Same caffeine, no aspirin
Excedrin Tension Headache pairs 500 mg of acetaminophen with 65 mg of caffeine per caplet, according to its drug label, dropping the aspirin that Excedrin Extra Strength and Excedrin Migraine both contain. The caffeine dose is identical across all three products, 65 mg a caplet, 130 mg for the standard two-caplet dose, close to an 8 oz cup of drip coffee at USDA’s reference strength (95 mg).
The label allows more caplets than its siblings
This is where Tension Headache differs most: its label permits up to six caplets in 24 hours, more than Extra Strength’s eight-caplet ceiling would suggest per dose, but still well below it in caffeine, since Extra Strength’s maximum reaches 520 mg. At six caplets, Tension Headache tops out at 390 mg of caffeine a day, just under the 400 mg the FDA cites for healthy adults, before counting any coffee, tea or soda on top of it.
Before a second dose
The label warns against taking it with other acetaminophen-containing products, and to check with a doctor first for liver disease or several other conditions. Because the caffeine maximum sits right at the FDA’s daily figure, any other caffeine that day, even a single cup of coffee, pushes the total over it.
Where it fits against a single dose
A two-caplet dose, 130 mg, is under the 200 mg single dose EFSA assessed as safe for healthy adults. In pregnancy, where ACOG uses a 200 mg daily ceiling, one dose already uses most of the day’s allowance.