Is phenacetin powder safe?

Many people are worried about whether it is safe to use phenacetin? Because in many countries, it is forbidden to use phenacetin or to use phenacetin in a large dose for a long time.

Now let’s talk about why it is banned from long-term use in large doses.
This is related to phenacetin side effect,

Phenacetin Side effects include the following
1. Long term use of drugs containing phenacetin can cause renal papilla necrosis, interstitial nephritis, and even induce renal pelvis cancer and bladder cancer.
2. Phenacetin is also easy to make hemoglobin form methemoglobin, reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of blood and cause cyanosis reaction
3. Phenacetin can also cause hemolysis and hemolytic anemia, and has certain toxicity to retina
4. Long term use of phenacetin can also lead to drug dependence

From this we can see that most of the side effects of phenacetin are caused by long-term and extensive use. Phenacetin powder, as one of the raw materials of prescription drugs, should be used according to the guidance of doctors, which can greatly reduce the side effects.

How can we judge whether the dosage of phenacetin is reasonable?

Phenacetin dosage
Both phenacetin and acetaminophen have good antipyretic and analgesic effects. They are easily absorbed by oral administration and reach the highest concentration in the blood within 1-2 hours. The effect of phenacetin is slow and lasting, lasting for 3-4 hours at a time
The dosage of phenacetin is 300mg/time; 4-6times per days.The maximum daily dose should not exceed 2grams.

Now there are few single phenacetin used for heat clearing and analgesia, usually combined with aspirin and caffeine to make compound preparation.
Here are some common recipes
Common combinations :150 mg phenacetin, 230 mg aspirin, and 15 or 30 mg caffeine;
150 mg phenacetin, 230 mg aspirin, 30 mg caffeine, and 8, 15, 30, or 60 mg codeine phosphate.
Therefore, when using these compound preparations, we should pay special attention to the dosage of phenacetin to avoid overuse.