Can a 15 year old die of an overdose of calpol?

Question

By the way, I am not thinking of doing this, Its just my brother said you can if you drunk a whole bottle??

Answer 1

Maximum daily dose of acetaminophen is about 3 grams, continued use beyond 10 days is associated with death from liver failure.

Liver failure due to acetamiophen use is a common cause of liver failure, alcohol use makes this more likely.

Answer 2

if you overdose on any painkiller (especially paracetomol) you can kill yourself. Calpol is also possible

Answer 3

It's very unlikely as the bottles are designed in such a way that they contain only a few doses. This is because young children tend to take Calpol when left unattended due to it's taste. Thus the GSK have been producing small bottles, so that if a child drinks a whole bottle he/she will not suffer liver failure or liver problems as the bottle does not contain a high dose (that will cause overdosage).

However high doses of paracetaoml do cause liver damage and liver failure. The maximum daily dose is of 8g daily for an adult.

To Knowledgeispower Calpol does not contain penicillin it's only paracetamol.

To Ladye C drinking paracetamol with your friends will only lead to you trying stronger drugs in the future. You're not being cool just stupid !

Answer 4

My brother had a bad allergic reaction to calpol when he was young about 7 years ago. It was because he was allergic to penicillin, he looked like he was dying but i kept waking him till the ambulance came.

I dont know about an overdose but just go with the guidelines

Answer 5

Because calpol contains paracetamol it is indeed possible to overdose on calpol.

Answer 6

Yes of course

Answer 7

ehmn i think no because im 14 and i drink way more then a bottle but i only drink like 3 times a month with my friends && what do you no im still living does that answer your question?

Answer 8

Anyone can die from anything at a certain dose. Calpol contain paracetamol - which will kill depending all upon the does.

Answer 9

It does contain paracetamol, so in theory I suppose you could o/d on it but I suspect you'd throw it up long before you drank enough to do any damage.  It doesn't contain penicillin.

Answer 10

Calpol contains paracetamol, which can kill you by overdose. I think it would take more than one bottle to kill you but a whole bottle would make you seriously ill.

Answer 11

Yes, you could die from an overdose of calpol. However, it would kill you more slowly by removing the lining of your stomach and eventually making you bleed to death internally.

Answer 12

Don't be fooled thinking that because it is for children it is 'weaker' than adult medicine - paracetamol itself is very safe, but in overdose the normal metabolic pathways become overloaded and a secondary pathway comes into play, producing the toxic cysteine conjugate - it is this that is toxic. Because babies and young children do not have fully developed livers, they do not have the enzyme that produces this toxic by product, so they can actually take much higher doses of paracetamol than adults. So drinking a whole bottle of Calpol is probably not very sensible, especially as paracetamol poisoning firstly just makes you very sick - you think you've got rid of it all, but in fact by this stage it's too late - you will become progressively jaundiced and, if you don't have a liver transplant within a couple of days, you will die. Just because a drug is available over the counter does not mean it is safe to d*ck around with

Answer 13

yes cos its paracetomol even tho calpol has a small amount you can still die.