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is there any difference between Nurofen 200mg and Asda own brand 200mg, apart from the huge price difference?
No.
No.
Yes.
About £1 per pack spent on marketing and advertising.
Never buy Nurofen,any supermarket or pharmacy will have a generic brand of ibuprofen which is much cheaper.
Ian
any supermarket or pharmacy will have a generic brand of ibuprofen which is much cheaper.
But you normally have to look at the very bottom shelf to find it where it is hidden away (even supermarkets have luxury branded alternatives that they try to push).
Possibly have smoother sweeter flavoured coatings, which make the extortionate pricing easier to swallow.
Also there's not much different between Lemsip and a value brand paracetemol.
You could drink some hot water with lemon juice in it for a full Lemsip experience.
Just compare the active ingredients list - some branded stuff will do bigger qtys of the active ingredients (usually 'max strength' type name) but not anything enough to justify the price diff.
There's me thinking, I'll be smart and go to nurofen.co.uk and prove these guys wrong by researching the actual ingredients!
Here's what I found:
[i]Ingredients:
Ibuprofen
What is it?
Ibuprofen is a NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug)...etc[/i]
er, that's it!
So glad I always buy the cheap stuff now 🙂
max strength normally means caffeine.
just buy the cheap stuff, if you need to spend an extra £3 getting a stronger dose, just take more of the cheap stuff!
No difference whatsoever between a branded drug & a generic. If there is a choice, go generic everytime. In the NHS there are very few branded drugs in use, unless the drug is not available in generic form.
I always ask for generic stuff, especially kids meds, as calpol makes kids go looney, and I hate it when the made up assistant instantly turns to the smallest & least VFM calpol bottle. They usually look blank when I ask for own brand, then call the pharmacist over.
There is this difference:
[i]Nurofen Express targets pain twice as fast as
standard ibuprofen tablets.
Nurofen Express 256mg Tablets and Caplets contain sodium ibuprofen[/i]
Just compare the active ingredients list - some branded stuff will do bigger qtys of the active ingredients (usually 'max strength' type name) but not anything enough to justify the price diff.
If that was the case say they had 400mg in and not 200mg then you take 2 of the cheaper ones.
Exactly...
DezB - MemberThere is this difference:
Nurofen Express targets pain twice as fast as
standard ibuprofen tablets.
Nurofen Express 256mg Tablets and Caplets contain sodium ibuprofen
Twice as fast as what?
edit : I read that too quickly, still like them to prove it though.
as calpol makes kids go looney
We get the sugar free version and it seems much better.
Whats the generic alternative to Calpol? I know its basically just paracetamol but its dosed correctly and tastes nice. I cant see my 11 month old sipping on some incipid liquid.
What should I ask for and does it taste nice?
As to Ibuprofen - if its a muscular injury I would always use a spray as opposed to tablets as you are just hitting the area needed as it reacts very quickly.
Mastiles all the infant Calpol stuff is sugar free
Whats the generic alternative to Calpol? I know its basically just paracetamol but its dosed correctly and tastes nice. I cant see my 11 month old sipping on some incipid liquid.
Liquid Paracetamol.
as you are just hitting the area needed
Not exactly true but I see your point.
I thought brufen wasn't absorbed very well topically?
Always, always check active ingredients in medicines. Painkillers especially; generic paracetemol is like two pence a gram, big name brands might be ten times that.
I just popped into our local pharmacy to get some Ibuprofen to be told that Cuprofen was generic Ibuprofen. Not at £2.16 it's not!
I know people who deliberately buy nurofen, knowing it is the same as any other ibuprofen, for the extra placebo effect the brand name brings.
There is, however, a noticeable placebo effect in taking Nurofen over the same non-branded dose of ibuprofen.
And the point is that even if you are aware that you are essentially taking the same thing, the placebo effect still gives better pain relief.
Weird, but apparently true.
(See Ben Goldacre's Bad Science)
"Liquid Paracetamol."
Cant say I have ever tasted it, but disolvable paracetamol taste like sh!te so I can't imagine liquid without any thing in it will be nice?
Bear in mind that Neurofen Plus is different since it has coedine. However this is also available (but less widely so) in a generic form for buttons.
Ibuprophen is crap at being absorbed through the skin,
For muscular pain it has a mix of a placebo effect and the massageing in of the gell is more usefull.
For injuries like ITB friction its actualy counter productive as massage to the painfull area makes them worse.
I just popped into our local pharmacy to get some Ibuprofen to be told that Cuprofen was generic Ibuprofen. Not at £2.16 it's not!
No, Cuprofen is just another brand like you say.
Try somewhere like Tesco, they do own brand ibuprofen for about 30p for a box of 16 tablets. They also do generic hayfever tablets which can save a huge amount over the cost of the branded stuff. The stuff I get is usually about 75% cheaper than the branded meds!
No difference whatsoever between a branded drug & a generic. If there is a choice, go generic everytime. In the NHS there are very few branded drugs in use, unless the drug is not available in generic form.
Bizarrely, the NHS still always use branded Gaviscon rather than the generic stuff. Not sure why but i read that it's reckoned to cost the NHS millions every year which they don't need to spend 😡
Mastiles all the infant Calpol stuff is sugar free
[url= http://www.calpol.co.uk/our-products/CALPOL-infant-suspension ]Note the picture - shows the two versions - one being clearly labelled 'SUGAR FREE' :-P[/url]
What I don't get is that some of the (I think) nurofen adverts claimed some special formula that goes straight to the pain location. On checking the ingredients list I found it was exactly the same as all the other nurofens and exactly the same as the other 28p packets. On speaking to a pharmacist the other week she said they were telling porkies as ibuprofen is system-wide and non-targetting and yes the ASDA versions are identical.
Bizarrely, the NHS still always use branded Gaviscon rather than the generic stuff. Not sure why but i read that it's reckoned to cost the NHS millions every year which they don't need to spend
My brother is a gaviscon user, he claims the generic version does not give the same results and he's not prone to being taken in by marketing. I wonder if there's differences in the available amounts of active ingredient?
Coffeeking - I had a rant about that myself recently - glad my assumption was correct 🙂
Whats the generic alternative to Calpol
Asda certainly do their own paracetamol suspension which tastes enough like the 'real' calpol for Mini Clubber not to complain.
My brother is a gaviscon user, he claims the generic version does not give the same results and he's not prone to being taken in by marketing. I wonder if there's differences in the available amounts of active ingredient?
Placebo effect works even if you "know" it's just marketing.
It's not just the weak-minded who are affected by this, it's everyone.
Strange but true.
[url= http://www.manchesterwired.co.uk/news.php/132638-NHS-sues-Gaviscon-maker-Reckitt-Benckiser ]NHS and Gaviscon is not as simple as buying it from someone else.[/url]
Hang on.
If I know that Nurofen is the same as generic Ibuprofen, and I am convinced beyond doubt of this fact. Then surely any placebo effect is not possible, or at least I would recieve the same placebo effect from taking the generic as I know it is the same, along with an added smugness factor cos I saved 40p per tab.
A placebo can surely only be in effect if you percieve there to be a difference between the tabs.
Agreed stuey
NHS and Gaviscon is not as simple as buying it from someone else.
Thanks for that, it makes interesting reading!
Would anyone like a proper reply?
As a formulator for one of the biggest generic firms in the UK (I left just as they were bought out by an isreali company) the active ingredient is the same, for a given value of same.
I.e. chemically they will both be ideally be >99.5% pure (when in liberated form), a different manufacturing process can give you a different impurity profile and stability of the end product.
The main difference is to do with the physical properties which can and does effect the chemical properties to an extent.
Particle size, shape and form were the main ones we found - we would spend of attention to this and less to the excipients (obviously modified release agents effect this too). Many older cheaper forumaltions will use steric acid in the tablet formulation to lubricate equipment which can prematurely soften tablets, newer ones replace it with magnesium sterate.
Most of the faster acting products are freeze dried or a more soluble salt - however these products are generally less stable. So instead of a 5 year shelf life it will have a 2 year shelf life (for example). A lot of these are used either a patent extentions or a new "grab" to get market share over generics.
Kinda digressing here, but essentially - yes the chemical is pretty much the same, but no - the rate of effect and amount of effect is not always the same (although rate of release from the tablet should be comparable between like for like).
A placebo can surely only be in effect if you percieve there to be a difference between the tabs.
Placebo/Nocebo effects do not operate at the conscious level of awareness but at the subconscious decison making level.
Factors such as the colour of the packaging, size of tablet etc all have an effect, and even individuals who believe themselves to be above 'brand influence' are susceptible.
Particularly relevant to pain relief - there is no such thing a 'pain' from a purely scientific pov, just the sensation of pain which is the product of the sufferers own neourological processing and not an extrinsic factor.
[i]Placebo effect works even if you "know" it's just marketing.
It's not just the weak-minded who are affected by this, it's everyone.[/i]
That's surely like saying, if the shop had filled a Gaviscon bottle with milk and I knew it was milk, it would still work better than generic heartburn medicine!
Would anyone like a proper reply?
Assuming that's true, and I've no reason to doubt you, I'm still unconvinced that these advantages merit a 1000% price hike. I think I'll stick to paying 12p for a box of ASDA paracetemol.
and even individuals who believe themselves to be above 'brand influence' are susceptible
Not TJ tho 🙂
Saccades - I did suspect that would be the case. Afte all the 'ingredients' are simply legally bound to tell you the active ingredients, and it seems to me there's more to pill making than simply sticking a chemical in some sugar. And they wouldn't be able to stick 'faster acting' etc all over the box if it wasn't at least partly grounded in reality.
Agreed though that the price hike is large!
Factors such as the colour of the packaging, size of tablet etc all have an effect, and even individuals who believe themselves to be above 'brand influence' are susceptible.
I'll bet TJ is not susceptible.
EDIT - Dammit! beaten to it!
So who would rather ride a 'generic bike' rather than a 'premium brand bike' - both have the same list of ingredients (components) don't they ??
poor analogy - the active ingredient in the generic/branded drugs is identical so your comparison would only work if say you were comparing two bikes that had exactly the same components (eg all XT) but one was painted with a flash beautiful paintjob with matching components and the other plain grey with plain coloured (but otherwise identical) components. Though you'd also have to say that the nicely painted one costs about 100x more - so let's say £300k 🙂
A company I worked for were specialists in semi-conductor X-ray
metrology, we tried diversifying into powder X-ray diffraction and to selling into the pharmocology sector.
One of the tests that were carried out was to check for optical-isomers of the active ingredients as the same moecule would have different actions on the body depending on whether it was a left-handed or right-handed molecule.
There was a paper flying around showing the ineffectivness of a generic drug that was poor compared to the original drug as "handedness" of the drug had changed (my memory says the pressing plant was to blame, but cannot be sure).
I doubt many of these ineffective isomers get into the wild and that I will keep on buying the cheapo own brands!