Use these dosing charts as your guide to ensure safe use. If you have any questions, we encourage you to talk to your healthcare professional or contact our Consumer Call Center at An estimated 50 million Americans use acetaminophen each week to treat conditions such as pain, fever and aches and pains associated with cold and flu.
The dosing interval has also changed from 2 pills every 4—6 hours to 2 pills every 6 hours. In case of overdose, you should get medical help right away or contact the Poison Control Center at Quick medical attention is critical for adults as well as for children even if no signs or symptoms are noticed.
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By clicking "Accept" below, you confirm that you have read, understand and accept our sites's Privacy Policy. If the medicine doesn't come with a tool to give doses, ask your pharmacist for one. Acetaminophen can be found in many forms and comes in different doses. Do not give your child more than the maximum dose recommended on the label. Be careful when giving your child over-the-counter cold or flu medicines and acetaminophen Tylenol at the same time.
Many of these medicines already contain acetaminophen. Too much acetaminophen can be harmful. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are different products with different dosing recommendations. Talk to your child's doctor or a pharmacist before switching back and forth between doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. When you switch between two medicines, there is a chance your child will get too much medicine.
Studies have not shown any added benefit from alternating these medicines. Side effects of acetaminophen are rare if it is taken in correct doses. Nausea and rash are the most common. High doses of acetaminophen can cause liver and kidney damage.
Reasons not to take acetaminophen Do not take acetaminophen if you: Have liver disease. Drink alcohol heavily 3 or more drinks a day for men and 2 or more drinks a day for women. Credits Current as of: August 4, Top of the page Next Section: Related Information. More than products contain acetaminophen, and inadvertently combining them can nudge you into the red zone. Melisa Lai Becker, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a specialist in emergency medicine and toxicology at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance.
Acetaminophen controls pain and fever but does not reduce inflammation , as does aspirin and the other widely consumed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs ibuprofen Advil, Motrin, generics and naproxen Aleve, generics. It's an important drug for controlling chronic pain in older adults.
The hitch is that acetaminophen also has a narrower window of safety compared with ibuprofen and naproxen. NSAIDs can make you sick, too, but it takes a larger amount to reach a dangerous overdose. Taking too much acetaminophen can damage the liver, sometimes leading to a liver transplant or death.
The body breaks down most of the acetaminophen in a normal dose and eliminates it in the urine. But some of the drug is converted into a byproduct that is toxic to the liver. If you take too much—all at once or over a period of days—more toxin can build up than the body can handle. For the average healthy adult, the generally recommended maximum daily dose is no more than 4, milligrams mg from all sources. But in some people, doses close to the 4, mg daily limit for adults could still be toxic to the liver.
It's safest to take only what you need, and to not exceed 3, mg a day whenever possible, especially if you use acetaminophen often. If you ever have concerns about how much acetaminophen you can tolerate based on your age, body size, and health status, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Here are some general precautions for avoiding an accidental overdose of acetaminophen. Tens of thousands of people become ill every year from taking too much acetaminophen.
In a smaller number of cases—several hundred per year—it leads to death. But it need not happen to you.
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