Setting: Present day, southern California. The family consists of a dad and two brothers. They're middle class, macho, in the MMA culture
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It actually DOES make a difference which of aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve) he attempts to OD on.
Specifically, if it's Tylenol: there is a specific antidote for this drug (acetylcystine, I believe?) because it is often overdosed, not only as suicidal gestures/attempts but also by inadvertently giving small children too much or by people taking more than recommended dosages of opiates that include Tylenol (and in fact it's there to try to keep people from exceeding the dosage).
An overdose of Tylenol can pretty much destroy your liver - I've heard of people needing transplants.
Not as certain about the other drugs but this one is kind of a big deal.
You definitely want paracetamol (Tylenol) for your purposes. It is very safe at standard doses, dangerous at not much bigger ones, and a lot of people don't realise that it is now far more treatable than once it was - but you need to get thw treatment. For a dramatic discovery, just have him have washed it down with whisky and be knockes out by that. Try your search terms with paracetamol and you will find more medical detail.
Tylenol, as I understand it, is a crappy way to commit suicide. It's a slow, undramatic death. You basically die several days later from liver failure. And you have to take a lot. I don't think you would pass out, unless of course you were washing it down with alcohol, although then you have the added factor that the person might throw up, saving them/reducing the damage. If you want him to be passed out from the drugs and in imminent danger, I'd go with something that has a codeine base, or a prescription sleeping pill
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That's a good point. I do want him in imminent danger and rapidly deteriorating, so the prescription would probably be a good way to do it. Plus, with that, the emergency room would probably take it more seriously, right?
That's true. I guess I didn't think that through. They're all early 20's (the brother and his friends), so that would probably impact how they react. Thank you!
I think one of the friends would be calm enough and know enough to be able to do that. What would he do while they're waiting for the ambulance, though? Would it be plausible for him to gently shake the boy and try to get him to wake up or try to make him vomit?
If you want to go with Tylenol, you should look at Tylenol 3. It's Tylenol + codeine and (as far as I know) in the US it's prescription only, but if these guys are into MMA it's the kind of painkiller they would almost certainly have in the house leftover from past injuries.
After re-thinking the whole regular Tylenol thing, that does seem like a good alternative. And yeah, they probably would have some kinds of pain killers around the house, too.
I don't think it would be believable to have one of the guys trying to get the boy who has overdosed to throw up. Maybe he might say, "Should we get him to throw up?" and then someone else would say no, let's wait and let the EMTs decide what to do. Something of that sort would come off better for me as the reader. If I was in that situation, I'd be terrified to administer any medical "help" as getting the boy to throw up. What if that's not right somehow? That's what I'd be thinking.
I actually found someone who had attempted an overdose and collapsed in the stairwell of my appartment earlier this year. So trigger warning for all of this, and I only know the part from finding them to seeing the ambulance leave, but it was pretty different from what I had imagined, so I hope this helps
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Specifically, if it's Tylenol: there is a specific antidote for this drug (acetylcystine, I believe?) because it is often overdosed, not only as suicidal gestures/attempts but also by inadvertently giving small children too much or by people taking more than recommended dosages of opiates that include Tylenol (and in fact it's there to try to keep people from exceeding the dosage).
An overdose of Tylenol can pretty much destroy your liver - I've heard of people needing transplants.
Not as certain about the other drugs but this one is kind of a big deal.
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That's true. I guess I didn't think that through. They're all early 20's (the brother and his friends), so that would probably impact how they react. Thank you!
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