Swallowing pills

[DawnM]

Just a curious poll for a Saturday morning.

 

I see people pop pills in their mouth and just swallow and I have no idea how they do that without any sort of drink.  

 

I can only swallow one pill at a time, and only with a drink.

 

Multiple choice allowed.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by DawnM

[DawnM]

It takes practice. Its tough if they start with a horse pill. Eventually they learn where to place it and swallow. I would recommend instructing with a larger vitamin.

 

No, this isn't about anything but sensory issues.    We have tried everything.  TicTacs, etc....

 

I was curious about how those on the board swallow pills and how many and with what.

[Tammyla]

I can swallow a small pill without a drink, but prefer to do it with a drink.  With a drink I can swallow more than one small pill, but with a horse size pill I need one at a time and water.

 

For the 16 y/old option

 

They make a pill swallowing cup, you can find it on-line or in the pharmacy.  It has a little raised ledge and you fill the bottom of the cup and just tip it and drink it.

Practice with mini- M&Ms easy and no gross out factor

Take a sip first and then pop the pill quickly with the drink

Try placing the pill in yogurt

[kewb]

One pill at a time and with water.

Dh can take a lot of pills at once with water.

My son can swallow pills with water but prefers applesauce.

My daughter still has great difficulty swallowing a pill with water. It is a total mental thing. She can do it with water if she really has to but she goes for the applesauce.

Edited June 11, 2016 by kewb

[JennyD]

I have a terrible time swallowing pills.  The most helpful trick for me so far has been to take a bite of food first (a bit of bread works well), eat that, drink some water, then put the pill in and swallow with more water.  Deep breathing and trying to get myself psyched up beforehand also help.  Even so, it doesn't always work, and anything other than a small pill is a total no-go.

 

 

[SporkUK]

I've been told not to take pills without a drink - something about potential damage to the throat. I probably take more than a lot of people though and that may be certain types, but I've been specifically warned to always take them with a drink or liquidy foods. 

 

When I was little and broke my collarbone, my mother put the pills in jello to help me take them because of how I gagged otherwise. I think that was also done with pudding. It needed to be slippery, thick, and strongly flavoured for me to get past the pill. My 11 year old and 9 year old, who are much older than I was, still takes dissolve in your mouth tablets -- for the 11 year old they are the only ones that work [the liquid versions make his nauseous, the pills make him gag].  

[purpleowl]

I can swallow two at a time if they're small, sometimes up to the size of a Tylenol tablet but sometimes I need to do those one at a time. Anything bigger than that, definitely one at a time.

 

Always with something to drink. DH swallows pills without a drink, and I have no idea how he does it.

[shawthorne44]

I am a horrible pill swallower.   One day I was visiting my parents and I took a pill while on the couch, my Dad said, "That is the colic face!"   Apparently I make the same face swallowing a pill as I did when I had colic as a baby.  Fortunately, many vitamins are available powdered now if they aren't chewable.  

 

I need a bunch of water, preferably milk to swallow a pill.  Milk can satisfy the "take with food" requirement.  

 

I, too, never understood the swallowing pills dry thing.  

[wapiti]

For those with sensory issues, I recommend this video series for learning to swallow pills:

 

http://research4kids.ucalgary.ca/pill-study

 

There are a few things that my ds often forgets - capsules tend to float, so sometimes it's easier to keep the head level, whereas solid large pills tend to sink, so it may be easier to tilt upward more before swallowing.

[Tap]

I have Sjogrens,( auto immune/ makes my mouth very dry).  i can swallow a couple small pills, easier than I can swallow one larger one.  I use a non-carbonated drink to take pills. I have a hard time taking a larger pill, and will gag on them. Quite often a larger pill, will start to go down my throat and then be ejected.  I attribute it to my sjogrens and the fact that my throat is often a bit dry, combined with a strong gag reflex.

 

DD17 can use a drink to take pills, but prefers to taker her pills with food.  She chews the food (usually a cracker), tosses in the pill and swallows all at once.

 

DD9 can take a pile of pills at once.  She routinely taks 5+ pills at a time, in a bite of applesauce.  She can take a pill with water, but prefers applesauce since she takes so many every day.

[Lady Florida.]

I can swallow several at a time unless they're big. I need not just a drink but a drink of water. I can force myself to swallow pills with some other liquid if necessary, but my first choice is water. There's something about swallowing pills with a drink that has flavor that makes it difficult for me. 

[hornblower]

I can swallow dry (though as someone said above, it's not recommended) & if they're small to medium I can do multiples at a time. 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is to drink a bit before putting the pill in the mouth. You don't want a dry mouth / throat. If the mouth & throat are already a bit wet and lubricated and the peristaltic action has begun, swallowing goes way easier. 

So take a drink, then the pills, then more drink. With some pills, a bit of food right after is better to push it down. Just one or two mouthfulls so it doesn't linger in the esophagus & it clears any residual flavour from your mouth faster. 

[lailasmum]

I can swallow multiple pills at once with water really easily which is useful because I take multi-pill supplements. A single pill is much much harder. 

[PeachyDoodle]

I can swallow multiple pills at once, even larger ones, but I need a good gulp of water to do it.

 

It took me a long time to learn. I remember having a severe case of strep throat and double ear infections when I was 12. The doctor tried to get me to take an antibiotic in pill form in the ER because it was stronger/quicker acting than the liquid. I could. not. do. it. I ended up begging for a shot instead. Of course, the strep made swallowing torture, and it scarred me for a very long time.

 

I still have to make a concerted effort to "expand" my throat when I'm swallowing a pill. I can never just do it as if I were swallowing a drink or bite of food.

[heartlikealion]

I've always had trouble with pills, but it's gotten easier. I still would have a pill turn the wrong direction on me sometimes when I was taking some that were a little on the large side (several months ago). I think I once read that being tongue tied could affect my ability to swallow pills easily. That actually gave me some comfort in a weird way, like oh ok, so it's not just me.

 

When I had to take one or two pills before a surgery (wisdom teeth) I was only allowed like a tsp of water and I threw that pill up.

[JFSinIL]

I voted "other" simply because I can not see how folks just pop a pill in and swallow it, with or without a drink.  I can only swallow a pill if I reach back and pop it as far back as I can.  Slipping it daintily into my mouth just won't work. 

[SKL]

I voted that I need a drink to swallow pills, but honestly, I don't think I've tried it without a drink.  I just do it the way my mom taught me.  :P  I don't take many pills though.

[SKL]

I do have a friend who takes her pills in gummy bear form since she finds it extremely hard to take pills the regular way.

[stephanier.1765]

I don't have the patience to take my pills one at a time so I just toss them all in regardless of size. I do need a sip of water. It doesn't have to be a lot of water so a sip will do.

[rebcoola]

I just toss them in and swallow no water needed which is nice when I am out and about.

[KungFuPanda]

I chose other. I'm sure I'm physically able to take multiple pills, or to swallow one without water, but I can't imagine why I would do either.

[Debbi in Texas]

No, this isn't about anything but sensory issues.    We have tried everything.  TicTacs, etc....

 

I was urious about how those on the board swallow pills and how many and with what.

 

It may be easier to swallow pills with milk or buttermilk. However, I use water now or whatever I happen to be drinking at the time. Have your ds to put the liquid in his mouth, tip his head back and drop in the pills. Swallow with head still back. The pills may never touch his tongue this way.

 

Hope it works.

[J-rap]

I can swallow two fish oil tablets at once, but need water.  My dh can swallow probably 4 at a time, dry.  The one time I tried to swallow a pill dry was when I was traveling and it was some kind of medicine.  It stuck somewhere in my throat and for the rest of the day I had heartburn.  

[fdrinca]

I can swallow a frightening number of large pills at one time. I didn't realize this was unusual until DH pointed it out. (I'm talking: multivitamin, three fish oils, two vitamin D capsules, two larger capsules with thyroid support, two more with milk thistle...at once.) I do require water :) 

 

So sadly, I think this is possible because I spent my college years as a bulimic, and have huge control over my gag reflex. 

 

DH can swallow one small pill at a time, with great effort and an 8 ounce glass of water. I think it's cute, but if he ever requires serious meds as he ages, it could become an all-day situation. 

[AnnE-girl]

I can take more than one small pill at once if I have water. Large pills have to be one at a time. The worst were my prenatal vitamins that, if I didn't swallow fast enough, would start dissolving with the most disgusting flavor. My big kids still talk about that time last summer when my vitamins made me "get sick" right before breakfast.

[gardenmom5]

for dudeling- it depends what he is drinking. He prefers chocolate milk. it is  the ONLY time he drinks it.  I make half a glass, and he hardly drinks any of it.

when he'd take them with water - he was more likely to gag and throw them back up.

[DawnM]

It may be easier to swallow pills with milk or buttermilk. However, I use water now or whatever I happen to be drinking at the time. Have your ds to put the liquid in his mouth, tip his head back and drop in the pills. Swallow with head still back. The pills may never touch his tongue this way.

 

Hope it works.

 

The reason I deleted my comment about my son in the post is because honestly we have tried everything.  We have decided to make it a non issue for now.  It was just too stressful to work with him.

 

While I appreciate the suggestions, there is seriously nothing we have not already tried.

[TravelingChris]

I take lots of pills a day (I have a few chronic conditions and they all need medications, most multiple medications).  I always have a drink but I do swallow the small pills in groups of two or three.  The large pills and capsules are swallowed alone and after the little-middling pills.  I don't drink water since that triggers nausea for me when combined with medication swallowing.  I drink milk, coffee or juice.

[Cinder]

I wasn't sure on your definition of smaller, and I voted before I read any replies so I counted being able to swallow 2 tylenol caplets at once as "smaller". I must have water to swallow pills, though; even the teeny tiny Claritins.

[VaKim]

I *can* swallow a pill without a drink, but always take a drink after, so it doesn't get stuck. I sort of close my throat, flatten my tongue, lean my head back, and drop the pill to the back. Then swallow. Not sure that makes any sense though. I can also hold the pill back there where it lands and even talk (no that I need to very often) before swallowing. 

[Lawana]

For me, it depends greatly on the coating of the pill. I hate dry tablets, especially large ones. But for smooth coated pills, I am with pp who has an easier time swallowing a handful than just one.

[Tanaqui]

We have tried everything.  TicTacs, etc....

 

Did you start with tictacs? When we taught the younger kiddo earlier this year, we started with sprinkles. Even those were hard for her at first! Then we moved to nerds, then mini m&ms, and then tictacs - but each candy took at least a week of daily practice. (And then we did skittles, and finally jelly belly jelly beans. We decided that's about as big of a pill as she's likely to need in her life We just didn't want to have to keep on getting liquid tylenol for her.)

[Peaceful Isle]

I hate taking pills. I will look for gummies, chewable, powder to add to your drink...

[Guest]

I can do a big handful of pills, even large sizes. Just give me a glass of water :)

[Gentlemommy]

I have a strong gag reflex. I can swallow small capsules pill (if I smell them first, it's a no go, so no big tablets of vitamins) one at a time, preferably with a juice or iced tea. Not water.

[Meriwether]

I can do many pills with some of them being large if I have water. I can swallow one or two small ones without water.

[scoutingmom]

I can't see the poll...

 

I can take a few at a time but must have a drink. I discovered the hard way that I have a very hard time doing pills with a water fountain though!

 

Only my oldest has taken pills, He was about 11. The pills are tiny and he still sometimes has a hard time at 12.

 

I think one thing is that when I was a kid, there didn't seem to be children's medicines especially chewables. I don't remember having anything other than asprin, which my parents would cut to 1/4 dose (or 1/2 when I was older)... so I could swallow pills at the age of 3. (Yes, I am sure of the age.... whole story on that.)

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[nd293]

I see people pop pills in their mouth and just swallow and I have no idea how they do that without any sort of drink.

 

Dry swallowing tablets is potentially very dangerous - don't try it! My daughter hurt herself doing this, and when I read up on the potential damage... As it was she needed a liquid/soft diet for several days before she could eat without severe pain.

[nd293]

I taught my son to swallow tablets when he was quite young, 5 or 6 because he had the reverse reaction - liquid Tylenol always made him vomit. For a year or so we had a pattern whenever he got any sort of illness: fever, headache, Tylenol, vomit. In desperation I introduced him to tablets broken into quarters and that seemed to bypass the vomit stage. It was really odd.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I can do a whole handful of pills(I take 10 different pills at least once a day, usually same time, only way I remember) as long as I have a drink, without a drink I can do 1 small pill but only if I really need it (bp meds).

 

 

If it matters....

2 of the pills are larger, metformin and a zinc/calcium/magnesium.  The rest are middle to small sized.  

 

Edited June 12, 2016 by foxbridgeacademy

[SproutMamaK]

Wasn't quite sure how to answer since I fall in to multiple categories that seem mutually exclusive. I can swallow multiple large pills if I have a drink. If I don't have a drink, I can't swallow any large pills but can swallow multiple small pills.

[Peach]

I need a drink but mt teenager can swallow multiples dry and he takes a big bcomplex and 1.5 Keppra tablets at a time and those are all horse pills. The girls, on the other hand, have a hard time getting down a tiny benadryl with water. My grandmother was like my son - she could dry swallow 4 aspirin without a second thought.

[vonfirmath]

Just a curious poll for a Saturday morning.

 

I see people pop pills in their mouth and just swallow and I have no idea how they do that without any sort of drink.  

 

I can only swallow one pill at a time, and only with a drink.

 

Multiple choice allowed.

 

This is me. I used to struggle to take a pill at all (basically had to throw it back so far it hit my gag reflex, then I swallowed.). My then-fiance showed me how to do it with a drink and I am better at taking pills now, but still one at a time.