"converting" oral Tylenol

Anyone try converting oral acetaminophen to a rectal form (small enema or suppository)? I had seen these threads discussing acetaminophen suppositories and how they supposedly work fast and are great for when you have trouble taking oral meds. I mentally wrote them off as not worth the bother... until I was sick, decided I was tired of feeling awful, took 2 extra strength Tylenol and promptly vomited. Hmm. Guess there might be something to that whole non-oral-option thing.

My guess is that a small retention enema with 10ccs or so of liquid is easiest and makes the most sense, but I'd be open to a suppository option.

Yes, buying the real thing is probably best, but I have a huge bottle of the pills and it seems as though adult-dose acetaminophen suppos need to be ordered.

Check around more pharmacies. The small, local ones will be your best bet for finding adult dose suppositories.

You can either make your own suppositories or you can just take the pills and stick them up your butt whole. They will work just fine that way as well. This is how we give tylenol to patients who can't swallow or who are in the dying process. Works like a charm.

Mashie

You can either make your own suppositories or you can just take the pills and stick them up your butt whole. They will work just fine that way as well.

@Mashie Really? Isn't there a coating on pills that needs stomach acid to dissolve?

@Mashie Really? Isn't there a coating on pills that needs stomach acid to dissolve?

Some pills have coatings similar to this but not all - it depends on whether they need to keep the pill from dissolving until it's a certain distance in the digestive tract. Other pills have coatings that need an alkaline environment so that they stay whole until it hits the intestine. Neither of these is an issue with Tylenol.

..you can just take the pills and stick them up your butt whole. They will work just fine that way as well. This is how we give tylenol to patients who can't swallow or who are in the dying process. Works like a charm.

Mashie

@Mashie: So obvious and so convenient. Might try this next time. I haven't been rushing out to find adult suppositories because, well, I'm not sick now so the need isn't there and it's easy to put it off and just use oral. Fortunately I've gotten over that for the constipation stuff.

Another benefit - I don't have to wonder if the suppository base is going to leak out at an inopportune time, but then again if I'm that sick I suspect I'm not going to care.

The varicocele acted up more than usual today because I actually tried to do something, so I figured - what the hell, try this before I need it to see if there are any surprises or downsides.

It works pretty well. I don't know that it's any faster than oral pills, but administration of 1000mg in caplet form (2x500s) was easy, and while I could feel that I had a chemical up my ass it didn't burn.

Limited success. The pills went in easily, but they were still not dissolved when I checked several hours later (softened, but still intact) so I'm not sure how much Tylenol was actually absorbed. This might be because I often try to watch the water (to reduce bathroom trips and the amount of time it takes in the bathroom - while I know people aren't really watching, it's a bit embarrassing when one is "lapped" at the urinals twice or more).

Sick again so tried something. Dropped 500 mg acetaminophen into a small syringe with a couple ccs of water. Let the pill break down and then when I wanted it I squirted it up into my rectum. Not really a suppository, but it worked fast.

I,m prettycertain that they are behind the counter. Ask

Yesterday I was not interested in going out at all. I could barely stand up.

You can order 650mg acetaminophen suppos on Amazon. (

Do they have problems with "leaking" afterwards?