I see why they put them in bottles you can’t see through! My newest vitamin pills are HUGE. Anyone have any tricks for getting them down? What works for me will seem silly, I’m sure, but . . . oh no–I haven’t got the nerve. :eek: I’ll just wait to hear from you.
If it’s not coated, you can put a thin layer of vaseline on it. I find it easier to swallow the big ones, (as long as they’re coated). The weight helps them to go down (on a big wave of water), rather than floating around like a tiny one.
Break it in half. If you can’t do that, use soda. I’ve found the carbonation help it go down easier then just plain water. Also useful if it tastes terrible and you didn’t get it down on the first try.
Next time buy vitamins where the dosage (serving size) is two pills a day. You can find that information on the bottle.
Haj
Go back and buy smaller ones.
I have that trouble with calcium–for some reason, they only seem to market them in Volkswagen-sized pills. Cannot get those damn things down.
This is fool proof.
Put water in your mouth first. Lean your head back. Slide pill between your almost closed lips. Swallow the water. Pill gone. Bye Bye, pill.
If its a capsule that needs swallowing, do the same thing, except, lean your head forward. Since capsules float, it automaticly goes to the back of your mouth.
I think the mistake most people make when they’re taking pills is trying to swallow them. No, seriously! The trick is to put the pill on the back of your tongue, then forget that there’s anything there at all. Now, just drink a big glass of water. Forget that you’re taking a pill.
The mechanisms involved in swallowing a solid (i.e., food) are different from those involved in pouring down a liquid. Pills, even the big ones, are small enough that they don’t have to be treated like solids - they can simply be washed down with liquid.
Maybe it’s a butt pill.
Oh boy. I’ve got the same problem right now. I’ve got a horrible sinus infection that my doc gave me Augmentin for-bless his heart-I wouldn’t have made it through the weekend. Those things are enormous. I can’t easily swallow anything much bigger than an ibuprofen. They are scored to break them in half, which I do, but they still get caught. The best thing I’ve found that works for me is to focus on something else- I read a thread of interest here on the Dope, or watch a tv program that interests me-whatever takes my mind off the fact that I’m trying to swallow boulders. 
Wanna know something funny? Those big pills (well, capsules at least)?
The pharmaceutical companies call them “Size 00”.
The small itsy bitsy ones? “Size 5”
Just to mess with people’s heads.
Oh and the “Swedish Orange” capsules are actually red, but don’t tell the FDA that.
Ohh, I hate horse pills. I had mono once and it attacked my tonsils and scarred them up. Now, although healthy, they are permanently enlarged. Pills always stick to them, esp. the giant, chalky ones.
I’ve told doctors before to prescribe me liquid meds in some instances instead of pills because of this problem, and a couple have said, “It’s all in your head.”… Actually, no, it’s all in my throat…both the tonsils and the pill…
If you take a pill with milk (whole milk is best,) the butterfat eases the way.
I always chew my pills. Even the gel-caps. I can’t stand swallowing things whole. Most vitamins don’t taste all that bad, and the few that do don’t get bought again. ( most vitamins are just bland tasting, but the multivitamins can be quite nasty. Centrum is among the least offensive of those)
I also take them with milk. Besides washing down the taste better, it has dissolved fats to help with the digestion of fat-soluable vitamins, which tend to be wasted if you don’t take some fat near the same time.