Taking many types of medicine, accidentally using paracetamol
The Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital recently received many cases of poisoning due to self-medicating with pain relievers and fever reducers, including people who did not know that their medicine contained paracetamol.
A 46-year-old male patient in Hanoi was hospitalized in a state of acute hepatitis after using many types of drugs containing paracetamol.
When experiencing headaches, sore throat and mild fever, patients self-medicated with Taisho Pabron Gold A Japanese flu medicine, in which each tablet contained 300mg of paracetamol. After that, due to still being tired and having a fever, the family continued to give the patient an additional 500mg of paracetamol without knowing that the two types of medicine had the same active ingredient.
In another case, a 73-year-old male patient in Thai Nguyen used pain relievers bought by acquaintances and pre-mold into packages. The patient did not know clearly what active ingredient the drug contained, what the dosage was. After a period of drinking, he developed fatigue, loss of appetite, dizziness and had to be hospitalized for liver damage monitoring.
Familiar pills don't mean harmless
According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen - Director of the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, what is worrying is that there are hundreds of types of drugs with different names but may also contain paracetamol. When the pain or fever has not subsided, patients can easily take more medicine without knowing they have exceeded the safe dose.
The risk is even higher in people who drink alcohol regularly, are exhausted, thin and weak, have liver disease, or are taking some other medications.
Notably, paracetamol poisoning usually progresses silently. In the first 1-2 days, patients may have almost no obvious symptoms. By the 3rd day, liver damage becomes serious with symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, jaundice, acute liver failure, even coma and death.
However, if detected and treated early, paracetamol poisoning has effective detoxifying drugs, helping to limit liver damage and the risk of death.
Don't turn your family medicine cabinet into a place to "prescribe your own medicine
Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen recommends that before taking medicine, it is necessary to carefully read the drug name, ingredients and content. If you are taking many cold medicines, pain relievers, fever reducers, it is necessary to check if they contain the same paracetamol.
Do not use medicine advised by others, medicine that has been ground or divided into packages but the ingredients are unknown. In particular, do not arbitrarily increase the dose or switch to another medicine when pain or fever is prolonged.
A pill may be very familiar, but it does not mean that you can take it as you please. Don't let the habit of "pain where you take the medicine" turn painkillers and fever reducers into the cause of your hospitalization.
