Today is Christmas. A week later comes New Year. And Christmas or New Year's Eve season parties mean fountains of tequila, wine, and whiskey alongside gin, sherry, champagne, and rum. And excessive drinking inevitably brings the looming threat of hangovers, which are inextricably linked to headaches and troubles like body aches and pains. To tackle these problems, many people consume paracetamol tablets like puffed rice snacks. But that's where the trouble lies.
Because doctors are warning that the combination of high doses of paracetamol—an apparently extremely safe medication—with alcohol can be deadly. The liver can suffer severe damage from intense toxicity. And this continuous cocktail of alcohol and paracetamol can eventually lead to disasters like cirrhosis. Aspirin is not safe either. However, experts are also suggesting safer alternatives as the lesser of evils. Doctors' concern stems from the fact that the tendency to drink alcohol during festivals, parties, or any social occasions is gradually increasing.
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What doctors say about liver damage
Even occasional drinkers now have far more occasions than before. And to combat hangovers, headaches, body aches, or weakness the day after drinking, many people easily take paracetamol without consulting a doctor. But doctors are warning during this Christmas season that this very habit could lead to serious liver problems in the future. Gastroenterology specialist Dr. Sunilbaran Das Chakraborty says, "While paracetamol is generally a safe medication, its combination with alcohol consumption is extremely harmful to the liver. Especially for regular drinkers, even paracetamol within prescribed limits can cause hepatotoxicity or liver poisoning."
According to doctors, during hangovers the body is already dehydrated, and often patients have empty stomachs for extended periods. In this condition, taking high doses of paracetamol increases the presence of toxic metabolic chemicals from alcohol and paracetamol in the liver, causing liver damage. Experts explain how this damage occurs: during the metabolic process of breaking down paracetamol, the liver produces a toxic compound called NAPQI (N-acetyl-para-benzoquinone imine). Under normal circumstances, a chemical called glutathione present in the liver neutralizes this toxic NAPQI. But excessive alcohol reduces glutathione levels. As a result, after drinking, NAPQI is not cleared but accumulates in the body in higher quantities, causing severe damage to liver cells. If this continues, permanent liver damage becomes inevitable.
Critical care specialist Amitabh Saha says, "Generally, up to four thousand milligrams or four grams of paracetamol can be taken in 24 hours. But for those who drink regularly, even taking just one to two grams of paracetamol can damage liver cells. Then liver repair enzymes like SGPT and SGOT levels may increase in the blood. If this trend continues, it can gradually lead to cirrhosis." He reminds us that research published in prestigious scientific journals like the "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology" also mentions this information. Therefore, according to experts, taking paracetamol like puffed rice snacks for headaches or body aches or muscle tension after drinking is absolutely inadvisable. In many cases, multiple common cold or flu medications also contain hidden paracetamol, which unknowingly increases the risk of overdose.
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Therefore, pharmacology specialist Dr. Shubhrajyoti Bhowmik says, "We don't prescribe three to four grams of paracetamol daily to regular drinkers. We usually advise taking a maximum of four 500-milligram tablets." He explains that while some painkillers (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs) can be taken as alternatives to paracetamol, they are not entirely risk-free due to various other problems. Experts note that the trouble is that when liver problems occur, patients don't realize it due to the lack of clear symptoms in the early stages.
Later, loss of appetite, nausea, weight loss, weakness, and reluctance to work appear. But by then it's often too late. Therefore, doctors advise that if such symptoms appear, seeing a doctor is essential. If necessary, liver function tests and fibroscans can be done. However, doctors unanimously say that to stay healthy, one needs to curb drinking while staying away from the tendency to self-medicate during hangovers.
