[Closed] Buying Paracetamol

It may have been before the 'Great Hack', but I can remember a thread in which some one was buying supplies for a expedition. While the checkout attendant was quite happy to scan though over 12 bottle of whiskey, more than 2 packets of paracetamol was a no no.

Ibuprofen isn't subject to the same restriction in pharmacies as it is in supermarkets. Most supermarkets won't sell you more than two packs of painkillers or other paracetamol based remedies, but they also won't sell more than two packs of 16 200 mg ibuprofen, despite the fact they aren't anywhere near as dangerous. I take up to four doses of paracetamol, codeine and ibuprofen a day,(although it takes a really bad day to take more than two doses)
and when I get my codeine prescription at the chemist I geta 96 pack of 400 mg ibuprofen. That's the equivalent of 12 packs of 16 200 mg tablets. The only questions they ask is whether I suffer from stomach problems. I can rarely find a chemist that will sell me more than 2 32 packs of paracetamol though.

As for cold remedies, it's far cheaper to buy generic paracetamol and the cheapest decongestant tabs you can find.... Exactly the same ingredients, just not in a fancy pack.

While the checkout attendant was quite happy to scan though over 12 bottle of whiskey, more than 2 packets of paracetamol was a no no.

Well. That's because one of those purchases would be illegal if it went ahead.

And the other one isn't.

It's really not too hard to understand.

Bloody hell, how much did they take?? (I'm reading overdose as something more than double/triple the recommended dose, which would be easy enough..)

People tend to imagine 'overdose' as a goodbye-world fist full of pills and a suicide not. "overdose" is more than the recommended dose. Paracetamol is a drug of popular choice for suicide attempts but a lot of the harm done by paracetamol is caused by taking a little too much a little too often.

The little and often overdoses happen because paracetomol is hidden in many medicines - you can take something for your runny nose, something for your sore throat and something for your headache and theres paraceomol in all of them. The other danger is taking paracetomol doesn't feel like anything - it has no drowsy or narcotic effect of something like codeine. Other pain killers feel like they're doing something, you know you've taken them, you know they're active and you know you are taking medicine. If you pop some paracetamol it doesn't feel like theres a drug actively at work, you just take them and the headache gets a bit better.

Unless you live in civilisation

Does not understand...

'Civilisation' is all points north of gretna green where prescriptions are free

Anyway, niggly thing I find here now is take Lemsip to a self scan checkout in the supermarket and sure enough have to get it approved. Understandable I guess, though there's nothing making it clear why to people who likely don't know what it contains.

Thats why you have the automatic limit through the checkout - non of the supermarket staff are pharmacists. Its not their job to understand and they're not qualified to advise how and when to take pharmaceuticals. If you buy anything similar from a pharmacist they'll ask "have you taken this before?" "are you taking any other medication?" and advise you accordingly. In their absence if you're smart you can take the beep and the flashing light as a clue something is important and read the label and find out for yourself. If you're only 'clever' you can do the multiple transaction tricks detailed above and do your bit for darwinism.

You would need to be "hard of thinking" not to be able to see that.
Or to be too self centred to care.

Not self centred - seriously, what is the point of Night Nurse (to be taken specifically at night before bed) if I can't buy something to take the next day?

Its a poorly pitched product for the marketplace. Putting paracetomol is something so specific is dumb in light of what shops can and can't sell and in light of the condition the medicine is being sold for. Thats not a fault of the legislation, just ill-considered product. If they made a paracetomol tablet so big you couldn't get it in your mouth you can't blame your mouth for that.

Well, you can, but perhaps you need to be aware that you will be taking additional paracetamol and therefore choose something which doesn't contain any

I guess it's something along these lines. [img] [/img]

Source http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3567205/ 2013

Not self centred - seriously, what is the point of Night Nurse (to be taken specifically at night before bed) if I can't buy something to take the next day?

You can.

You just need to buy it from a qualified pharmacist.

Not self centred - seriously, what is the point of Night Nurse (to be taken specifically at night before bed) if I can't buy something to take the next day?

Well as mentioned, numerous times on this thread, you can if you speak to the pharmacist and they feel it's safe to. If you don't then they can't, just because you're buying night nurse doesn't mean you're only going to use it at night with nothing else.

Having seen the data in that report I am happy to retract my "moronic" statement. If my minor inconvenience really does save lives then I am happy to have to go around three times to get a decent amount of drugs.

It is suprising that what seems like such a small thing has had such a big difference.

My assumption was that if you wanted to do yourself in then you would just go to the effort of doing what I do, or visiting a few different retailers.

But I can see that it might be a sudden mental process and if the large amounts are there then its easy to make the wrong decision, but if you have to consciously consider getting a large amount then you might get a reality check.

Neck wound in..

Popped into a pharmacie here in France yesterday for some paracetamol for a headache. Was sold tablets of 1,000mg dose! Not sure I will bring them home as we're used to them all being 500mg,wouldn't want to take two of these bad boys by mistake. Having said that they are the size of suppositories so swallowing two takes some fortitude. Actually can you take paracetamol anally?

A mate from the pub put himself in hospital the other day after "self administering" sustained high doses of Ibuprofen for his toothache (tightarse geordie will wait 4 months for NHS emegency dentist rather than pay for a fix) sufficient to cause a bleed into his stomach. V messy build up in pressure I gather..

Actually can you take paracetamol anally?

To quote an Aussie I once picked up who was looking like going into epileptic fit, she asked if I would be able to give her anything. I said we carry rectal diazepam, her response was:

"I didn't know you get rectal, then again I suppose you can shove anything up your arse!" 😳

You would have thought your bosses would have considered you've got to administer what you carry. Someone in procurement has an evil sense of humour.

Having said that they are the size of suppositories so swallowing two takes some fortitude. Actually can you take paracetamol anally?

Mais oui!* Are you sure they [b]aren't[/b] suppositories?

*When I was an SHO, one of the chronic pain docs went to a European conference, where some new drug was being heavily promoted. All his French colleagues were interested in was when the rectal preparation would be available, as apparently this is the preferred route of administration on the other side of the Channel.

Useful thread this one. I have to confess that I wouldn't have expected paracetamol to be this dangerous unless a bucket load had been swallowed.

as apparently this is the preferred route of administration on the other side of the Channel.

Quite literally the other side the channel.

You would have thought your bosses would have considered you've got to administer what you carry. Someone in procurement has an evil sense of humour.

Thankfully we have IV now too.

Now you've got me checking the paper work RIBT!

Ce medicament est utilise par voie orale.

Phew.

Neck wound in..

Can I chip in just to note that this was beautifully done? Chapeau.

🙂

Phew.

I can smell the disappointment from here.

Honestly - reading through this thread has shocked me as to the prevalence of casual pill popping .. Stay away from these substances at all costs ... Pain killers should be an absolute last resort not things to manage you day to day lives with ..

Pain killers should be an absolute last resort

Why? Are you under the impression that it's better to be in pain?

All this thread should tell you is to abide by the instructions on the packet and check whether other remedies you take have any painkillers in.

Stay away from these substances at all costs ... Pain killers should be an absolute last resort not things to manage you day to day lives with ..

Scaremongering much.

As with most things, I'll take my advice from trained professionals rather than strangers on the Internet.

But thanks anyway.

I reckon noltae just worded his response badly.

I can get bottles of 500 for $12.99 😯

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-extra-strength-pain-reliever-acetaminophen-caplets/ID=prod6153234-product ]http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-extra-strength-pain-reliever-acetaminophen-caplets/ID=prod6153234-product[/url]

Got a large supply of Codine, Tramadol and opium related drugs plus Paracetamol, all thanks to mountain biking. Smash yourself up and they chuck the stuff at you. "How much pain are you in? Here, take these!" 😀

Though Codine etc is not as dangerous as Paracetamol I guess, though addictive.

midlifecrashes - Member

Paracetemol is a horrid horrid way to die though when you get too much of it.

That is so, but I grew up in Canada where, to this day, you can buy plastic bottles of 1000 500mg tablets off the shelf in any pharmacy. And I have to say that paracetemol deaths constitute a phenomenon I never once heard of in my entire Canadian life.

I was shocked and annoyed when I moved here 12 years ago to find that I could only buy packets of 16 tablets. I have a large family, and between us, we go through a fair amount of paracetemol and ibuprofen on a monthly basis.

So what is it? Has Britain really experienced a plague of paracetemol OD deaths? I am not demeaning the horror of suicide; I am only suggesting that the whole approach to paracetemol sales might be a tiny bit of an overreaction...

@Saxon, this is grim

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/02/21/the_dark_side_of_acetaminophen.html

Accidental death by paracetemol almost as high as suicide with paracetemol. Still a small number in a big country, obviously, but apparently it's a thing.

And speaking of which, I know of someone who has tried several times to take his own life (we suspect he doesn't really want to, but is making a show of trying to) – he has no problems buying vast amounts of drugs and hides them all over (for example, in the grounds of local churches and things like that) so I really don't see how punitive restrictions on buying it really help – if you are intent on buying a shit-load, you can.

By the way, my wife survived her brush with potential overdoes of Night Nurse and Lemsip by not being stupid.

Phew.

Yes, it can be frustrating being limited on the number, but there is a background reason.

Nope, it's a cynical plot by supermarkets to make snotty people stagger past the comfort food twice.

I was shocked and annoyed when I moved here 12 years ago to find that I could only buy packets of 16 tablets. I have a large family, and between us, we go through a fair amount of paracetemol and ibuprofen on a monthly basis.

Why? That suggests to me that you're all casually taking it, which I guess goes hand in hand with it's free availability in Canada and a misunderstanding of the risks of taking it to excess.

so I really don't see how punitive restrictions on buying it really help – if you are intent on buying a shit-load, you can.

And yet, even though you don't understand why, the statistics prove that the restrictions do make a big difference.

That is so, but I grew up in Canada where, to this day, you can buy plastic bottles of 1000 500mg tablets off the shelf in any pharmacy. And I have to say that paracetemol deaths constitute a phenomenon I never once heard of in my entire Canadian life.

http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news/world/2014/02/21/the_dark_side_of_acetaminophen.html

excitingly, fewer canadians than UK citizens die of paracetamol overdoses, despite the giant packs

No idea of overall suicide rates, though

(...off to google we go)

(Oh. also, far more UK folk die of overdoses of prescription drugs than paras)

Oooh, pretty similar

wikipedia - member

world suicide rate rankings
rank Country
38 United Kingdom (more info) (0.0118%) 2011
39 New Zealand[32] (0.0115%) 2010
40 Canada (more info) (0.0115%) 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1931590/

In this population-based study, we examined trends in hospitalization rates for acetaminophen overdose in a large Canadian health region. Between 1995 and 2004, the adjusted annual hospitalization rate for acetaminophen overdose was 15.5 per 100,000 population. This rate is approximately one-fifth of that reported in the UK despite legislation limiting sales of acetaminophen in that country[12,27,28]. Although the explanations for this discrepancy are beyond the scope of this study, differences in acetaminophen availability seem unlikely considering the relatively liberal sale of acetaminophen in Canada. Moreover, suicide rates are similar in the UK and Canada[29,30]. Presumably, this discrepancy reflects different methods of suicide in the two countries (eg. more frequent use of firearms, hanging, and suffocation in Canada versus poisoning in the UK)[29,30].

Hospitalization rates for accidental acetaminophen overdose appeared to rise during the latter years of our study following an initial decline between 1995 and 2002. Such 'therapeutic misadventures' [34,35] occurred in 13% of our study population. This finding is in keeping with data from the US ALF Study Group reporting that a striking 50% of ALF cases due to acetaminophen were accidental[2]. Based on this data, it has been estimated that approximately 500 ALF cases and 150 deaths attributable to unintentional overdoses occur annually in the US[36]. Since accidental ingestions have been linked with a greater risk of hepatotoxicity, [3,37-39] our observation of a recent increase is of public health importance. Currently over 100 products containing sometimes large amounts of acetaminophen are available over-the-counter, and many patients (and physicians) are unaware of their acetaminophen content[36].

Presumably, this discrepancy reflects different methods of suicide in the two countries (eg. more frequent use of firearms, hanging, and suffocation in Canada versus poisoning in the UK)[29,30].

That's probably the crux of it. If firearms were readily available in the UK I expect you'd see a marked fall-off in the incidence of intentional suicides via over-the-counter drugs. (Quick, legalise guns!!)

I wonder if part if it is cultural / ignorance too; it's maybe perceived as an "easy" way to off yourself, pop a few pills, go to sleep and don't wake up.

Probably common in "cry for help / attention" suicide attempts too, the thinking being that you can take a few tablets and then be taken to hospital where they'll all go "there there" and sort you out.

I'd bet that a large percentage of people taking intentional overdoses don't have the remotest idea about the reality of the implications.

By the way, my wife survived her brush with potential overdoes of Night Nurse and Lemsip by not being stupid.

I guess you wife isn't someone who has just gone through a tough time in her life, is feeling down so takes a foolishly spontaneous overdose of Paracetamol sending her into liver failure ruining her life for ever. No, she was someone with a bit of a sniffle and a bit miffed that she couldn't get med to make her feel a little better.

Further to my recent conversion on this thread, this is bad news.
(Clear cookies if the T won't let you in). I actually think that Paracet should be pharmacy only now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11755964/Teenager-with-stomach-ache-dies-of-accidental-paracetamol-overdose.html

noltae - Member
Honestly - reading through this thread has shocked me as to the prevalence of casual pill popping .. Stay away from these substances at all costs ... Pain killers should be an absolute last resort not things to manage you day to day lives with ..

If you think the paracetemol limit is bad - I tried to buy two fungal nail treatment kits from Boots at the weekend, taking advantage of their BOGOHP offer on fungal nail treatments, to be told they could only sell me one kit at a time and if more than one nail required treatment I should visit my GP...
He didn't much like it when I pointed out that the two toes I wished to treat were on different people!

Any GP's like to add their 2p as to why I would waste a valuable consultation slot before even trying to nuke a manly nail myself?

Paracetamol abuse - known in pharmaceutical circles as 'the silent addiction' .. Never underestimate the power of denial ..

Further to my recent conversion on this thread, this is bad news.
(Clear cookies if the T won't let you in). I actually think that Paracet should be pharmacy only now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11755964/Teenager-with-stomach-ache-dies-of-accidental-paracetamol-overdose.html

Tragic but as with most things I'm not sure that the occasional persons stupidity (not reading, or ignoring the health warnings) is a reason to make something which thousands of people take responsibly all the time.

Maybe the health warnings should be bigger or more obvious, but OTC only seems excessive.

The chat about night nurse on this thread is providing fantastic nurse outfits on the targeted advertising!