Is Paracetamol (or Acetaminophen) Safe?

There was a commercial capitalized by the biggest drug company in the Philippine which says "******** is the world safest pain reliever!" , "hmn..., well, to some extent, the claim was true, but we really need the assistance of the professionals and not to be loomed to the notion that it is really safe and nothing will happen to us or our family or worst our kids if the drug was suddenly ingested in bulk.

The drug can be taken initially at 500 mg or up to 1000 mg in one taking to relieve the pain or headache for adult. One can not exceed 8 tablets (4000 mg) in a day (for more info on the matter see Wikipedia).

If one exceeded the maximum dose or if you were one of the few people who were sensitive to its side effects, liver failure may ensue and this is not good for you.

It should be the first line of treatment if pain removal is desired (not accompanied by inflammation) or as prescribed by your physician.

Several western countries are having a high number of over dosage of this drug due to its accessibility.

There are alternative remedies to relieving pain as long as it's not complicated and can be traced to a known cause.

For instance, lack or inadequate sleep (take a nap), skipping breakfast (eat a little) , alcohol intake (rest, sleep, coffee and water) , pain from mechanical exertion (massage and rest), stress (relax and talk to someone) etc.,

We can use also some alternative medicine to relieve pain like Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), see image below, which is popularly use as analgesic.

                                       
                                         Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii)