Mumsnet Talk

I have bought the cheaper brands and IMO they take longer to work.

Neurofen seems to work within 10 minutes

Iburpofen is MUCH better for teeth - I always gave it for teething, instead of paracetamol.

Sorry. That sounded arsy which wasn't meant.

I meant, if you compare the lists on the bixes they are the same.

Yes I am in of those annoying sorts who stands in the aisle comparing ingredient lusts.

I always buy branded meds too, never thought not too! Though our medicine box (old wash bag!) contains half a sticky bottle of calpol, some old plasters, half a packet of nurofen a tube of bonjella and a tube of savlon - that's it! So it's not a big expenditure for me anyway.
My Mum has an entire cabinet stuffed with things, so full it hardly shuts!

Me too Taggie. I must annoy so many people

My friend gets Advil bought for her in the States when people go over, it's the only thing that gets rid of her headaches

.... It's American speak for ibuprofen

With the brands, there can be differences (like Hazel says) but with the bog standard Nurofen, it's just Ibuprofen - you can compare active ingredients on the back. The pharma companies know that people who might not know bête tee will pay a premium for "trust"... The ones that get me are when they're branded as specific "period" pain cures (still just ibuprofen but in a girlie pink box this time).

The only other benefit that branded can give you is in their availability. Because the manufacturer is making a huge margin, they can invest in sales forces to make sure they are in wide distribution (so you can pick them up in a garage or a convenience store)l. Also, there's a good margin in it for the retailer at £2-3 a pop rather than 16p from Tesco! Its a classic "Distress purchase" when consumers are less price sensitive. Still, sometimes you need to buy them - it really riles me if I'm half way up the M6 and have a headache and need to shell out forecourt prices!

I buy the Anadin Extra that's aspirin, paracetamol and caffeine because when I started buying it you couldn't get a generic version as it was under patent and just stuck with it because of the placebo effect.

When pregnant or bfing I buy the 16p paracetamol and they tend to be not as nice, chalky, nasty tasting tablets. Anadin are sleekly shaped and coated.

scarlett and school thank you for that.

Something else learnt from MN

It mystifies me why anyone would pay £2+ for some Nurofen when you can buy a box of ibuprofen for about 40p. It's the same thing!

Own brands do different coated versions too. And as for it works quicker thing, I asked a pharmacist what the difference was with the new versions that supposedly work quicker. She said it made the difference of about ten minutes.

I HATE those "period pains" ones. They're just standard drugs but re-packaged and it annoys the shit out of me

Always check active ingredients - anything with caffeine will work quicker. Aldi do a paracetamol with caffeine for 40p a pack, which is what we buy, or their ibuprofen which I think is 18p a pack.

I didn't know you could buy a generic version of anadin extra, that's good news.

I used to buy it because it's the mixture, which works really well for me when I'm headachy.

Soluble painkillers are foul IMO, but I guess that's probably a good reason if you like it.

Well to be fair, the normal ones take about 20 mintes to work so 10 minutes is a significant difference.

I always buy unbranded.

No idea, also. I pay something like 16p for ibuprofen in Sainsbos. Well maybe not as little as 16p but definitely something like a fifth of the price of nurofen.

In hospital we don't use calpol, we use cheaper paracetamol. I imagine they buy whatever is cheapest.

If you're on a hospital ward I don't think you notice you're being given cheaper brand ibuprofen rather than Nurofen.

Anadin used to be one product - aspirin with caffeine (ie same as unbranded aspirin plus coffee), then Anadin Paracetamol came along (just paracetamol, same as unbranded), then Anadin Extra (as PP said, aspirin, paracetamol and caffeine - two unbrandeds plus a cup of coffee).

Unless you really cannot swallow a particular shaped tablet (and the unbranded/own brand versions are available in a few different shapes/sizes), there really is no advantage to the brands.

On hospital wards they usually know exactly what to give you, though, which does help. I know ibuprofen is generally better for joint pain and you should avoid paracetamol if you're hung over, but I don't know all the different things that you need to take into account and I would guess nurses do. Certainly when my gran was ill they always seemed to.

I buy ibuprofen in liquid capsules normally. It's not always easy to find this as a generic. Tesco do an own brand one, cheaper than nurofen/anadin but unfortunately not 16p.

I buy 16p painkillers always have, that and fizzy cocodamol. My husband who had really bad toothache only takes Nurofen for his teeth - he will take generic painkillers for headaches, bad knees etc but for teeth has to be Nurofen.

I had root canal work done about a year ago and the only thing that helped beforehand was cocodamol although my dentist says they shouldn't have touched the pain.

Both of my friend's children have been ill recent and she was complaining about how expensive Calpol was. I suggested she buy own brand paracetamol syrup and she was horrified by the idea. Equally my SIL was staying and my nephew was teething. I offered her "Calpol" and she was very keen and thanking me for it until I got out the own brand bottle and then she refused to give it to him I just don't understand it.

All the formulations with caffeine in are a no go for me. It gives me a headache if I have too much. Plus there's the whole not being able to sleep thing. I have a coffee to thaw me out when I get up and a stiff cup of tea to keep me from flagging mid morning and then that's it. If my guts are a bit tetchy, I pass on the tea and make the coffee weak. I certainly don't want caffeine added to my painkillers (though it's moot for me, anyway, since I rattle permanently, anyhow - the only OTC stuff I buy is ordinary and definitely generic paracetamol to intersperse with the prescription co-codamol I take)

I know the cheapy ones probably have the same effect eventually but after using cheap drugs for years and then buying nurofen express liquid capsules in an emergency from a petrol station I was amazed just how quickly the actually worked in comparison. The downside is if you don't drink them with plenty of water they stick in your throat and cause immense heartburn type symptoms.

I find swallowing any sort of pills really difficult but find the own brand cheapy ibuprofen teeny tiny and relatively easy. Would rather have the generic double strength ones so only 1 pill to swallow, but not sure they do those anymore.

We've had unbranded paracetemol syrup before on prescription from the GP, and it does taste different to the branded Calpol.

It's generally easier to get DS to take Calpol as he seems to prefer the taste, which is a PITA as we've still got loads of free yucky tasting prescription paracetamol syrup.

So that may be a factor in parents buying Calpol for children too young to understand why they should take medicine that they don't like the taste of.

Until I compared the boxes I didn't realise they were contents wise the same.

I now buy the Sainsbury own brand Ibuprofen.

I have to take 3 every 4 hours for period pain, so I did have a regular branded box of Neurofen as back up the first time. But didn't need them.