What happens (physically and scientifically) when an overdose of paracetamol is taken?
I realise I have copied the following answer from an answer I gave on an earlier question about paracetamol overdose, and I realise I am not going into the detail you probably desire however I’m in a rush so here its is: Paracetamol is a horrible way to overdose and your right it really does mess up your liver and kidneys. You see, the liver can break down most drugs with the help of an enzyme Cytochrome P450. This enzyme is the reason why sometimes a relatively large amount of drug is given when taken orally however less than 25% of it actually gets into the bloodstream (as the blood is filtered through the liver following the stomach and then out to the rest of the body, its called first-pass metabolism if you wanted to read up about it). Anyway, when paracetamol is broken down it creates a very toxic by-product. When you take your normal 1000mg every 4 hours, these levels are fine, and are quickly removed by the kidney from the blood and excreted in the urine, however, by overdosing
