[toss1]

Yup, did some digging on Tylenol/acetaminophen before I had some surgery, and it's a real danger. Oddly enough, it seems downing a whole bottle won't (usually) end your life as it gets mostly directly eliminated rather than metabolized, but taking just around 2-3X the high-strength dose sustained over 3-4 days can destroy your liver — at that point, you have about six weeks unless they find a new liver for you (obviously, there's wide variance in actual dosages and reactions, but that was the general median). For someone with serious acute pain, who doesn't know this hazard, it'd be pretty easy to self-medicate and load up and lose track...

OTOH Ibuprofein, doesn't have anything like that deadly profile, but enough gut and other issues.

[ikr678]

Common advice where i am from is to alternate between acetaminaphen/paracetamol and ibuprofen based otc painkillers. One, it reduces your opporunity to overdose, but also some evidence they work better together.