Nursie talk about paracetamol💊

Its surprising how many patients are unaware of their unintentional overdose of medications. Today i want talk about a common medication, Paracetamol.

I have encountered so many patients who have taken too much of it accidentally and i want to increase some awareness. Yesterday for example, i had a patient with severe tooth ache who had presented due to continuous nausea and vomiting. Unknowingly he took so much paracetamol tablets that he had to be admitted to hospital, his liver was failing as a side effect of paracetamol overdose.

I'll try to talk about it as much as i can in a non-medical way

Normally each tablet contain 500mg of paracetamol.

✔The recommended dose for an adult is 500mg- 1000mg every 4-6 hours. And a maximum of 8 tablets in 24 hours.

✔For kids their recommended dose is based on their weight. The box should give a rough idea of the age/weight and recommended dose in ml

It is so easy to take more than the recommended dosage of paracetamol without even knowing it. There many different brands containtaing paracetamol: Panadol, tylenol, panamax, calpol, tipol, captin, efferalgan, pamol... and many more. Therefore
✔Always read the 'ingredients' the medication contains. Usually the brand is bigger because the pharmaceutical company promote their brand. Their 'ingredients' are usually in smaller print.

Also there as so many medications which contain paracetamol mixed with other active ingredient. An example: pandeine forte, it contains paracetamol and codeine.

Remember, when you have a lot of pain, its so easy to take too much of paracetamol, because you want the pain to go away. So always read the instructions.

Personally paracetamol for me is a simple analgesia which can be underestimated. I like it because unlike other pain killers, it is a non-drowsy medication and it also doesnt cause constipation. It works wonders together with another simple non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication. It also comes in slow release form, so particularly good for people with chronic pain such as osteoarthritis.

Although paracetamol is not recommended for people with liver diseases like hepatitis or liver failure or people with alcohol abuse.

Also i just want to add its ok to have paracetamol on an empty stomach

Anyways hope this blog was useful:)
Take care
💊Krys