When I had my son my doctor told me to take four ibuprofen instead of writing me a pricey prescription for the same pain reliever. I'd say OP isn't as smart as he thinks and should give more credit to his girlfriend.

yup, esp morphines

The effect of an "overdose" depends entirely on how the drug works and how the body breaks it down and/or excretes it. An overdose may cause a more intense effect, an effect that lasts longer, or other entirely different effects. The maximum dose of a drug is usually the dose at which, for most people, higher doses don't have any more useful effect and/or may increase the risk of side effects. The maximum dose depends on the partent, the drug, what it's being used for and the route of administration. Addiction is not directly related to dose and does not arise from a single (even large) dose. Tolerance (needing a bigger dose to achieve the same effect) is related to dose, but a single large dose will not generally cause tolerance either. I could go on but I've probably gone on enough. TL;DR: OP, your girlfriend might be right.

She is right, triple the maximum dose of almost any medication will it increase it's effect for killing the pain, because a lot of the time you'll get to the ultimate level of pain relief, death. She's a smart cookie.

It'll increase the effects, but it probably won't triple them. The relationship between concentration and effect for most drugs isn't linear, so it starts to plateau after awhile (so taking more doesn't have any benefits). And a lot of pain killers cause liver damage or intestinal bleeds at high doses, so it's not really something you want to risk.

I take it she hasn't reached the pharmacokinetics part of her schooling. yes you can triple your dosage, but up to a certain point the receptors are going to be flooded and not able to take any more of the active molecules she ingested. Then there is the line of toxic dosage in relation to body size, increase of side effects, higher toxic load on the kidneys and liver...yup...you can get increased effects..but only up to a certain point then it is just negative after that.

True! I'm in med school myself

Yup. I like how people don't even know the type of pain killer she was using but are all going crazy and just assuming that she must be an idiot.

32- Are you saying what I think you're saying? With this example, you are simply taking the same dose as two separate pills instead of a single large dose. You would still have the same amount of it in your system, rather than the 1500mg of a triple dose with these numbers. Completely different concept. And while, yes, it does depend on the drug and the person taking it and a lot of other things, overdosing in this manner is always a bad, possibly fatal, idea. And not a practice I would want to be considered perfectly acceptable by a doctor responsible for my health.

Yeah....cuz they're the exact same dose of Tylenol.

He said maximum dosage three times. Not three pills. For all we know she took 9 Tylenol since 3 is the max dose.

But don't doctors have to prescribe meds that are not over the counter

Exactly. If she was taking tylenol or ibuprofen then the dosing would be based off weight (with a dose cap of 3000mg/d for the former). If she is obese then she could be taking a dose that is suitable to her, but very high for someone who weighs significantly less.

Gotta love the subtly to call the girl fat :-)