It's the recommended drug for tx by leading hepatologists for a reason. I used paracetamol (acetaminophen) 500mg through both tx's (although never had need for them when not on tx).
At my worst, I had 18 tablets in one week. I had intense bone pain in my legs and lower back and my hep dr said I could take up to 6 x 500 mg in a 24 hour period, short term, and that's with early cirrhosis. I tried to keep it down, but I certainly used 4-5 a day when I really needed to (usually between day 3-5 after my shot).
Maybe it depends on what other drugs you're taking but I couldn't have got through tx without paracetamol.
It wasn't an FDA recommendation, it was an advisory panel's rec to FDA. They considered 4 GRAMs daily to be very dangerous. Most of us are allowed 2000 MILIGRAMs. Now that's 2 GRAMs and we don't take that every day, just as needed. I have no intention to stop using it.
I can't take NSAIDs (the ibuprofens & aleves) ever or aspirin until my clotting gets a little better. I'm taking Tylenol.
I think the recommended black box warning is for people who pop tylenol casually without thinking how much they're taking and especially for people taking narcotic painkillers plus tylenol (without realizing it's in there) or cough syrups with tylenol and adding tylenol along with the painkillers or cough syrup.
It's good to be aware, but the warning is not aimed at us and our carefully controlled occassional 2 grams/day.
I just saw a report on Fox and Friends and Bill is spot on. The FDA recommended no more than 2 650 mg tabs twice in 24 hrs. I was taking Norco which has a less dose of acetamonephin-!0/325 as opposed to Vicodin 5/500-that way I could half the Norco and get 5 mg of codein and only 162.5 mg of acetamenophen 4 X a day-well below the FDAs
current recommendation. This was being prescribed by my Ortho with my Gastros blessing. I did this for a couple of years-I wonder if this is why I am now in end stage-could it have been the codeine and the aceto or one or the other? Or the combination of the two? I don't know. Maybe because I waited too long to TX.
Hi Portann,
Out here in the real, non-wedding world, there’s been a big media feeding frenzy over a FDA recommendation for changing and relabeling products that contain acetaminophen. I think one of the concerns is to remove products such as vicodine and other analgesics that combine opiates with acetaminophen; also to change package labeling to reduce dosage to 650 mg/dose from the current 1000 mg max.
I think the concern is that some folks have been unknowingly taking products that contain acetaminophen along with the drug itself; essentially double-dosing and causing long term damage. So many people have been taking Tylenol as prescribed for years now without apparent problem; it’s difficult for me to imagine doctors changing their advice at this point.
Good luck with the wedding preparations, and take care—
Bill
port, it was on good morning america more than once this morning. Tylenol causing liver problems and to only take 1 not ever 2. They (someone) is looking to ban vicodan and percocet because of the tylenol.
Denise
Not sure which report you mean (since I'm away in wedding land) but I thought up to 2000 mg per 24 hours was fine, or so I was told by my nurse in May 2008.
i want to mention that for many weeks i was taking 2x325mg before my shot as part of my shot routine. Then I stopped and found it made no difference to my post-shot reaction. I only took it on an 'as needed' basis after that.
Interested to know more about this report. I found Tylenol very effective when I used it for bone pain during tx. Thought it packed a surprising amount of of punch.