Excedrin has been a leader in headache relief for more than 50 years, and the range of Excedrin products contains something for every kind of headache, including tension headaches, nighttime headaches and migraines.

As of March 2015, GSK holds majority ownership of Excedrin through a joint venture transaction with Novartis. On 18 July 2022, GSK spun off its consumer healthcare business (including Excedrin) to Haleon. A bottle of Excedrin with some of the caplets.

Update: As of January 2021, Excedrin® Extra Strength and Excedrin® Migraine are back on store shelves - for the most part. The medications' makers started producing them again in July 2020 (except for the caplet and gel tab forms, which ran into supply issues).

What is Excedrin? Excedrin contains a combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. Acetaminophen is a pain reliever and a fever reducer. Aspirin is in a group of drugs called salicylates.

In 1921, it was marketed as the drug Gynergen, the first pharmacological treatment for migraines (used often in combination with caffeine.) Excedrin® Extra Strenght is brought to market to treat headaches in 1960, and is the first multi-ingredient formulation headache treatment product.

Excedrin® Migraine contains three components: acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, which help target pain in different ways. Research has demonstrated that not only is this combination of ingredients effective in treating migraines, but it is also significantly more effective than the individual components alone.

The Excedrin® brand has been a leader in headache pain relief for more than 50 years. Select from a family of safe, effective, over-the-counter pain relievers for a range of headache types.

Credit: via GSK Consumer Health release. Around 433,600 bottles of Excedrin products are being recalled because some of the bottles may have a hole in the bottom. The plastic bottles pose a poisoning risk, if there's a hole, because a child may be able to get the caplets and swallow the painkillers.

Each tablet of Excedrin Migraine contains 65 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, 250 mg of acetaminophen, and 250 mg of aspirin. A regular adult dose (2 tablets) contains 130 mg of caffeine, roughly equal to an 8-12 ounce cup of coffee.

acetaminophen/aspirin/caffeine (OTC)

In the case of Excedrin, caffeine boosts the effects of aspirin and acetaminophen – making those medications up to 40% more effective. See the chart below for a breakdown of Excedrin Extra Strength vs. Tylenol® Extra Strength.

The antihistamine in this product may cause drowsiness, so it can also be used as a nighttime sleep aid. Antihistamines can also be used to help relieve allergy or cold symptoms such as watery eyes, itchy eyes/nose/throat, runny nose, and sneezing.