Swallowing pills how to

[farfalle5]

Can anyone tell me how to get my child to swallow pills, we are practising with tic tacs and she is having problems swallowing the tic tacs?!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Farmwife]

Yes, Myreinhard did a thread on that. Her girl Rowen was three at the time.
I think she'll be along shortly...I hope.

So sorry to hear you girl is having problems.
Hugs to you both.

 

[farfalle5]

Thank you Farmwife

 

[farfalle5]

Thanks I will try to have her put water in her mouth first then the pill

 

[emmaaaargh]

Yeah I learnt how to swallow pills taking the water in my mouth first - can confirm it makes it LOADS easier! I still can't do it 'dry' but nobody seems to mind because all my friends think my Pentasa pills are HUGE haha!

I'm sorry that I don't have much advice on how to swallow pills - my first pill was a tiny iron tablet and I got so het up trying to swallow it that I... somehow swallowed it while panicking. I realized I'd done it and couldn't wait for my next dose so I could try again, because I knew I could do it!

I also can't swallow pills without tilting my head way back. I fill my mouth up with water, tilt my head back, drop the pill in and take some more water because it just won't go down without the use of gravity haha! I've never tried the chin down method, might have to try it tonight!

Hope she learns quickly

 

[my little penguin]

http://www.ccfa.org/resources/pill-swallowing-techniques.html

This what we used to teach DS.
Started with pieces of rice or tic tacs nerds etc
Moved on to mini m&ms
Then jelly beans
Then empty pentasa capsules
Then real pentasa.
It took over a week.
Good luck

 

[Crohn's Mom]

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=27190&highlight=swallowing+pills

Here's Myreinhard 's post on it

Good luck !
The only advice I have is to have patience, lots and lots of patience :heart:

 

[QueenGothel]

Thanks Crohn's Mom for the tag and the link saved me the trouble. It was defiantly a struggle but in the end they will thank you bc some of the liquids are nasty... Like iron and Flagyl Yuck. Best of luck you can do it. Lots of tears for a couple of days my all in all was successful and easier than I thought. Always have them drink first then pill then drink and drink drink. It will happen. Good luck

 

[my little penguin]

https://www.oralflo.com/Default.asp?
This is suppose to work as well

 

[crohnsinct]

UGH! Sorry no "real" advice here. Of course I don't know how old she is but you could wait till she is old enough and the cute male nurse comes in and he asks nicely and she complys. Or when your insurance says the chewable form isn't covered and it costs $100 more tell her she has to pay the difference...these worked for O after we paid for chewables for months...oh yeah we had a panic moment where she swallowed a pill by "accident" and realized it wasn't too bad also.

 

[farfalle5]

Thank you everyone for your response to my post!

 

[QueenGothel]

Keep us posted.

 

[farfalle5]

we are not having any luck and the dr wants her on the Asacol asap

 

[Farmwife]

Just keep trying.
I hope you see results sooner than later!
Keep up the good work.
:heart:It will get easier!:heart:

 

[QueenGothel]

Dip them in EVOO maybe. My DD also started on Asacol. It took a few days of doing it all day long. She hated when I had a pill and water in my hand. Keep trying. Keep an eye on her once your weening some kids get the rectal bleeding side effect from Asacol. We did and I know 2 other moms online that it made symptoms worse once weening Predisone. I hope it works. Get her to chug room temp water no straws, straight from a cup. Room temp is easier to gulp down.

 

[crohnsinct]

Oh no! So sorry. I am of no help here. My 13 year old still has a hard time. She would swallow water, jello, food anything and the pill would magically never go down. I swear I couldn't do that if I tried. It must be a talent of sorts.

One tip I got that I haven't seen mentioned here is have her chew a piece of bread and before swallowing stick the pill in her mouth. It is supposed to slide down with the bread but like I said with my daughter bread went down, pill stayed.

Is it a capsule or pill? Can you crush it and sprinkle it on something? Cut it in half and let her swallow two smaller pills?

Good Luck!

 

[AZMOM]

Claire started swallowing pills about a month after her fourth birthday. At the suggestion of my retired nurse mom , we started with mini m&ms because they are small, sweet & coated.

I know it doesn't work for everybody but its worth a shot.

J.

 

[LondonSnow]

My little sister doesn't have IBD or anything (touch wood) but when she needed some paracetamol for a cold she had (she hates oral suspensions) the way I got her past her fear was to get her to convince herself there was no pill.

I told her that when we swallowed food, there were usually still some solid chunks in there that didn't get mushed up properly as we chewed and she was in effect swallowing a pill whenever she ate. It's all in our mind, because we're trained to chew before we swallow, but I appealed to her rational side to accept that at such a small size it didn't matter at all.

Just put the pill on your tongue, and then imagine it's not there. There's no technique to it, no trick, no knack. Pill goes on tongue, and you drink the water exactly as you normally would.

Hole in one. (Geddit? :shifty-t: )

 

[farfalle5]

Myreinhard did the bleeding come from the Asacol or Prednison? My daughter is on the generic version of Presnisone and we are weening now. But the problem is the dr wants her on the Asacol while weening the Prednisone and she cannot swallow the Asacol. By the way my daughter has a little blood most times she has a bowel movement to begin with. I hope it does not get worse!

 

[FullM3lt]

When I was diagnosed (age 11) I practiced with m&m minis lol

 

[Jennifer]

I take my pills with whatever beverage is around. Generally if its something you like to drink and tastes good it will be easier especially with pills like Prednisone that are bitter to help hide the flavor. I leave a small pool or liquid in my mouth, tilt my head back, drop them all in and swallow. Practice makes perfect.

If your mind is too focused on the pill and not wanting to get it down your body will naturally prevent it from making its way down. Just gotta try and relax and try to not fear the pill getting stuck, or tasting funny or triggering your gag reflex.

If its a gag reflex issue then there are numbing throat sprays out there that might help get the pill/s down.

 

[QueenGothel]

Myreinhard did the bleeding come from the Asacol or Prednison? My daughter is on the generic version of Presnisone and we are weening now. But the problem is the dr wants her on the Asacol while weening the Prednisone and she cannot swallow the Asacol. By the way my daughter has a little blood most times she has a bowel movement to begin with. I hope it does not get worse!

The Asacol, the Predisone could hide the symptom (keep them at bay) until she is almost completely weened. Yes with all 5asas there is the risk of colitis-like symptoms. Not trying to scare you but I was told it was rare and I know a few kids that cannot take Any 5asas due to it exasperating the disease. Yes it takes Asacol time to work therefore they want them on it for a bit while weening the Predisone. Best to be aware of possible side effects, my DD wasn't symptomatic until we were at the final days of Pred ween. They never mentioned it I had to find out the hard way. I am assuming all of the inflammation is colonic, bc Asacol is more used for UC than Crohns bc of location.

I always have a back up plan, just wanted to also mention www.ldnscience.org there is also a lot of information in the treatment section here. One thing i have learned from this disease is always have a plan B. If the Asacol doesn't work what is the GIs plan B? 6mp? Remicade? LDN is difficult to get for Crohns bc it is off label prescribing.

 

[Brian'sMom]

My son was so determined to swallow the pills because he hated the taste of the liquids so badly. He gets a drink and holds it in his mouth...puts the pill in and swallows. I will agree with Crabby...he has trouble with the bitter pills like prednisone. He's so worried it'll get stuck that then one will!

 

[kimmidwife]

my daughter learned by putting it in jello. THat was how they taught her at the children's hospital.

 

[my little penguin]

Oooh I like the jello idea .
Too bad he can now swallow five at a time so no need to practice.
That may have made last years pill swallowing lessons a little easier.

 

[izzi'smom]

We went through bags of mini m&m's and plenty of sugary sweet flavored water for almost a week...dd never got the hang of it (I have no idea how a four year old can gag on an m&m lol!) and I quit trying. We never tried Asacol because of it and have gotten all of her other meds in liquid form. Hope you have better luck!!

 

[Twiggy930]

We also used the jello trick. We had a few pills come flying back at us in the beginning but now he can take a whole handful at once! He claims that prednisone is hideous and still uses jello to take it.