Chicago ? Proposed limits on Tylenol, a painkiller as common as pain itself, have left many consumers fearful, confused and wondering where to turn for relief.

The potential government crackdown on acetaminophen, Tylenol’s main ingredient, would affect everyone from occasional pill poppers to chronic pain sufferers who rely on daily doses to make their lives more bearable.

If adopted by the Food and Drug Administration, the changes would lower the maximum over-the-counter Tylenol dose and would ban two narcotic painkillers, Vicodin and Percocet, which also contain acetaminophen.

Yet another painkiller, propoxyphene, was the target of FDA action on Tuesday. Also sold as Darvon and in an acetaminophen combination called Darvocet, it has been linked to accidental overdoses and suicides. The prescription medication will now come with a pamphlet describing the risk.

Sharon Waldrop, a mother of two young boys in Royal Oak, Mich., takes Tylenol regularly for severe muscle pain. She knows about liver damage risks but says she “could not get by” with the proposed lower doses.

Karen Palmer of Cincinnati takes Percocet for debilitating rheumatoid arthritis and says it took five years to find medicine that really helps. “I don’t want to have to go through that all over again,” said the 46-year-old hotel worker, on disability because of the disease.

According to the FDA, prescription acetaminophen combination drugs were prescribed 200 million times last year. Tylenol’s maker says nearly 50 million U.S. adults and children take acetaminophen in any given week.

The panel’s proposals were prompted by concerns over acetaminophen overdoses, which are the leading cause of liver failure. They sicken more than 50,000 people and cause at least 200 deaths each year nationwide.

The new maximum single dose would be 650 mgs. The total daily limit would be cut from 4 grams, about 12 regular-strength Tylenol pills, to an unspecified lower dose.

The full FDA is considering the recommendations, but any final decisions are months away.