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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Acetaminophin and alcohol

Lord Armagoth

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
89
Doctors always say dont drink alcohol with acetaminophin, that it affects your liver. I have taken percocet and hydrocodone in very large doses with alot of alcohol over the years. Could this have a long term effect on my liver? I know the liver can regenerate itself to a certain degree. I tend to drink just about every other night and take pills regularly. I dont take vicodin anymore due to tolerance and I try to obtain percocets that have no acetaminophin. Can anyone tell me what the combination actually does to the liver?
 
It will basically cause cirrhosis of the liver. If you do it occasionally you have nothing to worry about, but if you use both substances on a regular basis you can cause degradation/scarring to your liver at double to triple the pace compared to somebody who is just an alcoholic or pill popper. If you dont want to curb your use, then I would think about signing up on a liver transplant list fairly soon.
 
I drank wine while I popped 1 darvocet back in 2003 & felt I was getting sick.........then I read online that you should never mix tylenol or other pills with alcohol, never did again.

Like the person mentioned above, if you've been doing this for years, your liver might be damaged & you may need a liver transplant in the coming years. I would go get your liver checked out...........also, dont you get sick or dizzy from mixing those pills with alcohol?
 
I myself use to drink on pills with APAP, (particularly percs) for about a few years a few times a week. Everyone is diffent I know, (Hell, heroin and oxy both turn me one, and my stomach and throat feel damn good on both too, opposite of nausea) so I'm pretty different, but I had a liver test a couple weeks ago with very little scaring, no anything really. It pretty much all depends on you, but its possible not to have done much.
 
I have a friend who drinks a half gallon of vodka within 2 days. This is normal for her she never pops tylenol or anything I guess she doesn't get hangovers anymore. She started geting pains iin her side went to the doctors and they did a blood test for her liver. She ended up getting hep. Not contagious and she didn't get it from anybody it was from all her drinking. They told her its mild but if she stops her liver will repair itself. Well she still hasn't stopped. She is just asking for cirhossis. She shakes horribly when she has stoped and even had seizures but she doesn't want to get help like a rehab or anything. I have another friend who died very young (27) form cirhossis of the liver. I used to drink with him out at clubs the next morning he would wake up and pop some tylenol and then chug jack daniels at 8am just to get his day started.
 
Oh I forgot to mention the friend I had that passed who got cirrhosis of the liver from drinking and popping pills actually had cirrhosis twice. He was a hardcore alcoholic at about 14. Well he got cirrhosis and luckily at 25 he got a liver transplant that same year. He did not have to wait long. Well he totally fucked that up and 2 weeks after the operation he started drinking AGAIN !!! If it was me and God gave me that second chance id be done with the alcohol. And he picked up right where left off. Multipule bottles of straight liquor a day and poping otc pain pills. Only took him 2 years to fuck up his new liver. I'm sure a lot of it also had to do with how soon he started drinking again after the transplant. I felt bad for the guy but sometimes its hard to feel sorry for someone in a situation like that when they were given the miricale of a second chance of living and totally flushed it down the toilet
 
The liver is an amazing organ and can repair itself to some degree, but not when pushed too far.. and asking it to handle APAP and alcohol all at once increases the risk of an overdose, and in the long term increases the risk of permanent liver damage.

The sequence goes like this: fatty liver (reversible) > hepatitis (not the infectious kind, just swelling of the liver - reversible) > cirrhosis (scarring, shrinking of the liver, destruction of the liver tissue, irreversible) > end stage liver failure (need transplant or will die).

It is often painless and jaundice is a late sign so the only real way to know if you have done any damage or not is to get a blood test and possibly a liver ultrasound as well. if you are concerned I would visit your doctor. Hopefully you are fine, but it is worth getting it checked I think, for peace of mind and to pick up any potential problems early..

If you are drinking every night this increases the liklihood of damage as you are not giving your liver a chance to repair itself really.. you are also sailing very close to alcohol dependence, and are likely well over the weekly recommended amount of alcohol.. I know most of us tend to be, hah, but there is a point where it does become dangerous and this point varies from person to person. Using any drug daily, especially one with the potential for physical as well as psychological addiction, is a slippery slope I feel..

Good luck <3
 
I had a blood test for my liver about a year ago and it checked out fine by how they did it I guess cause they never said anything to me. I still drink now like I said at least every other night but I'm not talking drunk. I get actually drunk like once every 2 weeks. I used to do the combination alot when I was younger like 17-21. I'm almost 27 now and have used the combo a handfull of times in the last year. Honestly if I have a good buzz on any opiate I dont wanna drink at all. I plan to get another liver test soon to be safe, and I plan not to drink anymore when using acetaminophin. Sorry about you friend. Ive seen addictions get the worst of people. I definatley care about dying and although I have high risk behavior I do take heed to advice. I'm glad to be using this forum. I have been in the dark obviously with alot of my habits and bluelight is definatly getting me information I wish I'd have known years ago. thanks.
 
^ I'm really glad that bluelight has helped you, always nice to hear that :)

Hope your next liver test is all good!
 
I agree I wish I would have known about bluelight 13 years ago when I was naive and nose dived right into drugs. I skipped the normal teenage stuff. Ya know smoking pot and drinking and went straight for the ecstasy and all sorts of dangerous combos soon after. I'm glad I have discovered bluelight myself. Although my only drug of choice now are opiates mainly heroin and now I'm on suboxone I've learned a great deal knowledge from this site.
 
Well, in all fairness, MDMA > most other drugs, when moderation is taken into account.

However, if you wish to just shoot the shit, come on over to the social! It's fairly slow at the moment, certainly wouldn't mind some new faces.
 
The liver cannot regenerate after cirrhosis occurs. Once scarred it's scarred for good, in my personally experience. (they couldn't do anything for me when mine cirrhosed, that's why I needed the transplant).
 
The damage caused by APAP and alcohol is acute and you will notice it within 24 h. But it is also reversible, as long as it doesn't kill you. APAP is metabolized into another chemical called quinone methide, which is toxic to your liver. Normally your body will metabolize it further and get rid of it so it is not a problem. When you have too much alcohol in your system, the alcohol always gets metabolized first and the APAP metabolite (quinone) must "wait in line". Meanwhile, it is just sitting there damaging your liver . I always have a few drinks with Vicodin or Percocet, but just a few. Mixing them is not really a problem unless you are drinking a lot of alcohol. I usually hold it to 1 drink per hour and no more than 2000 mg total of APAP.
 
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