Today, I had to explain to my girlfriend that taking triple the maximum dosage of painkillers won't actually triple its effects. She rolled her eyes, called me clueless, and said that I should "leave this stuff to the professionals." She's studying to become a doctor. FML
Collection
Halloween
A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.
Today, I told my step-mom that my medication is causing me to lose weight. She looked me up and down and suggested I triple my dosage. FML
Today, the medicine I keep at my desk for headaches is now gone thanks to my coworker who took the last 6 Advil at once. Her reasoning? "You're thin, so you wouldn't need them anyway. I'm twice your size, so I needed twice the dose." FML
Today, my girlfriend came back from visiting her family. She'd forgotten to take her pills, and decided to "catch up" by taking almost a week's worth of birth control and prescription pills. She's fine, but I had to convince the ER staff that she's not suicidal, just stupid. FML
Today, my roommate was complaining about a headache, so I offered her some aspirin. She looked at me like I was stupid and said, "Uh… That stuff's only for heart attacks." I'm living with an idiot. FML
Today, my mother won't give me any painkillers for my migraine. She believes that "When medicine goes into your stomach, the acids stop the medicine from working" and that "It's all in people's heads when medicine works". FML
Today, after a 20-minute conversation, I'm still unable to convince my grandmother that Tylenol and Acetaminophen are the same thing. I just graduated med school. FML
Today, my boyfriend called me, panicking. Apparently he had a headache, but wasn't concentrating on what tablets he grabbed, and accidentally took tablets for "relief of period pain". He was convinced he was going to grow ovaries overnight. FML
Today, after getting my wisdom teeth pulled, I woke up from a much needed nap realizing I should take my pain medication. My mother then told me she had thrown them out so I wouldn't get addicted and become a drug dealer. FML
Today, I went to the hospital for crippling back pain that made it impossible to walk. The doctor was more interested in telling me off for not taking a pill that he admitted doesn't help acute pain. He then gave me an injection that wore off in an hour, and sent me home, telling me to take over the counter meds. FML
Today, I kindly explained to a client that she had calculated her CD interest wrong. She kindly responded that, as a nurse, she would never give me medical treatment if I was involved in a car accident. FML
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Top comments
rg350dx 29
Write this moment down and remind her of it in four years and ask again who's clueless.
DocBastard 40
Cryptic17 - No, the thing that will increase is the concentration if the drug in her bloodstream, and when you increase the plasma concentration, you generally increase the response. SapphireVelvet is right - OP IS clueless.
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Comments (168)
Uhscanherdarklee 10
Hopefully she gets over this before/if she becomes a doctor and starts writing prescriptions. "Well, normally you're supposed to take one pill a day for 10 days, but since you're going on vacation tomorrow I'm gonna go ahead and write for you to take all 10 in one day. Ya know, so they can work sooner."
contentedmama 8
When I had my son my doctor told me to take four ibuprofen instead of writing me a pricey prescription for the same pain reliever. I'd say OP isn't as smart as he thinks and should give more credit to his girlfriend.
timelessone 16
Sounds like she's been watching too many Dr Pepper commercials.
perdix 31
She's right. Dosage guidelines tend to be pretty conservative for liability purposes. Doctors know when to give an overdose when it may help (and also explain why many of them are drug addicts!)
implastikz 7
yup, esp morphines
SpazTheGreat 14
Actually, I'm pretty sure tripling the dosage of any type of drugs will triple it's effects. Not it's DURATION, but I'm prettttttyyy positive dosage is directly linked to intensity of effects. Granted, if the effects are "gets rid of pain", you can't really go negative on pain scale. Unless you're talking opiates, in which case, the effects of taking triple doses will be addiction... I do not however believe that it will be enough to warrant a doctor visit, have you guys seen how much pain pills some people pop?
takuan2k 13
The effect of an "overdose" depends entirely on how the drug works and how the body breaks it down and/or excretes it. An overdose may cause a more intense effect, an effect that lasts longer, or other entirely different effects. The maximum dose of a drug is usually the dose at which, for most people, higher doses don't have any more useful effect and/or may increase the risk of side effects. The maximum dose depends on the partent, the drug, what it's being used for and the route of administration. Addiction is not directly related to dose and does not arise from a single (even large) dose. Tolerance (needing a bigger dose to achieve the same effect) is related to dose, but a single large dose will not generally cause tolerance either. I could go on but I've probably gone on enough. TL;DR: OP, your girlfriend might be right.
ironichalibut 24
She is right, triple the maximum dose of almost any medication will it increase it's effect for killing the pain, because a lot of the time you'll get to the ultimate level of pain relief, death. She's a smart cookie.
love_me_electric 20
It'll increase the effects, but it probably won't triple them. The relationship between concentration and effect for most drugs isn't linear, so it starts to plateau after awhile (so taking more doesn't have any benefits). And a lot of pain killers cause liver damage or intestinal bleeds at high doses, so it's not really something you want to risk.
mansen 15
I take it she hasn't reached the pharmacokinetics part of her schooling. yes you can triple your dosage, but up to a certain point the receptors are going to be flooded and not able to take any more of the active molecules she ingested. Then there is the line of toxic dosage in relation to body size, increase of side effects, higher toxic load on the kidneys and liver...yup...you can get increased effects..but only up to a certain point then it is just negative after that.
cariana 6
True! I'm in med school myself
PrinceDarko 13
The only people l feel bad for are her future patients
ninneyfooda 16
Firstly, increasing the dose passed the maximum can increase its effect up to the point until you oversaturate with the drug. That being said, it also depends on what 'pain killer' she is taking. For instance some drugs by increasing the dose like that won't make it more effective but will increase its onset time. I'm curious if by maximum dose you mean, 'In a day' or the recommended dose for one sitting. Either way, I guess there is a chance of her overdosing and doing damage to her body depending on the drug. Regardless though, its not the smartest move of her to do. If she wants better pain control and she's taking ibuprofen add paracetamol, they're synergistic with each other. BAM Medicine!
Enslaved 38
Isn't 2 Tylenol 250mg the same as 1 Tylenol 500mg? That's what I always thought.
ninneyfooda 16
Yup. I like how people don't even know the type of pain killer she was using but are all going crazy and just assuming that she must be an idiot.
spaboolly 26
32- Are you saying what I think you're saying? With this example, you are simply taking the same dose as two separate pills instead of a single large dose. You would still have the same amount of it in your system, rather than the 1500mg of a triple dose with these numbers. Completely different concept. And while, yes, it does depend on the drug and the person taking it and a lot of other things, overdosing in this manner is always a bad, possibly fatal, idea. And not a practice I would want to be considered perfectly acceptable by a doctor responsible for my health.
Sober1128 9
Yeah....cuz they're the exact same dose of Tylenol.
Zemmiphobia 11
He said maximum dosage three times. Not three pills. For all we know she took 9 Tylenol since 3 is the max dose.
SkepticalMiss 5
Medicine has a maximum safe dose and a maximum effective dose. Triple the maximum dose MAY have a greater effect (but not necessarily triple). Also, pharmacists are drug experts, not doctors. Let's just hope it's a fatal dose so she can't hurt anyone else.
Knightchaser27 25
But don't doctors have to prescribe meds that are not over the counter
beastiness 14
It could be justified. Most doctors prescribe dosage based on weight ( which determine how much one may affect you ). What she said does sound kinda unreasonable but it's possible she knows what she's doing.
PharmGirl14 8
Exactly. If she was taking tylenol or ibuprofen then the dosing would be based off weight (with a dose cap of 3000mg/d for the former). If she is obese then she could be taking a dose that is suitable to her, but very high for someone who weighs significantly less.
4ube_fml 6
Gotta love the subtly to call the girl fat :-)
Ian7890 23
It all essentially depends on what your taking.