To ask how you swallow tablets?

[GarlicBreadStan]

For as long as I can remember (I'm 27, if that matters) I've had real issues with swallowing tablets. I can swallow my contraceptive pill absolutely fine, but anything bigger than that and I really do struggle. I often end up with the tablet dissolving in my throat, or I gag when trying to swallow it even with water. I've had to result in taking Calpol before because it was just easier. Because of my difficulty with swallowing tablets, I often don't take painkillers and just suffer through pain (and I have a migraine at least twice a month).

How do you take tablets or, if you can't, do you get prescribed/buy liquid painkillers?

Thank you x

P.S. sorry for saying the word "swallow" so many times :s

I find swallowing massive pills easier with a fizzy drink.

Fizzy water or drink can help. Also try tablet on tongue, sip of drink, and then tilt chin towards your chest to swallow- it's meant to help the tablet pass more easily to the back of the throat to swallow it.

My husband struggles and puts lots of water in mouth which I find weird and I'm sure that's the issue. Pop table on back of tongue, then swig a bit of water and swallow. I no longer buy circle shaped tablets as they're harder.

My ds struggles a bit. We find a fizzy drink easier to take the tablets.

I think the trick is to ‘not swallow the tablet’ - ie put it in your mouth and have a drink. I found that when I stopped trying to position the tablet exactly right, trying to lean back, etc, and just chucked the tablet in my mouth and had a drink, it went down easily.

So, have a few sips of water so your mouth isn’t dry, chuck in the tablet, then drink two or three times from a mug of water. Don’t fill your mouth with a load of water then swallow because all you’re doing then is floating the tablets around, which makes them more likely to catch in your throat. The water should be a normal gulp and go straight down.

Practice makes perfect. I can swallow 3 - 5 tablets in one go now. It’s the way you drink that’s the key (see above).

Practice and teaching yourself its possible, to take the fear and tension away. Because that's the problem, nothing physical unless you have a condition that makes it physical.
Get a pill cutter and cut a pill into small slithers. Practise with a vitamin pill. Swallow tiny pieces and increase the size gradually when you're able to manage each size.

I can't advise on the swallowing issue but you could drink a lemsip to get paracetamol

This way for me too. Huge gulp and then push the tablet through your mouth gap!

I used to try tablet first but it used to dry to the back of my tongue

I don’t know why this works, but a tip I read on MN seems to for me - I tip my head slightly back but also a bit sideways as I swallow the drink plus pill.

My mum was on quite a few tablets at one stage and I used to be in awe of how she just flung them in her mouth and swallowed them with a glug of tea or water. I think I have a sensitive gag reflex because I really struggle. Sometimes when I take a big mouthful of water, then push the tablet in with the water still in my mouth, that works quite well, but other times I swallow and the water goes down, leaving the tablet on the back of my tongue, then the bitter taste makes me gag violently. I feel like such a baby over this and am generally good with other stuff like injections and blood tests or a bit of temporary discomfort or pain. Am going to try yoghurt. Never thought of that!

Hi OP. I have this issue too. It’s not uncommon but is often minimised by others. I am autistic ADHD and I would be gagging at the idea of a pill.

I use nurofen meltlets, soluble paracetamol, have pill cutter and crusher if I really need to use it, and for my ADHD capsules, I open them up and sprinkle the contents in yogurt.

It’s one of those issues I’ve accepted I’ll never fix, so I work with it rather than constantly stress myself.

When I had chemo for breast cancer I flatly refused big pills and they found me infusion replacements instead. There are enough products out there for people that struggle so you’ll be fine.

I have always been like this trying to take tablets make me gag and then I’m sick.
recently I have had to take a lot of antibiotics and even trying with milk is not working.
i have found something that works now, it the frijj milkshake drink by muller. It is so thick I can’t even feel the tablet going down.
this has been amazing for me as I have spent years gagging being sick not able to take tablets.
it is only that one type of milkshake drink though as others aren’t thick enough.
if you can I would really recommend trying that

I rarely use water before or after, can you practice with small bits of food that don’t have the taste. Cut it small , don’t chew?

I put the tablet on the back of my tongue and have a big drink of water. You can practice the technique with Skittles or Smarties. It's just about getting over the fear of it dissolving or not going down.

The secret for me is multiple gulps of water. If I just take one gulp, the tablet tends to get stuck.
I now just pop the tablet on my tongue, and then drink as I would if I was really thirsty, so at least three consecutive gulps of water. It makes a massive difference.

Its often psychological. You swallow bigger boluses of food so its not the size of the pill per se.

Liquids can actually be more difficult to manage swallowing than solids (older people often have to be given thickened liquids to reduce choking/aspirating.

Try cutting pills in half with a pill cutter then put it in a tea spoon of peanut butter or nutella.

Exactly. Always liquid first👍

Completely agree. My gps have always looked up liquid, soluble or crushable tablets for me. Sometimes harder to get hold of, ie might have to wait a few days, but there are usually alternatives out there.

I would do this but I hate the taste of lemsip 😂 good tip in general though!

I'm potentially autistic as well (waiting for an assessment) and I find it really hard to get over obstacles like the tablet one I'm dealing with. I am going to see if I can find liquid painkillers. Or I'll just keep using my son's Calpol 😂

I take 7 pills a day - two big ones that I take separately and 5 small/medium ones I take all together.

Best tip - use something fizzy.

Take a small mouthful.

push the pills in.

This gives the fizzy drink time to coat the pills with small bubbles.

Now take a BIG drink - imagine you’ve got to get the drink down as fast as possible - and the pills should float down your throat.

If the tablet is hard, take a big glue of water and pop it in and head back and swallow.

If the tablet it a plastic capsule, take a gulp of water, pop it in and put your head down - this makes the tablet float to the back of your throat and will make it much easier to swallow.

I read this tip in a book and it was a game changer for me. Before you swallow the water and pill, clench your teeth, or make sure the the top teeth are touching the bottom teeth. When you do this, it seems to open the throat, and the tongue does the work. It made it so much easier!
If it's in capsule form I tilt my head down and if it's a hard tablet I tilt my head back.

I think the Nurofen meltlets are the way to go! I don't particularly like lemon, but I prefer it over the chalky taste of tablets.

Weirdly, I don't have much of an issue taking liquid ibuprofen capsules. I genuinely think it's the chalkiness and size of paracetamol that causes me problems.

Also, taking tablets and eating food are not equatable. You chew food, and it's soft enough to swallow. You don't chew tablets, and they're certainly not soft, either.

For comparison, I have over 15 tattoos (I've lost count!) but I am scared of blood tests because of the needle.

Please, some of you, stop trying to minimise other people's struggles.

For those of you who offered genuine advice, thank you! It is much appreciated :)

Tablets under tongue, water in mouth and swallow. Not too much water or it'll all swish around too much. I can do 7 tablets at once quite easily.

And I have a very shallow gag reflex- not uncommon for me to gag whilst brushing teeth or at the dentist.

I think it's a thinking issue rather than a physical one. Think about how large mouthfuls of food are that you swallow- yes they are chewed but each swallow probably has much more than a pill sized amount.