Tylenol Side Effects

What is Tylenol?

Tylenol is a popular brand of the drug Acetaminophen that can be bought in virtually any store. Tylenol is taken to relieve minor pain from headaches, muscles, backaches, arthritis, colds, flus, toothaches, cramps from menstruation, and for alleviating temporary symptoms from fevers and colds. Tylenol's active drug, acetaminophen, is considered both an analgesic (pain killer) and an antipyretic (fever medication). It inhibits a brain chemical that is related to pain and heat regulating.

Potential for Abuse?

Some people abuse Acetaminophen if it is in other medications containing more powerful pain killers such as codeine or hydrocodone, but Acetaminophen is not by itself strong enough to be appealing to drug users. It can cause serious and irreparable harm to the liver if consumed excessively.

Tylenol Side Effects

Serious Tylenol side effects:

• Some people are allergic to Tylenol.  Symptoms of severe allergies include painful rashes, tightness of the chest, bodily swelling, dark urine and/or pale feces, fatigue, and jaundice.
• Acetaminophen can be deadly if overdosed.  While hard to do in every day use, combining it with alcohol can lead to death, even in recommended dosages.
• Excessive use can cause stomach bleeding.
  

Less serious Tylenol side effects:

• Most people experience no side-effects with tylenol.
  

This is not a complete list of Tylenol side effects. Consult your doctor for a full list.

Interesting Tylenol Tidbits

Here are some interesting facts about Tylenol:

• Acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, is known by many names, including Panadol, Tempra, Datril, and Anacin-3.
• Acetaminophen is often mixed with opioids such as hydrocodone or codeine to enhance the pain relieving effects of those drugs.
• Mixing Acetaminophen with alcohol can be extremely dangerous, resulting in toxicity of the liver or even death.  Even small doses can react dangerously with alcohol.
• Tylenol is metabolized primarily by the liver
• Acetaminophen is toxic to snakes and has been proposed as a form of pest control for the invasive brown tree snakes living on the island of Guam.
• It has a half-life of 1-4 hours.
  

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