What's the big deal with Paracetamol?

Isn't Paracetamol the same stuff as Tylenol? MiL wouldn't let me have Lemsip for my night time drink tonight, because I had taken 2 Paracetamol tablets after dinner, which was about 6pm. Is she over-reacting (like I think she is), or is there something to it all? I told DH that when I'd be really sick in the US, I'd just take 4 Tylenol and go to sleep and be fine the next day. Is the stuff really that big a deal?! I can't over dose on just two tablets and a cup of Lemsip can I?! Seriously?

I dunno, but the chemists make it very difficult to buy more than a tiny bottle of paracetamol at a time.

MiL wouldn't let me have Lemsip for my night time drink tonight

Do you need her permission?! 

Do you need her permission?! 

I don't even want to get into how domineering she can be when she gets started.   I'm  taking the "silence on the better part of valor" route.

DH says it's really easy to get addicted to it. But, come on! It's not like I want to score a hit of....paracetamol.   I just want to get better already and not be sick anymore. It's starting to be really pathetic now.  
 

Paracetamol is the same thing as the active ingredient in Tylenol which is just called by a different name.

There have been problems with liver function in people who have taken too much Tylenol and it is possible to OD on it, but you'd have to take pretty much an entire bottle.

When I'm not well I take ibuprofen (Neurofen) and then Lemsip so I'm not doubling up on the paracetamol.

Just take it. Seriously, it's none of her business. But if it's something you need to do on a regular basis (which seems not to be, but just in case) then WebyJ's idea of ibuprofen and Lemsip a good idea.

I don't even want to get into how domineering she can be when she gets started.   I'm  taking the "silence on the better part of valor" route.

DH says it's really easy to get addicted to it. But, come on! It's not like I want to score a hit of....paracetamol.   I just want to get better already and not be sick anymore. It's starting to be really pathetic now.  
 

um, pretty much everything they said was madness.

There is no physiological mechanism by which anyone can become addicted to paracetamol, you could  get a psychological addiction to it I suppose, but that would take some time and effort to develop.

You can take 2 paracetamol up to four times a day, every 4-6 hours. So it depends on the time that you were having a drink, but to be honest, you would probably have been fine anyway. Paracetamol is really nasty if you overdose, but I don't think 2 tablets and a lemsip would be an overdose by any stretch of the imagination.


You need to draw some lines in the sand, what is she going to do if you just make it and drink it? knock it out of your hand, just make another one, and another one. If she's bitchy and passive aggressive about it, ride it out, do it again and eventually she'll get the hint, but if you continually give in, she'll continually dominate you.

It is just the same as Tylenol, but it is extremely easy to overdose on paracetamol and taking too much in one day can damage your liver. I read an article a couple of years ago about how quite a high number of Americans had died of paracetamol poisoning because they didn't realise that they were taking slightly too much each day.

You shouldn't take paracetamol more often than every 4 hours and no more than 2 tablets at a time (maximum of 8 in 24 hours), so if you had some at 6pm, I wouldn't drink any Lemsip until after 10pm, as one Lemsip sachet contains the same amount of paracetamol as 2 tablets. However, apart from waiting at least 4 hours between doses of 2 tablets, there's no reason why you can't have some Lemsip later on this evening.

DH says it's really easy to get addicted to it. But, come on! It's not like I want to score a hit of....paracetamol.   I just want to get better already and not be sick anymore. It's starting to be really pathetic now.  

I haven't heard about people becoming addicted to paracetamol - as far as I know, it is non-addictive, but the issue with it is possible liver-damage from taking too much (however, paracetamol and codeine is addictive, because codeine is an opiate painkiller derived from morphine).

(Disclaimer: I've been working in a pharmacy for over 9 years and I give advice to customers about taking paracetamol safely every day)

It is not addictive.  At all.  

You might get rebound headaches or something if you take it a lot.  

If you have taken a similar amount in the past then you should be fine.  

They only let you buy little bottles here because of suicide risk.

I think the issue with paracetamol is that, unlike aspirin, if you OD that is pretty much it.  You don't really feel bad with a paracetamol overdose until your liver packs it in, whereas with NSAID you do.

The other issue is that, because it affects your liver, that everyone has a different tolerance to it.  So someone your exact body size might only be able to the bare minimum.  

I would buy my own stock and take what I like. But like the others said, the risk is in the liver. Some people will sustain much worse liver damage than heavy drinkers just from being regular Tylenol takers. BTW, never take paracetmol with booze, for that exact reason. I probably only take it once every 2 or 3 months myself, because it's devilish to the liver.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've taken 2 paracetamol tabs at 4:15pm, thereby being ok for Lemsip tonight. I already have my own stock of vitamins in my drawer, to avoid such questioning and drama. But, taking calcium with vitamin d, zinc and an echinachea tab, plus the current b-12, cod liver oil, vitamin c and sea kelp all keep me healthy in their own ways! Can't wait till we're out of this popsicle stand(can you hear the sarcasm?!)!!!! 

Yeah, I've noticed that people seem to give paracetamol all kinds of magic powers. 

I get a lot of bad headaches, and I was advised by my dr. that it was ok to alternate a regular (1000 mg.) dose of tylenol with up to 4 ibuprofen (800 mg).  As long as I left at least a couple of hours between each (so 4 hours between doses of the same drug), and didn't do it for more than a couple days (it's kind of a once-a-month thing for me), then it was alright.

Yeah, I've noticed that people seem to give paracetamol all kinds of magic powers. 

I get a lot of bad headaches, and I was advised by my dr. that it was ok to alternate a regular (1000 mg.) dose of tylenol with up to 4 ibuprofen (800 mg).  As long as I left at least a couple of hours between each (so 4 hours between doses of the same drug), and didn't do it for more than a couple days (it's kind of a once-a-month thing for me), then it was alright.

Yeah, we recommend alternating paracetamol with ibuprofen every couple of hours if you need extra pain relief (i.e. paracetamol at 8am, ibuprofen at 10, paracetamol at 12 etc.. but only 4 doses of paracetamol and 3 doses of ibuprofen in 24 hours). However, at the pharmacy we can only recommend you take a maximum of 400mg ibuprofen (2 tablets) at a time, because only a doctor can recommend or prescribe an 800mg dose.

After I broke my foot and was on tylenol 3 (the stuff with codeine) I asked my friend who is a pharmacist about the "don't take with alcohol" thing and he said it's no worse for my liver than a night of heavy drinking.  Don't do it every night, but once in a blue moon shouldn't be an issue for most people.