re deadly nyquil bitn kimbark uchicago edu writes my friend insists that ny quil can be deadly if enough is taken he suggested something like of the night time gelcaps would do someone in being a normal user of ny quil i checked the ingredients and have a very hard time believing it they are g acetaminophen mg pseudoephedrine hcl mg dextromethorphan hbr mg doxylamine succinate per softgel can someone settle our bet a package of ny quil of course what effect would of these babies have the acetaminophen is the agent of concern in overdose of this otc medication a single dose of acetaminophen of grams or greater can cause hepatotoxicity and doses of grams or more are potentially fatal from hepatic necrosis if i recall correctly the metabolism of acetaminophen at high doses involves n hydroxylation to n acetyl benzoquinoneimine which is a highly reactive intermediate which then reacts with sulfhydryl groups of proteins and glutathione when hepatic glutathione is used up this intermediate then starts attacking the hepatic proteins with resulting hepatic necrosis the insidious part of acetaminophen toxicity is the delay days between ingestion and clinical signs of liver damage this is not a nice way to die as to taking of these tablets that comes to grams of acetaminophen in a normal adult this would probably cause nausea vomiting abdominal pain and loss of appetite bob schmieg
