#912 – anything stronger

Haha remember drinking before it hurt? For this one I wanted to grab that strange feeling of waking up in another part of the city that you'd usually only see at night, and the daze of that neighborhood's morning commute. And of course getting yourself home in the same old battle-torn outfit, with all that those rags have seen.

12 thoughts on “#912 – anything stronger

  1. i was always curious what she meant by "stronger" here; i was always under the impression advil is ibuprofen is tylenol? are there significant differences between the brands and painkillers i am unaware of?

    1. Disclaimer that this is not medical advice, but Advil is a brand name for ibuprofen. Acetaminophen (sold as Tylenol) has similar properties as a painkiller but doesn't have the same anti-inflammatory properties that ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (the drug class ibuprofen belongs to), so its range of uses isn't as broad.

    2. As a layman I think of stuff like "extra strength" as stronger, even though I know it's probably just a higher dosage or a mix of caffeine or something. I think it's one of those little relatable moments you see a lot in OC, Eve doesn't know the neighborhood so she has to buy from an overpriced shop, and is grasping at straws to try to make things a bit more agreeable.

    3. Advil is ibuprofen. You got that right. It's one of a bunch of painkillers called NSAIDS, which are most of the painkillers you can buy without a prescription.
      Tylenol is (usually) acetaminophen. It's a different painkiller that works in the brain rather than the nerves.
      Most likely, Eve is buying something like Excedrin: Aspirin (an NSAID) plus acetaminophen plus caffeine.
      Most likely, Eve wants something with codeine. That's illegal without a prescription in the USA, but Will could probably get something smuggled in from Canada for her if she asked. There's always a chance the drugstore is involved in similar smuggling, but it's not likely.

    4. There are larger doses of each, at least. Some pills have caffeine added because it enhances the effect of NSAIDs.
      Advil/Ibuprofen is not the same thing as Tylenol/Acetaminophen/Paracetamol though. In fact, you can take them both at the same time for better results! Ibuprofen and aspirin are similar and are both NSAIDs, so you can't take them together, but you can take any NSAID alongside Acetaminophen, and I think there are some pills that combine them.

    5. Looks like baby aspirin.

    6. Advil is ibuprofen, Tylenol is acetaminophen. They aren’t the same stuff. Also, you can often buy “extra strength” versions of them both which just has a higher dosage of the active ingredient per pill. Places like this often sell packs of just 2 pills, so you can buy just 1 dose.

    7. Advil is ibuprofen, but Tylenol is acetaminophen. They have very similar functions but some people might respond differently to one or the other.

      But I think the joke here is more "I don't need 30 regulars, I need 2 really good ones then I'm done."

  2. Panel 4 works so well, Eve looks like she walked into the wrong movie set.

  3. I never noticed the little ecosystem of dust at the top of the shop keeper's stuff hahahaha

  4. There's extra-strength Tylenol.

    I take it that by waking up on the couch (and not in Greg's bed) the implication is they did "stop there"?

  5. Our girlfriend Eve must have expected to see the cardboard with many little paper envelopes stapled to it, each envelope containing two extra-strength arthritis relief pills. Usually it’s on the wall next to the register. Greg’s apartment apparently had nothing. She must be a long way from Olly’s because I’m sure he’s got a gigantic bottle of painkillers labeled “Employee Health Care Program,” with a coin dish labeled “Employee CoPay” next to it.

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