1. Relax a little about the germs. Good old soap and water hand washing is the best germ prevention strategy. Using alcohol based hand sanitizers isn't recommended by the Centers for Disease Control unless soap and water are not available. Germs won't make you sick unless you aren't used to them. The Hygiene Hypothesis purports that our modern outbreak of allergies is due to a too clean lifestyle. A child's immune system is looking for germs to fight; if there are none then it will fight whatever it finds- pollen, peanut residue, or wheat. Studies have shown that children with multiple siblings, in daycare, and in third world countries have dramatically fewer allergies than those who are not exposed to germ sources.
2. Lay off the Tylenol, or, at least know how much you are taking. Tylenol poisoning is a growing problem in the health care world. Many prescription drugs for pain relief have Tylenol, also called acetaminophen, in them. This becomes a problem when people take them in addition to Tylenol for pain relief. Additional problems are the availability of extra strength doses and the confusion of multiple brand names for the same drugs. The maximum recomended dose of Tylenol/acetaminophen is 4000mg per 24 hours. That is 4 extra strength Tylenol. Prescription drugs such as Lortab and Percocet have Tylenol in them in differing amounts: ask your pharmacist how much so that you know what you are taking. Over the counter drugs such as Excedrin and Nyquil have Tylenol in them as well, so read the label before taking anything! Damages from Tylenol overdoses will not make you obviously sick immediately, but it will permanently damage your liver. Once you reach a critical amount of liver damage you will need a transplant. It's a serious problem that won't manifest itself until it's too late for a simple fix.
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