# Can anyone tell me... What is BC Powder?



## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

The book I'm currently reading, A Little Death in Dixie, has referred to BC Powder a few times and I don't know what that is.        It's not TOO distracting, I am guessing it's a health remedy of some sort (like asprin) from the context, but it would be wonderful to know for sure.  Thanks!!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

http://www.bcpowder.com/buynow.aspx


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

LOL!  I don't know WHY it didn't occur to me to google it.  Thanks Jeff!


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I know people who like to mix it in with Coke or Pepsi and drink it down. They say it works a lot faster that way.

Linda


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

SongbirdVB said:


> LOL! I don't know WHY it didn't occur to me to google it. Thanks Jeff!


When I was a kid, BC was one of the big sponsors of old-time radio dramas. They had numerous and extremely annoying jingles that got stuck in your head. I wasn't sure if they were still in business so I Googled.


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

I wonder why I've never seen it?  Is it a southern thing?  I see it says you can get it at Costco... I'll have to look.  Mixing with Coke sounds interesting.  If it will kill a headache I'll try anything!


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I never heard of headache powder until I lived in North Carolina. It has the same ingredients as over the counter pain pills, but in a powder form. It tastes terrible and I don't get why it is so popular down south.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

"Tell your headache to take a powder!"

They were still singing that in Tv ads when I was a little kid.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Whenever I hear 'headache powder', I think of something you sprinkle on your head.


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

swolf said:


> Whenever I hear 'headache powder', I think of something you sprinkle on your head.


LOL! I don't think sprinkling it on your head would work. Although I have seen some kind of balm that you are supposed to rub on your temples to cure a headache. Don't remember the name of it... Wolf Spit? Bear Grease? I'm sure someone will have heard of it.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

BC Powder is great for hangovers, too...or so I'm told


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

RorySM said:


> After several agonizing months my mom agreed to give me the car and put the remaining half of the packets on the normal shelf. Only very, very old people bought the stuff and most of them expired before we could sell them.
> .


The people or the packets?


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

I've taken BC and/or Goody powders before, like if I had a headache and/or flu and it was the only thing available, like at my grandparents' house.  I was taught to dump it way down the back of your throat, then take a swig of coke.  Bleh.  I didn't quite ever get the hang of doing it right, so usually I would dump it then inhale.  Believe me, the godawful taste of it is a walk in the park compared to what it feels like once it's in your lungs.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

MaryMcDonald said:


> The people or the packets?


I had the exact same thought.
deb


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

RorySM said:


> It was some type of nascar car sponsorship deal and it had the little blue packets in the car and a mascot guy named "Speedy."


You sure you're not confusing this with the Speedy Alka-seltzer guy?


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

R. Reed said:


> I never heard of headache powder until I lived in North Carolina. It has the same ingredients as over the counter pain pills, but in a powder form. It tastes terrible and I don't get why it is so popular down south.


One word - NASCAR. They're a big sponsor.

My Dad swears by BC Powder and Goody's Powder (also a headache powder, NASCAR sponsor and big in the South). I can't stand either. Dad says I just need to pour it down the back of my throat and then drink some Coke. I've tried, but I always end up breathing some up the back of my nose.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

SongbirdVB said:


> LOL! I don't think sprinkling it on your head would work. Although I have seen some kind of balm that you are supposed to rub on your temples to cure a headache. Don't remember the name of it... Wolf Spit? Bear Grease? I'm sure someone will have heard of it.


It's called Head-On and I dare BC powder to have ever had a more annoying commercial. This isn't edited at all except to string three commercials together. I'm pretty sure I've seen one where they say it even more times. The second one is edited though


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah. . .that stuff is a little silly.  I've no doubt medication can be absorbed through the skin. . . but having forehead skin absorb it doesn't mean it's going to get into the blood stream and work any faster on a headache. . . . .Give me ibuprofen any day!


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Makes me glad the makers of Head-on don't make Viagra.  Imagine those commercials.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

R. Reed said:


> I never heard of headache powder until I lived in North Carolina. It has the same ingredients as over the counter pain pills, but in a powder form. It tastes terrible and I don't get why it is so popular down south.


'cause it works faster, IMO. BC Powder will knock a headache out like THAT :snaps fingers:

However - I gotta say that mixing it with a drink - EEEEWWW. Disgust. Better, in my opinion, to put it on the back of your tongue (like they tell you to do) and then swallow it, and then CHASE it with whatever drink.

As for taste - imagine biting into an aspirin. Real aspirin, not a Tylenol or something. Ick.

But I do like BC. Fast-acting, and I can't imagine it not being able to lick a headache, no matter how bad. Maybe if it's a migraine.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

So. . . . .is it salicylic acid, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen?  Or a combination?


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

Just checked the FAQ for original Formula - Says Aspirin and Caffeine. Inactive ingredients: docusate sodium, fumaric acid, lactose monohydrate, potassium chloride 


Goody's Powder appears to also contain Acetaminophen as an active ingredient.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Bayer came out with a similar product a year or two ago called Bayer Quick Release Crystals.  They contain 850mg of aspirin and 65mg of caffiene.  They really do work faster (even on a migraine).  I think it must be because you don't have to wait for it to dissolve in your stomach and travel, it works more like a sublingual pill.  I think the only reason they aren't more widely known or used it because they taste so horrible.  The Bayer at least  has an orangey taste (like baby aspirin maybe?).

I also started keeping some in my purse and have used it once when a gentleman was having a heart attack/stroke at bowling and his daughter was trying to get him to chew or swallow an aspirin (as the dr. had told them to while waiting for the ambulance).  She was able to pour the crystals in his mouth and they dissolved without him having to chew or swallow.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

swolf said:


> Makes me glad the makers of Head-on don't make Viagra. Imagine those commercials.


What do you mean? Please explain... I dare you.


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

> It tastes terrible and I don't get why it is so popular down south.


Because it works really fast--either Goody's or BC--and mixed with Coke it doesn't taste that bad.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I tried it just once, and drank water. No one told me to drink Coke.
I do find it curious that a product that is advertised on TV and available in many stores is never heard of in half the country. The same corporations make it as make pain pills. Of course, that's true of grits, instant grits, and some other products too. NASCAR, since I lived in Charlotte, has made the jump to more national awareness, and that's not an improvement to our culture if you ask me.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

I was suddenly reminded of Doan's Little Pills.  I remember seeing commercials as a kid, but I imagine that's another one that's in the OTC museum by now.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

drenfrow said:


> I was suddenly reminded of Doan's Little Pills. I remember seeing commercials as a kid, but I imagine that's another one that's in the OTC museum by now.


With Carter's Little Liver Pills.


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## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

BC and Goody powders are much more palatable with a milk chaser.  But then, I love milk...someone who doesn't might not agree.  But I've had them with milk chasers and with coke chasers, and the milk is much better, IMO.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

One tip - always pour your chaser into a separate glass (as opposed to drinking from the bottle / jug / carton / can).  Nothing will ruin a gallon of milk like having aspirin powder get mixed into it.  Ick!  Yes, I admit I'm a slob - I drink from the carton ;-)


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Yeah. . .that stuff is a little silly. I've no doubt medication can be absorbed through the skin. . . but having forehead skin absorb it doesn't mean it's going to get into the blood stream and work any faster on a headache. . . . .Give me ibuprofen any day!


Yeah, it would work much better as a rectal suppository. What would be its name then??


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## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

Arkali said:


> One tip - always pour your chaser into a separate glass (as opposed to drinking from the bottle / jug / carton / can). Nothing will ruin a gallon of milk like having aspirin powder get mixed into it. Ick! Yes, I admit I'm a slob - I drink from the carton ;-)


LOL! Very true, I'm sure! Actually, until this thread I'd never even thought of mixing with anything else...I've always just dumped the powder on the back of my tongue and then downed the milk as fast as I could.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

ReeseReed said:


> LOL! Very true, I'm sure! Actually, until this thread I'd never even thought of mixing with anything else...I've always just dumped the powder on the back of my tongue and then downed the milk as fast as I could.


Me, too  Like I said, I learned real quick to pour my chaser into a glass. Whole gallon of milk was ruined


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

That's it, I'm never letting Arkali take a drink from my bottle... he/she (?) backwashes!


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## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

LOL, okay, I finally "got" this gallon of milk thing...I hadn't thought of the powder slipping back into the gallon..ewww!!  Having to pour out a whole gallon would have really irked me too...that stuff is crazy expensive (and we go through it like water here!)


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

911jason said:


> That's it, I'm never letting Arkali take a drink from my bottle... he/she (?) backwashes!


I's a "she" 

And I know, right? Horrible. Not on purpose, I assure you. Honestly, I think everyone does, to some extent. In my defense, I only drink out of my own bottles, and as I've gotten older I've generally get a glass.



> LOL, okay, I finally "got" this gallon of milk thing...I hadn't thought of the powder slipping back into the gallon..ewww!! Having to pour out a whole gallon would have really irked me too...that stuff is crazy expensive (and we go through it like water here!)


:nods sadly: I was a poor college kid at the time, too. It was enough to make me want to cry.


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