Re: Dangers of LEGAL drugs: 1. Acetaminophen

bobbie sellers wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:03:58 -0500,"Dr. Zarkov", wrote


Dangers of LEGAL drugs: Acetaminophen (paracetamol, Tylenol)

As one possible antidote to prohibitionists' selective citing
of studies purporting to show the harm of marijuana and other
illegal drugs, some studies of the harm that may be caused by
common legal drugs seems in order.

15 g of acetaminophen, which is about 15 to 20 times the
typical dose, can damage the liver and result in a fatal
overdose (Physicians Desk Reference). In a person who also
uses alcohol or other drugs that affect the liver, the toxic
dose can be considerably lower. (In contrast marijuana has no
known toxic dose; narcotics overdose requires 30 to 40 times
the typical dose) Even at normal doses, long-term chronic
intake of acetaminophen with other common analgesics may
seriously harm the kidneys.


Big snip of excellent information on the toxic side of acetominophen.

Thank Dr.Zarkov, A few years back I was using 4 grams of
acetominophen a day for my arthralgia when I read a similar
article. I switched to naproxen sodium I wonder whether
or not it can have similar effect. I am already sensitive to
salicyclates so cannot switch to aspirin.
Later that same year I embarked on a program of dietary
supplementation of glutathione via the Undenatured Whey Protein
route. I could walk about 30 blocks a day then and lately have
gotten up to 5 miles at a time with adequate rest following the exertion. Rest may take up to 48 hours still. The refractory
fatigue is subsequent to physical trauma and multiple virual
infections in the mid-1980s. This is often referred to as Chronic Fatigue with Immune Dysfuction or Post Virual Fatigue
Syndrome or overseas as Myalgic Encephallitis.
So anyhow if you have similar information on Naproxen
Sodium I would be interested in seeing it and the story on
Aspirin, Ibuprofin and similar OTC pain medications.


IMHO aspirin is generally the safest and most effective OTC analgesic. Naproxen is very effective and probably the safest of the NSAIDs (excluding aspirin). But long-term heavy use of naproxen may increase the risk of kidney damage. The new prescription COX-2 inhibitors are the riskiest; they've been linked to increased cardiovascular risk. I think that acetaminophen is one of the riskier analgesics. I'm talking about heavy, long-term use; any are OK for occasional use.

Some other substances that might help include magnesium, omega-3 oils (fish, flax), and antihistamines (may cause drowsiness of course). As you probably know, response depends greatly on type of pain and the individual--You just have to try them and see.

See, for example:
Pham K, Hirschberg R. Global safety of coxibs and NSAIDs. Curr Top Med Chem 2005; 5:465-73.
Fischer LM, Schlienger RG, Matter CM, Jick H, Meier CR. Current use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and the risk of acute myocardial infarction. Pharmacotherapy 2005 Apr; 25:503-10.
Watson DJ, Rhodes T, Cai B, Guess HA. Lower risk of thromboembolic cardiovascular events with naproxen among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arch Intern Med 2002 May 27; 162:1105-10.
Santiago-Palma J et al. Diphenhydramine as an analgesic adjuvant in refractory cancer pain. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;22:699-703.

That's just OTC stuff, of course. Prescription meds are a whole other story. I have a load of references on pain, but this isn't really the forum for it. You might check out alt.support.chronic.pain
.

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