medicine for dd who can't take tablets

[steppemum]

dd is 15. She can't swallow tablets.
We have really tried to teach her, but she can't.
She has poor peristalsis at the back of her throat because she had oesophagal stricture as a child, and I think that they are connected and she cannot physically swallow the tablet past the weak point.

She also is quite sensory sensitive, especially to taste, so she can take calpol melts (chewable) but not disolvable paracetamol tablets as the liquid tastes bad.

But I have been wondering what she will do for any other medications? Are there alternatives available for people who can't swallow? Do I need to get this somehow put more officially on her medical file so that she has access to other types of medicine?

How many tablets can actually be chewed? How do you find out of a capsule can be opened and put on a spoon on jam, or if it has to disolve in the stomach?

She is currently in need of iron and we have tried 2 liquid iron supplements and they both taste too bad for her to take. So any bright ideas there welcome too!

Talk to a dispensing pharmacist, they are experts on which meds. Also potentially speak to her gp because one day she may need to

Have you tried the apple flavour spatone for the iron?

My mum had a stricture and couldn't swallow anything that wasn't liquid. We managed to get all of her (many) medications in liquid form. Some where easier to source than others. Every time she is prescribed anything, you just need to ask for the liquid version.

thank you that is interesting that liquid forms exist for everything.

Do you need to prove anythign for that? Or can you just request it?
And does it need to be in the initial prescription or can the pharmacist just give you the liquid version?

I will look for the spatone, thanks

They're often reluctant to prescribe liquids because they're much more expensive. My DS needs a liquid form of something and they won't prescribe it until he's had a good go on the tablets which dissolve in water. We were also told the GP can't prescribe it, it has to come from the hospital. Is your DD any any medical profession at a hospital who could sort things out for her?

You can get iron drops (ironorm) which don’t taste nice but are a smaller volume.
Ask your pharmacist for info on crushing or dissolving medicines, but if she needs liquids then this should be on the prescription to start with.
Look at pill school on Kidzmed and see if any of the advice is helpful but ultimately if she has a physical issue with swallowing then it won’t help.

Have you tried putting the tablet in youghurt instead of liquid?

You can get iron supplements in the form of a spray. BetterYou is one brand

that makes sense.
She is no longer under anyone at the hospital. She had a lot of treatment as a toddler, but has been signed off since she stopped needing medical treatment aged 2.5.
The oespophagal stricture caused her a few problems through primary school, but it got less and less and by the time she went to secondary we didn't even have a nurse/care plan and no longer needed to tell people (like when she went on a residential)

She is willing to try any disolvable /chewable etc, so would be happy to try that first, it is just tablets that she can't get past that point at the back of her throat.

Interesting that it can only be requested by the hospital, that suggests that we might have trouble getting in, despite her clear history.

Apart from iron, she doesn't need anything right now, I am sort of trying to put it in place in case she does in the future.

Interestingly I know quite a few meds can be crushed. According to google (!) you can for example crush ibuprofen tablets, (and then take them with a spoon of food) she would be fine to do that.

Just wanted to give you a glimmer of hope as this was my dd at that age.
She just kept trying every now and then, and is now 21 and can swallow tablets just fine.

I know how frustrating it can be as a parent when you just want them to swallow the damn thing. We tried everything at that age but nothing worked.
But somehow a couple of years later she got there.

To teach her to swallow?

Doesn't work, yoghurt goes down, tablet comes back!

We have been through many packets of tic tacs trying to learn !

Oh I'll have a look.

Snozzlemaid thanks but she actually has damage at the back of her throat which means the peristalsis doesn't work. That is the muscle action which pushes food down. She could never swallow a lump in her food that she hadn't chewed for example.

You get ibuprofen in meltlet form too

really? I have never found it. Liquid for kids, but that is a veyr low concentrate so for a 15 year old it would be a lot of spoonfuls!

The tablets not being able to swallow are understandable but refusing to take liquid paracetamol because they taste bad is a bit pathetic for a 15 year old. If she was in a lot of pain she'd just drink it down. No medicine really tastes nice. A bit of orange squash to mask the taste a bit and drink it down. She's not a baby anymore.

The doctor writing the prescription has to specify liquid medication.
Pharmacists can't just dispense something different.
Liquid medicine is often dearer than tablets.
But yes, most medicines are available in liquid form.

Nurofen does them

Has your daughter tried Floradix iron supplement?
It tastes lovely.

it is the disolvable ones, the fizzy tablets.

She is very likely on the ASD spectrum and does have strong sensory issues.
She tries really hard and is willing to give anything a go, but if it makes her gag. then she can't swallow it. Given that she has had throat and swallowing issues her whole life, getting past the gag reflex is going to be pretty hard.

She is not being pathetic, she physically gags at certain textures and tastes

great thanks

Oh, charming.
And unhelpful.

not according to her 😂

I even made doses of it into mini jelly to mask the tatse. That didn't work.

OP, your pharmacist will answer all your questions about which tablets can be crushed or chewed.
They can also advise about how easy it would be to source various liquid versions of medication.

Thanks everyone this is really helpful.

I have only recently given up on trying to teach her to take tablets, and realised that it is a physical thing connected to her throat. She has no other problems these days from it, so we tend to forget. It was a bit of a lightbulb moment when we both realised that she actually physically CAN'T swallow, so just beginning to look at alternatives, and how to get this on her medical notes.

We will keep exploring the iron alternatives too.

Oh dear. I love it.

So have you tried crushing tablets and mixing with something sweet?
Most can be crushed.

yes, she will take paracetamol or ibuprofen crushed in a spoon of jam.

So if I can crush it, then she'll (probably) take it.

One issue is that she gets joint pain, and take calpol melts into school with her to take if needed, but she can't take and crush into school.