In this thread the word “pill” is mentioned in the context of “a disagreeable person”. The etymology seems to come from the trouble some people have in taking medicinal pills - the person in question is being “difficult to take” or “hard to swallow”.
While I can understand how that etymology came about, it doesn’t apply to me. I have absolutely no trouble swallowing pills. I take 2 prescription pills every morning. When I get out of bed the first thing I do is put one of each into my hand, pop them in my mouth and swallow. When I take ibuprophen I pop 2-3 in my mouth at once and swallow. I don’t need additional liquid to help wash it down. OTOH, I have known people who had to have all medicines administered in liquid form, a pill was simply not an option. Whether physical or psychological, they could not swallow one.
Where on the spectrum do you fall? If you are in the “never, no how” camp, why do you think you can’t?
I don’t usually have trouble swallowing pills, unless they’re big honkin’ horse pills.
Mrs. Cardigan frequently has difficulty swallowing pills and, unfortunately needs to take multiple pills multiple times a day. It was amusing the first time but quickly became no laughing matter. Here are some helpful suggestions for making pill swallowing easier.
I can swallow t hem without water, but it takes a moment to psych myself up to do it, because its not a natural thing. But I always take them with water anyway, they go down easier. Sometimes without water, they get stuck on the way down and I have to swallow several times.
Movie stars always throw their head back, as an overdramatic gesture that they are so prone to doing. I tried that once, and nearly choked.
I can swallow 5-6 at once very easily. I learned as a child because I hated peas (still do) and it was the only way to force down enough to earn dessert without having to chew or taste them.
Back in the day, I could swallow pills with no problem at all*. At one point I could swallow multiple horsepills (think herbal supplements) at the same time, without water. Over the next 10-15 years or so it got worse and worse, to the point that I couldn’t. Just about every pill I took, unless it was really small, I crushed up and took it that way. It get’s really old asking your doctor if he knows how big a certain pill is or asking them to write a script for 90 50mg pills instead of 30 150mg pills…because ‘they get stuck in my throat’. Even worse than that is the people, doctors and ‘regular people’ alike that say ‘it’s in your head’. While I understand what they’re saying and I know for some people, like my sister, it really is in their head, for me, these pills really were getting caught in my throat.
In the end, after spending quite a while trying to convince my ENT that there actually was a problem (and then switching away from him, partially because of it), I finally had an endoscopy with dilation. Turns out my esophagus was so restricted, they couldn’t even get the scope down. They had to have me come back a few weeks later when they could borrow the pediatric scope from the Children’s Hospital.
So, that was my second visit, they got in and out that time and asked me to come back again because you can only dilate so much. Fine, I go back a month or so later. They do it again. When I woke up, they wanted me to come back one more time, but I took a pass.
I can swallow just about anything now. That was several years ago. Every once in a while, something will get hung up in there and I’m not sure if the problem is coming back or if it’s nothing. But at least this time I’ll know not to go 15 years dealing with it.
*Even when I could swallow 5 giant pills at the same time, round pills, like an Excedrin would still get stuck. Strange.
I always take mine with water. 5 or 6 a day. They go down easily, as they’re small, except for my Metformin, which is bigger than the others. I have to take that one by itself with lots of water.
Funny this came up now. 3 days ago, I would have put myself firmly in the “no problem swallowing dry” camp. I take 1 capsule daily. Never an issue.
Then, 3 days ago, I realized I forgot to take it in the a.m., so I swallowed it before going to bed. You know that feeling like a pill gets stuck in your throat? Got that in a big way! Woke during the night and realized I was constantly swallowing, like I was trying to clear it. But I couldn’t hack it up, and wasn’t having any trouble breathing or anything.
Did a quick google, and saw enough to convince me that when you have that sensation, the pill is not actually there, and that the discomfort will go away. Today, the third day after, I can still faintly sense it. Not pleasant at all.
I’ve always swallowed pills dry. But I learned the hard way that you don’t want to do that with sertraline. I started taking one a day in late in 2015, and just popped one in my mouth every morning. After a while I noticed what felt like persistent heart burn. I mentioned it to my wife, who is an MD and who also takes sertraline. She almost immediately asked, “Uh, are you taking your medication with water?” :smack:
I have trouble swallowing large pills and meat. I have to swallow bread with steak unless very tender. Mine is psychological as I can swallow very large bites of food as long as it is with bread.
I take mine with water because that’s the recommendation. The best way for someone who has real trouble swallowing pills: Take them with a carbonated beverage, but it has to be a bottled beverage. Pop the pills in your mouth, then upend the bottle and let it gurgle and swallow. Pills gone.
I have to take a HANDFUL of prescriptions and supplements each day, some of which have the side effect of dry mouth. Even so, I have no problem taking them. I always take them with some liquid, to avoid having them getting stuck on the way down… and heartburn. It’s not the big ones that can be a problem, but the rough ones.
I need a sip of something to wash it down. My prescriptions are small pills, so I can pop all four at once. The vitamins are a bit bigger, so I take those one or two at a time. I can’t dry swallow them.
I never have trouble swallowing pills with a sip of water. But I’ve found that it is even easier if you use a straw (for the water; not for the pills!). The suction opens up your throat and they go down even easier.