Image: 4 panels organized in a rectangle following a sequential order like a comic strip. The first panel is of a man with a very serious face stating, “Hey man, got any diphenhydramine?” The second panel is a grainy picture of the actor Tony Stark with a slightly inquisitive face and saying, “What’s that?” The third panel is an identical copy of the first image and saying, “Benadryl the allergy medicine.” The fourth and final panel is a grainy picture of Tony Stark rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath.

  • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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    8 months ago

    I’m a prescriber in the US and the name that people will commonly use varies by drug and by region. It’s also influenced by whether that medication is even available generically due to patents (if that’s the right legal word) on medications being decently long when they first come out.

    I agree it’s a mess

  • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Yes! I live in Korea, and I have no idea what the local brand names are. If I want some Advil, I have to ask for Ibuprofen pronounced “Ee Boo Pro Pen”. Tylenol is Tylenol here, though.

  • InfiniWheel@lemmy.one
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    8 months ago

    In my country we mostly use the generic names, save for very few exceptions, and even then they are used interchangeably with the generic name.

  • Darrell_Winfield@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I do. I extend it beyond medicines as well. Corporations have spent lots of money for their brands to be household names. They don’t control my language.

    Specifically to medicine, I will note that the generic name actually carries information that the brand name does nothing for. Lisinopril and enalopril are the same medication class, act similar. Amlodipine, nimodipine, nicardipene are all the same class. Those generic names have important meaning.

    Oh, you want facial tissues? Why didn’t you ask?

    Sure, here’s some acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

    Don’t you mean bleach wipes?

    • papalonian@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Corporations have spent lots of money for their brands to be household names.

      Corporations are terrified of their name becoming genericized, though. At least in the US, a company can lose it’s protection of the use of their name if they don’t fight it being used for things that are not their product. For example, “Dumpster” used to be a trademarked name for a large outdoor garage bin. It became so popular that every large outdoor garbage bin was called a dumpster, and now everyone making and selling them can call it a dumpster without getting sued

    • lunarul@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Isn’t Paracetamol a brand name for acetaminophen?

      Edit: just googled it, apparently they’re both generic names for the same thing (like aspirin / acetylsalicylic acid)

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Medicine schools in anywhere except USA. Farmacists, medics, nurses, life rescuers, hospitals, social workers. They’re all encouraged to use the active components of medicines and not commercial brand names. Specially because there are differences in regulations and sometimes the commercial names don’t carry the same formulation in other markets, or are US specific. Tylenol for example doesn’t exist in Latin America. But you can find many other brands and presentations of paracetamol as acetaminophen.

      • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        8 months ago

        I mean, Americans call facial tissue “Kleenex” we’re pretty bad at accepting corporate brands as a stand-in for “the standard.”

          • Gabu@lemmy.ml
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            8 months ago

            Nah, velcro is called velcro - the inventor of “loop and hook fasteners” called them velcro strips. The fact that the brand wanted full control of the name after the fact is irrelevant.

            • Cort@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              I think genericide should be more common in today’s world. And everyone can work together to achieve it

    • lunarul@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I was going to say. That was just common practice in my native country. We did use the most common brand names sometimes, but even then we used them interchangeably (if we asked for Nurofen we really meant ibuprofen and didn’t care if we got another brand; like asking for a kleenex)

    • Monstera@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      Tylenol for example doesn’t exist in Latin America

      it absolutely does, what?

      that said, agreed

    • fernandu00@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      Of course Tylenol exists in LatAm! At least in Brazil it does…but we buy paracetamol because its cheaper

  • JoYo@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    stop taking benadryl. it’s been obsolete for decades and has really nasty side effects.

    • tenchiken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 months ago

      Got names? Most of the other options I’ve found have other nasty side effects or don’t help.

      Being serious… I’d love to finda working alternate

  • kyle@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    What if I call it Tylenol but always buy the generic anyway?

  • robotica@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    ITT: Americans who can’t fathom generic medicine names

    Tylenol isn’t the medicine, paracetamol is. I love having grown up in a European country which mandates pharmacies to very clearly inform you, not just in some fuck ass place, but repeat to you 3 times, that there is a cheaper generic version which does the same thing.

    • cazssiew@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      In France there are plenty of people who ask for Dafalgan or neurofen but have no idea what paracetamol or ibuprofen are.

      • robotica@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Yeah, there are clueless people everywhere, but I’m still glad that it’s easy to get generic medicine.

        To be fair, you cannot force people to buy generic, let people make their own, though preferably informed, decisions.

    • wyrmroot@programming.dev
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      8 months ago

      This is probably the worst example to choose, because in the US the generic name is acetaminophen. This is a case where the brand name actually unites understanding of a drug whose chemical name differs by location.

      That being said, I still agree with the spirit, let’s stick to referring to the drug and not the brand.

      • DillyDaily@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        This is a case where the brand name actually unites understanding of a drug whose chemical name differs by location.

        Except we don’t have Tylenol in most countries where it’s called paracetamol.

        We have Panadol, Panamax, Calpol, Herron and Hedanol.

        If it wasn’t for ER, Scrubs, Greys Anatomy and a bunch of other American media, I’d have no idea that Tylenol and acetaminophen are the same thing as Panadol and paracetamol.

        Standard Tylenol and standard Panadol are different dosages too. Regular strength Tylenol is 325mg, standard Panadol (and every other paracetamol brand I’ve seen for adults) is 500mg, which is the “extra strength” of Tylenol.

      • robotica@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Touché, though I love knowing names like paracetamol or acetaminophen, ibuprofen, diclofenac, acetylsalicylic acid etc.

        I can’t come up with many names because I don’t remember every single drug, but when I see a drug, I always read the chemical, never the brand, and I’m glad for my country and my parents for that.

  • unalivejoy@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    If you use the brand name for everything, eventually it will become the generic name.

  • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    Trade names all well and good until you start traveling. Also you’re less likely to find cheaper generics if you only know the brand names.

    • tourist@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I use the American brand names when talking about meds on the internet.

      I’ve never taken trade-name Tylenol, Benadryl, Advil (without pseudoephedrine), Xanax, Effexor, Prozac nor Klonopin.

      But those are the names I’d use when discussing them to “blend in”. If I start talking about panado or rivotril I may cause confusion. The API names are also just a fucking mouthful.

      • HopFlop@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 months ago

        As a non-American, I have never heard any of those “trade-names” and wouldn’t know what you’re talking about.

        • tourist@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          In that case I’d be happy to clarify

          Tylenol: Paracetamol. Widely used non addictive pain medication. According to Wikipedia some German trade names are: Captin, Benuron, Enelfa.

          Benadryl: Diphenhydramine. Allergy medicine. They kinda just throw it in every cold medicine, it feels like. Can’t find specifically what trade names they use in Germany.

          Advil: Ibuprofen. Pain medication. Other trade names usually just prefix a random word with “Ibu”

          Xanax: Alprazolam. Anxiety medication. Surprised you haven’t heard of this. American hiphop turned it into a household name at this point.

          Effexor: Venlafaxine. Antidepressant.

          Prozac: Fluoxetine. Antidepressant. Called Fluctin in Germany?

          Klonopin: Clonazepam. Anxiety medication. Think they also call it Rivotril in Germany.

          • HopFlop@discuss.tchncs.de
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            8 months ago

            Interesting. Diphenhydramine (US name Benadryl) is apparently banned as a medication in Germany, thats why you couldnt find any trade names…

            Paracetamol and Ibuprofen (thats what they are commonly called here) are relatively common, the others I dont know. But dont you need a prescription for the last four?

  • reattach@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Good on you for including a written description of the image but… “picture of the actor Tony Stark”?

        • prime_number_314159@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Robert Downey Jr is the name brand, Tony Stark is the generic name. Hollywood producers certify there’s no functional differences between the two products.

        • BOMBS@lemmy.worldOP
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          8 months ago

          oohhhHHHHhhh!! I knew something was off! I was so confused, lol. I thought there was an actor names Tony Stark that looked a lot like Robert Downey Jr. I don’t watch super hero movies, so I didn’t know about that Tony Stark character.

          This is hilarious. If some users didn’t depend on the caption to participate in the conversation, I’d leave it the way it is. However, I’m going to edit it to properly reflect the content without being confusing.

          Thanks for the clarification!

    • Pinklink@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Antihistamine is the type of drug, or it’s “family. It describes what is does biochemically. That’s like using “antibiotic” when you are looking for doxycycline.

    • Syn_Attck@lemmy.today
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      8 months ago

      Antihystamine is very specific. Antihistamine is quite generic and it depends on whether you want to treat allergies or schizophrenia. Here is a list from Wikipedia of the most common type of antihistamines (targeting the H¹ receptor)

      List of H1 antagonists/inverse agonists

      Acrivastine
      Alimemazine (a phenothiazine used as antipruritic, antiemetic and sedative)
      Amitriptyline (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Amoxapine (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Aripiprazole (atypical antipsychotic, trade name: Abilify)
      Azelastine
      Bilastine
      Bromodiphenhydramine (Bromazine)
      Brompheniramine
      Buclizine
      Carbinoxamine
      Cetirizine (Zyrtec)
      Chlophedianol (Clofedanol)
      Chlorodiphenhydramine[12]
      Chlorpheniramine
      Chlorpromazine (low-potency typical antipsychotic, also used as an antiemetic)
      Chlorprothixene (low-potency typical antipsychotic, trade name: Truxal)
      Chloropyramine (first generation antihistamine marketed in Eastern Europe)
      Cinnarizine (also used for motion sickness and vertigo)
      Clemastine
      Clomipramine (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Clozapine (atypical antipsychotic; trade name: Clozaril)
      Cyclizine
      Cyproheptadine
      Desloratadine
      Dexbrompheniramine
      Dexchlorpheniramine
      Dimenhydrinate (used as an antiemetic and for motion sickness)
      Dimetindene
      Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
      Dosulepin (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Doxepin (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Doxylamine (most commonly used as an over-the-counter sedative)
      Ebastine
      Embramine
      Fexofenadine (Allegra/Telfast)
      Fluoxetine
      Hydroxyzine (also used as an anxiolytic and for motion sickness; trade names: Atarax, Vistaril)
      Imipramine (tricyclic antidepressant)
      Ketotifen
      Levocabastine (Livostin/Livocab)
      Levocetirizine (Xyzal)
      Levomepromazine (low-potency typical antipsychotic)
      Loratadine (Claritin)
      Maprotiline (tetracyclic antidepressant)
      Meclizine (most commonly used as an antiemetic)
      Mianserin (tetracyclic antidepressant)
      Mirtazapine (tetracyclic antidepressant, also has antiemetic and appetite-stimulating effects; trade name: Remeron)
      Olanzapine (atypical antipsychotic; trade name: Zyprexa)
      Olopatadine (used locally)
      Orphenadrine (a close relative of diphenhydramine used mainly as a skeletal muscle relaxant and anti-Parkinsons agent)
      Periciazine (low-potency typical antipsychotic)
      Phenindamine
      Pheniramine
      Phenyltoloxamine
      Promethazine (Phenergan)
      Pyrilamine (crosses the blood–brain barrier; produces drowsiness)
      Quetiapine (atypical antipsychotic; trade name: Seroquel)
      Rupatadine (Alergoliber)
      Setastine (Loderix)
      Setiptiline (or teciptiline, a tetracyclic antidepressant, trade name: Tecipul)
      Trazodone (SARI antidepressant/anxiolytic/hypnotic with mild H1 blockade action)
      Tripelennamine
      Triprolidine
      
    • BOMBS@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      To me, it’s not specific enough because it doesn’t identify the active ingredient.