I don't want ibuprofen...

BeckyESRN · Mar 10, 2017

To make matter more confusing for lay people, now each brand has multiple generics: Tylenol, Tylenol PM, Tylenol Cold & Flu, Tylenol Sinus & Headache, Pain & Fever, Simply Sleep, etc.
I just yesterday saw an elderly patient complaining of weeks fatigue and it turns out her daughter was giving her Tylenol PM twice a day for her arthritis.

I used to see this so often with my elderly patients. They'd be admitted and when trying to review meds you'd discover that the patient takes Tylenol (2-500mg tablets) 4x a day for arthritis, plus 2 sleep aid with pain reliever(acetaminophen) at bedtime and then they get a cold and take generic cold medication every 4 hours and suddenly they are up to 13,000mg of tylenol and they don't even realize it!

RNLisaC · Mar 10, 2017

That's brilliant!

T-Bird78 · Mar 11, 2017

I have 12th grader that still takes chewable OTCs. We have been trying for years to work up to pills. Nothing has worked. Student brings in their own supply of chewables, though :).

I'm nearly 40 and still can't swallow pills bigger than ibuprofen with just water. If I'm rx ABX I have to get a big bite of something and chew it, then right before I swallow the bolus, I pop the pill in my mouth and swallow it all together.