# Ornery Medication **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951 "2002-03-25T03:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951/1 "2002-03-25T03:54:03Z")
Have any of you ever taken a pill that seemed to get “stuck” halfway down and subsequently caused you much pain? I have a pill that I have to take two of every night, and occasionally (tonight being an example), the pills seem to get stuck right in the middle of my chest. It hurts like HELL. I almost never have heartburn, but this is worse than the worst heartburn I’ve ever felt. I try eating a little piece of bread and drinking water, but it doesn’t always help. I wind up just lying in bed, moaning and writhing (and not in a good way), until it subsides. I’m going to call my doctor tomorrow, but I’m curious: does this ever happen to anyone else out there? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951/2 "2002-03-25T04:04:43Z")
Quite often. I think the reason why you can’t “wash it down” is because the pill has already gone down, but it’s bruised the throat. What really hurts is when you have a pill that gets in sideways and goes _all_ the way down like that. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951/3 "2002-03-25T04:10:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*Have any of you ever taken a pill that seemed to get “stuck” halfway down and subsequently caused you much pain? > > I have a pill that I have to take two of every night, and occasionally (tonight being an example), the pills seem to get stuck right in the middle of my chest. It hurts like HELL. I almost never have heartburn, but this is worse than the worst heartburn I’ve ever felt. Oh God yes. It happened once to me, and it was so bad I could barely walk. I got to drive to the supermarket to get antacid or something (Pepcid, I think). Gah, that was awful. Worse than any heartburn I’ve ever felt. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951/4 "2002-03-25T05:04:59Z")
I’ve had that happen a few times, and every time was awful. The worst was an aspirin that got stuck and started to dissolve in my esophagus - I’m sure I have an overactive imagination, but I could feel that sucker burning a hole in the tissue. I finally got it to quit by eating bread and drinking milk, but that feeling stayed with me for days. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ornery-medication/99951/5 "2002-03-25T15:00:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*Have any of you ever taken a pill that seemed to get “stuck” halfway down and subsequently caused you much pain? > > \*\* You have described my greatest fear, and the reason for which I go through an elaborate ritual in regards to swallowing pills. I ritual that earned me the nickname ‘Iguana Boy’ from my roommate.