Nancy Young wrote:
>
> Absolutely, and who reads that fine print? Not me. Also, and I
> know how this sounds, but I don't think I've ever noticed medication
> use instructions that didn't say Don't take with alcohol. Sometimes
> they mean it more than others. You get the idea they just put it on
> there to cover their ass, after a while.
>
> I saw some alarming statistic of what percentage of people on the
> liver transplant list are there because of misuse of Tylenol. I don't
> think that danger is played up enough, they don't even mention it
> in those ads that warn you to read the label.
>
> nancy

Nancy, you are absolutely correct. And I'm the type of person of whom
you're referring to. My liver damage isn't all due to my iron disorder
called hemochromatosis. When I told the doctors that from about age 8 on, I
was prescribed 1800 mg of Ibuprofin every 4 hours during my periods because
I had such bad cramps, their eyes lit up in horror. I didn't know at the
time that between the pain relievers and the food I was eating (dark green
veggies, chicken and beef), I was killing myself. I finally stopped taking
that many pain pills only about 10 years ago. That's about 28 years of
abuse on food and pills alone.

Tylenol, Ibuprofin, Aleve - most pain relievers are *terrible* for your
liver. I can only take aspirin now. When I was in the hospital, it was very
difficult for them to give me anything for the pain that didn't affect liver
function, so I had to have dilaudil. I've also worked with chemicals, in
the past, and didn't use gloves. Bleach, cleansers, paint thinners, various
toxic solubles, laminates....all those get absorbed into your skin and go
directly to your liver. Add a few years of some hard core drinking in there
and you have a recipe for disaster. I am currently that disaster. I've
been given less than 5 years to live if I don't get a transplant and I'm not
even 40 yet.

What bothers me about the warning labels is that they don't tell you WHY you
shouldn't mix product A with product B. Okay, here's a prime example. I
wear hard contacts and my eyes get dry sometimes. I go for the Visine. The
label on the Visine container specifically says "Do not use if you wear
contacts." Why? So I say screw it and use it anyway. Am I going to go
blind, now, too?

A little education goes a long way and I think the general public ignores
it. I know *I* did. I'm much more careful now and I take herbal
supplements that help to regenerate damaged liver functions. I've changed
my diet, I only use aspirin for pain, and I use natural "chemicals" for
cleaning. I'm hoping these lifestyle changes will buy me a couple more
years.

Okay, that's the end of my rant. Now move along. :~)

kili