Could My Attempted Overdose Be Causing My Liver Problems?

Question

When I was 15, I attempted to overdose on over the counter pain pills, ibuprofen and tylenol pm. I attemped this twice, probably within the span of a year. Obviously, this was a very dark time in my life and I don't really remember clear details, but I'm going to say I took somewhere between 25-40 pills within a few minutes. Both times I began vomiting shortly after and vomited repeatedly for close to 24 hours. I wasn't hospitalized either time, as my parents just thought it was a stomach flu and I never told them what I had done.

From the time I was 18 until now (I'm 23) I have had unexplained liver problems- pain, tenderness, very high liver enzyme count, etc. CT scans and ultrasounds have been inconclusive. My question is, can what I did years ago be causing my liver to slowly be shutting down now? If so, what should I do about it? I haven't told any doctors about the attempted overdoses b/c it only recently occured to me that this might be related. Any insight is appreciated.

Answer 1

yeah that would be the ibuprofen mostly, although im sure the tylenol pm helped.  i had a vicodin addiction (vicodin has ibuprofen in it) and i have some liver problems right now, though nothing seriousl.  you need to tell the doctors that you took high concentrations of ibuprofen, which is known to be hard on the liver.  I woke up one morning in the middle of my addiction and had to rush to the hospital because I realized I was jaundiced (my eyes were yellow, meaning my liver was shutting down).  not a fun experience.

Answer 2

YES!!!!!

Answer 3

You need to go to a doctor, have your liver function checked, and discuss your overdoses. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose can easily destroy your liver, especially if not treated (e.g. with n-acetylcysteine).

Should you need a liver transplant, a history of suicide attempts isn't a good thing, though. Good luck, and don't do it again. Otherwise you don't even deserve your own liver, let alone someone else's.

Answer 4

Absolutely.

I have symtoms of liver failure due to prlonged high doses of Motrin.  You should see your Dr.  Maybe a liver biopsy would be helpful to diagnose any liver failure

Answer 5

Okay. This is a -major- health concern, and any doctor, especially any psychiatrist, needs to be aware of it. With that many pills, the Tylenol has without a doubt caused some sort of damage to your liver, and it clearly hasn't fully recovered. Given the time that's passed, I would doubt that your liver is 'shutting down' but you may have injured or upset it again. A damaged liver would be especially sensitive to many OTC medications and incredibly sensitive to alcohol. While I am not a medical doctor, and I have not examined you in any way, from the information here I would say you should abstain from consuming any alcohol indefinitely.

In short, no question that the tylenol overdoses have led to your current problems. Let your doctors know immediately.

Edit: Ibuprofen is not toxic to the liver in even extremely elevated concentrations, it is toxic to the kidneys at very high (>400mg/kg) levels. Also, Vicodin contains Hydrocodone + Tylenol. Vicoprofen contains Hydrocodone + Ibuprofen.

Answer 6

Yes, have you not read the bottle of Tylenol?

it can cause liver problem's.

if you try to overdose, which is the stupidest thing ever..it will cause you to have Liver problem's.

& you should tell them about your attempts of overdose.