Tricks to swallowing pills

[David]

I've read a few posts from people who have trouble swallowing pills, especially some of the gigantic ones many of us are so blessed to take on a daily basis. I thought it might be interesting to create a thread where we share our tricks for swallowing pills. Mine:

Heat your water on the stove before you drink it. You don't need to get it all the way to boiling, just a warmth that is comfortable to drink. The warm water relaxes your throat and lets the pill just ooze on down with little if any difficulty. Cold water actually makes your throat constrict and I'm forever getting pills stuck that way.

Anyone else have some magical tricks?

 

[Rebecca85]

UK pentasa- put some water in your mouth and then pop a pill in and wait for it to break up before swallowing. Time consuming but the only way I can get them down!

 

[Zalanicht]

I just take everything at once. It seems to go down easier in one big batch. If I go one by one the big calcium one's especially always get caught up.

 

[Guest]

good thread!

i'm fine with most tabs/capsules, but those big ones i break in half if ever i have to take them... and i agree with the warm liquid - i generally take mine with my cup of tea once it's cooled a while.

for people who really do struggle swallowing tablets, try asking the doctor (or phamacist) if the drug is available in liquid or dispersible form.. it's surprising how many meds still are.

 

[Dexky]

Unlike most of you, I'm no expert, but I find I can swallow any size pill if I take them with a mouthful of ready to swallow food. EJ disagrees with me and takes his with ice water. He even puts ice in if it comes out of the 'fridge. It kills me to watch him though cause he gags on every one of 'em. Someday, I'll get him to try my method.

 

[sawdust]

I always take my medication about a 1/3 of the way through a meal, and always with plenty of water before, and after, swallowing the pill. Some of the meds I take need food to help with upset stomach, but I find that eating a bit first kind of "whets your whistle" and helps keep things moving.

I'm trying to drink at least a gallon of water these days, so I also make sure that I'm drinking from a glass or bottle with a large lip or mouth when taking the big pills. The 16oz bottles have a smaller opening that I find don't let me get enough water in one gulp, so I try to use a glass or a 1qt gatorade bottle with the larger opening.

 

[AbdoAlien]

Hello...I have a terrible time swallowing any pills and the only way I can do it is if I chew a bit of food and then put the pill in my mouth and swallow it all at once. It works for me, but kinda crappy when I don't have an appetite and still need to take my pills...I tried for years with all sizes of pills and liquid of all sorts, but they always get stuck in the back of my throat...

 

[scifi-enthusiast]

I take my morning pills with coffee (helps the taste of the pred) and gulp them down. When I don't have water in hand and have to take my lortab I build up saliva in my mouth and then pop it back.

 

[vonfunk]

a glass of milk of juice to hide the taste of the pred, failing that I chug water.

 

[effdee]

When I was first diagnosed, I couldn't swallow pills. I ground up the tablets (prednisone and sulfasalazine, at the time) with a mortar and pestle. My dad cooked up a thick, sweet syrup made with some Kool Aid mix. Put the powder in a medicine cup, add a bit of the syrup, swallow it as quickly as possible and chase it with something to get rid of the prednisone taste. You can't crush time released medication, though, so I had to swallow the Aciphex pills. They were smaller and went down easily in a bite of yogurt or applesauce.

I wish I came up with something better for having to drink iron. I can honestly say it tasted worse than prednisone. All I did was mix some Mountain Dew with it, chug it, then chase it. Almost gagged every time.

I don't have issues swallowing pills now. Just need a glass of water and maybe a bite of something if it's a larger pill to make sure it goes down.

 

[bry33]

ive never had any problem swallowing pills since i took allergy pills since i was 4 but i just pop the pill in my mouth put it under my tounge and then take a swig of water and flick my tounge so the pills slide down my throat ive also been playing reed instruments for a while so that kinda helps

 

[lmk1226]

I have never had trouble swallowing pills but I have been a pretty strict vegetarian for a while and don't like to swallow the gelatin capsules unless necessary. A lot of the capsules can just be dumped out into applesauce or something similar and then eaten in a spoonful. The ones with the little beads inside don't usually taste bad even if you dump them right into your mouth. I would just check with the doctor or pharmacist to make sure it is ok.

It wouldn't make swallowing pills any easier but I have also discovered that you can buy empty capsules at health food stores and put pred inside and you don't taste it at all. They dissolve instantly in your stomach so it doesn't effect the medicine at all. It takes a bit more time to put it in the capsules but in my opinion it is worth not having to deal with the taste.

 

[bushydougie]

I used to not be able to have tablets at all when I was younger but having horrific migraines helped make me learn!
I always have water in my mouth when I put the tablets in. It's not easy to start off with but it helps me to swallow them quickly. When I was on pred I'd cup my hand and put them in the middle of it and throw them in my mouth (full of water). This helped to stop the pred going onto my lips or Tongue as they taste so foul.