Children Are At Risk For Deadly ‘Tylenol’ Overdose

Tylenol (known generically as Acetaminophen) is important when a child has a headache, fever, toothache or muscle injury. It eases pain and allows a child to get a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, Tylenol is also a powerful toxin. Too much Tylenol can kill a child. We have all heard the warning and advice to give children Tylenol instead of aspirin to avoid Reyes Syndrome. Many people stopped giving their children anything except Tylenol or acetaminophen. Many think if a drug is sold over the counter without a prescription, it has to be safe, yet the Institute for Safe Medication Practices … Continue reading

Pain Medicine: Acetaminophen

As an alternative to aspirin, acetaminophen has been around a long time! The FDA approved acetaminophen in 1951. This medicine is both analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer). You may know acetaminophen as: Tylenol and others — more than 200 medications include acetaminophen. How does it work? Acetaminophen relieves pain by elevating the pain threshold — in other words, it takes more pain for you to feel the discomfort. Acetaminophen reduces fever by telling the heat regulating part of the brain to cool things down when the body’s temperature is above normal. Acetaminophen is available in many different forms, … Continue reading

Sleep Disorder: Jeremiah’s Story–Part 2: Tonsillectomy

! The past week and a half has been a very long one for Jeremiah. In the First part of Jeremiah’s story, I wrote about the steps we are taking to help our son overcome sleep apnea. One of the several sleeping disorders our nearly five-year-old son has suffered all of his life. The first step was to have his tonsils removed in order to open his airway. Surgery was Thursday November 9, 2006 and everything went very well. The very first thing he did after surgery is “test” to see if he could still snore! On the evening after … Continue reading