[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

the issue of acetaminophen and chronic renal failure--it appears to be a muddled picture, even though I was taught there was a link a few years ago.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...med_RVAbstract

Of course, too much acetaminophen can harm the liver. Including people that make a suicide attempt, thinking tylenol is innocuous, and then dying a terrible death of liver failure.

Interesting studies--I'd be curious to read them. I'd also be curious to see the real outcomes involved. Most people can take a decrease in their GFR of 30 and not even notice it. Older people are obviously a little more susceptible, but how many dialysis cases can you really attribute to Tylenol and not the myriad other conditions they may have. I'm guessing very few.

Obviously, we both deal with Tylenol overdoses in our careers. Kids, if you want to really kill yourself, take a bottle of tylenol. Don't mess around with sleeping pills, narcotics, antidepressants (well, except for the TCAs--they'll kill you in a hurry, but no one's on them anymore), seizure meds, etc. Stick with tylenol--it's cheap, it's OTC, and it does the job. Of course, it's one of the worst ways I can think of to die, but it'll work.

But back to the point, 4 g of tylenol a day (2 extra-strength tabs four times a day) is pretty effective, won't kill you, and even given the risk of liver/kidney issues, is arguably much safer than the standard pain regimens docs use.