Paracetamol

Paracetamol is used to treat pain and fever.

What is Paracetamol?

Paracetamol is an analgesic medicine that alleviates mild-to-moderate pain and an antipyretic medicine meaning that it reduces high temperatures and fever. Paracetamol can be used to relieve pain caused by headache, migraine, toothache, nerve pain, sore throat and period pains. It is are also used to reduce symptoms of rheumatic pain, muscular aches and pains, sprains and strains, joint swelling and stiffness, sciatica, lumbago, and fibrositis, and the symptoms of colds and flu with fever.

Buying Paracetamol Online

The Online Clinic can prescribe Paracetmol if you cannot find it in the shops. There has been a shortage of over-the-counter Paracetamol because of people panic-buying in the Coronavirus public health crisis. Please note that our price on prescription will be higher than in the shops. We need to make you aware of this before you complete a consultation. Our price is all-inclusive and includes the private prescription and next day delivery. If you can find this medication in the shops, we recommend that you buy there - we do not want to appear that we are taking advantage of any supply issues.

How to use Paracetamol

Paracetamol is available in several forms: tablets, capsules, suspension, and suppositories. Tablets and capsules are swallowed whole with water, effervescent tablets are dissolved in water, and some tablets are dissolved on the tongue. Suspensions are delivered into the mouth using a syringe, and suppositories are inserted via the anus into the back passage. Dissolvable tablets, suspensions, and suppositories are usually for use by children under 12 years of age.

Your doctor or pharmacist will advise you on the dose and formulation to use. However, the package label will also provide specific instructions. Generally, adults, older people, and adolescents over 16 years of age take two 500 mg tablets or capsules every 4-6 hours, with a maximum of 8 tablets/capsules permitted in any 24-hour period. Children aged 12-15 years take one 500 mg tablets or capsule every 4-6 hours, with a maximum of 4 tablets/capsules permitted in any 24-hour period. Children 2 months to 12 years of age can take paracetamol at dosing intervals of every 4 or more hours but in forms that deliver lower doses.

Paracetamol should be used at the lowest dose reducing pain and/or fever, for the shortest time possible, and not for more than 3 days; speak to your doctor if your symptoms continue for longer than 3 days. If you exceed the recommended dose of paracetamol, seek medical advice even if you continue to feel well because it can cause delayed liver damage.

Who can use Paracetamol?

Paracetamol can be taken by adults, older people, and children aged 2 months or older. Some preparations and doses are not suitable for children and adolescents.

Do not take this medicine if you have allergies to paracetamol or the formulation ingredients or if you are taking other medicines containing paracetamol. Tell your doctor if you are or maybe pregnant, or you are breast feeding, if you have liver or kidney problems, alcoholic liver disease, a G6PD deficiency (an enzyme responsible for red blood cell functioning), or you are alcohol dependent.

If you or your child are taking other medicines, take advice from a doctor or pharmacist before using paracetamol. Particularly, see your doctor before taking Paracetamol if you are also taking medicines that lower blood cholesterol levels (e.g., cholestyramine), thin your blood (anticoagulants, e.g., warfarin), prevent nausea or vomiting (e.g., metoclopramide or domperidone), or are taking carbamazepine (to treat epilepsy or bipolar disorder) or chloramphenicol (to treat infection).

Paracetamol Side Effects

The majority of people do not get any side effects when taking Paracetamol. However, if any of the following effects or anything else occurs, immediately stop using the medicine and contact your doctor or pharmacist at once. Rarely, allergic reactions occur, involving swelling of the face/lips/tongue/throat, breathing problems, or skin rash/peeling/blistering. Also rarely reported are blood changes, causing increased susceptibility to bruising, bleeding, infections (e.g., mouth and throat sores/ulcers) and fever; and liver damage, causing nausea, pain in the upper abdomen, and yellowy eye whites and skin.