Er, Advil is (a trade name for) ibuprofen.

That is absolutely no defence at all under US law, which is the only law that matters when entering the US, and you risk arrest and prosection, especially if you were importing "saleable quantities", which could be as few as a dozen tablets.

hence my reluctance to push my luck any further

what about lemsip? was debating that since its paracetamol

Paracetamol is entirely legit, and is known as acetaminophen in the US. That said, personally, I would be cautious about bringing pharmaceutical powders into the US.

I agree...ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law as far as the authorities are concerned. Codeine is a controlled substance in the US. I remember asking a pharmacist in Florida for paracetamol and codeine (we lived in the UK at the time)...the look on his face was priceless.

Pleased that I can buy it OTC in Ontario.

scrub that idea then, dont need any problems really.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Advil still does not help.

He/she was probably wondering why you were in the pharmacy when you can buy better stuff on the street.

But ibuprofen does?

Know what you are going to say, but yes, IB does work and Advil does not.

The ibuprofen in Advil is in a different form - maybe that makes a difference. I've never been all that impressed by Advil either, and prefer the generic ibuprofen.

Do you? ..... I am going to suggest the placebo effect.

I would be interested to hear what happens if on a number of occasions (say, a dozen or more occasions) when you need pain relief, if you ask your husband to give you his choice of either Advil or another ibuprofen brand and then you record your satisfaction with the "pain relief experience", and see what the correlation is.

So is beer and whisky

My sister has actually done this to me on several occasions without my knowing it. I would say I had a terrible headache or my shoulder hurt where the rod is set into the joint and she would give me Advil without my knowing it. Didn't work at all. I would go home and take my IB and be pain free within a half hour. Visit with the sis again and again she slips me the Advil and again it doesn't work but at home later the IB does. After the third time this happens, I ask what are you giving me? Advil the little minx replies. So I started carrying a small bottle of IB with me at all times. Since IB comes in so many different "shapes" from oval to small round pills and also gel caps, I didn't question that the shape was different. Anywho, I take what works for me. Having a rod in your upper arm from shoulder to elbow cup does mean pain on many occasions, thus I carry my relief with me now.

That's very interesting, thank you for sharing.