What are the dangers of paracetamol overdose?

There has been a rise in cases of adolescents consuming excessive amounts of paracetamol. One of the recent cases involved a 14-year-old girl who took 30 tablets. The Ministry of Health and the Bulgarian Drug Agency have raised concerns about a dangerous challenge circulating on the social media platform TikTok, related to reports of young people in Switzerland taking dangerously high doses of the painkiller.

• Doctors saved the life of a 14-year-old girl who took large amount of paracetamol

What are the consequences of excessive paracetamol use?

"Paracetamol is a medication widely available in pharmacies. People, in their desire not to bother their general practitioners, buy it and misuse it. By misuse, I mean that it’s not intentional; very often they buy the same medication – paracetamol under different brand names, and when these different preparations containing paracetamol are taken together, toxic changes occur in the body," explained Associate Professor Dr. Lyudmila Neykova-Vasileva, head of the "Emergency Toxicology" clinic at the Military Medical Academy (VMA).

She explained that paracetamol intoxication in this form is difficult to detect because the initial symptoms are non-specific. She also outlined the consequences of excessive paracetamol use.

• Pirogov" emergency hospital alerts that every week it deals with cases of paracetamol poisoning

"Paracetamol primarily affects the liver. When combined with other drugs commonly used for flu and colds, much more severe symptoms can occur. At first, there are no specific symptoms – they are nonspecific, such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and abdominal discomfort. Then comes the second phase – asymptomatic. These complaints subside, and then the third phase begins. It occurs after 72 hours – when the clinical picture becomes much more severe. The fact that it is asymptomatic does not mean that no processes are happening in the human body. Paracetamol puts strain on the liver and has a damaging effect on liver cells, which is not always accompanied by symptoms," Dr. Neykova-Vasileva added.

She emphasised the importance of being responsible for one’s health.