Not all parrots eat 'em all (Panadol)

Member Name: jimblob

Product:	Panadol
Date:	14/01/04 (290 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Effective

Disadvantages: Pricey

Headaches are the worst, aren?t they?
I hate the feeling I get when I feel one coming on, if it starts behind my eyes I know I am in for a sore one that can, at times, develop into a full blown migraine that no pain killer will shift.

Usually though my headaches start off as a pain in my neck, just above my ears at the base of my head, I find that if I take some paracetamol when I first feel it tug at my pain receptors I can usually head it off and bypass the pain bit.

That is all very well if I actually have some painkillers with me but recently I was out shopping for Christmas presents and felt the all too familiar twinge of a headache starting. I was on my own at the time so didn?t have my wife?s pharmaceutical handbag dispensary at hand (she keeps a stock of stuff in there that would fill half the shelf?s in Boots).
I popped into the nearest chemist shop and looked for some paracetamol tablets to kill the headache before it took hold.
On the shelf I noticed a metallic green box with ?Panadol actifast? emblazoned on it. On reading the blurb on the box I saw that it promised ?Fast acting pain relief? and so I picked up the box and took it to the check out.

After being brought round with some smelling salts I reluctantly paid £2.99 for the 16 tablets and skulked out of the shop.
Still reeling at having paid almost three quid for sixteen tablets I made my way to the nearest café and purchased a coffee (£1.20 for a mug of cappuccino, another rip off, honestly, they must see me coming) to help the tablets on their journey down my neck and onto the pain inducing gremlins in my head.

After about half an hour (there?s only so long you can make a luke warm cup of coffee last) I left the café to continue my shopping, at first I was still remonstrating with myself for being so gullible reg
arding my pain killing purchase but as I walked towards Woolies I realised that I felt no pain in my head anymore, not a twinge to be felt even when I shook my head from side to side like a demented head banger at a FooFighter concert, of course I drew a lot of strange looks from the throngs shopping in the mall but I didn?t care, my headache had been nipped in the bud and that is all that mattered.

Manufactured by gsk (GlaxoSmithKline) they come with the obligatory warnings about exceeding the recommended dose or taking along side any other paracetamol containing product, a sensible piece of advice!

The tablets themselves are slightly larger than a normal paracetamol tablet and have a smooth coating making swallowing easier and as with other similar tablets you are advised to leave at least 4 hours between doses and take no more than 8 tablets in a 24 hour period.

They do not recommend taking these if you suffer from liver or kidney disease including?.wait for it?.if you have an alcoholic liver (honest!)
Also not recommended for those on a low sodium diet as each tablet contains 173 mg of sodium along with 500 mg?s of paracetamol.

Not for children under 12.

Conclusion.

In my experience of Panadol Actifast the tablets are easy to swallow, they seem to be fast acting compared to a normal run of the mill paracetamol tablet but at £2.99 for 16 tablets they do not give value for money.
I did do a small experiment to satisfy my curiosity though.
I filled two small glasses with water and put an Actifast tablet in one and a normal paracetamol in the other, the actifast started dissolving very quickly indeed whilst the normal one looked pretty much the same as it did when I put it in the water even after the actifast one had almost completely dissolved, I can only assume that it acts faster because
it dissolves faster, after all, the paracetamol content is no different from a normal tablet but the sodium content is higher.

Would I recommend them?

Yes, if you want fast relief.
No, if you?re a skin flint like me or a pain loving masochist.

Summary: