14yo will not take tablets

[Mumtooneboy]

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.

Sympathies - antibiotic capsules are big!
Personally for me starting with a tic tac and building up wouldn't work.

Things I've found help - for me: taking the tablet with a teaspoon of peanut butter or other similar food as mentioned earlier in thread. Also taking them after having just eating, so the mouth/ throat is used to swallowing.

Also I find it easier to swallow tablets if I'm doing something else at the same time - rather than sat still concentrating on swallowing.

I take big tablets in a bite of bread. Smaller ones on their own. The lump in water sensation defeats me. I'm 40.

Many thanks for your replies. We have the liquid meds. Yay! ... Except that it is still hard for him to take liquid meds. Hoping he will grow up one day to realise it's worth a teeny bit of foul tasting meds occasionally to keep him healthy.

I've always been like this. Have never found it easy to take tablets and I had to take tablets for pcos everyday a while back (they were honestly the biggest tablets I've ever seen) and I found the best way to do it was standing up straight and lifting my head to look where the ceiling joined the wall and always using a straw!

It sounds really silly but using this I've always managed!