Panadol (or paracetamol) is a common medication used to treat things such as pains and fevers. Panadol can be used for many things, including headaches/migraines, various pains including toothaches, period pains and fevers as mentioned before. Panadol works by blocking the body from making prostaglandins, which are chemicals that your body releases when tissue is damaged. When these chemicals are released, they trigger pain signals in your nerves. As a result, if the prostaglandins are blocked from being released, so do the pain signals from getting fired. Unlike what you may expect, instead of acting in tissues near the point where the pain started, the Panadol mainly works in your brain and spinal cord since those parts are like the central control room of your body. Panadol also prevents fevers by targeting the hypothalamus which is the part of your brain responsible for managing temperature, among other things. When it reaches that part of your brain, it blocks the chemical messengers that normally raise temperature for infections.
Panadol can be used in many different forms including, as you may have seen, Panadol tablets which you swallow while using water. There are also Panadol solubles, which are tablets you drop into water and dissolve into a drink. This allows people who struggle to swallow normal capsules with water a way to use Panadol without having to use capsules. There are also Panadol syrups specifically designed to be consumed orally without anything else by infants or young kids. Because of how safely it is perceived, how easy it is to get and the narrow safety window (taking even a small amount over the daily limit can be toxic) people, especially younger people like adolescents who lack general life experience can frequently overdose without realizing it. Though this can be avoided relatively easily by just telling them to pay attention and limit their use as people are usually worried about their own health. When overdosing, your body breaks the Panadol down into a toxic byproduct known as N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (or NAPQI). Normally, the NAPQI you get from consuming normal amounts of Panadol gets dealt with by the liver. When you overdose however, the liver gets overwhelmed as the NAPQI attacks the cells and causes liver failure. Alongside this, it is possible for the NAPQI to spread to other areas of your body, potentially causing multiple organs to fail and in critical cases, death. Overdosing on Panadol could not only cause damages to your physical Hauora, it could also damage every other area. The social aspect may be affected by the fact that over people may feel pity or a condescending feeling towards you if you overdose on the commonly perceived “safe” Panadol. This as a result, would also harm your spiritual well-being by potentially harming your connections with your community etc. Other people however, may try hard to take care of you, strengthening bonds. Because of all of this and the fear for your own health, your mental well-being would likely also be threatened. To protect you from potentially overdosing on Panadol (paracetamol), different countries around the world could have varying laws pertaining to it. Generally though, the laws could be clumped into limiting pack sizes and controlling where it can be purchased.
Scenario: It is the start of interval; you receive a text. The text is from your friend. Your friend tells you to meet them at the back of the field to use (insert your drug) with them.
For options in this scenario, there really aren’t many serious ones since this is Panadol. Though options will still be provided.
- Since this is Panadol, you can just say you don’t feel like using your prescription medicine with them at the back of the field for no reason. If they want to use it themselves they can just do it in the bathroom or out in the open. The consequences of this action could be your friend confesses that they want to do something else at the back of the field which could lead to numerous developments. Either that or they say “yeah fair, what was I thinking?”
- If you are in need of pain relief, you still say no because there’s no reason to go out to the back of the field specifically to use your prescription medicine. The consequences of this action could be your friend says “yeah fair, don’t wanna tire you out. Why did I even suggest that??”
- You say yes because it gives an opportunity for laughs since it looks like you’re using illegal drugs secretly and you have no reason not to go. The consequences of this could be a stronger bond with your friend but at the same time if you get caught you could be accused of things you didn’t do.
The best option in this scenario depends on how you’re feeling. For example if you are feeling enough pain that it warrants the use of Panadol but you can stomach it for a joke, the third option may be appealing for some people.