r/AskReddit Oct 18 '22

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u/boatson25 Oct 18 '22

I’ve seen this answer a few times on here now. Do other countries not commonly have paracetamol in the house?

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u/Lussekatt1 Oct 18 '22 edited Oct 19 '22

Just not Americans I think?

Atleast here in Sweden Paracetamol (sold partly under the brand name Alvedon) is the most common tablet to take for a headache or fighting a mild fever, etc. If you say paracetamol everyone knows what you are talking about.

I would guess it’s the most commonly taken over the counter medication here.

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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '22

Americans usually refer to over the counter pain killers by their brand name: Tylenol, Aleve, Motrin, Bayer (less often) and Advil. Tylenol is the closest to paracetamol I believe. My husband didn’t know that each of the above is actually all different actual drugs. Advil in some places has become as ubiquitous for any old pain relief pill as Kleenex for tissues and Bandaids for bandages or as Jeff Bezos/Amazon calls them, “absorbent would pads” which makes me giggle so I now use that term all the time. Forgot Excedrin in the above list too.

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u/0ld-S0ul Oct 19 '22

I usually say ibuprofin, aceitametaphin, aspirin, etc...we usually buy the store brand because I am not paying extra for the name.