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.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Generic drug names are widely used in the UK and europe - we don’t have US style advertising. There are brands but they don’t cut through in the same way when generics are so widely known and mandated for prescriptions coming from the NHS too.

    Benadryl isn’t even a specific drug, it’s just a brand with different drugs in different countries (cetirizine in the UK). I’d just say “antihistamine”.

    Also brand name drugs are largely a scam - pharmaceuticals are heavily regulated and generics are the exact same drug. Save yourself some money, learn the generic names and buy those. Otherwise you’re just paying the drugs company for their advertising and the big price mark up for their profit as a “premium” brand.

    • trigonated@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      Here in Portugal the prescriptions even say how much the generic medicine should cost, so that you immediately know if the pharmacy is trying to sell you more expensive medicine.

    • pingveno@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      generics are the exact same drug

      Yes but. From what I’ve heard, sometimes when switching to a generic, there might be subtle differences in manufacturing that affect how an individual absorbs it. For something minor - an off the shelf pain killer - probably not a problem. For someone where it’s imperative that they maintain a certain blood level of the drug, some caution is a good idea.