Every holiday season, we bring up the potential for accidental acetaminophen (Tylenol) over dose and the risk of liver failure. How does this happen?

Party goers may want to pre-medicate themselves against a potential hangover. Expecting excess alcohol may be consumed, they feel they’re being proactive. The combination of acetaminophen and alcohol makes the combination all the more toxic to the liver. In addition, there are hundreds of cough and flu products over the counter that also include acetaminophen as an ingredient. Here is where people double dose themselves, take in too much acetaminophen, and head out for a night of celebration.

To prevent this, beware that you should not consume more than 3,000 mg of acetaminophen daily. Read label of other OTC medicines you are taking. If acetaminophen is an included agent in the drug, make sure you include this amount to the total daily dose. Lastly, limit alcohol intake to no more than 2 alcoholic drinks for men, and one for women.

We recently posted a YouTube video on this topic that we suggest you review and share.