I Just Took the Wrong OTC Medication

@ladym33 (10979)
United States
July 6, 2012 1:53pm CST
I meant to take a Pamprin about 20 minutes ago and I was talking to my daughter and not paying attention and I actually took an Excedrin PM which is supposed to fight pain and help you sleep. So I may be conking out very shortly. I don't have anything really important to do today but I don't really want to sleep all day either. Have you ever taken the wrong medication by mistake?
1 person likes this
10 responses
• United States
6 Jul 12
hi ladym! a few weeks ago i accidentally took one of our dog the princess's anxiety pills instead of my arthritis pill, but i quickly recognized my mistake and spit it out! then i felt horribly sorry for the poor princess...this pill was so bitter and nasty! and it numbed out my tongue and made me have nausea...and i hadn't even ingested it! poor dogs...they can't tell us...
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@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
6 Jul 12
I've take the wrong pain killer before. I wanted to take motrin and accidentally took a percocet. I was okay, but wondered why my pain went away so quickly lol
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@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
6 Jul 12
i am sure i have but nothing leaps to mind at the moment. i bet if you do sleep, it may help you for whatever ails you. hope you don't have an issue with the wrong meds and that you feel better soon!
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@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
6 Jul 12
I think that this is probably something that happens to all of us at least once in our lives. For me, the majority of the time it is that I will take tylenol when I am supposed to be taking advil. When you have fever and pain it is okay to alternate between the two medications, but you aren't supposed to take tylenol more than four times in a day because it can lead to liver damage. So far, it hasn't caused me any damage, but I have learned to be more careful about it.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Jul 12
I have personally never taken the wrong one but I can imagine it could be a big problem if you end up taking two of one medication instead of one of each! Be happy that it wasn't a worse mistake and maybe just enjoy the rest.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Jul 12
Yes I have! I had a nasty cold a month ago. Instead of taking 2 tylonol daytime cold pills, I took 2 night time cold pills. I had a whole day of things to do as well. I was a zoombie all day!!! Forget about driving, I had to get my dad to drive! lol... I won't be doing that ever again!
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@GardenGerty (157016)
• United States
6 Jul 12
I probably have, but do not recall for sure. I have taken one med for a symptom, then realized that something else might have been better. Of course I do have some medical training in my background. I do know that there is a potential for people to make much more serious errors than you did because all the bottles seem to look alike and in addition a lot of the meds can look alike. I have seen antipsychotics that really resemble decongestants, etc.
• Canada
6 Jul 12
Never happenedto me, because I know a worse mixupcould happen, and that could be dangerous. I am legally blind, so I have to pay exceptionally close attention to everything I do.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
7 Jul 12
no I have never taken the wrong medication yet, but it doesn't mean it is never going to happen. I do a little crazy things now that I grow older.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
7 Jul 12
Me too. Luckily the pill had no effect on me. I got a little tired but I never fell asleep or got groggy. I even worked out for about a half hour.
@khadie08 (13)
7 Jul 12
Fortunately, I haven't taken a wrong medication yet. And I hope it wouldn't happen. But you're still lucky enough because the medication you taken was just a pain reliever and it would not cause any serious reaction to your body.