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Should DayQuil Be Legal?

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Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#261

Post by aunwick »

In the pharmacy in the US there are about 1000 over the counter drugs made if varios combinaciones of about 50 ingredients. Many of them contain acetaminophen. I can see how accidental liver damage can occur.

On DayQuil specifically, the only time I took it I was about as useful as someone stoned. I would have been better off and less dangerous to society if I had just taken rest..

As far as pain management I personally find acetaminophen does nothing for pain and only helps with fever. Similar ibuprofen only helps me with sever muscle pain associated with over exertion or bruising.

Having unfortunately suffered from nerve pain I can say the pain relief opiates provide, even at low levels, is on a whole different level. My experience is that taking them only for pain, when it is unbearable, was not addictive and made pain on the level of I need to go to the hospital bearable.

Just my experience.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#262

Post by missingcolours »

Aurornis wrote: post #35

This article uses the trick where you pick studies that support your argument and ignore all of the studies that disagree with it. There are other studies where Dextromethorphan improves both objective and subjective measures of coughing: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37232330/ They also picked a study that shows honey outperforming Dextromethorphan but ignored all the studies that show honey performing similarly o…

I was wondering about that. I've taken a number of different cold medications over the years, one active ingredient at a time, to check their effectiveness while sick. Phenylephrine, as widely reported, had zero effect. But Dextromethorphan seemed to work for my kids - give it to them, stopped coughing. Started coughing again 6 hours later, etc. n=1 and it's a 4 year old, but in one of those cases my results clearly matched the studies, and in the other it didn't, at least as reported by this article.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#263

Post by dreamcompiler »

shin_lao wrote: post #12

Oral phenylephrine is considered to be ineffective, phenylephrine in a nasal spray is considered effective.

Absolutely true. Phenylephrine liquid applied directly to nasal mucosa is a quick and effective decongestant. It doesn't last as long as oxymetazoline (the other big nasal spray ingredient), but it also doesn't cause you to become dependent on it as much as oxymetazoline does.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#264

Post by dreamcompiler »

Until the late 1960s, codeine was considered the definitive over-the-counter cough medicine. It worked well. Maybe a little too well, because it was easy to get addicted to it. So the FDA banned it from OTC sales and dextromethorphan was substituted. Which brings us to today.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#265

Post by dreamcompiler »

nostrademons wrote: post #96

The article kinda glossed over it, but one fact under-appreciated by the general public is just how dangerous acetaminophen overdoses can be . Scientists often talk about the "therapeutic index" or "safety ratio" of a drug. It's the LD50 (dose at which 50% of recipients die) divided by the effective dose. Common hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine have a safety ratio of about 6-10 [1]. "Soft" drugs like marijua…

There is an antidote available for acetaminophen overdose, but it's only available in the hospital. So if you think you took too much, get to a hospital quickly before your liver suffers permanent damage.

Untreated acetaminophen overdose is an extremely unpleasant way to die.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#266

Post by SoMomentary »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #265
nostrademons wrote: post #96

The article kinda glossed over it, but one fact under-appreciated by the general public is just how dangerous acetaminophen overdoses can be . Scientists often talk about the "therapeutic index" or "safety ratio" of a drug. It's the LD50 (dose at which 50% of recipients die) divided by the effective dose. Common hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine have a safety ratio of about 6-10 [1]. "Soft" drugs like marijua…

There is an antidote available for acetaminophen overdose, but it's only available in the hospital. So if you think you took too much, get to a hospital quickly before your liver suffers permanent damage. Untreated acetaminophen overdose is an extremely unpleasant way to die.

Huh, looked this up as Acetaminophen is one of the only OTC painkillers I can take. I thought NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) sounded familiar and low and behold I already have some I've purchased as a supplement.

Anyone can buy this stuff, no need to make it sound like it's some controlled substance. I will say if I take to much Acetaminophen I'll just head to the hospital instead of winging it!

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#267

Post by AnodicElegy »

nostrademons wrote: post #96

The article kinda glossed over it, but one fact under-appreciated by the general public is just how dangerous acetaminophen overdoses can be . Scientists often talk about the "therapeutic index" or "safety ratio" of a drug. It's the LD50 (dose at which 50% of recipients die) divided by the effective dose. Common hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine have a safety ratio of about 6-10 [1]. "Soft" drugs like marijua…

The safety ratios listed in reference [1] are exaggerated, as can be determined by the following qualification: "The majority of published reports of acute lethal toxicity indicate that the decedent used a co-intoxicant (most often alcohol)."

The vast majority of so-called drug overdoses are due to polydrug intoxication. It's much harder to die by consuming a single substance. This is clear from the statistics of the few jurisdictions that report all substances in the blood in coroner's reports. See, for example, the Scottish data from 2020 (https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/34642/7/ndrdd_report.pdf ): "In 2020, almost all (96%) [drug-related deaths] occurred after the consumption of multiple substances."

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#268

Post by Forgeties79 »

Scroll_Swe wrote: post #222
Forgeties79 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>or with alcohol consumption This part is what a lot of people miss IME

[flagged]

It doesn’t have to be concurrent to be harmful. You need decent spacing between the two. How do you think many people ride out hangovers?

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#269

Post by NotAFurry2 »

nostrademons wrote: post #96

The article kinda glossed over it, but one fact under-appreciated by the general public is just how dangerous acetaminophen overdoses can be . Scientists often talk about the "therapeutic index" or "safety ratio" of a drug. It's the LD50 (dose at which 50% of recipients die) divided by the effective dose. Common hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine have a safety ratio of about 6-10 [1]. "Soft" drugs like marijua…

Liver failure is the worst way to go, it's slow and painful. if someone accidentally takes too much you can give them activated charcoal before you get them to the ER to give them a better chance of not going through liver failure

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#270

Post by dreamcompiler »

SoMomentary wrote: post #266
dreamcompiler wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an antidote available for acetaminophen overdose, but it's only available in the hospital. So if you think you took too much, get to a hospital quickly before your liver suffers permanent damage. Untreated acetaminophen overdose is an extremely unpleasant way to die.

Huh, looked this up as Acetaminophen is one of the only OTC painkillers I can take. I thought NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) sounded familiar and low and behold I already have some I've purchased as a supplement. Anyone can buy this stuff, no need to make it sound like it's some controlled substance. I will say if I take to much Acetaminophen I'll just head to the hospital instead of winging it!

I was trying to keep it simple. Yes you can buy n-acetylcysteine but OTC versions can vary in purity and dosage and it's not the only treatment you might need. With an acetaminophen OD you really want to be in a hospital.
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