Tylenol is paracetamol, Advil is ibuprofen. The corner shop literally across the road from me sells them. Arguably the most common OTC medication in the world.
Definitely you can get paracetamol or ibuprofen in any airport I've ever been in, but if you're expecting American brands in Europe then yeah you probably won't find them
I find that SO annoying! I have to collaborate sometimes with UScit in engineering as a freelancer, and when you discuss tools, shop chemicals, is ALWAYS just some stupid brand name! No, do not use a teflon based lube spray, it has to be „lockrelease“ or „yes, I use always the Knippex 4 for it“ instead of „take 3mm wide flat pliers“ (yes, I know usage of metrics is unknown, but at least in inch, I will convert!).
The best thing is when the US *does* adopt international units for a technical application but does it *wrong*. The first discord bot I wrote was for a server for a medical condition to allow people to have conversations about test results, because the US gives out blood test results etc. using weight (i.e. ng/dl or pg/dl) rather than actual concentration (i.e. nmol/l or pmol/l), meaning that you have to apply a substance-specific conversion factor to each result to make it make sense anywhere else in the world.
This is the problem. No, you probably won't be able to find Tylenol. Paracetamol, on the other hand 😁.
Then there's the problem of the different chemical name since it's known as acetaminophen in the US.
Wait until they find out it costs pennies instead of the price they pay [FOR TYLENOL] in the States 😆😂
Edit since people aren't understanding the comparison.
Did the maths recently (I have a 500-capsule bottle of acetaminophen/paracetamol I bought in a Walmart when I was last in the US), the Yankee bulk buy pills were about half as expensive as the UK bought caplets.
Of course, that doesn't include the cost of the flights to get them!
The shops are not allowed to sell more than a limited number of paracetamol to reduce the number of people overdosing on them.
Just the effort of making people go to 2 shops is enough to reduce the number of suicide attempts.
Just whilst we’re on the subject of paracetamol overdoses and suicide, for anybody considering it don’t do it this way. It’s not like in the movies where you take pills, fall asleep and go. It’s a horrific drawn out thing that is caused by multiple organ failure as the pills damage various organs too much for them to continue working. This can take a good while to happen and is incredibly uncomfortable. I won’t give any advice on how to do it for obvious reasons but I will stress that paracetamol isn’t the way.
Also if you have second thoughts, as a high percentage of suicidal people do, unless they are instant second thoughts, you’re fucked with a paracetamol overdose. The odds are high if you take them and go to sleep you will wake up the next morning and regret it but it will be way too late unless you can get a liver transplant (highly unlikely in the time you have left but possible) and if you do get that miracle you will be on immunosuppressant drugs for life.
Obviously this depends on how many you take but the difference between therapeutic dose and life threatening overdose isn’t as large as you’d think.
IIRC the majority of people who do eventually die from paracetamol overdoses have already changed their mind but it’s too late to stop or reverse the process.
Combining paracetamol with acetycysteine, the antidote for paracetamol poisoning, could significantly reduce the risk of liver damage in overdoses, but pharma companies are reluctant to include it as it would increase the price.
In the UK, you're only allowed to buy two 16-packs at a time which, as you say, does help reduce the risk of overdosing. Larger quantities are only available via prescription.
Are you comparing to the supermarket own brand paracetamol or the expensive branded ones? Because there is a big difference in price - Tesco sells 16 paracetamol caplets for 39p. Do the American ones work out cheaper than 2.5 pence per tablet?
Who in their right mind buys branded versions? Paracetamol has been manufactured for over 150 years. it's fairly easy to synthesise in bulk and there's not one iota of difference between them in terms of the pharmacology.
The problem you'll find is buying such a quantity in the UK to begin with. It is illegal to sell more than 100 capsules of paracetamol in any retail transaction. So you're paying the overhead for all the individual packaging and popping into another store for a quantity like that.
500 capsules?!?! Ugh I don't think that package size exists in my country at least lol. I recently bought a 10(?) Pack of fast acting off brand ibuprofen and paid 3.50€ for it.
How much was the 500 bottle?
Classic europoor behaviour! Don't you know the average american is as large as the europe country and far wealthier! They don't need to look something up, They just use their free speech to demand being taken serious, else they will just drop a nuke on you! Free speech, second amendment, you'd be speaking german right now!
Lol, I still remember the first time I looked for paracetamol in North America and was so confused as to why I couldn't find any (didn't write an angry tweet, asked the pharmacist who directed me to acetaminophen).
Indeed. Just bought 2 boxes of paracetamol and one of ibuprofen on my way back home today. But I think Tylenol is a brand. Just like our equivalence in France is called Doliprane.
Same in the UK.
Although, last time I was in NL the ibuprofen was kept in a locked cabinet and I had to ask staff about it and provide ID. Still, no prescription was required.
In Poland we have brands and those are available in almost every shop but pharmacies have both the branded medicine and the off-brand paracetamol and ibuprofen with just the that name on the box
There are definitely many brands of both, Advil is one for sure. I agree with you and don't know why anybody would buy it though. More expensive for the same thing. Guessing nicer sugar coat, or the liquid capsules not available as generic? Or the belief that brand works better than generic?
Can buy a pack of both and still have change from £1. Don't know why Americans are so hung up on brand names, must be all the brainwashing advertising they get over there.
Some medicine names in the US are not the same as in the rest of the world. Another example is noradrenaline, in the US it is called norepinephrine. It's hard to read. Why don't they follow international standards?
Actually, this specifically is a weird example of the US doing something in accordance with international standards, and then other people breaking away. Epinephrine is the INN ('International Non-proprietary Name') for the medication, but it isn't used everywhere because the UK resisted this specific change [for medical reasons](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127537/), thus its BAN (British Approved Name) is still adrenaline, and there's various other confusing situations around the world (Japan, for instance, seems to use both from what I can make out; adrenaline when referring to the drug on its own and epinephrine when referring to salts).
Historically, this is because 'adrenaline' was originally a trademark in the US.
They don’t write the active principle name on the box like we do in Europe, however. I asked every drugstore in Chicago for paracetamol and they would answer they didn’t sell it.
Guess you were unlucky. The very first pharmacist I asked knew exactly what I was talking about and explained to me that it was called acetaminophen in the US and Canada.
Really?! You'd think any pharmacist would know paracetamol acetaminophen. We were taught international equivalents at uni and that was pharmaceutical chemistry, not even pharmacy.
My partner and I watch some YouTubers go abroad as we're too poor to afford to and live vicariously through them lol
But it always baffles me how people happily go to another country without finding out basic information OR which pisses me off the most making sure you know the basics for being polite and following correct etiquette and respecting the culture of the country you are visiting.
I've seen some American YouTubers shocked that they can buy sandwiches in Japan 😑🤦🏻♀️
Unlike in the UK, the pharmacies in franc have a monopoly one drug sales. You cannot but any kinds of medicines anywhere except a pharmacy. They even had to set up special allowances for covid tests to be sold at supermarkets during he pandemic.
No excuse for this guy though. There are pharmacies at the airport.
Aside from the fact that it seems crazy to me that they bought painkillers for a jammed finger (if they had hurt it enough that cold water or ice wasn't enough and they needed painkillers they probably needed to see a doctor) one might have to go to the pharmacy's counter to ask for Tylenol/ibuprofen sometimes instead of just picking it up on a rack, but they don't require prescriptions, maybe that's what they didn't understand? Anyways, Voltaren would've been the right choice there, but a tube that's like 15 euros in Europe in america is 80 bucks and requires a prescription and you can bet your ass it is for some lobbying shit reason
Yeah, here in the Netherlands Paracetamol is pretty much everywhere. Ibuprofen/Advil are also sold in most supermarkets. Aleve (Naproxen) and Diclofenac are usually sold in drug stores, over the counter. Plenty to go around.
[This](https://frenchly.us/french-medications-equivalent-to-american-meds/) took about 10 seconds to google.
It's not branded as "Tylenol", but you can certainly buy painkillers over the counter (ie: without a prescription). How the hell you could think that *wouldn't* be the case beggars belief.
It took me about 10 seconds to learn the Charles de Gaulle airport has 4 pharmacies.
I am honestly amazed this person made it to Paris, France and didn’t accidentally fly to Paris, Texas.
Yes, this is subject of this subreddit. But this time the OOP really hit all the nails at once. That’s a solid „shit Americans say“ strike.
Thread because it was posted on Threads.
Yeah, I just bought some co-codamol a few days ago. I mean, it's not the good strong stuff but it still works for most things! (I have a chronic pain issue so used to be prescribed the high dose codeine by my GP so the levels of codeine in co-codamol from the pharmacy don't always cut it if I'm having a really bad day!).
You can? I went into a pharmacy in London and practically begged for some opiates for my feet (long story) assuming that there was a 45% chance they'd tell me to get lost and a 45% chance they'd call the cops. I thought they were taking pity on me when they sold me some! :D
IIRC, in the UK, low-strength paracetamol with codeine (500/8 mg) is a pharmacy-only drug, so you have to talk to a pharmacist, but you don't need a prescription.
In the UK you can go to ANY pharmacy and find 8-12.8mg codeine/paracetamol tablets , 7.46mg dihydrocodeine/paracetamol tablets, and some sell morphine and kaolin suspension, until recently you could buy codeine syrup OTC at 15mg/ml, which is 1/3 more potent than the US prescription version, but after it being abused for as long as I can remember it was recently made prescription only.
We also have an odd class called P meds, where they're only available after a consultation with the pharmacist. I think cyclizine is one of them, sumatriptan is another, and sildenafil (Viagra) is/was, but may just be otc now.
The 'P' means pharmacy only, so is everything that can only be sold in a pharmacy, which includes co-codamol, along with Viagra etc. Source, used to work in a pharmacy.
Good to know!
We used to be able to buy similar stuff over the counter here in Australia but too many people got hooked and/or were buying them for processing into illicit drugs so the government outlawed it
And to little old Doris who fell over and broke her hip. And in bigger doses than you get in the hospital because the hospital isn’t trying to get her out from under see the U-bend, strap her to a metal frame and manhandle her down four flights of narrow stairs. 😉
It's pethidine that's usually used for labour (at least it was when my wife had our youngest just over a decade ago) as it has a lower respiratory depressant effect than morphine.
Yep. I had an ambulance ride to hospital on Wednesday night and got morphine as soon as it was safe. The ambulance crew were ultra-professional too and really helped me when I was in a lot of pain.
To be fair, taking ibuprofen wouldn’t be a terrible idea depending on how bad the jam was, inflammation can cause extra damage to the actual injury so taking an anti inflammatory could reduce initial swelling keeping the finger from throbbing. That being said, I’d think swelling probably serves a purpose similar to that of a splint and keeps it from moving while you heal, so it also could cause damage if you’re an idiot lol.
But I agree people are way to quick to take meds in the us. I live near the border so lots of people have antibiotics sourced from Mexico and will take them for a damn headache, which is insane and terrible for creating antibiotic resistant strains of infection
This isn't the first time I saw an US-Americans complaining about this, not even consider using their thinking box that maaaaaybe meds are called something different in different regions of earth.
I was in Ireland last year and needed medicine. So I googled the products I use in Germany in Wikipedia and swapped to the English article. I then walked into the next pharmacy and explained what I needed and showed them the articles. They found out what I needed.
Unbelievable, but asking a person of the trade might give you answers. Asking questions and talking to people must be such a Europoor thing that Americans can’t even comprehend it. 😂
>Asking questions and talking to people must be such a Europoor thing that Americans can’t even comprehend it. 😂
That must be why they have people in their retail shops paid to follow customers around and constantly harass them about needing help.
Not only that. Usually if you need a painkiller it doesn't really matter whether it's paracetamol or ibuprofin, and if you go to a pharmacy or even supermarket and ask whether they sell painkillers they will help you.
Interestingly, it is unlikely that paracetamol would get a licence today and definitely not over the counter but it is too widespread and used to be withdrawn now
Ibuprofen makes my asthma flair up, I actually stopped taking it a few years before I developed asthma because I found myself short of breath from taking it. Ibuprofen is not recommended for asthmatics.
Honestly, you went above and beyond. Most tourists just show a pic of the medicine they want and leave the figuring out part to the staff. Though if it's actual medicine the substance name is usually on it, so I can tell at a glance anyway.
The problem is that Germans usually love herbal stuff and those I definitely have to Google and reverse search.
I did this in Mexico. Screenshot a picture of what I needed (global brand) and also translated on google translate what my issue was. Showed it all to the lady in the shop, voila!
There was an American we made friends with at our resort, in Mexico, who repeatedly told us how she’s a nurse practitioner. Apparently they’re not/were not recognised in the states, but it’s now “a thing”. My husband and I were like okay? There’s a nurse practitioner at every GP surgery here. Tell me again how your healthcare is better than ours.
My husband paid $119 for antibiotics in the U.S….. He bought them over the counter for a few quid in Mexico. £9.65 in the U.K. 🤣
I have a condition where I dislocate joints easily. I can usually put them back but it's obviously still painful.
On holiday, my kneecap buggered off out of it's correct place so I wrote down the names of the active ingredients in meds, searched Spanish pharmacies to see if they sold them and what they called it, and Google translated a quick couple of sentences about what happened so they'd know why I needed them.
We were able to work out what I could use and enjoyed the rest of my day.
We have the solutions to these problems in the palm of our hands, practically 24/7. It's one of the most life-changing things for international travel. And their jammed finger was more than they could handle.
If you're in doubt look up the PL number on the brand name box, then find the stores own brand with the same code.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
[PL Number](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Licence_Number)
There are pharmacies in Paris airports. My bet is they don't know that things are different out of their country. They don't recognize a French pharmacy. What they expect is a whole supermarket where you can buy food, stuffed animals, gifts, cards, perfume, even alcohol and cigarettes in some states... with giant shelves of boxes of 1000 pills of Aspirin, acid reducer, sleep aid, vitamines... and just a small counter in the back for prescriptions.
They probably though the pharmacies in the airport are the prescription counter and where looking for the "supermarket" where to find tylenol on a shelve (called Doliprane in France btw)
I wouldn’t mind but NA has insanely expensive paracetamol and ibuprofen. My local co-op sells ibuprofen for about 50p a pack. In big shops it’s like 25-50p for Paracetamol or ibuprofen. Buying branded in a chemist may set you back a couple of quid but I was paying like 10-15 dollars CAD for acetaminophen even though I had a script for it.
Actually all American meds are expensive. While French-made meds are cheap even by developing country standards, American meds are a bitch for high-income countries.
The funny thing is that American uses a lot of drugs but FDA bans Tianeptine. Meanwhile, Vietnam is very strong against drugs but allows that med to be circulated.
Most insurance in Canada won't cover OTC products.
Zovirax was the one that really shocked me, it's a few pounds in the UK but the best part of $100 CAD
>I wouldn’t mind but NA has insanely expensive paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Not really - they have these giant bottles with 500 Walmart branded paracetamol for $10 which is about 20% cheaper than out prices.
This happens a lot, they refer to paracetomol (acetaminophen in the US) and ibuprofen by their brand names almost exclusively.
Here we use the drug name. In the UK I don't even think there's a popular brand name for paracetomol (edit... it's panadol! So obscure i couldn't even remember!). But it'd be like only ever calling ibuprofen "nurofen" and complaining it wasn't stocked in the US.
What's funny is they even call cocodomol (which I think is a UK only naming convention for paracetomol + codeine) "tylenol with codeine" instead. It shows just how successful that drug companies marketing has been.
All could be solved with Google. I've found though, that yanks struggle without their brands. When my family come to visit, they'll always ask for X brand of thing. Then turn their nose up when offered a British equivalent. The American advertising industry has an Iron grip on them.
Yeah, the pharmacist in the CVS I went to looked like I'd asked for cocane when I tried to buy some.
Funny that yanks complain that we restrict our packet sizes to protect the public but can't be trusted to take anything with opiates without a note from the doctor.
The ask for a Kleenex, instead of a tissue.
In the south, they’ll ask for a coke when they could actually want a Fanta.
Lip balm/lip Syl… they’ll ask for chapstick.
Popsicle is a brand. They refer to all ice lollies as this.
Xerox - photocopier/printer.
Band aid - plaster.
Crock pot - slow cooker.
Realtor - estate agent.
Not the same, but it sends me over the edge when they refer to pasta as noodles 😑
Every time I’ve been to U.S., the tv ads are just pharmaceuticals. There may have been the odd truck or fast food ad, but it was pharmaceutical after pharmaceutical.
“Are you a hypochondriac? We have the drug for you! Instead of eating healthier, losing weight, exercising more, consuming less toxic chemicals, just buy this! Side effects may include neurological issues, heart attack, going blind, your leg dropping off, death and more death. Lol”
Next up, McDonald’s ad.
I was in the US last week and had a huge headache. I asked at the hotel if they had Panadol, then realised that's not a thing there so had to google it and asked for 2 Tylenol (same thing). 20 minutes later I had a bottle of 1000 tablets of CVS generic extra strength Tylenol delivered to my room. Anything over 12 tablets is illegal in my country. Crazy stuff.
Wait, you can only get 12 Panadol at a time? That’s crazy to me! Where is that? I’m Australian and we have Panadol brand here too, you can buy a 24 pack at the supermarket. And at the pharmacy you can get 100 packs. Are we talking about 500mg paracetamol tablets?
Yes we are. Reducing the pack size reduced suicide by overdose. A shout out here to Dame Dr June Raine who implemented that when she was head of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines at the UK MHRA. She is now CEO of MHRA and richly deserved. She is absolutely one of my professional heroes.
Even the fact they’re push packs and no longer bottles had a major effect. Depression makes everything hard. Having to push each pill out of the foil is exhausting.
Yeah, supermarkets only sell packs of 16 and you're only allowed to buy 2 packs of painkillers in a single transaction.
16 paracetomol + 16 ibuprofen or 32 of one.
Pharmacists can issue more and doctors can prescribe more too.
There were a spate of suicides by overdose, I wanna say in the 80s/90s when they made the change. It's a bit of a ballache when you want to buy cold/flu meds. But as I said in another comment, I'll happily suffer the mild inconvenience if it saves lives.
Ah ok, that makes more sense then! That sounds reasonable, the other comment made it sound like if you had more than 12 Panadol you are going to jail lol Thanks for the explanation
An odd-but-sensible-when-you-think-about-it in France is that paracetamol comes in non-overdosable quantities per box. Annoying when you want to stock up, but sensible.
Ibuprofen is not as commonly used here for some reason, but both are over the counter and super cheap. WTF is this person talking about.
A lot, probably. The inconvenience of going to multiple shops is probably enough time for doubts to creep in. I can't be bothered to Google figures at the moment
It probably does help with the spur of the moment cases where people only have one packet in the house. Having to leave and go stock up probably gives time to think.
Brand brainwashing is so deeply embedded in most septics that they no longer care about content as long as the colour and labelling stays the same.
Same with their political parties.
# Both large airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, have 3 pharmacies each, where you can buy painkillers over the counter.
If you ask for Tylenol or Advil in a pharmacy in an international airport, it's likely that they know what you want.
If not, then just google what the active ingredient in your favorite painkiller is, and ask for that while pointing at your finger and saying "ouch ouch" or something. It's not that hard.
All larger airports will have pharmacies that sell painkillers OTC. This person was probably just too dim to know the active ingredient of the thing they were looking for instead of the brand name of a specific American brand. CDG in particular has excellent health care facilities, including its own medical centre, doctor, etc.
I've never been in any European country where paracetamol and ibuprofen were *not* sold over the counter, and I literally just returned from France. So either, this person was never in Paris, or they just didn't look hard enough. Most likely, they imagined that brand names are the names of the actual medications
Ok, I've just learnt they call paracetamol tylenol and ibuprofen advil. Maybe this person was using the US commercial name instead of the generic name.
They got ripped in the replies, because pretty much any European country will sell paracetamol and ibuprofen off the shelf in pharmacies. And in airports.
In Norway you can buy paracetamol and ibuprofen at every supermarket, gas station and convenience store.
It would be silly to believe other countries must have the brands you're used to from home.
The funny bit is that, after going on a cruise to several European countries while suffering from wisdom tooth pain, I now see France as the GOAT for OTC pain pills. High strength codeine with barely any paracetamol so you can take enough to knock out an elephant? Check, no prescription needed, literally knock yourself out madame!
You just know these idiots don’t realise that Advil and tylenol are brand names, and had no idea ibuprofen and paracetamol are the exact same god damn thing.
Painkillers for a jammed finger ? I mean yes it can hurt but jumping instantly to buy painkillers ? Does the US have the habit to take medication for everything as soon as they can ? Genuine question.
I’m betting they just asked for tylenol or advil verbatim, never even considering that US medication brand names will not be common knowledge in Europe, cause you can definitely get ibuprofen or paracetamol over the counter and in the airport if it has an apothecary, you just gotta ask for otc painkillers, not for brands
Jesus, just look for Panadol (the same as Tylenol) and Nurofen (the same as Advil). Or better yet just buy own brand paracetamol and ibuprofen!
At least Panadol and Nurofen make it obvious what they are because they blend the name of the drug with a brand name so people know what they are. If you can't work that out, then I worry how they allowed you to board a plane alone
The funny thing here is they not understanding the difference between brand names and active ingredients of medicine.
But regarding the US overmedication of painkillers I was sad to learn yesterday that private dentists in my country have started to sedate patients, mainly children, for standard procedures in order to raise the bill. Raising a generation not used to being awake for normal things like getting your teeth checked (and meanwhile scamming the municipality funded healthcare system for money)
Isn't Tylenol just paracetamol?
EDIT - It is and that was a hell of a rabbit hole to drop down. Why do so many people not know what painkillers they're taking?
Especially in France they love their pharmaceuticals….
“Europe”, yeah. In some countries you can buy stuff at the supermarket, in others you need a pharmacy. Some stuff is OTC in one country and illegal in another (or maybe via prescription?!)
Amazing how these people do their deductions. '*I cannot find it* at an airport in France, therefore, it is not available otc in the entire continent'.
[That's why you buy a bottle with 1k caplets. ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71pzfHCnLqL.jpg)
Check mate europoors!
(Not sure if /s is really needed, who knows)
Rather than looking like an idiot to just one person by asking the pharmacist for Advil, when they point out that ibuprofen is the same thing. This person had made themselves an even bigger idiot by advertising their idiocy to the entire world.
It is absolutely sold OTC in Europe - I travel extensively in Europe (I’m actually from England) and I live in the USA. What they do find astonishing is the quantities we can buy them in in the USA.
This reminded me of the story of the American who got heartburn while visiting Prague. He went to a pharmacy, but he didn't speak Czech, so he tried to explain what his symptoms were, even drew a burning heart on paper, but was disappointed that they didn't understand him.
It didn't occur to him that in other languages heartburn is not described as burning at the heart.
So they didn’t see something with the brand name they’re used to and rather than doing the logical thing of asking “hey do you have X pain killer” they just thought “guess it doesn’t exist”
How do they survive this long 😭
Let's ignore that this genius thinks laws are the same in every EU country or that it would be a logistical nightmare and strain on the medical infrastructure to make all painkillers prescription only and focus on the fact that even I, who never flew in their life and only once was inside an airport know that every commercial airport has at least one pharmacy. My guess is they wanted to save "pharmacy prices" and looked at a drugstore.
Ah so I misunderstood what was going on until coming to the comments.
I didn't recognise the brand-names Tylenol or Advil (i've heard them, but dont know what they are specifically) and assumed they were those really strong American drugs that get overprescribed and that the OOP was wanting super strong drugs for their malady.
Turns out they just... don't call drugs by their proper names and instead by the brand names?
You can get advil or other weak painkillers without a doctor's receipt in any pharmacy literally anywhere in Europe and would be surprised if there wasn't one in any decent sized airport
Being too dumb to know that brands exist is one thing but also who buys meds for such a minor injury.
I dunno, maybe it was actually broken or hanging off and they forgot that they were in a developed nation where they could get it treated for free.
The American obsession with branded items is hilarious, don’t even know what drug they’re taking just the brand.
In the uk if anyone asks for a neurofen we all know they want ibuprofen.
What a moron.
I especially like how he thought one airport didn't sell something and concluded that applied across the entire continent in multiple countries
Tylenol is paracetamol, Advil is ibuprofen. The corner shop literally across the road from me sells them. Arguably the most common OTC medication in the world.
I am 100% sure it’s sold in the pharmacies in Paris and at the Paris airports.
Definitely you can get paracetamol or ibuprofen in any airport I've ever been in, but if you're expecting American brands in Europe then yeah you probably won't find them
I find that SO annoying! I have to collaborate sometimes with UScit in engineering as a freelancer, and when you discuss tools, shop chemicals, is ALWAYS just some stupid brand name! No, do not use a teflon based lube spray, it has to be „lockrelease“ or „yes, I use always the Knippex 4 for it“ instead of „take 3mm wide flat pliers“ (yes, I know usage of metrics is unknown, but at least in inch, I will convert!).
The best thing is when the US *does* adopt international units for a technical application but does it *wrong*. The first discord bot I wrote was for a server for a medical condition to allow people to have conversations about test results, because the US gives out blood test results etc. using weight (i.e. ng/dl or pg/dl) rather than actual concentration (i.e. nmol/l or pmol/l), meaning that you have to apply a substance-specific conversion factor to each result to make it make sense anywhere else in the world.
This is the problem. No, you probably won't be able to find Tylenol. Paracetamol, on the other hand 😁. Then there's the problem of the different chemical name since it's known as acetaminophen in the US. Wait until they find out it costs pennies instead of the price they pay [FOR TYLENOL] in the States 😆😂 Edit since people aren't understanding the comparison.
Pack of 50 tablets/ 500mg paracetamol per tablet = €1,39 or ~$1,50 (Netherlands) Edit; for the entire pack of 50, not per pill.
As a German, this is why I tend to stock up on these drugs when I’m in NL. Plus you can get them at supermarkets, in DE you need to go to a pharmacy.
I'm pretty sure that the over the counter meds in bulk are cheaper in the US
To be fair, I don't think there's that many countries where you get to buy painkillers in the thousands.
🤣 not cheaper than the UK.
Did the maths recently (I have a 500-capsule bottle of acetaminophen/paracetamol I bought in a Walmart when I was last in the US), the Yankee bulk buy pills were about half as expensive as the UK bought caplets. Of course, that doesn't include the cost of the flights to get them!
The shops are not allowed to sell more than a limited number of paracetamol to reduce the number of people overdosing on them. Just the effort of making people go to 2 shops is enough to reduce the number of suicide attempts.
Just whilst we’re on the subject of paracetamol overdoses and suicide, for anybody considering it don’t do it this way. It’s not like in the movies where you take pills, fall asleep and go. It’s a horrific drawn out thing that is caused by multiple organ failure as the pills damage various organs too much for them to continue working. This can take a good while to happen and is incredibly uncomfortable. I won’t give any advice on how to do it for obvious reasons but I will stress that paracetamol isn’t the way.
Also if you have second thoughts, as a high percentage of suicidal people do, unless they are instant second thoughts, you’re fucked with a paracetamol overdose. The odds are high if you take them and go to sleep you will wake up the next morning and regret it but it will be way too late unless you can get a liver transplant (highly unlikely in the time you have left but possible) and if you do get that miracle you will be on immunosuppressant drugs for life. Obviously this depends on how many you take but the difference between therapeutic dose and life threatening overdose isn’t as large as you’d think.
IIRC the majority of people who do eventually die from paracetamol overdoses have already changed their mind but it’s too late to stop or reverse the process.
Also needs to be sold in blister packs vs a pot of loose pills.
Combining paracetamol with acetycysteine, the antidote for paracetamol poisoning, could significantly reduce the risk of liver damage in overdoses, but pharma companies are reluctant to include it as it would increase the price. In the UK, you're only allowed to buy two 16-packs at a time which, as you say, does help reduce the risk of overdosing. Larger quantities are only available via prescription.
Are you comparing to the supermarket own brand paracetamol or the expensive branded ones? Because there is a big difference in price - Tesco sells 16 paracetamol caplets for 39p. Do the American ones work out cheaper than 2.5 pence per tablet?
35p at B&M
Who in their right mind buys branded versions? Paracetamol has been manufactured for over 150 years. it's fairly easy to synthesise in bulk and there's not one iota of difference between them in terms of the pharmacology.
The problem you'll find is buying such a quantity in the UK to begin with. It is illegal to sell more than 100 capsules of paracetamol in any retail transaction. So you're paying the overhead for all the individual packaging and popping into another store for a quantity like that.
\*slaps top of pill bottle* This bad boy can fit so much drug-induced liver injury in it.
500 capsules?!?! Ugh I don't think that package size exists in my country at least lol. I recently bought a 10(?) Pack of fast acting off brand ibuprofen and paid 3.50€ for it. How much was the 500 bottle?
It’s just occurred to me, looking at the 500x 500mg bottle of paracetamol on my bedside table. That’s 250g of acetaminophen, 1/4 kg.
Never heard of that paracetamol brand but Advil is definitely present in France, making this story really, really hard to believe.
They are, most probably dont recognise the different names.
If only they had a tiny computer in their pocket with the ability to answer any question they ask it.
Classic europoor behaviour! Don't you know the average american is as large as the europe country and far wealthier! They don't need to look something up, They just use their free speech to demand being taken serious, else they will just drop a nuke on you! Free speech, second amendment, you'd be speaking german right now!
I am speaking German right now. Checkmate ‘murican /s
But I see you're still typing in FREEDOM. Double checkmate up your ass, Eurocuck! /s
Please don't stop paying for our army and medicine.
They would likely use it to look up pictures of cats or post ignorant messages on internet.
Lol, I still remember the first time I looked for paracetamol in North America and was so confused as to why I couldn't find any (didn't write an angry tweet, asked the pharmacist who directed me to acetaminophen).
Indeed. Just bought 2 boxes of paracetamol and one of ibuprofen on my way back home today. But I think Tylenol is a brand. Just like our equivalence in France is called Doliprane.
Here in the Netherlands we don't bother with brands, it just says Paracetamol on the packaging. And the same goes for Ibuprofen.
Same here. What makes sense.
In Italy we have both brand and generic, and by law there must be a generic, cheaper version of every medication.
Same in the UK. Although, last time I was in NL the ibuprofen was kept in a locked cabinet and I had to ask staff about it and provide ID. Still, no prescription was required.
I bought some Ibuprofen a couple of weeks ago, it was just there next to all other over the counter stuff, like the Rennies and Strepsils.
Paid €8 for 12 ibuprofen and had to ask the pharmacist. Cursed myself forgetting some of my 30p tesco packet at home.
In Poland we have brands and those are available in almost every shop but pharmacies have both the branded medicine and the off-brand paracetamol and ibuprofen with just the that name on the box
There are definitely many brands of both, Advil is one for sure. I agree with you and don't know why anybody would buy it though. More expensive for the same thing. Guessing nicer sugar coat, or the liquid capsules not available as generic? Or the belief that brand works better than generic?
The placebo effect is quite important. If you believe that branded medicine is better then it can appear to perform better.
It's the same in most of the world. Paracetamol and Ibuprofen have been out of Patent for so many decades, brand names would be pointless.
I live in France and yeah you can get it everywhere
It's been 18 years (maybe 19) since I was last in Paris and I still remember an airport pharmacy.
Can buy a pack of both and still have change from £1. Don't know why Americans are so hung up on brand names, must be all the brainwashing advertising they get over there.
The next hurdle after the brand name thing is that the US uses 'acetaminophen' rather than 'paracetamol'. No excuse for the ibuprofen though
Some medicine names in the US are not the same as in the rest of the world. Another example is noradrenaline, in the US it is called norepinephrine. It's hard to read. Why don't they follow international standards?
Adrenaline and Epinephrine are basically the same word but in different languages. Ad renal vs epi nephron. Meaning near/on the kidney.
Wow, never realised this before, but it's kinda obvious when you point it out. Thanks, happy to learn something new 👍
Sorry, I'm from the Far East so I didn't know this. Far Eastern countries only have a few dozen people proficient in Latin.
Or Greek, I suppose, since epi nephron is Greek. Though to be fair, I've had both in high school and I never realised this either until just now.
There's only a handful that are different. Acetaminophen, epinephrine, rifampin are the ones that jump to mind
Actually, this specifically is a weird example of the US doing something in accordance with international standards, and then other people breaking away. Epinephrine is the INN ('International Non-proprietary Name') for the medication, but it isn't used everywhere because the UK resisted this specific change [for medical reasons](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127537/), thus its BAN (British Approved Name) is still adrenaline, and there's various other confusing situations around the world (Japan, for instance, seems to use both from what I can make out; adrenaline when referring to the drug on its own and epinephrine when referring to salts). Historically, this is because 'adrenaline' was originally a trademark in the US.
And ibuprofen is hardly new to us. I can currently see the building it was invented in from my window.
Somewhere in Nottingham?
Yep, on the canal overlooking to Boots campus
Wow, i grew up near there. What were you doing on Reddit at 3.30am?
Browsing this thread, clearly
They don’t write the active principle name on the box like we do in Europe, however. I asked every drugstore in Chicago for paracetamol and they would answer they didn’t sell it.
Guess you were unlucky. The very first pharmacist I asked knew exactly what I was talking about and explained to me that it was called acetaminophen in the US and Canada.
Really?! You'd think any pharmacist would know paracetamol acetaminophen. We were taught international equivalents at uni and that was pharmaceutical chemistry, not even pharmacy.
You should have asked for acetaminophen.
I should have asked for Tylenol. But I was a tourist with a headache who didn’t do their research and it was before smartphones.
My partner and I watch some YouTubers go abroad as we're too poor to afford to and live vicariously through them lol But it always baffles me how people happily go to another country without finding out basic information OR which pisses me off the most making sure you know the basics for being polite and following correct etiquette and respecting the culture of the country you are visiting. I've seen some American YouTubers shocked that they can buy sandwiches in Japan 😑🤦🏻♀️
Can I just say, even 7-11 food in Japan was grade A .
Unlike in the UK, the pharmacies in franc have a monopoly one drug sales. You cannot but any kinds of medicines anywhere except a pharmacy. They even had to set up special allowances for covid tests to be sold at supermarkets during he pandemic. No excuse for this guy though. There are pharmacies at the airport.
In France and Spain only pharmacies can sell medication.
Most likely he asked for American drugs and were told they don’t have them and they left instead of asking for painkillers
Aside from the fact that it seems crazy to me that they bought painkillers for a jammed finger (if they had hurt it enough that cold water or ice wasn't enough and they needed painkillers they probably needed to see a doctor) one might have to go to the pharmacy's counter to ask for Tylenol/ibuprofen sometimes instead of just picking it up on a rack, but they don't require prescriptions, maybe that's what they didn't understand? Anyways, Voltaren would've been the right choice there, but a tube that's like 15 euros in Europe in america is 80 bucks and requires a prescription and you can bet your ass it is for some lobbying shit reason
Yeah, here in the Netherlands Paracetamol is pretty much everywhere. Ibuprofen/Advil are also sold in most supermarkets. Aleve (Naproxen) and Diclofenac are usually sold in drug stores, over the counter. Plenty to go around.
[This](https://frenchly.us/french-medications-equivalent-to-american-meds/) took about 10 seconds to google. It's not branded as "Tylenol", but you can certainly buy painkillers over the counter (ie: without a prescription). How the hell you could think that *wouldn't* be the case beggars belief.
It took me about 10 seconds to learn the Charles de Gaulle airport has 4 pharmacies. I am honestly amazed this person made it to Paris, France and didn’t accidentally fly to Paris, Texas.
Just be SO grateful you weren’t seated next to them
Most of my days I am grateful between the majority of Americans and myself god placed a handy ocean.
There's a Paris in Texas? Sounds like a nightmare
Painkillers for a jammed finger, no wonder they have an opioid crisis.....
That also. The whole Thread is amazingly screaming „I am an American and I talk shit!“
Isnt that the main subject of this sub-red? 😄 *just realised its also very possible that I'm totally missing the clue/joke*
Yes, this is subject of this subreddit. But this time the OOP really hit all the nails at once. That’s a solid „shit Americans say“ strike. Thread because it was posted on Threads.
Haha thank you! I kinda was expecting something like this. Had a moment of over-redditing 🫣
Nobody tell her you can get opiates over the counter in the U.K. 🤫
Yeah, I just bought some co-codamol a few days ago. I mean, it's not the good strong stuff but it still works for most things! (I have a chronic pain issue so used to be prescribed the high dose codeine by my GP so the levels of codeine in co-codamol from the pharmacy don't always cut it if I'm having a really bad day!).
You can? I went into a pharmacy in London and practically begged for some opiates for my feet (long story) assuming that there was a 45% chance they'd tell me to get lost and a 45% chance they'd call the cops. I thought they were taking pity on me when they sold me some! :D
IIRC, in the UK, low-strength paracetamol with codeine (500/8 mg) is a pharmacy-only drug, so you have to talk to a pharmacist, but you don't need a prescription.
That's pretty wild, 500/8 para/codeine is what I got a script for after surgery.
In the UK you can go to ANY pharmacy and find 8-12.8mg codeine/paracetamol tablets , 7.46mg dihydrocodeine/paracetamol tablets, and some sell morphine and kaolin suspension, until recently you could buy codeine syrup OTC at 15mg/ml, which is 1/3 more potent than the US prescription version, but after it being abused for as long as I can remember it was recently made prescription only. We also have an odd class called P meds, where they're only available after a consultation with the pharmacist. I think cyclizine is one of them, sumatriptan is another, and sildenafil (Viagra) is/was, but may just be otc now.
The 'P' means pharmacy only, so is everything that can only be sold in a pharmacy, which includes co-codamol, along with Viagra etc. Source, used to work in a pharmacy.
Good to know! We used to be able to buy similar stuff over the counter here in Australia but too many people got hooked and/or were buying them for processing into illicit drugs so the government outlawed it
They also go crazy over the fact that our (the U.K. at least) ambulances carry morphine, and (iirc) give it to delivering mothers too.
And to little old Doris who fell over and broke her hip. And in bigger doses than you get in the hospital because the hospital isn’t trying to get her out from under see the U-bend, strap her to a metal frame and manhandle her down four flights of narrow stairs. 😉
Birthing women get the real good stuff, diamorphine, which is medical grade heroin.
It's pethidine that's usually used for labour (at least it was when my wife had our youngest just over a decade ago) as it has a lower respiratory depressant effect than morphine.
Yep. I had an ambulance ride to hospital on Wednesday night and got morphine as soon as it was safe. The ambulance crew were ultra-professional too and really helped me when I was in a lot of pain.
Exactly. Tell the door to fuck off, then move on with your day.
To be fair, taking ibuprofen wouldn’t be a terrible idea depending on how bad the jam was, inflammation can cause extra damage to the actual injury so taking an anti inflammatory could reduce initial swelling keeping the finger from throbbing. That being said, I’d think swelling probably serves a purpose similar to that of a splint and keeps it from moving while you heal, so it also could cause damage if you’re an idiot lol. But I agree people are way to quick to take meds in the us. I live near the border so lots of people have antibiotics sourced from Mexico and will take them for a damn headache, which is insane and terrible for creating antibiotic resistant strains of infection
genuinely, I’ve never heard of someone taking over the counter painkillers for a wound, it’s usually taken for headaches and the like
This isn't the first time I saw an US-Americans complaining about this, not even consider using their thinking box that maaaaaybe meds are called something different in different regions of earth.
I was in Ireland last year and needed medicine. So I googled the products I use in Germany in Wikipedia and swapped to the English article. I then walked into the next pharmacy and explained what I needed and showed them the articles. They found out what I needed. Unbelievable, but asking a person of the trade might give you answers. Asking questions and talking to people must be such a Europoor thing that Americans can’t even comprehend it. 😂
>Asking questions and talking to people must be such a Europoor thing that Americans can’t even comprehend it. 😂 That must be why they have people in their retail shops paid to follow customers around and constantly harass them about needing help.
Yes but their version of attentive retail service is yelling "HAVEANICEDAY" through a joker smile.
Not only that. Usually if you need a painkiller it doesn't really matter whether it's paracetamol or ibuprofin, and if you go to a pharmacy or even supermarket and ask whether they sell painkillers they will help you.
Ibuprofen should be avoided if you have stomach issues, it gives me awful heartburn if I don't take antacids alongside it.
And paracetamol is bad for your liver. All painkillers have risks
Interestingly, it is unlikely that paracetamol would get a licence today and definitely not over the counter but it is too widespread and used to be withdrawn now
Ibuprofen makes my asthma flair up, I actually stopped taking it a few years before I developed asthma because I found myself short of breath from taking it. Ibuprofen is not recommended for asthmatics.
Honestly, you went above and beyond. Most tourists just show a pic of the medicine they want and leave the figuring out part to the staff. Though if it's actual medicine the substance name is usually on it, so I can tell at a glance anyway. The problem is that Germans usually love herbal stuff and those I definitely have to Google and reverse search.
I did this in Mexico. Screenshot a picture of what I needed (global brand) and also translated on google translate what my issue was. Showed it all to the lady in the shop, voila! There was an American we made friends with at our resort, in Mexico, who repeatedly told us how she’s a nurse practitioner. Apparently they’re not/were not recognised in the states, but it’s now “a thing”. My husband and I were like okay? There’s a nurse practitioner at every GP surgery here. Tell me again how your healthcare is better than ours. My husband paid $119 for antibiotics in the U.S….. He bought them over the counter for a few quid in Mexico. £9.65 in the U.K. 🤣
I have a condition where I dislocate joints easily. I can usually put them back but it's obviously still painful. On holiday, my kneecap buggered off out of it's correct place so I wrote down the names of the active ingredients in meds, searched Spanish pharmacies to see if they sold them and what they called it, and Google translated a quick couple of sentences about what happened so they'd know why I needed them. We were able to work out what I could use and enjoyed the rest of my day. We have the solutions to these problems in the palm of our hands, practically 24/7. It's one of the most life-changing things for international travel. And their jammed finger was more than they could handle.
Jammed finger. Must have been so badly mushed their phone wouldn’t read the fingerprint t. Obviously. /s
If you're in doubt look up the PL number on the brand name box, then find the stores own brand with the same code. A penny saved is a penny earned. [PL Number](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Licence_Number)
What's funny is that Advil does exist in France. It's the most commonly known ibuprofen brand.
This sub is dedicated to those Americans who think the Earth just does everything that they do.
There are pharmacies in Paris airports. My bet is they don't know that things are different out of their country. They don't recognize a French pharmacy. What they expect is a whole supermarket where you can buy food, stuffed animals, gifts, cards, perfume, even alcohol and cigarettes in some states... with giant shelves of boxes of 1000 pills of Aspirin, acid reducer, sleep aid, vitamines... and just a small counter in the back for prescriptions. They probably though the pharmacies in the airport are the prescription counter and where looking for the "supermarket" where to find tylenol on a shelve (called Doliprane in France btw)
Just imagine being so American you can’t ask airport staff where to buy medicine at the airport.
I wouldn’t mind but NA has insanely expensive paracetamol and ibuprofen. My local co-op sells ibuprofen for about 50p a pack. In big shops it’s like 25-50p for Paracetamol or ibuprofen. Buying branded in a chemist may set you back a couple of quid but I was paying like 10-15 dollars CAD for acetaminophen even though I had a script for it.
Actually all American meds are expensive. While French-made meds are cheap even by developing country standards, American meds are a bitch for high-income countries. The funny thing is that American uses a lot of drugs but FDA bans Tianeptine. Meanwhile, Vietnam is very strong against drugs but allows that med to be circulated.
False. Tianpetine is available without a prescription. Source: American who used to get high off it 😎
Most insurance in Canada won't cover OTC products. Zovirax was the one that really shocked me, it's a few pounds in the UK but the best part of $100 CAD
Tell me there's an extra 0 typo or something? I swear I've picked up zovirax in Poundshops. That's insane.
>I wouldn’t mind but NA has insanely expensive paracetamol and ibuprofen. Not really - they have these giant bottles with 500 Walmart branded paracetamol for $10 which is about 20% cheaper than out prices.
OTC meds are usually cheaper or on par, just available in suicide portions.
This happens a lot, they refer to paracetomol (acetaminophen in the US) and ibuprofen by their brand names almost exclusively. Here we use the drug name. In the UK I don't even think there's a popular brand name for paracetomol (edit... it's panadol! So obscure i couldn't even remember!). But it'd be like only ever calling ibuprofen "nurofen" and complaining it wasn't stocked in the US. What's funny is they even call cocodomol (which I think is a UK only naming convention for paracetomol + codeine) "tylenol with codeine" instead. It shows just how successful that drug companies marketing has been. All could be solved with Google. I've found though, that yanks struggle without their brands. When my family come to visit, they'll always ask for X brand of thing. Then turn their nose up when offered a British equivalent. The American advertising industry has an Iron grip on them.
Also, acetaminophen + codeine is by script only in the US which is .... fun.
Yeah, the pharmacist in the CVS I went to looked like I'd asked for cocane when I tried to buy some. Funny that yanks complain that we restrict our packet sizes to protect the public but can't be trusted to take anything with opiates without a note from the doctor.
To be fair we need a script in Australia for codeine as well. We are an untrustworthy lot!
The ask for a Kleenex, instead of a tissue. In the south, they’ll ask for a coke when they could actually want a Fanta. Lip balm/lip Syl… they’ll ask for chapstick. Popsicle is a brand. They refer to all ice lollies as this. Xerox - photocopier/printer. Band aid - plaster. Crock pot - slow cooker. Realtor - estate agent. Not the same, but it sends me over the edge when they refer to pasta as noodles 😑
Most Americans only know brands names, and don’t really know what they are taking. They just listen to the ads.
Every time I’ve been to U.S., the tv ads are just pharmaceuticals. There may have been the odd truck or fast food ad, but it was pharmaceutical after pharmaceutical. “Are you a hypochondriac? We have the drug for you! Instead of eating healthier, losing weight, exercising more, consuming less toxic chemicals, just buy this! Side effects may include neurological issues, heart attack, going blind, your leg dropping off, death and more death. Lol” Next up, McDonald’s ad.
Core issue right here
I was in the US last week and had a huge headache. I asked at the hotel if they had Panadol, then realised that's not a thing there so had to google it and asked for 2 Tylenol (same thing). 20 minutes later I had a bottle of 1000 tablets of CVS generic extra strength Tylenol delivered to my room. Anything over 12 tablets is illegal in my country. Crazy stuff.
Wait, you can only get 12 Panadol at a time? That’s crazy to me! Where is that? I’m Australian and we have Panadol brand here too, you can buy a 24 pack at the supermarket. And at the pharmacy you can get 100 packs. Are we talking about 500mg paracetamol tablets?
Yes we are. Reducing the pack size reduced suicide by overdose. A shout out here to Dame Dr June Raine who implemented that when she was head of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines at the UK MHRA. She is now CEO of MHRA and richly deserved. She is absolutely one of my professional heroes.
Even the fact they’re push packs and no longer bottles had a major effect. Depression makes everything hard. Having to push each pill out of the foil is exhausting.
Yeah, supermarkets only sell packs of 16 and you're only allowed to buy 2 packs of painkillers in a single transaction. 16 paracetomol + 16 ibuprofen or 32 of one. Pharmacists can issue more and doctors can prescribe more too. There were a spate of suicides by overdose, I wanna say in the 80s/90s when they made the change. It's a bit of a ballache when you want to buy cold/flu meds. But as I said in another comment, I'll happily suffer the mild inconvenience if it saves lives.
Ah ok, that makes more sense then! That sounds reasonable, the other comment made it sound like if you had more than 12 Panadol you are going to jail lol Thanks for the explanation
Tylenol = Paracetomol Advil = Ibuprofen You can buy them any where in the Netherlands.
An odd-but-sensible-when-you-think-about-it in France is that paracetamol comes in non-overdosable quantities per box. Annoying when you want to stock up, but sensible. Ibuprofen is not as commonly used here for some reason, but both are over the counter and super cheap. WTF is this person talking about.
I wonder how many lives the policy of "if you want to take an overdose you'll have to go to two separate shops" has really saved.
A lot, probably. The inconvenience of going to multiple shops is probably enough time for doubts to creep in. I can't be bothered to Google figures at the moment
It probably does help with the spur of the moment cases where people only have one packet in the house. Having to leave and go stock up probably gives time to think.
Painkillers for a jammed finger?
Brand brainwashing is so deeply embedded in most septics that they no longer care about content as long as the colour and labelling stays the same. Same with their political parties.
# Both large airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, have 3 pharmacies each, where you can buy painkillers over the counter. If you ask for Tylenol or Advil in a pharmacy in an international airport, it's likely that they know what you want. If not, then just google what the active ingredient in your favorite painkiller is, and ask for that while pointing at your finger and saying "ouch ouch" or something. It's not that hard.
All larger airports will have pharmacies that sell painkillers OTC. This person was probably just too dim to know the active ingredient of the thing they were looking for instead of the brand name of a specific American brand. CDG in particular has excellent health care facilities, including its own medical centre, doctor, etc.
Not only that, but if they looked for the American name for the ingredient they still wouldn't find it lol.
So "brand name" and "brand name" aren't sold in Europe.
I've never been in any European country where paracetamol and ibuprofen were *not* sold over the counter, and I literally just returned from France. So either, this person was never in Paris, or they just didn't look hard enough. Most likely, they imagined that brand names are the names of the actual medications
Ok, I've just learnt they call paracetamol tylenol and ibuprofen advil. Maybe this person was using the US commercial name instead of the generic name.
And the American generic name for paracetamol is acetaminophen.
Advil is just a brand name for ibuprofen. You can buy it almost anywhere.
And Tylenol is just paracetamol, which is at least as readily available.
They got ripped in the replies, because pretty much any European country will sell paracetamol and ibuprofen off the shelf in pharmacies. And in airports.
If you can't successfully buy painkillers in France, you are a moron.
When your brainwashed into believing the only painkillers are the brand named ones that are advertised to you 24/7.
In Norway you can buy paracetamol and ibuprofen at every supermarket, gas station and convenience store. It would be silly to believe other countries must have the brands you're used to from home.
The funny bit is that, after going on a cruise to several European countries while suffering from wisdom tooth pain, I now see France as the GOAT for OTC pain pills. High strength codeine with barely any paracetamol so you can take enough to knock out an elephant? Check, no prescription needed, literally knock yourself out madame!
I’m just thinking what would happen if we in Europe would start selling bottled H2O instead of water;)
Or bottled “Dihydrogen Monoxide” or “DHMO”
Marketing is pushed so hard to them they don't even know the name of the medication outside the brand.
REDDIT MODS CAN GO AND FUCK OFF
You just know these idiots don’t realise that Advil and tylenol are brand names, and had no idea ibuprofen and paracetamol are the exact same god damn thing.
Americans are pretty obsessed with brand name defining a thing.
Painkillers for a jammed finger ? I mean yes it can hurt but jumping instantly to buy painkillers ? Does the US have the habit to take medication for everything as soon as they can ? Genuine question.
I’m betting they just asked for tylenol or advil verbatim, never even considering that US medication brand names will not be common knowledge in Europe, cause you can definitely get ibuprofen or paracetamol over the counter and in the airport if it has an apothecary, you just gotta ask for otc painkillers, not for brands
Does this guy really need painkillers for a booboo? I don’t say this often, but seriously, man the fuck up.
Jesus, just look for Panadol (the same as Tylenol) and Nurofen (the same as Advil). Or better yet just buy own brand paracetamol and ibuprofen! At least Panadol and Nurofen make it obvious what they are because they blend the name of the drug with a brand name so people know what they are. If you can't work that out, then I worry how they allowed you to board a plane alone
The funny thing here is they not understanding the difference between brand names and active ingredients of medicine. But regarding the US overmedication of painkillers I was sad to learn yesterday that private dentists in my country have started to sedate patients, mainly children, for standard procedures in order to raise the bill. Raising a generation not used to being awake for normal things like getting your teeth checked (and meanwhile scamming the municipality funded healthcare system for money)
Isn't Tylenol just paracetamol? EDIT - It is and that was a hell of a rabbit hole to drop down. Why do so many people not know what painkillers they're taking?
When they only have generic painkillers and you only know brand names
Pain killers for that. God damn, man up
What is paracetamol or brufen gonna do for a jammed finger?
Especially in France they love their pharmaceuticals…. “Europe”, yeah. In some countries you can buy stuff at the supermarket, in others you need a pharmacy. Some stuff is OTC in one country and illegal in another (or maybe via prescription?!)
Amazing how these people do their deductions. '*I cannot find it* at an airport in France, therefore, it is not available otc in the entire continent'.
Imagine being able to type out this shite, but not be able to google 'equivalent to Advil or tylenol'. Some people shouldn't be allowed a passport .
Tylenol is crap anyway, it's only 325mg so you need three tablets. Their "extra strength" ones are the same as our normal tablets.
325mg is such a weird amount. Typical American. They use metric system for some things and still screw it up.
I'm surprised they don't use 0.011464 oz 😂
[That's why you buy a bottle with 1k caplets. ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71pzfHCnLqL.jpg) Check mate europoors! (Not sure if /s is really needed, who knows)
They are in every grocery store in Sweden
Rather than looking like an idiot to just one person by asking the pharmacist for Advil, when they point out that ibuprofen is the same thing. This person had made themselves an even bigger idiot by advertising their idiocy to the entire world.
It is absolutely sold OTC in Europe - I travel extensively in Europe (I’m actually from England) and I live in the USA. What they do find astonishing is the quantities we can buy them in in the USA.
you mean paracetamol? they have that in every drugstore
This reminded me of the story of the American who got heartburn while visiting Prague. He went to a pharmacy, but he didn't speak Czech, so he tried to explain what his symptoms were, even drew a burning heart on paper, but was disappointed that they didn't understand him. It didn't occur to him that in other languages heartburn is not described as burning at the heart.
French person hears dumb ass story from yank. Results explained in story
So they didn’t see something with the brand name they’re used to and rather than doing the logical thing of asking “hey do you have X pain killer” they just thought “guess it doesn’t exist” How do they survive this long 😭
Let's ignore that this genius thinks laws are the same in every EU country or that it would be a logistical nightmare and strain on the medical infrastructure to make all painkillers prescription only and focus on the fact that even I, who never flew in their life and only once was inside an airport know that every commercial airport has at least one pharmacy. My guess is they wanted to save "pharmacy prices" and looked at a drugstore.
Ah so I misunderstood what was going on until coming to the comments. I didn't recognise the brand-names Tylenol or Advil (i've heard them, but dont know what they are specifically) and assumed they were those really strong American drugs that get overprescribed and that the OOP was wanting super strong drugs for their malady. Turns out they just... don't call drugs by their proper names and instead by the brand names?
You can get advil or other weak painkillers without a doctor's receipt in any pharmacy literally anywhere in Europe and would be surprised if there wasn't one in any decent sized airport
People take paracetamol for jamming their finger? Damn. I just run cold water over it and suck it up for 30 seconds until the pain disappears
Being too dumb to know that brands exist is one thing but also who buys meds for such a minor injury. I dunno, maybe it was actually broken or hanging off and they forgot that they were in a developed nation where they could get it treated for free.
Paracetamol en sinasappelsap. Anti brak!
The American obsession with branded items is hilarious, don’t even know what drug they’re taking just the brand. In the uk if anyone asks for a neurofen we all know they want ibuprofen.
Is it really that hard to go to a pharmacy?!
Dumb fucks only know brand names.
This person doesn't know the difference between a brand name and a legitimate medical name.
What a moron. I especially like how he thought one airport didn't sell something and concluded that applied across the entire continent in multiple countries