Taking Tylenol: are women crazy?

Question

Last night a female friend offered me some Tylenol PM to take electively for sleep. Is she crazy. The Merk Physicans Reference says of Tylenol: "TYLENON IS NOT A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE FOR ASPIRIN BUT AN OPEN INVETATION TO CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE." Also, the makers of Tylenol have, very nebulously I may add, been warning people off takingTylenol on an expensive (cover their asses) TV add campaign. Yet, I know many women that keep this stuff in their purses. The only thing I can think of is that it must be effective for cramps. But, is it worth it?

I see five answers so far all thoughtful and Intelligent!

Re: Gala
I am not confusing Tylenol with Midol.. I have worked in a lot of venues with a lot of women. Waitresses, Lens makers, Univerity secretaries, Reservationists and to a person every time I tried to "bum" some aspiring the answer was always "I have Tylenol."

Answer 1

Well first of all, ALL medicine has a funny way of harming and/or killing you if not taken in the correct dosages, so Tylenol is no different. It is not safe for those people who do not take the correct dosage, but instead a higher one to combat pain, thus placing too much medicine in their system that their liver can not adequately break down and the organ then becomes toxic...thus liver damage leading to failure. Also, the report was also on Acetominophen, Ibuprophen, and another drug people take regularly. EVERYONE needs to be made aware of this problem and that they can also cause intestinal bleeding.

Besides, most women I know take Ibuprophen (Motrin) for cramps and not Tylenol but the danger is still there as well. Just thought I would let you know that since you wondered what we take for cramps.

Answer 2

For people who have certain conditions like ulcers or bleed easily, Tylenol is the only pain reliever available. Aspirin, Motrin, and Aleve can cause bleeding. What the makers of Tylenol are warning about is taking more than the reccommended dosage. Taken occasionally for a headache, Tylenol is as safe as anything else.

Answer 3

First, let us get one fact out of the way. There is no such thing as a 100% safe drug.

Now, we must balance risks vs rewards, given a bad headache which is affecting your ability to perform, Tylenol when taken as directed is as safe as many other pain medications. Especially so for children who are subject to Reyes syndrome for taking aspirin.

Taking Tylenol PM as a sleep aid IS an UNNECESSARY risk. Acetaminophen, the active PAIN ingredient in Tylenol will not in general make you drowsy. Tylenol PM is combined with diphenhydamine (Benadryl). Diphenhydramine WILL generally make you drowsy. Diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in MOST over the counter sleep aids.

You can buy generic diphenhydramine alongside other allergy medications. So if you need a sleep aid, take the generic defenestration. It is safer than combining it with the unnecessary acetaminophen in Tylenol PM

Answer 4

I just noticed that the girl named SHEL, answered saying "Ibuprofen (Tylenol)"///////////////

WRONG!!!! iBUPROFEN AND TYLENOL ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT DRUGS.

IBP is NOT Acetaminophen......IBP is dangerous bc it causes abdominal bleeding and intestinal. Also can cause ulcers.
TYLENOL is something like 4grams per day limit, I believe?.....The whoo-rah about tylenol is that excessive, long term dosing WILL cause liver damage. But it is seriously LONG TERM, bc I know by practice. I have been taking Lortab for years, and just had a liver function test recently, and everything was PERFECT. Maybe Im just lucky? idk...but you have to take large doses of Tylenol for DECADES to truelly kill ur liver.

It's bad, but not THAT bad, is what Im saying. OCCASSIONAL usage for headache or cramps is NOT harmful. Period!
Why are you all up on women and tylenol? I dont see any relation? Are you confusing it with Midol? Which is for menstrual cramps, and all things assoc. with a woman's period.
MEN TAKE TYLENOL TOO>

Answer 5

Tylenol when taken correctly doesn't cause serious damage to your liver. The dangerous side effects of the medicine does increase however if someone consumes alcohol on a regular basis.

Answer 6

I personally believe this only applies to people that take several pills a day. After a long amount of time, yeah, it probably will do some damage to your body.

But if you don't take it all that often,only when needed, I don't believe it will hurt you. Tylenol has been on the market for many many years. This really applies to all medicines. Take a lot every day and yeah , its going to harm you.

Answer 7

Tylenol is safe and effective when used as directed. Tylenol PM contains diphenhydramine (the generic name for Benedryl). If you just want the "PM" effect, but no Tylenol, buy some Benedryl.

Answer 8

Anything is harmful, especially in abundance. I don't take 3 Tylenol every 4 hours like some people I have seen, but I have no problem taking it if I need it.....especially if that was all I had available to me.

Answer 9

Personally I have never taken it (its not an overly common drug here in Australia - it is available but not something people automatically go for) but if it is for cramps I can understand that - period pains can be very painful. As for using it to go to sleep - well thats just a it silly - here in Australia we have an over the counter drug for the occasional cant get to sleep night called Restavit - it bascially has all the ingerdients in pain killers that help you go to sleep without the pain killer part of the drug (codeine I think) if you need the occasional help getting to sleep go to your local pharmacy and ask if there is anything like this where you are.

Answer 10

the active ingredient in tylenol is acetamenophen, which has been linked to liver disease when abused. the sleep inducing ingredient in tylenol pm is actually benadryl or dyphenhydramine hydrachloride which is a lot safer than taking the two ingredients combined.. when i was pregnant and having trouble sleeping, my doctor suggested it ( benadryl). it really works. ps advil is better for cramps