The IDENTICAL cold and flu medicines that cost an EIGHTH of the price

BUNGED up noses, headaches and sore throats can be the cause of the ultimate winter blues - but you could be paying up to EIGHT times as much on branded medicines that have the same ingredients as value ones.

We've taken a look at what cold and flu medicine is available on the high street and what ones are the best value for your wallet.

We compared the cheapest value medicines to branded ones with the lowest price that contain the same active ingredients - which means that both medications will do the same trick.

Where we could we compared like for like medications which have the same amount of pills in each packet. We then broke this down to find out how much each individual pill, sachet or 100ml costs, so they were all on a level playing field.

Knowing that you could be overpaying for your over-the-counter cold and flu medication will only make you feel worse, so before you reach for your go-to branded ones, here's how much you could save by switching.

Ibuprofen: Nurofen Ibuprofen Tablets 200mg (12) - £1.84, Morrisons Ibuprofen Coated Tablets 200mg (16) - 32p

You could be paying up to EIGHT times as much for a packet of branded ibuprofen.

A pack of 12 ibuprofen tablets will set you back £1.84 from Morrisons, while a pack of their own brand medicine will set you back just 32p.

That works out as 2p per pill from the value pack, but you'll be forking out 15.3p per pill for the Nurofen.

Paracetamol: Paradol Advance (16) - £1.70, Essential Waitrose Paracetamol Capsules (16) - 40p

We found that if you're reaching for the paracetamol to help with your headache, you could be paying up to FOUR times more than a value pack of pills with the same ingredient.

A pack of 16 Panadol paracetamol from Waitrose will set you back £1.70, but a packet of own brand paracetemol from the same supermarket will set you back only 40p.

Both medications contain 500mg of the same drug but you'll be saving £1.30 if you bought the value ones.

Cold and flu tablets: Lemsip Max Cold & Flu Capsules (8) - £2.40, ASDA Max Strength Sinus Relief Capsules (16) - £1.50

While most people's go-to cold and flu medication is Lempsip, you could actually be forking out almost three times as much on the branded pills.

Both the Lemsip max cold & flue capsules and the Asda max strength sinus relief capsules contain paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine but you'll be forking out more than three times as much for the branded ones.

The Lemsip pills cost 30p each while Asda own-brand ones cost just 9.4p each.

And even though a packet of Lempsip  costs 90p more than the value ones, you'll be getting less for your money as they contain only eight pills compared to 16.

Cold and flu sachets: Beechams Cold & Flu Hot Lemon and Honey (5) - £2.99, Boots own brand (10) - £2.99

Cold and flu sachets are medicines that you mix in with boiling water so you can drink them, rather than swallowing a tablet.

Even though both packets cost the same, the Boots Pharmaceuticals Max Strength Cold & Flu Relief Blackcurrant Flavour Powder for Oral Solution contain twice as many sachets as the branded ones.

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Although there are other sachets on the market that contain different active ingredients, we only looked at ones containing paracetamol and phenylephrine.

You may be paying twice as much for the branded medicine but they sachets do come in a different flavour to the value ones which may be worth the added cost to some people.

A spokesperson for Boots said that their range allows "customers to choose according to their own personal preference".

Decongestant nasal spray: Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray (15ml) - £3.70, Sainsbury's own brand (15ml) - £1.85,

When it comes to a blocked nose, nasal spray is one of the most effective ways of helping you breath properly again but you could save almost £2 by switching to a value brand from Sainsbury's.

The retailer is selling one made by specialists Vicks for £1.85 more than their own brand one which contains exactly the same active ingredient.

Although there are nasal sprays contain different ingredients on the market, we looked at ones containing oxymetazoline and hydrochloride.

The Sun Online reached out to all brands mentioned in the article.

It's no secret that branded medicine come at a far higher price compared to value or own brands.

Last year, the Sun Online found that buying big name medicine could be costing you up to SIXTEEN times more than non-branded alternatives.

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