Alka-Seltzer XS Effervescent Tablets 20

What is Alka-Seltzer XS Effervescent Tablets 20?

Alka-Seltzer XS is an effervescent tablet that combines three ingredients — aspirin 267mg, paracetamol 133mg and caffeine 40mg — in a drink you make up in a glass of water. It is licensed for pain including headache, migraine, neuralgia, toothache, period pain and sore throat, and for the symptomatic relief of rheumatic pain, flu and feverish colds.

How does it help?

Aspirin blocks the enzymes that make prostaglandins, the chemicals released by inflamed tissue that make nerves report pain and raise your temperature. Paracetamol reduces pain signalling in a different way, acting more centrally. Caffeine is included as an adjuvant — a helper ingredient used in combination painkillers. Dissolving the tablet first means the dose reaches the stomach already in solution.

Key benefits

• Combines two painkillers with caffeine in one effervescent tablet
• Relieves headache, migraine, period pain, toothache and the aches of flu and feverish colds
• Taken as a drink rather than a tablet to swallow
• 20 tablets in the pack

Who should take care?

Always read the patient information leaflet before use. Not for anyone under 16 — aspirin is associated with Reye's syndrome in children. It contains paracetamol: do not take it with any other paracetamol-containing medicine, and never exceed the stated dose, because too much paracetamol can cause delayed and serious liver damage even if you feel well at the time. Do not take it if you have or have had a stomach ulcer or bleeding from the stomach, a bleeding disorder, severe kidney, liver or heart failure, or if aspirin or an anti-inflammatory painkiller has ever caused asthma, wheezing or an allergic reaction. It is not for use in the third trimester of pregnancy or while breastfeeding, or if you take methotrexate at 15mg a week or more. Each tablet contains 472mg of sodium — around a quarter of the recommended daily maximum. Our pharmacist checks it is right for you before it is dispensed.