By Eric Donnelly, News Correspondent
It may seem at our age that we are invincible and immune to the world around us, but a commonly consumed drug duo is rapidly making its way into headlines. The combination of acetaminophen and alcohol has been found to more than double a person’s risk for kidney disease.
On Tuesday Nov. 5 during their 141st meeting in Boston, the American Public Health Association released findings that link the consumption of acetaminophen and alcohol to kidney disease, raising an individual’s risk by over 120 percent. Acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, may not be a commonly known name among the public, yet the drug is a widespread staple in medicine cabinets across the country.
The accessibility of alcohol and acetaminophen is exceedingly problematic. Acetaminophen is in hundreds of over-the-counter medications, such as Naproxen and Codein so it does not require any contact with medical professionals to obtain. Most people are unaware that it is an ingredient in the over-the-counter medications they are taking. For college students, of legal age or not, alcohol plays a major role in the “college experience.” The standardization of alcohol has caused students to become relatively careless when drinking and consuming medication. Newsflash, taking the YOLO approach – washing down a pill with a swig of wine is never a harmless solution.
A dangerous trend that has become popular across the younger generation is Robotripping, the act of chugging bottles of Robitussin, in order to increase how turnt up they get when partying – this is also commonly done with Nyquil. Robotripping is a prime example of consumption of acetaminophen going unnoticed. Drinking bottles of these medications is a drastic form of partying because of the damaging ramifications that can quickly follow. Acetaminophen is one of the few drugs that has an incontestable maximum single dose of 1000mg. Habitually surpassing this limit in a single dose has the potential to cause trauma, when it becomes a regular habit.
You may be thinking, “This will never happen to me,” Well, I had a first-hand experience my freshman year of college. My complication was with my liver. Acetaminophen may in turn be exceptionally problematic for your liver, in addition to your kidneys. After roughly a month of regularly drinking and consuming Tylenol alongside another medication that played a minor role, I had a severe case of hepatitis due to drug toxicity from the combination. I spent 10 exhausting days in the hospital. Blood tests showed my liver enzyme levels, that serve as an indication for liver function, maxed out at 3,428 units / liter; normal levels are between 4-50 units / liter. A liver biopsy was required, which meant a six-inch needle was thrust through my upper abdomen piercing my liver twice. I was visibly yellow from head-to-foot because of the jaundice.
How many times have you taken Tylenol because of a headache then proceeded to go out partying the same night? How many times have you woken up so hungover that the first thing you grabbed, even before a glass of water, was some Tylenol? These are the habits that need to be terminated. The normalization of alcohol and retail drugs, especially in a collegiate setting, has masked the fear of damaging consequences from actually occurring. You need to actively take the steps necessary to educate yourself on how medications and alcohol can adversely affect your body. The user cannot manipulate over-the-counter medications in order to conform them to their lives. Conventional medications, such as Tylenol, have warnings that must be adhered too as do prescription drugs.
In the case of the link between acetaminophen and alcohol, light amounts of alcohol triggered a rise in the risk for kidney disease. The level of alcohol that college students consume in a quintessential night far surpasses a single drink, raising the level of risk. If you plan on drinking, fight off whatever headache you may have or hangover you may receive. After learning from experience, this situation is nothing to joke about.
