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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

14yo will not take tablets

29 replies

Mumtooneboy · 26/09/2018 17:55

My 14yo son has been prescribed antibiotics in the form of capsules for an infected ingrowing toenail. He has always struggled to take any form of medicine but refuses to even try to take tablets. Dr will not prescribe liquid medicine.
I can possibly speak to a different Dr tomorrow but at some point, my son is going to have to take tablets.
I am honestly at my wit's end over this. Half of me wants to just tell him to man up, the other half is really struggling to find someone to help. Dr just said it's easy ... Take them with a drink ... But it's not easy for him. If I suggest starting with a tic tac and building up, he refuses .. have tried all that.
I just think if someone else sat him down with a tablet and water he might just give it a go. Would a pharmacist do this?
Sorry to ramble.

OP posts:
user1471462115 · 26/09/2018 20:32

Try a mouthful of yogurt or stewed Apple that can be swallowed without chewing.
Tipping your chin down and not back actually opens the throat to make it easier.
Practise with nothing in the purée , then a tic tac and then the antibiotic"
Have a cold drink at hand to take to clear any tast and to wash it down properly
Good luck

ashtrayheart · 26/09/2018 20:41

Try with food, it took my son ages to get to grips with tablets. He's a young adult and had to have liquid anti depressants until he got the hang of it!

titchy · 26/09/2018 20:44

Ds swears by pretending he's got a mouthful of food and pretend-chewing, then swallowing it.

Fairylea · 26/09/2018 20:45

My dd was like this. I stood next to her and told her to stick the tablet in and then handed her a drink of water and kept telling her to drink drink drink big gulps drink drink (!!) until it was all gone and then she was surprised the tablet was gone and it gave her confidence to have less water next time. Now she doesn’t mind taking them at all.

speak2me · 26/09/2018 20:46

Sorry, no help but just wanted to say this was me as a teenager! I can remember my Dad getting so angry once because I had an awful headache on holiday and we only had tablets. I can't remember what changed but I can now take tablets as an adult - though it does take some thinking about and I do sometimes have to swallow a few times before anything goes down.

Kaykay06 · 26/09/2018 20:50

Stick it in jelly or yoghurt? My 13 year old had tonsillitis recently and went to gp and I had to ask for tablets as the liquid is so foul, he takes tablets fine.

With my youngest daughter (7) he takes prednisalone for his asthma if he’s unwell, tablets are usually dissolved but he hates them so takes a big drink keeps the liquid in his mouth and swallows the tablets down with the water. It’s not easy if you’re not used to it. They’ll need to prescribe liquid if he really can’t manage, as he’d probably need gallons for the dose prescribed hope you manage and his toe is feeling better soon

Kaykay06 · 26/09/2018 20:50

My youngest son not daughter I only have Boys lol

Balancingact12 · 26/09/2018 20:52

I’m over 30 and I still can’t swallow tablets, you have to be persistent when getting a prescription and thankfully I haven’t yet been in a position where dispersable or liquid medicine isn’t available (and I’ve had to. Get a wide range of medicine including anti biotics)

Haggisfish · 26/09/2018 20:53

Gp is being an arse btw. I have had liquid antibiotics before because I really struggle too. Try not to tip or throw head back and don’t overfill mouth with water. Some people swear by fizzy water. If all else fails, I used to open them, sprinkle powder on a spoon of jam and swallow them that way. If it doesn’t expressly say gastro resistant on the pack, this is ok.

purpleme12 · 26/09/2018 21:01

Why wouldn't the doctor give liquid? I'm an adult and I can't swallow tablets. I've been sick trying before. You need to get the doctor to give liquid

Furrycushion · 26/09/2018 21:02

Some people just can't do it. I know a doctor in her 40s who can't swallow tablets. My DS has this problem. He can now take some shape tablets (caller shape shiny ones) but capsules are just a no-no, and believe me, he has tried. Try the doctor again, or a different one

snozzlemaid · 26/09/2018 21:08

I've been through this with dd. She's 17 and still can't swallow them. We've tried every suggestion going and nothing works. I tried calmly helping her and getting angry and telling her to just swallow the damn thing. Neither works.
We've tried and tried with all different sizes and shapes. We've discovered she doesn't/can't gulp drinks. She will only swallow tiny amounts and swills it around her mouth before swallowing.
GP eventually prescribed liquid antibiotics for her acne.

yikesanotherbooboo · 26/09/2018 21:13

Not sure why the GP didn't give medicine

trilbydoll · 26/09/2018 21:17

Mouthful of drink first then the tablet. I couldn't take tablets until I was in my 20s and even now I can only really manage little nurofen type tablets.

If liquid really isn't an option, can you open up the capsules and put it in yogurt? I definitely took some antibiotics like that as a child.

Original poster
Mumtooneboy · 27/09/2018 06:54

Thank you all so much. Will phone Dr this morning and be assertive (deep breath!!) ... The receptionist yesterday asked the Dr when I saw we had tablets, and Dr said as DS was prescribed tablets in 2014 and I didn't get back to them, tablets it is. I can't remember but I guess I spent a week trying unsuccessfully to get DS to take them.

OP posts:
Haggisfish · 27/09/2018 21:56

What bollocks from Gp.

CherryPavlova · 27/09/2018 22:04

Yoghurt and tell them to get a grip. Let them take responsibility- if they want the infection to clear they’ll take the tablet.

8FencingWire · 27/09/2018 22:10

Mine chewes them. Everything, including the penicillin, multivitamins, capsules, the lot. She’s a teenager, but she always has chewed them. Apparently she’s used to it now, so we stopped asking for liquid form a few years back. 🙄

Furrycushion · 27/09/2018 22:37

Cherry Pavlova, it's not as simple as that, some people really struggle with tablets

CherryPavlova · 27/09/2018 22:50

Furrycushion Indeed - and best they be supported to overcome their difficulties rather than have their psychological problem reinforced.

explodingkitten · 27/09/2018 22:55

I'm almost 40 and cannot swallow tablets. I happily inject myself with insulin so it's not because I'm a wuss. I also have no problem cutting my skin to get a splinter out. Tablets defeat me. I tried! I even once drank 2 litres of water and still couldn't swallow it. I tried custard. I tried it with a spoonful of fruit. I cannot do it.

WildFlower2018 · 27/09/2018 23:11

When my husband won't take tablets I tell him FGS, you regularly swallow bigger pieces of food than this whole! It's psychological! Seems to help to realise he CAN do it!

Doghorsechicken · 27/09/2018 23:11

I didn’t learn how to take tablets until I was 13. It was actually a course of antibiotics that made me practice & get used to it. I take a sip of water, tilt my head back & pop the capsule in. Once it’s floating at the back & I can’t feel it in my mouth anymore I do a big gulp & swallow the lot. He does need to man up and keep trying though, he’s a teenager now not a little boy. Must be incredibly frustrating for you!

Runrunrudolf · 28/09/2018 08:20

If he really can't take them I would push for some syrup I've always done that for myself I'm hopeless, onlt pill I've ever been able to swallow was when I was on the combined one, I see DH taking these fish oil tablets everyday and I think he's nuts!
If they really can't get you the syrup ask for the capsules(or you may already have them) ask them about opening them up and pouring it on a spoon with some yogurt or mixing it into some drink that's what I do when I get antibiotics.
If all else fails get some caplet ones and cut them up or powder them.
I always use a rolling pin :)

Clavinova · 29/09/2018 09:38

I had this when ds1 was 12 - a whole afternoon and evening of negotiation, pleading, bribery... he made a few half-hearted attempts to swallow a tablet but he wouldn't budge. Next morning, he woke up to find that I'd hidden his PS4 controller and he was off school for the day - that worked within half an hour Grin. No problems with tablets since. I put it down to stubbornness/mini act of pre-teen rebellion.