Composition and dosage forms
Paracetamol is a substance from the non-steroidal non-narcotic group of analgesics with a pronounced antipyretic effect. Available in several pharmaceutical forms:
- tablets for oral administration: contain 200 or 500 mg of the active ingredient, packaged in blisters or packaging without cells;
- capsules: hard shell 500 mg;
- syrup and suspension: sweetish-tasting liquid, contains 2.4% paracetamol (24 mg per 1 ml), packaged in glass bottles of 50 and 100 ml;
- 1.5 percent aqueous solution for infusion: colorless transparent liquid in ampoules of 5 ml;
- rectal suppositories: in a dosage of 50–500 mg, packaged in cell contour plates.
Paracetamol for children: at what age and in what cases can this antipyretic be taken
Let's look at the rules for taking the three main forms of medication for children of different ages.
Paracetamol tablets
The drug in tablet form can only be given to a child from 6 years of age. This is due to the fact that before this age it is difficult for the baby to swallow the solid form of the medicine.
Between the first and subsequent doses, 4 to 6 hours should pass. During this time, the active substance is half eliminated from the body and there will be no overdose, which will reduce the risk of side effects.
Paracetamol dosage for children in tablet form is as follows:
- 6-11 years old . A single dose is 0.5-1 tablet (250-500 mg), it is calculated depending on the child’s weight, namely 10-15 mg of the drug per 1 kg of weight. A maximum of 3-4 tablets (1500-2000 mg) can be taken per day - this dose is also calculated depending on the child’s weight, 60 mg per 1 kg of body weight;
- 12 years and older . From this age, you can take 1-2 tablets (500 mg - 1000 mg) of paracetamol up to 4 times a day. A child is allowed to give no more than 8 tablets (4000 mg) within a maximum of 24 hours.
Children can take this medication for no longer than 3 days without consulting a doctor, but it is best to consult with a family doctor or pediatrician.
Paracetamol syrup
It is allowed to be taken orally from 3 months and up to 12 years.
The dosage of paracetamol for children depends on the child's body weight. At the age of 3 months to 12 years, 10-15 mg/kg of the child’s body weight should be taken at a time. And the maximum daily dose for children is 60 mg/kg body weight.
To measure the exact dose, place a measuring spoon into the syrup package. In most cases, it has divisions of 2.5 and 5 ml.
You can take no more than 4 doses per day, and at least 4 hours should pass between doses of the medicine.
Paracetamol rectal suppositories
One suppository can have different dosages, for example, 80 mg, 170 mg or 330 mg.
Rectal suppositories of 80 mg are given to children 3-4 months old, when the child’s weight is 4-6 kg. The frequency of administration should be 6 hours.
Rectal suppositories of 170 mg are prescribed to children 0.5-2 years old, when the child’s weight varies from 8 to 12 kg. The drug administration interval is also 6 hours.
Rectal suppositories of 330 mg are given to children from 4 to 9 years old with a body weight of 15-24 kg. At least 6 hours must pass between the first and subsequent administrations.
You can take no more than 4 doses of paracetamol in suppositories per day. A single dose is calculated by multiplying the child’s weight by 15 mg of the drug.
If, for example, a child weighs 10 kg, then at one time he can be given no more than 10 * 15 = 150 mg. And the maximum daily dose can be calculated by multiplying 60 mg by the child’s weight. In this case, 10*60=600 mg.
It can be administered no more than 4 times per day. Before purchasing the drug, you should definitely consult your pediatrician or family doctor.
Please also note that paracetamol may be included in other medicines used to treat coughs, colds or headaches. You can combine medications only with the permission of your family doctor, so that an overdose of the substance in question does not occur.
Doctors, pharmacists and other medical experts say the drug is safe, but can it cause side effects in children and in what cases does this happen?
Mechanism of action
The anti-inflammatory effect of the drug is insignificant. Paracetamol mainly acts as an antipyretic and a mild analgesic. A derivative of phenacetin inhibits the production of compounds in the body that are responsible for sensitivity to pain - prostaglandins. At the same time, it affects the thermoregulation centers, reducing high body temperature.
The drug helps with pain syndromes of various origins:
- neuralgia;
- myalgia;
- joint pain;
- algomenorrhea;
- renal colic;
- toothache;
- febrile conditions accompanying acute respiratory viral infections and other infectious lesions.
Paracetamol is quickly absorbed into the blood, does not accumulate in the body, and does not irritate the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract. Metabolized in the liver. It is completely eliminated 4–5 hours after administration. The drug has a symptomatic effect: it relieves acute signs of diseases for a certain time, without affecting their intensity and duration.
Effect of the drug
Paracetamol has been considered a popular and sought after pain reliever and antipyretic for half a century. Efficiency is associated with uniform distribution across tissues.
The active ingredients block the action of prostaglandins, which are sources of pain. This eliminates moderate pain. The drug also copes well with fever. This serious symptom can indicate a variety of infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Before taking it, you should consult your doctor and read the instructions to prevent side effects. You should strictly follow the dosage, otherwise complications related to the functioning of the heart and kidneys may occur. The risk increases when taken concomitantly with alcoholic beverages.
Signs of poisoning do not appear immediately. Initially, your general well-being may only slightly deteriorate.
Treatment of migraine with drugs
There are over 200 types of headaches and many possible headache triggers. The range of medications for headaches and migraines is large, so choosing the best one is difficult. What helps to quickly and effectively relieve pain? Is there a perfect cure for migraines? In fact, only the patient himself can give the answer; the body’s reaction to each drug is very individual.
To make it easier to decide on the choice of medications, you can use the following conclusion - during a migraine attack, combined analgesics (acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen and caffeine) are the first choice drugs. This conclusion is the result of serious research into headache companies in German-speaking countries (German Migraine and Headache Society, Austrian Headache Society, Swiss Headache Society).
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen is a modern active ingredient for the treatment of pain. It is used very frequently and, according to the recommendation of experts from the German Migraine and Headache Society (DMKG), is the first choice for the treatment of migraine and tension headaches. Ibuprofen can also be used as a suppository for associated nausea. Its good effect is noticeable with mild or moderate pain, but it is especially useful if there is inflammation at the same time. The recommended dosage for acute headache in self-treatment is 400 mg.
Paracetamol
Paracetamol is a long-acting analgesic. It is widely used throughout the world and shows good results for mild to moderate pain. For acute headaches, doses of 500-1000 mg are recommended, depending on its intensity. Since paracetamol also has an antipyretic component and is well tolerated at the recommended age dosage, it is often used in children. For migraine attacks with vomiting, paracetamol can be used as a suppository. The mechanism by which the drug relieves headaches is unclear.
Acetylsalicylic acid
Acetylsalicylic acid is a classic analgesic. For headaches, the drug has been considered the drug of choice for decades. In addition to its analgesic component, aspirin is used for its blood thinning effect in small doses to prevent circulatory problems. The recommended dose for adults with acute headache is 1000 mg (depending on the severity of pain)
Caffeine for headaches
Espresso with lemon at the beginning of a migraine attack? Could this really help? In fact, caffeine can relieve headaches, which is now scientifically proven. But anyone who thinks they can simply wash down a headache pill with a cup of espresso is wrong. Because the amount of caffeine varies greatly depending on the type of coffee and its preparation.
Caffeine is widely used as an active ingredient in painkillers in combination with paracetamol and aspirin for headaches. Here it not only acts as an anesthetic, but also enhances the effectiveness of other components. In addition, caffeine acts as a vasodilator, a factor that can help headache sufferers. In general, adding 100 mg of caffeine to an analgesic may provide additional analgesic effect, roughly equivalent to doubling the analgesic dose. Caffeine enters our bloodstream very quickly - after 30-45 minutes it can already be detected in the blood. The substance is distributed in the body, remains there for about four hours, and is then excreted again in the urine. Today, scientists are discussing whether caffeine itself can have an analgesic effect?
Combination drugs for migraine attacks
When treating migraines, the combination of caffeine with classic painkillers such as aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen shows good results. In this case, caffeine, among other things, acts as a kind of “accelerator”. By enhancing the absorption of active ingredients into the blood, it allows you to achieve a faster effect. Another advantage in the treatment of headaches with combination preparations is that the amount of active ingredient of the individual substances per tablet can be kept lower than in the corresponding individual preparations.
New clinical data shows that ibuprofen 400 mg combined with medicinal caffeine 100 mg is faster and more effective than ibuprofen alone. The combination is 40 percent superior to ibuprofen alone. This difference is already obvious after 15 minutes. Additionally, the combination of caffeine and ibuprofen is well tolerated.
Combination drugs are, from the point of view of the relevant specialist associations, a first choice drug with a high recommendation. Their effectiveness is confirmed by research.
Conclusion
The German Migraine and Headache Society (DMKG), the Austrian Headache Society, and the Swiss Headache Society offer evidence-based decision support for pain management. The best choice for reducing headaches is optimally dosed combination medications.
Harmless paracetamol is deadly.
Paracetamol is one of the most common analgesics and antipyretics in the world, having anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic effects. It is included both in the WHO list of the most important modern medicines and in the main list of medicines necessary for medicine in the Russian Federation. However, the availability and low cost of paracetamol often provokes an overdose of this medicine in all categories of the population.
Many people treat colds on their own, without consulting a doctor and thereby not observing the dosage and combination of antipyretic and cold medications. In addition, people are poorly versed in the purpose of medications, very often taking complex medications along with medications to lower their temperature. However, they do not know that paracetamol has a very low safety bar.
December 28 at the RKB named after. ON THE. Semashko by air ambulance, due to deteriorating condition, a patient was transported from the central regional hospital, who, unfortunately, could not be saved.
“We were very worried about this patient, since she is a very young woman, only 24 years old. We offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and children who lost their mother.
You need to take care of yourself.
One of my friends came from Italy and fell ill during the trip. As usual, I went into an Italian pharmacy and noticed that it didn’t look like a pharmacy at all. In our understanding, these are many shelves with medicines, powders, tablets, injectables; instead, at the exhibition there were various creams, personal hygiene products and everything like that. Where are the medicines? To which he was told that they had all the medications and the only thing needed was a card with the names of the medications that the doctor prescribed. And he also noticed that there are practically no medicines in television advertising, while in Russia, every second advertisement is medicine “from head to toe”, which says that when taking this or that medicine, beautiful people are beautiful recover, unfortunately this is not always the case. Moreover, the drug load can have a negative impact on the patient.
In our patient, several damaging factors came together - a weight loss diet that disrupted the functioning of the liver enzyme system, a previous infection with viral hepatitis B, the fact of which was confirmed using laboratory tests, and, in addition to everything, the drug Paracetamol, which is available in European countries and is a leading drug worldwide that attacks the liver and causes severe necrosis that often requires organ transplantation.
When this patient was admitted, she was given a set of antidote therapy measures, i.e. we administered drugs that neutralize the remnants of toxic substances, detoxification was carried out using an extracorporeal method to remove poisons and toxic compounds from the blood, unfortunately, even such intensive therapy did not allow us to stabilize her body, moreover, since we understood that a lot needs to be used We checked our possibilities and treatment with colleagues from the Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Medical Research Center for Transplantation and Artificial Organs named after. ak. IN AND. Shumakov,” leading specialists in liver transplantation provided significant assistance; we checked hours, appointments, diagnostic and therapeutic measures with them, but unfortunately the patient could not be saved.
For the residents of our republic, I would like to say that any medicine is poison - the only question is the dose. Therefore, you need to be more careful and balanced when taking medications, and, if possible, believe less in advertising and trust doctors more. Maybe I was lucky, but I have not met a single doctor who would wish harm on his patients. I think that they won’t recommend a bad doctor and it will be better if you took care of your health together with a doctor you trust! Be healthy and take care of yourself." – commented the head of ICU No. 1 Filippov Vladimir Aleksandrovich
Head of the Gastroenterology Department Tsyrempilova Aryuna Chimitdorzhiena:
“The liver is the main laboratory of our body; it performs a neutralizing, detoxifying function, i.e. cleanses the body: everything passes through it: alcohol, poor quality food, toxins contained in it, polluted surrounding air and even bad mood. It has been proven that if at least 30% of liver cells are preserved and not damaged by toxins, then our “hard worker” liver will perform all its main functions (there will be normal biochemical parameters in the blood). This is a “grateful” organ, if you follow proper nutrition, eliminate all bad habits, take hepotoxic drugs, uncontrolled use of antibacterial, non-steroidal drugs, maintain a healthy lifestyle, the liver will and will try to function normally.
On a note
Taking 100 grams of cottage cheese has a protective, hepatoprotective effect, because cottage cheese contains protein, incl. essential amino acid – methionine
You need to lose weight gradually - you need to lose no more than 300 grams per week. In our case, the patient lost 10 kg in a month, which became one of the detrimental factors that affected her body. The second factor was infection with the hepatitis B virus. Given the already damaged liver, she started taking paracetamol - 2 tablets 3 times a day together with acetylsalicylic acid. Although, even 1.5 tablets of paracetamol for the liver is considered a toxic dose. As a result, the liver could not cope with the load. Despite intensive treatment, the patient fell into a coma, after which, unfortunately, she died.
Taking medications must be taken very responsibly. Take medications only as prescribed by your doctor and follow the dosage of the medications.
Unfortunately, you very often hear in pharmacies when specialists, pharmacists standing on the other side of the counter categorically and authoritatively recommend treatment for: runny nose, allergies, diarrhea, fever, and the buyer - the patient trustingly purchases: paracetamol, nise, citramon, aspirin and many other drugs.
I would like to say TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, APPRECIATE YOUR HEALTH, BECAUSE HEALTH IS IN YOUR HANDS!!!.”
Alexandra Mikhailovna Danchinova, chief freelance clinical pharmacologist of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus: “Self-medication is dangerous!”
“First of all, we must think about the dangers of self-medication. All drugs that are approved for over-the-counter use and advertised in the media seem to be absolutely safe. In fact, no drug is safe. This also applies to such common drugs as paracetamol and acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). These drugs belong to the group of potentially toxic substances; if the dose is exceeded, toxic properties appear. The maximum daily dose of paracetamol allowed in our country is 4 grams or 8 tablets. The patient took paracetamol 3 g - 6 tablets for 3 days simultaneously with 2 aspirin tablets and other drugs. This resulted in fatal liver damage. I strongly recommend against self-medication."
Experts urge respected residents of the Republic of Buryatia to seek medical help from doctors, carefully read instructions on the medical use of medications, take medications in recommended doses, and use medications with caution to relieve cold symptoms.
Features of use by pregnant women
Pregnant women often complain of toothache. Most often, the cause is caries, which appears due to the fact that calcium in a woman’s body is directed to a greater extent towards the structure of the bone tissue of the unborn baby. This causes various problems, particularly with teeth.
Paracetamol is allowed to be taken by pregnant women, but precautions should be taken. The active substance can penetrate the placenta. The minimum dose of the medicine can be taken in the 2nd trimester, when the child’s organs are already formed.
Before taking it, you should consult your doctor. You can drink no more than 1 tablet per day. Repeated use may cause harm to the fetus.
How to take for toothache
Often toothache catches a person at the most inopportune moment. Not in all cases it is possible to go to the dentist right away. To eliminate unbearable pain and improve the condition, you can take Paracetamol.
The drug is able to stop the production of prostaglandins, which are the source of pain. The tooth stops hurting, but the inflammatory process continues to spread. If the toothache does not go away, then you should not hesitate to go to the dentist.
You need to take the medicine after meals. Relief is observed after about 15-20 minutes. You can take the pill again no earlier than after 4 hours. You can take 4 tablets per day. Paracetamol can be taken for no more than 3 days.
Paracetamol for fever
Paracetamol can be used at a temperature if it has reached 38.5 degrees or higher. This is explained by the fact that elevated temperature has a negative effect on harmful microorganisms, and, therefore, allows you to recover faster.
It should be taken strictly according to the instructions, without exceeding the dosage. The tablet should be taken with a sufficient amount of drinking water, which will speed up the absorption of the active ingredient and minimize the negative impact on the liver.
Single dose 400-500 mg. If the temperature reaches 40 degrees, the dose can be doubled.
For children and adults, a single dose is determined based on weight. A child can take the drug 4 times per day. Duration of treatment – up to 3 days.
How to take for headaches
The medicine is quite effective for headaches. But when taking it, it is worth considering some features. The tablets should not be taken on an empty stomach. Before taking the pill, you need to have at least something to eat. If there is no appetite, then you can drink a glass of water.
You need to take the tablet with plain water. It is not recommended to use coffee and tea, as the effect may be reduced to zero. If unbearable pain is felt, then you can take 1000 mg of the drug at a time. You can take the medicine again after at least 4 hours. You can take no more than 4 tablets per day. This regimen does not apply to pregnant women (the dosage should be 2 times less).
Paracetamol is prescribed for migraines, which are characterized by persistent, throbbing pain, usually in one part of the head.
If the headache is associated with stress or a nervous condition, then 1 tablet is enough.
In what cases is it effective?
The drug has an effect in various febrile conditions associated with elevated temperature. Particularly effective for colds.
Paracetamol is able to cope with pain of varying intensity. It is often used for headaches and toothaches. Helps women with pain during menstruation.
The drug is allowed to be taken by pregnant women and babies from 3 months. For children there are baby candles and syrup. The product is often given to babies who are starting to cut their teeth.
Paracetamol for colds
When a cold appears, you need to provide timely help. Otherwise, the condition may worsen. The first signs of the disease are excessive weakness and fatigue. During ARVI, a runny nose, cough, fever, muscle and joint pain appear.
Paracetamol will reduce the symptoms of the disease and improve the patient's condition.
Very often the drug is prescribed to adults and children over 12 years of age in tablet form. If the medicine is to be taken by children, then it is worth considering an important factor - the child must weigh more than 49 kg.
Babies up to one year old can be given the drug in the form of a suspension, after a year - in the form of syrup.
In many cases, adults take 1 tablet 4 times a day. Duration of treatment – no more than 3 days.
