Paracetamols in Europe

Decker

Decker

Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Posts
235
Likes collected
125
Location
uk
Funster No
41,572
MH
A class
Exp
10 years
Are parcetamol caplets freely available to buy in Europe eg. Lidl and Aldi like they are here?
 
Yes but not under that generic name
 
In a motorhome , in Europe you'll be fine with a large supply of paracetamol, ibuprofen etc. I used to take half a pharmacy back to France. Was once charged €6 for a pack of paracetamol ( and that's going back a few years)

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Paracetamol have nothing in them that would class as a controlled substance so cause no problems. It was Tramadol which is a prescription only medication in the UK that caused problems being brought into Egypt. Would quite understandably do the same elsewhere.

Also if you buy paracetamol and codeine tablets that could cause difficulties in some countries without a prescription. North Africa, Turkey and Greece come to mind.

I haven't seen paracetamol in Lidl in Spain but if you buy it in the pharmacy ask for generico and it will be a lot cheaper. Just keep an eye on the packaging as you sometimes get 1g tablets instead of the 500mg that we're used to in the UK. I wouldn't want you taking double the dose!

I must admit I build up a supply of paracetamol and ibuprofen from home before we go as it's much cheaper. I just got caught out on our last trip when Nick's joints seemed to fall apart in sequence!
 
All I can tell you is that SWMBO has her own Drugs need, we took them to Spain every winter for some years without issue. We often had in excess of a 4 Month supply. including 500`s of paracetamol, and even Tramadol. However we always carried her medical record and her Drug list. and the purposes for which each drug was required. We did this too for the 5 years or more we went to the USA, again without any issue. BTW, Paracetamol is NOT available in the US.
 
PeteH said:
All I can tell you is that SWMBO has her own Drugs need, we took them to Spain every winter for some years without issue. We often had in excess of a 4 Month supply. including 500`s of paracetamol, and even Tramadol. However we always carried her medical record and her Drug list. and the purposes for which each drug was required. We did this too for the 5 years or more we went to the USA, again without any issue. BTW, Paracetamol is NOT available in the US.
Click to expand...
In the USA they call paracetamol acetaminophen or Tylenol, ibuprophen is commonly called Advil.
 
Be aware that you can only get limited stock even in a supermarket. Something like 2 packs, so if you plan to take a stock you may need to visit shops several times.
 
tonka said:
Be aware that you can only get limited stock even in a supermarket. Something like 2 packs, so if you plan to take a stock you may need to visit shops several times.
Click to expand...
2 packs of 16 tablets Steve but us ladies who spend our days shopping and knitting can stock up on enough to poison most of you chaps in a very short time! I have found that if you take the bulky side effect leaflet out you can then sqeeze 32 tablets into each box to save space.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
tonka said:
Be aware that you can only get limited stock even in a supermarket. Something like 2 packs, so if you plan to take a stock you may need to visit shops several times.
Click to expand...
Yes
We have been building up our stock for a while but taking over 80 boxes looks a bit daunting
.
 
carolyn said:
2 packs of 16 tablets Steve but us ladies who spend our days shopping and knitting can stock up on enough to poison most of you chaps in a very short time! I have found that if you take the bulky side effect leaflet out you can then sqeeze 32 tablets into each box to save space.
Click to expand...

Now now !! We are doing our own poisoning with beer thank you very much :D
 
carolyn said:
In the USA they call paracetamol acetaminophen or Tylenol, ibuprophen is commonly called Advil.
Click to expand...

We where advised that Tylenol, is (their) preferred alternative, (my DIL who lives in Texas uses it for "ladies" needs, but prefers Paracetamol, SWMBO often leaves behind what she has "spare") but was not actually the same composition, and not as effective?. I do know about ibuprphen/advil. Again it is not exactly the same composition drug? so I am informed.
 
EllF said:
Bought 500mg packet 24 @1.39 in Algarve pharmacy
Click to expand...
It's good to have some price comparisons. Those sorts of prices are fine if you just take them occasionally but if you take them regularly it soon adds up compared with 20p for 16 in Wilko at the moment for caplets. They're nice and smooth as well. I only take them occasionally but I'm a wimp!

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
PeteH said:
We where advised that Tylenol, is (their) preferred alternative, (my DIL who lives in Texas uses it for "ladies" needs, but prefers Paracetamol, SWMBO often leaves behind what she has "spare") but was not actually the same composition, and not as effective?. I do know about ibuprphen/advil. Again it is not exactly the same composition drug? so I am informed.
Click to expand...
It is one of those misconceptions like people insisting that Panadol is much more effective than paracetamol, the placebo effect if you like. They are chemically identical.
 
carolyn said:
It is one of those misconceptions like people insisting that Panadol is much more effective than paracetamol, the placebo effect if you like. They are chemically identical.
Click to expand...
The only thing I can think of is that the size of the tabletis different as we use an a dose of 1g for an adult in UK and Europe. The active ingredient in both is N-acetyl-para-aminophenol and the americans chose one name as their generic and we chose another. This has happened many times. So far this one hasn't changed to the american version. Whilst I find this fascinating I expect no-one else on the entire forum does!
 
carolyn said:
It is one of those misconceptions like people insisting that Panadol is much more effective than paracetamol, the placebo effect if you like. They are chemically identical.
Click to expand...
A bit like rubbing something on your skin to help joint pain never found it helps
 
denisejoe said:
A bit like rubbing something on your skin to help joint pain never found it helps
Click to expand...
I know what you mean, I can see how the gels might penetrate enough to relieve inflammation in tendons like tennis elbow where they are within 1cm of the surface. However when they show them relieving pain in hips, knees and in low backs where they are unlikely to have even penetrated the flab I just laugh.

That reminds me though, the ibuprofen gel that we got in Benidorm was
50mg/g gel which isn't even available on prescription here so that did help Nick's elbow, I was worried his skin might fall off but it was ok!

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Naproxen is a much more effective anti inflammatory than ibuprofen (for me anyway). It was in short supply recently in UK but I was able to buy Naproxeno across the counter in Gran Canaria very cheaply. Checked with uk doctor who had supplied an alternative that had no effect, and it is the same drug.

Happy days - or daze if you take enough of it with codeine and vodka :sleep:
 
Paracetamols and Ibuprofen are available but only from a pharmacy. I take loads of meds with me but always carry copies of prescriptions.
 
If you want paracetomol in spain buy 'Xumadol'. 1g ( 1000mg)
40 x sachets = 3,98€ from any chemist.
Ibuprofen normal size is 600mg= 1,98€ 400mg available.
Never seen any meds sold in aldi/lidl/any supermarket. Farmácia only.
 
You could and possibly still can, buy larger quantities of paracetamol and ibuprofen from the pharmacy, generic, not branded is cheaper. Not checked prices recently and no idea re pricing of paracetamol as I am allergic and rarely buy them, only keep in for others in an emergency.
This may have changed since they became so readilly available in supermarkets.
Have fallen foul of the medication shortage. One of my Hypertension meds, only made by one supplier who have stopped producing them. have been waiting for a week for the GP pharmacist to get back to me, taking non controlled release 3 times a day may be an alternative, a bloomin nuiscance, but may be what I have to do.
 
carolyn said:
I have found that if you take the bulky side effect leaflet out you can then sqeeze 32 tablets into each box to save space.
Click to expand...

If you read that bulky side effect leaflet you may be able to save even more space (by leaving them at home LOL) ;)
 
scotzsue said:
You could and possibly still can, buy larger quantities of paracetamol and ibuprofen from the pharmacy, generic, not branded is cheaper. Not checked prices recently and no idea re pricing of paracetamol as I am allergic and rarely buy them, only keep in for others in an emergency.
This may have changed since they became so readilly available in supermarkets.
Have fallen foul of the medication shortage. One of my Hypertension meds, only made by one supplier who have stopped producing them. have been waiting for a week for the GP pharmacist to get back to me, taking non controlled release 3 times a day may be an alternative, a bloomin nuiscance, but may be what I have to do.
Click to expand...

You can buy larger quantities from a pharmacy. I use the soluble paracetamol (much more expensive than the standard) and pharmacy is the way to go for larger quantities.

I am sorry about your hypertension meds, the one I take was also unavailable in January but is now back to normal supply. When I finally got my supply I had three tablets left - and I take two a day. You might have to chase up the GP / pharmacist - is there a reason why the meds you have been taking have been discontinued? I have phoned manufacturers in the past to get information from the mouth of the ass so to speak. Some years ago one of the meds I was told had been discontinued had actually been reformulated and renamed.

If buying meds abroad always check the dosage, there are differences.
 
On a recent trip through Germany, MrsR forgot to take enough of one of her prescription drugs. We tried several pharmacies in different towns: some said it was not available under Bavarian law, some said they could get it in a couple of days (but we were moving on), some said we needed to see a German doctor as they couldn't accept her NHS prescription as sufficient evidence but they could get the tablets within 24h.

Upon entering The Netherlands, with one day's supply left we got them easily, with the pharmacist "forging" an address because the Aire we were on was not acceptable. Clearly a difference in attitude!

However, for the benefit of this thread, as we drove from Germany into The Netherlands, we both commented on a huge sign above a pharmacy adjacent to the border stating "Paracetamol". I would take enough of everything which you might need, assuming you check legal restrictions first!

Gordon

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top