Vitamin C does a lot of good once you already have a fever of 103.<BR>

Every time someone mentions Rick Steves name a controversy starts. Can we just ignore the bastard? poor SOB works on a new money pouch, he cant concentrate with all this noise!

If you don't have problems with aspirin, a nice thing to pick up in Europe is the effervescent "Aspirine C"--aspirin with Vitamin C added. Drop one table into a glass of water, wait about 30 seconds and drink it down. Virtually no taste--just makes the water fizzy. People who sometime get upset stomachs from taking aspirin the usual way say Aspirine C doesn't bother them. I've never seen aspirin sold this way in the U.S., so I always take some back when I'm visiting friends and family in the states.<BR>I would take only a few first aid items to Europe and then entrust myself to the pharmacists here if I had a problem. They are highly trained, very good listeners, and give excellent advice. I've never been steered wrong by a pharmacist in France, Germany, Austria or Belgium.<BR>

topping

On a recent trip to the U.S. I got some Exedrin Migraine tabs. which we can't get in Canada. Can someone tell me if they're similar to aspirin or to tylenol? And for the unlikely case of hangover why isn't tylenol ok? What is the best med to take for hangover?

Over the counter migraine remedies generally contain caffeine (and is supposed to help with the vasodilatory part of migraines). This information (as well as whether or not the medication in question contains acetaminophen or ibuprofen or whatever) is readily available on the labeling.<BR><BR>Acetaminophen is metabolized by the liver. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver. If your liver is busy metabolizing alcohol, you can end up with toxic levels of acetaminophen (which can result in life-threatening liver damage).

Ok people, calm down. I'm a nurse and very familiar with all of this. Rex is accurate on all counts. Even the pediatric dosing of ibuprofen...which works great with kids by the way.<BR><BR>I assume that Rick Steves suggested tylenol over aspirin since it is in general a more all-around type drug that will kill many birds with one stone. He is all about packing light and aspirin sometimes causes more problems than tylenol, provided you do not go on a bender while in Europe. You can take tylenol on an empty stomach, and kids should never take aspirin. I agree with Mr. Steves. Aspirin is a pain in the neck sometimes.<BR>PS-pharmacists know A LOT about medicine, even if they don't have a lot of patient contact-with anything in life, there is always one bad one in the bunch.