Am I stupid?

I just found this great site tonight and proceeded to browse through about a years worth of posts...

I just read about the deadly effects of combining tylenol and alcohol, and, because
Im drunk, am a bit scared.

First...Im a lightweight drinker. Im 25 and just started drinking this year. Before then, I never drank. Pot is my main vice. But last night I drank 3 shots and 2 beers and tonight drank a six pack. I rarely ever take tylenol, but tonight I took a 750mg Vicodin. Im not sure how much tylenol is in a vicodin, but is this safe?

After tonight, I will never mix the two again.

So, should I be ok? Or am I just paranoid? My main vice tends to do that sometimes...

Thanks!

Mr. Lightweight.

PS: I found this site while browsing for Googie architecture, which is an interest of mine. But after tonight, you can count me in as a Tiki devotee!

[ Edited by: chase_317 on 2004-01-04 02:01 ]

and when you've just run a red light -
sit quaking under the streetlight,
you swear to yourself,
you'll never drink and drive again ...
(Roger Waters, Radio KAOS)

Vicodin is usually only 5mg hydrocodone and 500mg acetaminophen. Extra strength comes in at 7.5/750.

Never a good idea to mix opiates or acetaminophen and alcohol (like I should talk), but assuming you weigh over 100 lbs., and have a normal liver, you'll probably be reading this sometime this morning. :)

is it noon yet?

Chase 317,

(Shhh. The cops are outside of your house waiting to bust you.)

No, you have nothing to worry about. Tylenol will simply prolong your hangover. If you drank enough to be in the hospital emergency room getting your stomach pumped, you would perhaps die from the Tylenol because it would block your bodies ability to break down the alcohol in your system.

chase_317,

Your ability to type a complete sentence probably indicates that you are NOT stupid.

I have what my doctor refers to as a "sick" liver (swollen w/ elevated levels) and have been warned away from Tylenol (and alcohol for that matter). I've started looking at warning labels on otc medication a little more closely. I don't do NyQuil shooters and beer chasers anymore!

"What a draaaag it is getting old" - Jagger/Richards

Well, I woke up at 4pm today basically hangover free. I made a greasy omelet and drank about 64oz. of water before I crashed out, so that probably helped.

Thanks guys! I'll be more careful in the future.

Now on to turning the spare bedroom into the tiki room!

Swanky, I never heard that Tylenol prolongs a hangover. But aspirin won't I assume?

I used to take Tylenol all the time for hangovers... but now I am a good girl... most of the time!

What an entrance!
Glad you are fine.

chase 317,
good to hear you made it through the night! next time be sure to avoid Tylenol PM. the relaxant in that could stop your heart with enough alcohol on board.
a good strong bloody mary is the best for a hangover.

I vote yes.

Awwwww ... c'mon Flounder - I don't see the problem as stupidity. There wouldn't be a problem if the pharmaceutical industry would stop adulterating opiates with Tylenol!

I vote no.

There are a couple of things going on here, the least of which is a longer hangover. Both alcohol and acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) suppress liver function, and both are poisonous. now, sure, lots of fun substances are poisonous, but normally the liver cleans most of these out of the blood. When you begin combining large amounts of both, you
run the risk of liver damage, and then you run the disk not being able to drink, so.... The problem with aspirin is that it can cause small bleeding ulcers in even a normal healthy stomach. but it also thins the blood, and reduces clotting. Alcohol is known to inhibit vitamin K which is essential in clotting as well, so what can happen is you get a small bleeding ulcer, which does not stop, and you bleed to death internally. So, there you go. I figure, a hangover is the price of admission, but at least we get to pay later. If you had to pay first, no one would drink!

So how about Motrin then?

Motrin is not a good idea either.

Read this excellent article from a recent SF Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/25/WIGPU3SQBD1.DTL

How about high quility hallucinatory drugs?

I always thought that if the bottle said "avoid alcohol" that that was secret code for "grab the booze and melt into your couch!"

As a rule of thumb it's always worked for me.

On 2004-01-06 17:58, FLOUNDERart wrote:
How about high quility hallucinatory drugs?

What did you have in mind?

"While it is dangerous to mix pain relievers with alcohol, you may safely take a pain reliever the next day to relieve some of the hangover symptoms."

This quote from the article seem sto contradict a lot of advice I have just read here, unless I am reading it wrong...

On 2004-01-06 23:38, Shipwreckjoey wrote:

On 2004-01-06 17:58, FLOUNDERart wrote:
How about high quility hallucinatory drugs?

What did you have in mind?

Pretty colors.

On 2004-01-07 06:01, tikifish wrote:
"While it is dangerous to mix pain relievers with alcohol, you may safely take a pain reliever the next day to relieve some of the hangover symptoms."

This quote from the article seems to contradict a lot of advice I have just read here, unless I am reading it wrong...

I think it just means don't take the pills either while you are drinking or before bed as a preventative measure. The next day is OK. It's a habit of mine that I have to break.