much in a short period can damage the lining of your intestines...

...back in the 70s, when my babies were little, a warning came out about giving your kids acetaminophen in addition to any other medication that had any alcohol in it, like cough syrup, because it can be a deadly combination...

...a lot of my friends ignored the warning because they'd never had an issue... problem was / is - thats like playing russian roulette because there is no way to predict when that combo is going to be deadly...

...in the 90s, i saw the story of a healthy man that came home from work with a headache... his wife gave him two tylenol and, then, he drank a beer (one beer) with his supper... he died that night and it was determined that the culprit was alcohol and acetaminophen...

Originally posted by Wyn Hawks
...good find, sbc... thing is, all meds taken long term will cause liver damage eventually... some just do the job a lot quicker - like depakote, for one...

I take Depakote, Abillify, Venlofaxine, Tramadol, Salsalate, Sundilac, Lunesta, and Mirtazapene.

GO ARMY! Thankyou PTSD.

i take ibuprofen.

just because of that issue. (liver/alcohol)

100 200mg pills lasts me months.

granted, i have no pain issues like others.

reply to post by sbctinfantry


I take a couple of 375ml beers at night..
Well not every night..
But pills?? Would't have taken say 2 in the last 12 months..
But I do see where they are needed and am just glad I am well...

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by sbctinfantry

 

I take a couple of 375ml beers at night..
Well not every night..
But pills?? Would't have taken say 2 in the last 12 months..
But I do see where they are needed and am just glad I am well...

I have some serious musculoskeletal issues. Spinal problems, shoulder problems, and more from my time as an Infantryman. I went from being told I wouldn't walk, to walking without a cane. I never got the surgery I needed. My VA doctor tells me to my face that it's too costly to do. So being on pills is better than being in a hospital for the rest of my life.

Originally posted by unityemissions
The last time I took a tylenol was when I was still in high school. I was aware of the liver toxicity issue more than a decade ago. People think others are, "waking up". Just take this one single example. I've told people about this stuff for years, and next to nobody listened and still popped these poison pills. I say let the bastards have exploded livers. Ignorance is bliss, eh?! Sure buddy.

I took Vicodin when I had major surgery. Other than that I have been telling people to stay way form Acetaminophen because of liver and kidney problems for many many years. These problems have been know that I am aware of since the mid 80's. I was told by many people that it could not be true because if it was the FDA would not allow it on the market. Sad but true. The I told you so is just a bit hollow now.

reply to post by sbctinfantry

I have some serious musculoskeletal issues. Spinal problems, shoulder problems, and more from my time as an Infantryman. I went from being told I wouldn't walk, to walking without a cane. I never got the surgery I needed. My VA doctor tells me to my face that it's too costly to do. So being on pills is better than being in a hospital for the rest of my life.

T&C doesn't permit me to reply to that as I'd like to..
At least here in Australia you would get help, being a vet or not..
I've just been lucky, that's all...

side note: i've read you can help your liver recover by taking milk thistle. also i've read you can do a coffee enema (but you need to read the details on this because there's a very specific process to this, including the temperature and quality of water, and the quality of coffee (organic instead of non-organic). apparently the enema stimulates the valve between your liver and intestine, to open and dump the junk out, and if done often enough (not too often or you'll have perpetual jitters from the caffeine), you can remove enough toxins from the bogged down liver, to allow it to begin healing.

if you are former military, and received any war related vaccines, you might consider taking methyl b-12 (not normal b-12. it has to be METHYL b-12. another name for it is methylcobalamin . especially if you're experiencing chronic fatigue and/or any other kind of nerve damage. this is provided you aren't allergic to any of these things (coffee, caffeine, etc), although in the case of methyl b-12, it's something your body naturally makes to regenerate nerves, and which may be retarded and the process by which it is created, damaged, by war related things.

Originally posted by sbctinfantry

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by sbctinfantry

 

I take a couple of 375ml beers at night..
Well not every night..
But pills?? Would't have taken say 2 in the last 12 months..
But I do see where they are needed and am just glad I am well...

I have some serious musculoskeletal issues. Spinal problems, shoulder problems, and more from my time as an Infantryman. I went from being told I wouldn't walk, to walking without a cane. I never got the surgery I needed. My VA doctor tells me to my face that it's too costly to do. So being on pills is better than being in a hospital for the rest of my life.

Have you tried Zipsor?? Its an NSAID ( I hate em), but it really works. I recently had an issue that prevented me from getting out of bed for several weeks.. and thats something I can not really do. I was given vicodin... 90 a month and they were 10's.. but didnt help and I dont like to be constipated up to my eyebrows if I can help it They put me on Neurontin and Zipsor for a severe nerve and musco-skeletal issue.. voila. I was on it, did the physical therapy with NO problems and Im weaning off now. There was absolutely no way for me to heal myself without it and no way I could ever have done the physical therapy to aid in healing myself at all.

I use ayurvedic and eastern med.. and my physician told to me to go ahead with the main stream therapies at the same time we were doing liver cleanses and etc to mitigate the damage of the medications. ANY healer who dissuades you from a therapy that will cure or help you significantly is a quack and dangerous.

I dont have to give my laundry list of accidents and problems, but I can tell you that apparently some of you have never been in severe, puking, passing out pain... obviously. If so, youd never tell someone not to take that poison. Get a lodged kidney stone and have your kidney shut down all without pain meds or get shot.. youll change your mind.. real quick. I gave birth to 3 children naturally, I was into MMA before it was called MMA ( In old.. let me remind you) and I literally puked from the pain for hours and eventually passed out in pain with a lodged kidney stone.

SBC.. Im not only an old hat at pain.. Im also an RN who spent a decade in an ER in the largest trauma hospital inthe tri-state area here.. you want to talk or you need info on meds.. Im a U2U away and I will give you my email. Chronic pain is a killer and a quality of life thief. I dont like hearing ANYONE having to go through it... maybe together we can give the good ol VA ( who murdered my grandfather...) a few ideas for your treatment.

reply to post by Advantage


yikes, 2 of my births were natural and induced with pitocin (OUCH) and i thought there was nothing more painful on the planet (manually turning a breech baby without pain meds is not my idea of fun), till i contracted encephalitis. that was worse, but it didn't make me puke. it was almost entirely emotional and mental trauma, that pretty much subsided after i woke from the coma (5 days). i swore up and down there was nothing more painful than the lead up to the coma. even spinal taps were not as bad. but what you're saying... i've never experienced passing out pain. i hate pain. i sympathize but don't want to empathize! ugh and shudder.

the encephalitis was tick borne variety. hubby had a vaccine for it: japanese tick borne encephaltis, and i think the thing must've been live. he came home from gulf and over the course of 6 months i became increasingly sick from it till it put me out cold. over time, following the coma, various other problems arose, including depression, fatigue, breast cancer, chemotherapy inspired type 2 diabetes, and all the associated neuropathy from the coma, encephalitis, chemo and diabetes. i found a doctor on the net, who was treating autistic children with methyl b-12 who said it had the unexpected but nice side effect of alleviating diabetic neuropathy. apparently diabetics don't produce enough methyl b-12 for the natural regeneration of nerves, which is also the problem with autism. i tried it and within a few days, all my neuropathy was gone (and i don't take insulin--i take alpha lipoic acid).

you can read about the doctor's success with autism and methyl b-12 here: www.drneubrander.com...

i've found methyl b-12 at health food stores AND drug stores in tablet form

Try green lipped mussel as a natural non toxic pain inhibitor. Besides the powder there are also different brand gel caps out there. But be aware if you are allergic to shellfish or fish.

comparison

reply to post by broli


i think the common denominator is iodline (for allergic response)
(present in all things with shells, including nuts, eggs and shellfish)