Beware the Tylenol: Liver Failure

[Waxwing]

Hello all,
I'm popping over from the Friends and Family board to post here a heartbreaking story from a fellow on a music board that I frequent.

His wife died suddenly last week, leaving behind Steve and their young son. She was 40 years old. Her liver failed due to all the Tylenol packed in the Hydrocodones she's been taking over the years. She was in recovery. She was doing great. Liver tests showed no problems. But the damage had been silently done, and within days she was gone.

I'm sure many of you are aware of this danger, but if it helps anyone stay or get sober for even a day, perhaps Steve's nightmare will be worth something. Below is is post as he wrote it. Take care, all.

** TO ALL USERS (RECREATIONAL OR MEDICINAL) OF HYDROCODONE MEDICATION ***

Hydrocodone is one of the two significant active ingredients in pills such as:

Vicoden
Lortab
Lorcet
Percodan
Percocet
Norco
... and others ...

Everybody knows that the body can build a tolerance (and a really massive dependence) upon these medications. Getting off of these medications can be extremely difficult. In fact, it is widely known these days that kicking the habit of these medications is actually more difficult than kicking heroin.

My wife took these medications over a 10 year period for various aches and pains, and then, she needed another form of mediation to get off of these pills. The other medication was also an opiate whose sole purpose is to help people to step down off of the vicoden type medication - - essentially a detox drug.

This is what my wife was doing. She was getting off of hydrocodone medications. She was doing great. She was leading a normal typical life and things were going fine. She was handling all of her routine Motherly and Wifely duties normally and excellently.

She was not sick.

So what happened to her ?

Another active ingredient to the above mentioned hydrocodone medications is (acetemediphine - probably misspelled) also known as Tylenol. Over the 10 year period, the Tylenol part of these pills was constantly attacking my wife's liver. She was taking liver testing regularly. All the tests came back normal.

Unbeknownced to both my wife and me, these medications were pummeling her liver day after day. We didn't know about it and just went on with our normal everyday lives.

Then, suddenly, last week, my wife got really ill. She slept for a couple of days around the clock and only got up to eat a little, or use the bathroom. I checked on her constantly. Then, the next day, it hit my wife like a ton of bricks. Multiple systems shut down swiftly.

Her liver failed. Her kidneys failed, and as a result of this, her sugar dropped very low and she suffered a stroke in the pons (or ponsi) part of the brain (it's deep inside the brain, and cannot be operated on). I rushed her to the hospital last Thursday (8 days ago) and she couldn't be saved. We lost her on Sunday afternoon just a couple of weeks before her 41st birthday.

The doctor told me that there was no way to stop my wife's liver from failing. Even if I had brought her to the hospital (as if I had ESP or something) 10 days earlier and told them to monitor the liver and get ready to save her when it failed, nothing could have prevented her liver from failing.

I AM WRITING THIS AWFUL STORY TO INFORM YOU ALL (AND YOUR LOVED ONES) ABOUT THE DANGER OF USING DRUGS OVER A PROLONGED TIME THAT CONTAIN TYLENOL.

TELL YOUR DOCTORS WHAT TO DO, DON'T LET THEM TELL YOU WHAT TO DO.

My son and I will get over this tragedy one day and go forward. We will be fine in the end. But neither of us will ever get over losing her. My wife's story doesn't have a happy ending, but hopefully, my son'S, and mine will.

[Buzz Kilowatt]

A very sad story indeed.

An endocrinologist friend says the way to give lab rats bladder cancer is to give them toxic amounts of acetaminophen (APAP). My own internist said he was present at an autopsy of someone who ODed on APAP. He said the liver literally fell apart in his hands . . .

All OTC APAP meds say they are for a short duration only. Even then no more than 4 grams/day, maximum. APAP can be very toxic.

I'm surprised that the woman showed no abnormal liver tests over the duration of her drug use.

It sounds like she died from fulminant liver failure, not a chronic failure. If the liver is impaired you will generally have indicative test results.

APAP is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P-450 system. The system breaks it down into harmless compounds. If, however, the user overdoses, the P-450 system is overwhelmed and the metabolites become hepatoxic, i.e. poisonous to the liver. The level of L-glutathione (GSH), an important chemical in the detox and anti-oxidant process, is depleted to a point where damage to the liver occurs.

The standard antidote for acute APAP poisoning is N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which replenishes the GSH and stops the metabolites from attacking the liver.

Some people who take APAP regularly also take supplements (e.g. silymarin or milk thistle) hoping to replenish the GSH to prevent or forestall liver damage.

Alcohol also competes for the L-glutathione (GSH). That is why the combination of alcohol and Tylenol can be so deadly.

If the level of GSH is already depleted from regular or high-dosage Tylenol use, a small quantity of alcohol can push the system over the edge and result in rapid and serious -- possibly fatal-- liver damage.

THEREFORE, ADDICTS WHO CANNOT QUIT MEDS CONTAINING ACETAMINOPHEN SHOULD NEVER DRINK ALCOHOL!

According to at least one MD, APAP is one cause of kidney failure and is implicated in hearing loss (e.g. Rusk Limbaugh's hearing difficulties have been attributed to NSAIDs).

If you have an addiction to Vicodin, etc. do some research on the APAP that comes along with the Hydrocodone. It may just scare you straight . . . .

Hope this info isn't too technical to be useful. I try to keep it simple, but failed tonight . . . . .

Buzz

[Maybe I can]

So very sad.
I have taken thousands of t1's Tylenol with coedine over the years....so many thousands I can't remember how much. I am into almost 64 hrs with no t1's. I was taking about 26 per day. About 230gmg codeine per day. I am going to strive like never before to take no more. Hopefully I can learn from this tragedy. And others also.

[windysan]

I remember being as yellow as Spongebob Squarepants.