Friend of mine
dared, during one particularly boring maths lesson, to eat ten paracetamol.

How they laughed after he had. He told me of his feat. My reply?

"Don't you know that overdosing on paracetamol breaks down your liver, and will kill you?"

He got his stomach pumped pretty quickly.

Made the lesson exciting at least.
(CatfaceJones, Thu 1 Nov 2007, 21:28, 6 replies)

Doesn't break down your liver,
just overloads a certain pathway in it, so the toxic metabolites build up. Fact.
( Christian Bale of Hay in a field, Thu 1 Nov 2007, 23:10, closed)

Ten?
Pretty uneducated hospital that would pump your stomach for 10 paracetamol. That's only 5gms - liver damage is only likely with about 15gm, but not fatal until you reach 25gm+ (50+ tablets). Stomach pumping as a treatment anyway? No way - you get a charcoal lavage.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Fri 2 Nov 2007, 0:51, closed)

Hm.
1. Your liver is a wonderfully robust thing. If you did it while young and still growing it probably did fuck all damage.

2. It doesn't break down your liver.

3. You don't get a stomach pump. You get a charcoal lavange, or if it's been over a few hours they usually hook you to the antidote after a blood test (and they still do the charcoal anyway usually).

As regards the other comments, the average UK hospital tends to treat over about 7.5g, depending on the age of the person, blood test results etc. 10mg can be enough to kill, depending on the age, what it is taken with, etc. but it certainly isn't common at that amount.
(mmmm curry doesn't really understand this sig lark, Fri 2 Nov 2007, 6:17, closed)

This is very interesting
I was told by one of my high school teachers that you couldn't overdose on paracetamol. I'd like to think that this was to prevent me from doing just that, but I suspect that she just didn't know.
(Emily Bruce-Dickinson http://jovialfellow.blogspot.com/, Fri 2 Nov 2007, 9:13, closed)

Arthmelow...
...yeah, I was quoting Australian protocols: 10-15gm or 150mg per kg of body weight is likely to cause liver damage and over 50 tablets (25gm) is usually considered fatal if not treated. True, the liver is wonderful organ that regenerates really well and any overdose would have to consider the weight and medical history of an individual patient.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Fri 2 Nov 2007, 9:33, closed)

Been there, done that.
I've taken 96 tablets on top of 9 cans of Special Brew - I was having a bad time. I was found and blue lighted into hospital.

No stomach pump, tho the Carbon drink did not make me feel a "little queasy" as the healthcare professional suggested. It made me feel as though if I vomed one more time I would bring my lower intestine up. Not pleasant.

Do not try this at home...
(poonss ...howlingspoons, Sat 3 Nov 2007, 0:32, closed)