What Are The Long Term Effects of Using Tylenol 3?

Tylenol 3 is also known as Tylenol with Codeine #3. It is effective for pain relief but has many long term effects that patients should know about before taking it.

The pill form includes acetaminophen and the two drugs work together to relieve ongoing, severe pain.  Many times people think of Tylenol as a family drug that is given to small children in a “baby Tylenol” form and becomes a household medication used to treatment minor aches and pains as well as headaches throughout adolescence and adulthood.  This is correct for the most part, but Tylenol 3 is considered a much stronger version of this common pain reliever and is actually considered a narcotic.  For that reason it is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance and is treated the same way as morphine and other oral narcotics.

Despite working together to form a powerful pain reliever, the active ingredients in Tylenol 3 (codeine and acetaminophen) are not without their own dangers.  Codeine is a highly addictive opioid that works to block pain receptors in the brain, spine and central nervous system (CNS), which can lead to serious physical and psychological dependency.  Acetaminophen has been linked to severe liver damage if taken in excessive amounts, which means overdosing on Tylenol 3 can damage your internal organs as well as causing you to form an addiction.

Long Term Effects of Using Tylenol 3

As you can see, Tylenol may be effective and used by millions of all ages on a weekly basis, but the more potent forms such as Tylenol 3 can have damaging, long term effects on your health and can be fatal.  It is very important to always seek medical council for determining the amount and frequency with which you are consuming Tylenol 3 to avoid overdosing and addiction.  Since a prescription is required, this should be handled for you, but if you experiencing negative effects from the drug, you should contact your doctor immediately.  The codeine-based variation of Tylenol should be carefully monitored when ingested by pregnant mothers and adolescents.

Prescription pills with addictive chemicals tend to be commonly misused because the medication is time released and the user may not have allowed the substance to be completely flushed from the body before ingesting more.  The codeine in Tylenol 3 makes it a more dangerous drug because it can cause a psychological addiction that allows the user to perceive that pain is present, when in actuality it is not.  For that reason, the user may ingests more of the medicine to relieve the “pain” and over time a tolerance is built and the harmful chemical compounds never leave the body due to consistent use.  At this point the user is addicted and at risk for an overdose.  This is long term effect of Tylenol 3 can lead to permanent health problems and death.

Thankfully there are rehabilitation centers like the Horizons Clinic where addicts can check in to rid the drug from their bodies in the hope of abstaining in the future.  This process is slow and involves getting a handle on the psychological triggers that push the addict to the drug.