Bargain Quest

My productivity has taken a nosedive this week as I’m battling a cold/sore throat. Can’t complain considering this is the first time I’ve been sick during this pregnancy, but I’m finally getting some use out of my stash of Tylenol Go-Tab freebies from months ago.

So it follows that my foggy brain would be contemplating over-the-counter medicines and the lengths to which name brands go to sell them. I credit DH for making me aware of this: All the fancy OTC medicines are just different combinations and dosages of a few basic active ingredients. Unless they’re free, they don’t make as much financial or health sense as just buying the generic components separately. Then you can just combine doses as needed to combat particular symptoms.

To demonstrate the endless variations that populate pharmacy aisles, I polled my “freebie meds” collection for painkillers and what active ingredients they contain:

Tylenol PM - 500 mg Acetaminophen, 25 mg Diphenhydramine HCl
Tylenol GoTabs - 500 mg Acetaminophen
Bayer - 325 mg Aspirin
Goody’s Extra Strength Headache powder - 325 mg Acetaminophen, 500 mg Aspirin, 65 mg Caffeine
Advil PM - 200 mg “Solubized Ibuprofen,” 25 mg Diphenhydramine HCl
Advil Cold & Sinus - 200 mg Ibuprofen, 30 mg Pseudophedrine HCl
Aleve - 200 mg Naproxen, 20 mg Sodium
Bufferin - Buffered aspirin equal to 500 mg Aspirin
Excedrin Extra Strength - 250 mg Acetaminophen, 250 mg Aspirin, 65 mg Caffeine
Excedrin Migraine - 250 mg Acetaminophen, 250 mg Aspirin, 65 mg Caffeine
Excedrin Back & Body - 250 mg Acetaminophen, Buffered aspirin equal to 250 mg Aspirin

It basically boils down to acetaminophen, aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen, plus a kick of caffeine. (Diphenhydramine HCl is a sleep aid and pseudophedrine HCl is a decongestant.) And chances are, you don’t need to have all four. Talk to your doctor to determine which best meets your pain relief needs.

Our staple is ibuprofen, with me switching to acetaminophen while pregnant.

Remember a recent round of Robitussin commercials? “No matter what you’ve got… there’s Robitussin relief with your name on it.” The online Robitussin Recommender function includes no less than 12 different formula bottles for adults alone. The idea is for you to find your personalized formula that fits your exact symptoms. All options are some cocktail of 5 ingredients - cough suppressant, expectorant, decongestant, antihistamine, fever/pain relief.

My OTC strategy of choice is to keep separate generic versions of the basics on hand. We always have the following 4 “biggies”:
-Ibuprofen (pain relief)
-Pseudophedrine HCl (decongestant)
-Doxylamine succinate (sleep aid)
-Loratadine (antihistamine)

There are three benefits to the broken-down, generic approach:

1. Cheaper - Generics being less expensive is self-explanatory. Also, you should save money by relying on a basic medicine stock, instead of picking up a different formula every time you’re sick. (Check out this post at Money and Values for some more thoughts on when to go generic)
2. Reduces clutter - There isn’t nearly enough room in the average medicine cabinet for all the permutations that could be made from the basics for pain relief, decongestants, antihistamines, expectorants, etc.
3. Increases control - I’m a minimal medicater. I don’t like taking medicine unless I’m desperate. And all these combination medicines pose a problem, because they tend to include ingredients I don’t need for my particular symptoms with the ones that I do. Even worse, some of the packaged ingredients can be bad for me, like ibuprofen or aspirin during pregnancy. I’m much more comfortable making my own custom combinations on the rare days when I have a headache, cough, fever, stuffy nose and need to sleep all at once.

One possible disadvantage:

Combining drugs that shouldn’t be taken together - Always read boxes for “Do Not Use” warnings. When in doubt, check with your doctor. My rule of thumb is that if a particular combination is sold in stores, it’s probably safe for me to take on my own.

Here’s my informed consumer plug: Start reading the labels if you don’t already. Learn what the different ingredients are and what they do. Determine which meet your needs and buy those in generics when possible.

(Just-in-case disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, please don’t take this post as medical advice. I’m just offering my consumer opinion.)