Evidence indicates link between Acetaminophen and Autism

[minties]

I took 10 in a 20 minute timeframe but half of them had codeine as well.

It wasn't by accident here either but I wasn't trying to hurt myself, I had bile ducts full of gallstones and was in tremendous pain.

 

[misspriss]

That's interesting, as pp have said I'd like to see more research done into it but it does make you think.

I tend to keep my use of calpol (paracetamol) to a minimum anyway, because I prefer not to use too much medication. I save it for fevers. As an adult I don't like to take too much either, if I have a headache I tend to leave it unless it gets a bit too painful.

As far as I understand it ibuprofen is supposed to be more harmful because it affects the stomach lining, which is why I've always avoided that one more. Anyone know anything about ibuprofen?

The only thing I really know about ibuprofen is that you have to be really careful about not using it too much as it can strip the stomach lining and cause bleeding. I think also you are supposed to make sure you don't have an empty stomach when you take it because that can increase the risk.
However I don't know what is classed as too much use as I've had to take it regularly for a period of a week or more following operations etc and I've not had problems.

I don't think ibuprofen is available as widely outside the US? OTC ibuprofen is not really dangerous, it's the only pain reliever I regularly take. Naproxen Sodium, a drug in the same class, but stronger/longer lasting, does give me stomach pain if I don't eat with it. I don't take it.

I rarely take acetaminophen, but I will definitely be avoiding it. I have ibuprofen on hand to give to DS if ever needed for fever reduction. I think I'll be tossing the acetaminophen just in case.

 

[minties]

Ibuprofen is readily available in New Zealand and there is a baby and toddler version also. You can just buy the adult pills from any supermarket or pharmacy. It was always given to me in hospital rather than paracetamol.

 

[misspriss]

Ibuprofen is readily available in New Zealand and there is a baby and toddler version also. You can just buy the adult pills from any supermarket or pharmacy. It was always given to me in hospital rather than paracetamol.

All I ever hear about on BnB is paracetamol/capol, I just figured ibuprofen wasn't nearly as available or people would be using it more

 

[AngelofTroy]

Yeah we have baby and toddler ibuprofen available. I bought some a while back as GP said I could give it alongside calpol if calpol alone didn't bring a fever down. The advice is always calpol first though.

 

[lau86]

I don't really like living in the shadow of 'this will cause this', I just try to use calpol sensibly. If my children are in pain eg for teething I do give them calpol. They don't have it all the time but I don't worry about it when I do give it.

 

[misspriss]

Yeah we have baby and toddler ibuprofen available. I bought some a while back as GP said I could give it alongside calpol if calpol alone didn't bring a fever down. The advice is always calpol first though.

Ah that may be it, it may just be an advice thing. Here they are recommended equally, I think ibuprofen may actually be recommended more.

 

[lanaross]

well Cuba and US have vastly different medical systems. As you remember autism definition and re-definition in US has evolved over the past decade, while Cuba's definition of autism barely exists. I'd say US medical science is a bit more advanced.

 

[Pearls18]

DS2 has had a lot of calpol in the last 3 weeks as he's started nursery and has had a number of viral things making him run a temperature I haven't got time to read through it right now, is it just after vaccines the link? Or in general? I try and limit it as I do myself I'm not keen on medicines but he's such a sickly child, opposite to his brother.

 

[RachA]

A big reason for giving ibubrufen in the uk is actually as an anti-inflammatory which is why calpol is usually advised first as that's more to do with pain related to fever. I fell last week and was recommended paracetamol for the pain and the other to help reduce the swelling and bruising. So for a fever calpol is more effective.

 

[RachA]

I may be being dim but how do you overdose on paracetamol by accident?
I generally don't take it unless I'm in so much pain I can't function but when I do take it I stick religiously to the timings.

It's really easily done. A lot of people don't know all the things that contain paracetamol so if they have flu/cold they buy several over the counter products that all contain paracetamol. Then they take them over the course of several days and this causes accidental overdose. It is probably the most common drug with the fewest side effects so in most people it will not cause drowsiness, vomiting etc and therefore there is often no indication of the overdose until irreversible liver damage has been caused.

eta: Another reason it is easily done is because you can take it 4 hourly up to 4 times a day but some people take it 4 hourly and do not realise there is still a maximum daily limit, so in 24 hours would be taking 6 grams as opposed to 4 grams.

Ah ok. I don't buy other products for colds/sore throats but I can see shy it can happen then because I wouldn't of taken into account that they have paracetamol in them either.
I always find it odd that you can taken 4 hourly but if you do that you exceed the daily amount.

 

[SarahBear]

I don't have time to read through everything, but I scanned through and can see that people are keeping the discussion constructive. Thanks. I also want to say that there are scientific articles on this. Here are some links and comments posted on my facebook version of this post:


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673819/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/rele.../2013/10/131029090518.htm


The second study is particularly interesting and damning:

"The study uses data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study to investigate the effect of paracetamol [acetomenaphin] during pregnancy on psychomotor development, behaviour and temperament at 3 years of age. Almost 3000 sibling pairs were included in the study.

The study shows that children who had been exposed to paracetamol for more than 28 days of pregnancy had poorer gross motor skills, poor communication skills and more behavioural problems compared with unexposed siblings.

The same trend was seen with paracetamol taken for less than 28 days, but this was weaker...

The researchers did not find any similar long-term effects after use of ibuprofen."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673819/

 

[sequeena]

We don't yet have a concrete diagnosis for our son's disability (excluding his medical disabilities) so the thought that paracetamol may have done this makes me feel ill. It was a month after my overdose that I actually fell pregnant (I was not trying at this point as I knew myself I was too ill mentally).

It's likely my son has a genetic condition/syndrome but it is worrying... it's the main reason why I don't go researching these things myself (I can spend hours googling my son's symptoms!!)

 

[Boo44]

We don't yet have a concrete diagnosis for our son's disability (excluding his medical disabilities) so the thought that paracetamol may have done this makes me feel ill. It was a month after my overdose that I actually fell pregnant (I was not trying at this point as I knew myself I was too ill mentally).

It's likely my son has a genetic condition/syndrome but it is worrying... it's the main reason why I don't go researching these things myself (I can spend hours googling my son's symptoms!!)

And this is why I hate this kind of 'oh I don't want to be involved in any debates but look at this research' thread which is clearly going to lead to any parent whose child is delayed in any way blaming themselves or beating themselves up about stuff

As far as I'm aware most people adopt a level sensible approach to pain relief especially in pregnancy and the amounts of paracetamol the average person uses is NOT going to cause autism or make their child delayed. All this does is spread guilty feelings and make people second guess their natural instinct with using pain relief with their child

Sequeena please don't feel like that, if it were the case with Thomas a medical professional would have informed you of that, not random Google searches displayed on a forum x

 

[minties]

A month after taking pills shouldn't have had any effect sequeena. It's normal for us to think we caused things but I seriously doubt you did!

My Thomas was pretty wheezy and phlemy when he was born and a nurse said it was due to my use of paracetamol during pregnancy. I was taking it for migraines and gallstones. She made me feel like such a moron.

I also drank an entire bottle of wine a couple of day before getting a BFP with Sophie and that haunted me for ages!

As a side note, the children's ibuprofen here claims it is just as effective against fever as paracetamol. Thomas has never had paracetamol and had ibuprofen once for fever and it worked well. He's omly been sick once ever, the lucky bugger.

 

[sequeena]

I'm totally fine with OP posting this as after all knowledge is power it just makes me wonder. And of course on a more rational level I know it wasn't me or else we'd have both been monitored more closely.

Minties it also says that about ibuprofen here. When Thomas had his surgery last year we gave ibuprofen x

 

[RachA]

I'm totally fine with OP posting this as after all knowledge is power it just makes me wonder. And of course on a more rational level I know it wasn't me or else we'd have both been monitored more closely.

Minties it also says that about ibuprofen here. When Thomas had his surgery last year we gave ibuprofen x

After surgery would be a recommended time for using it to help reduce the inflammation from surgery. It does get rid of pain but is more effective when being used to treat inflammation.

 

[SarahBear]

I'm totally fine with OP posting this as after all knowledge is power it just makes me wonder. And of course on a more rational level I know it wasn't me or else we'd have both been monitored more closely.

Minties it also says that about ibuprofen here. When Thomas had his surgery last year we gave ibuprofen x

Thanks for recognizing this. I know that information like this can be hard, especially when it makes people feel like they've done something wrong. And even in cases where what we've done, does have an effect, we can't blame ourselves when (a) the outcome of doing something is better than the outcome of not doing it and (b) we either had no way of knowing it would have a negative impact, or professionals are recommending it to us.

I agree that knowledge is power. This is my motivator is sharing this information. Yes it is preliminary, but there are also some pretty solid studies that have been done on it.

 

[AngelofTroy]

A month after taking pills shouldn't have had any effect sequeena. It's normal for us to think we caused things but I seriously doubt you did!

My Thomas was pretty wheezy and phlemy when he was born and a nurse said it was due to my use of paracetamol during pregnancy. I was taking it for migraines and gallstones. She made me feel like such a moron.

I also drank an entire bottle of wine a couple of day before getting a BFP with Sophie and that haunted me for ages!

As a side note, the children's ibuprofen here claims it is just as effective against fever as paracetamol. Thomas has never had paracetamol and had ibuprofen once for fever and it worked well. He's omly been sick once ever, the lucky bugger.

I also drank a crazy amount of alcohol the 2 consecutive nights just before I got my BFP, (more than a bottle of wine each night for sure) it was just after Christmas, we weren't TTC in the slightest, and I had 2 dinner parties of old friends to attend, the sort of nights where wine just keeps getting topped up and you don't remember getting home. I beat myself up about that for a long time.

 

[Natsku]

Ibuprofen scares me more than paracetemol cos I took it for a week under nurse's orders, after a few days I started vomiting blood - it had caused a stomach ulcer which then started bleeding. Not allowed to take any NSIADs any more which is a huge pain in the arse as they're the best thing for the joint pain I get and I can't use them.

Any research about exposure during pregnancy terrifies me as Maria was exposed to a shitload of drugs and stuff while I was pregnant. Before I got my BFP I was on muscle relaxants and benzos, and then in the 3rd trimester pretty much every painkiller the hospital could provide (paracetemol, codeine, tramadol, oxycodeine) and then all the x-rays, nuclear scans, MRI etc. I always just keep expecting something to go 'wrong' with her