In response to Moribundman,
The 4 gram max dose per day is an adult maximum. The max dose for children is weight based and is 90mg/kg per day.'
Taking Tylenol on am empty stomach has no effect on liver toxicity. However, taking Tylenol with food may decrease the risk of GI upset. Please note that fasting or starvation DOES put your at risk of hepatoxity with normal therapuetic doses of Tylenol because starvation/fasting can deplete glutathione stores.
Tylenol itself it not toxic to your liver. In fact, its your body's metabolism via Cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1) that actually creates the metabolite that is toxic to your liver. While there are several other ways your body metabolizes Tylenol (Sulfation and glucuronidation), the CYP2E1 pathway is the one of most concern because it forms N-actyl p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) - AN ELECTROPHILE that is hepatoxic. NAPQI can form covalent bounds (non-reversible bounds) that are damaging to liver cells.
Normally, this dangerous electrophile is eliminated rather quickly by another metabolic process (phase II) called glutathione conjugation. Unfortunately for us, glutathione can be easily overwhelmed by excessive NAPQI production by CPY2E1 metabolism process.
NEVER use Tylenol to treat a hangover. Alcohol consumption induces CYP2E1 levels which means more metabolism of Tylenol via this route instead of the other routes available (sulfation and/or glucuronidation) This means MORE NAPQI formed, more chance of overwhelming glutatione formation etc..etc...and more risk of liver damage.
The bottom line is that Tylenol is fairly safe to use if you don't drink much or take other drugs that induce the CYP2E1 pathway or inhibit or compete with the gluathione pathway. N-acetylcysteine is used to treat overdoses of Tylenol. One of the way it works is that it is a precursor of gluathione. It also is thought to increase sulfation metabolism among other effects.
Now the bad news: Some research has shown that taking 1 tylenol a day for 20 years or more doubled your chance of kidney failure.
Pablo,
I'm in the same boat as you. I have degenerative disk disease and Tylenol does nothing for me. I took VIOXX for a while and it worked great. I am trying to avoid narcotic pain meds and am intermittently taking ketoprofen which works better than Naproxen for me. Long term use of NSAIDs such as ketoprofen and Naproxen ain't good for the GI system.
PS If anyone has any drug questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. Over 2,000,000 people have an adverse drug interaction/reaction each year which makes it the 5-6th leading cause of death annually. Although I have only had 2 1/2 years of education in Pharmacy school, I've already had twice the amount of formal drug education of a typical M.D./D.O.
The 4 gram max dose per day is an adult maximum. The max dose for children is weight based and is 90mg/kg per day.'
Taking Tylenol on am empty stomach has no effect on liver toxicity. However, taking Tylenol with food may decrease the risk of GI upset. Please note that fasting or starvation DOES put your at risk of hepatoxity with normal therapuetic doses of Tylenol because starvation/fasting can deplete glutathione stores.
Tylenol itself it not toxic to your liver. In fact, its your body's metabolism via Cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1) that actually creates the metabolite that is toxic to your liver. While there are several other ways your body metabolizes Tylenol (Sulfation and glucuronidation), the CYP2E1 pathway is the one of most concern because it forms N-actyl p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) - AN ELECTROPHILE that is hepatoxic. NAPQI can form covalent bounds (non-reversible bounds) that are damaging to liver cells.
Normally, this dangerous electrophile is eliminated rather quickly by another metabolic process (phase II) called glutathione conjugation. Unfortunately for us, glutathione can be easily overwhelmed by excessive NAPQI production by CPY2E1 metabolism process.
NEVER use Tylenol to treat a hangover. Alcohol consumption induces CYP2E1 levels which means more metabolism of Tylenol via this route instead of the other routes available (sulfation and/or glucuronidation) This means MORE NAPQI formed, more chance of overwhelming glutatione formation etc..etc...and more risk of liver damage.
The bottom line is that Tylenol is fairly safe to use if you don't drink much or take other drugs that induce the CYP2E1 pathway or inhibit or compete with the gluathione pathway. N-acetylcysteine is used to treat overdoses of Tylenol. One of the way it works is that it is a precursor of gluathione. It also is thought to increase sulfation metabolism among other effects.
Now the bad news: Some research has shown that taking 1 tylenol a day for 20 years or more doubled your chance of kidney failure.
Pablo,
I'm in the same boat as you. I have degenerative disk disease and Tylenol does nothing for me. I took VIOXX for a while and it worked great. I am trying to avoid narcotic pain meds and am intermittently taking ketoprofen which works better than Naproxen for me. Long term use of NSAIDs such as ketoprofen and Naproxen ain't good for the GI system.
PS If anyone has any drug questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. Over 2,000,000 people have an adverse drug interaction/reaction each year which makes it the 5-6th leading cause of death annually. Although I have only had 2 1/2 years of education in Pharmacy school, I've already had twice the amount of formal drug education of a typical M.D./D.O.
