Chronic Illness on Sidechat | Does anyone have any tips on how to swallow pills? I’m getting put on meds soon and I still can’t swallow pills

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Chronic Illness 2d

Does anyone have any tips on how to swallow pills? I’m getting put on meds soon and I still can’t swallow pills

Anonymous 1d

i struggle with pills ! i always eat something with them . i take a big enough bite to cover the pill but not too big i cant swallow, chew the food, put the pill in the chewed up food and swallow! it helps a lot especially with nasty tasting pills

Anonymous 2d

smoothies… get something thick enough that you can’t feel it going down and put the pill on your tongue and then touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth to swallow it back

Anonymous 2d

I tilt my head back, put liquid in my mouth, drop the pills in, and then swallow. If I don’t do liquid first, pills consistently get stuck

Anonymous 2d

I think some medications can be requested to be “liquids” (idk if that’s the right medical terminology) if you tell your doctor or pharmacist about it

Anonymous 2d

when i first started taking pills as a kid my mom put them in pudding. i also take pills with those applesauce pouches now when i’m out and about and don’t have water and find that to be pretty easy too

Anonymous 2d

ask if they can be crushed or capsules opened and put into things like applesauce. one thing that helped me mentally (i used to barely be able to swallow pills and now i can swallow 3 large ones at once) was thinking about how much food i’m actually swallowing at once when i eat. it’s way bigger than any pill. so i focused on trying to swallow it like i do food.

Anonymous 1d

You can crush them and put them in juice or applesauce, I also find it easier to swallow if I drink both before and after to swallow them and not just when I’m taking the sip

Anonymous 2d

I put them in my mouth under my tongue and then take a swig of enough water to just swoosh the pills back into my throat and swallow without them touching my tongue

Anonymous 12h

I did until I was a teen and accidentally choked on some large fruit snacks. No one was home so I had to force myself to get it down my throat because I didn’t know how to shelf-Heimlich. Something rewired my brain in that moment and after that I could swallow pills. 😅 don’t try that, though!

Anonymous

#4 2d

just a note with this method, some pills float in my experience so when my heads back they hit my throat in a weird way. for the floating ones (usually the two part capsules) i tilt my head down a little when i swallow or not at all

Anonymous

#4 2d

i second this. i've been taking pills since i was 6 years old, liquid first. my mother taught me how to get better at swallowing pills but using dried peas as practice. you can do it with any dried bean, a jellybean, or anything food that is pill shaped really

Anonymous

#7 2d

tipping your head back can help position the pill at the back of your throat, but try not to tip your head back when you actually swallow bc it increases the chance of the pill sticking to your throat. also learning how to swallow helped me. you want everything you’re swallowing held together on top of your tongue and to swallow push your tongue against the roof of your mouth and make sure none of the rest of your face is “helping” you swallow. lots of ppl don’t swallow correctly (me before omt)

Anonymous

#1 1d

I get some as patches and disintegrating tablets too

Anonymous

#8 1d

yess meds are usually widely available as liquids, but most most can be crushed up and put into juice, yogurt, applesauce etc. and if not they can likely be compounded into liquids (insurance may not cover compounding though). other forms of meds i've had are nasal spray, suppository, patch, injection, orally disintegrating tablets

Anonymous

#9 1d

Ask your doc/pharmacist first, not everything can be crushed or opened

Anonymous

#10 19h

I second the food trick. It’s the only way I can ever swallow pills, since it tricks my brain into thinking it’s just food

Anonymous

#6 18h

It’s very important to check with your doctor before crushing up solid pills!! Sometime solid pills need to be delayed release and therefore won’t work or can be harmful crushed up

Anonymous

#4 7h

I can’t do it with my head tilted back. I try to imagine myself just regularly swallowing something like I’m eating. I don’t tilt my head back during the usual meal or whatever. That psyches me out more. But i definitely do liquid first bc some pills stick to the tongue without water and taste nasty

Anonymous

#15 6h

The angle of my head when swallowing is like when you’re chugging a water bottle