All these things that attack the liver are legal because they are not extremely dangerous unless you use them regularly. I through out my Tylenol years ago because aspirin is safer and from all I read, acetaminophen is much harder on the liver than even alcohol.

I was working in healthcare back when Tylenol came out. BT (before Tylenol) aspirin was considered a miracle drug (it is) and was just what was used for a number of ailments. 

Then big pharma showed up and said "hey hospital dudes. Well give you all the free Tylenol you want if you just stop recommending that icky aspirin stuff." The rest, as we say, is history.

9 hours ago, charliearon said:

If any of you guys have watched the idiotic TV commercials for prescription drugs, I love it when they tell
you about all of the side effects!  Most of them end with "causes suicidal thoughts and death"!  ☠️

I can't remember the last time I took a Tylenol.

And how would they know about these side effects unless someone already suffered them. 

1 hour ago, Fielder said:

acetaminophen is much harder on the liver than even alcohol.

So give up Tylenol and bottoms up.😁

2 hours ago, RichieFly said:

I was working in healthcare back when Tylenol came out. BT (before Tylenol) aspirin was considered a miracle drug (it is) and was just what was used for a number of ailments. 

Then big pharma showed up and said "hey hospital dudes. Well give you all the free Tylenol you want if you just stop recommending that icky aspirin stuff." The rest, as we say, is history.

This is exactly how I remember it. There got to be such a push against aspirin that I was afraid it might be banned and planned to stock up.

They started using Tylenol as a buffer in many medicines, to the point that it might be possible to overdose on Tylenol without ever taking the actual drug. Or so I was told; I haven't verified it.

This was the first case of marketing over medicine that I remember.

I understand that the reason you see advertising for medicines, especially on news programs, is that Big Pharma is "buying influence." You don't want to upset them and lose all those advertising dollars.

"Urinary track infection? Ask your doctor if Rochawillyoff is right for you! Possible side effects include permanent irreversible gender reassignment."

Hook

 

22 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

Tylenol is banned in the UK

...which presumably means that it is not paracetamol?

50 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

...which presumably means that it is not paracetamol?

its to do with the branding i believe. 

14 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

And how would they know about these side effects unless someone already suffered them. 

Most side effects are discovered during trial studies before the drug is approved for general use.  That leads me to believe that when one of the potential side effects is death or suicidal thoughts, then there was at least one patient in a trial study that suffered that side effect.

23 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

Tylenol is banned in the UK

The brand name "Tylenol" is not used, but Paracetamol is acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in both.

6 minutes ago, stans said:

Most side effects are discovered during trial studies before the drug is approved for general use.  That leads me to believe that when one of the potential side effects is death or suicidal thoughts, then there was at least one patient in a trial study that suffered that side effect.

i used to work with a guy who used to do flucamps on his annual leave,

then he'd come back to work feeling like death, and then no one would want to sit next to him because they didnt want to get the flu he'd been given 5000 quid to be infected with.

https://flucamp.com/

 

Edited January 22, 20251 yr by fluffyflops

15 hours ago, LHookins said:

There got to be such a push against aspirin that I was afraid it might be banned and planned to stock up.

Because aspirin is known to cause gastrointestinal bleeding if taken for too long, and can cause Reye's Syndrome in children.

There are better anti-inflammatory drugs nowadays.

Dave

Google "aspirin and myocardial infarction"

Quote

Search Labs | AI Overview

Aspirin is a key treatment for myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack. It is recommended for most patients experiencing an acute MI. Aspirin can also be used to prevent future MIs and strokes. 

When to take aspirin

Acute MI

Take aspirin as soon as possible after symptoms begin. The recommended dose is 160 mg. 

Quote

What does aspirin do with MI?

In the second International Study of Infarct Survival (ISIS-2) study, the use of aspirin (162 mg chewed, to ensure rapid therapeutic blood levels) was associated with a 23% reduction of vascular mortality rate in MI patients and close to a 50% reduction of nonfatal reinfarction or stroke...

nih.gov

Quote

the NHS recommends chewing 300mg of aspirin if you think you're having a heart attack. You can do this while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

 

British Heart Foundation

I credit taking aspirin for keeping me alive (a bit more than the recommended amount) when the emergency room doctor refused to treat me for a heart attack and I had to wait until the next day to get heparin from a different doctor.

The first doctor actually gave me morphine for chest pain! "I'll bet THAT makes the pain go away, doesn't it?" "No, but it makes it bearable." He looked shocked.

Aspirin should be in your first aid kit if you are in your heart attack years.

Don't give aspirin to children under 12 or to cats. Don't take aspirin for a bleeding ulcer. What's the most common adverse side effect of aspirin? Stomach upset! Apparently it doesn't hit the kidneys or liver.

BLEEDING! Oh noes, BLEEDING!!

I was on warfarin, then Xarelto, currently on Plavix after atrial fibrillation which has a very high risk of blood clots.  Trust me, I know all about bleeding, especially the potential nightmare scenario of a brain bleed.

I also know about back ache after taking ibuprofen for too long, in my case after a motorcycle accident. When I realized it was my kidneys I stopped immediately.

Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory and apparently does nothing for a heart attack.

Hook

Edited January 22, 20251 yr by LHookins

On 1/21/2025 at 6:13 AM, charliearon said:

If any of you guys have watched the idiotic TV commercials for prescription drugs, I love it when they tell
you about all of the side effects!  Most of them end with "causes suicidal thoughts and death"! 

I just had a thought.

Some time ago they'd add quinine to medicines to make them taste as bad as possible, so people wouldn't take them unless they really had to and to prevent taking too much of them.

Are the horrible side effects of advertised medicines in part to keep people from taking them if they can get them from other sources than their doctor? 

Hook

46 minutes ago, LHookins said:

I credit taking aspirin for keeping me alive

You're talking about taking relatively small doses of aspirin for blood thinning.

I'm talking about using it as a painkiller/anti-inflammatory.  The dosage needed is a lot higher and can really mess up your stomach over time, even the coated tablets.  Some aspirin is literally "buffered" with an anti-acid to help prevent damage to the stomach lining.

Dave

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

You're talking about taking relatively small doses of aspirin for blood thinning.

Not in this case, Dave. I'm talking about taking a large dose of aspirin at the first signs of a heart attack. This was documented in the quotes I posted.

Doctor currently has me on 81 mg dose for heart.

The problem is that some people treat aspirin as if it were a deadly poison. Before Tylenol it was treated as a miracle drug.

Hook

Edited January 22, 20251 yr by LHookins