No, not that “swallow vs. spit” discussion. Swallowing, as in pills and food. I swear I have a ledge in the back of my throat where pills congregate. Not just big gel-caps or vitamins, but every last pill, caplet or tablet. More than likely, a baby aspirin would find it’s way there and settle. Isn’t the throat-to-esophagus transition a nice, smooth tunnel? I am not talking about gagging, just that lumpy feeling after a pill refuses to go down. It must go down, but it sure doesn’t feel that way. And then there’s the burning sensation, depending on the individual pill. I may have to start grinding them up and putting them in a little applesauce, just like the nurses do at the Straight Dope Retirement Home. Yeccch.
Try taking a sip of water, followed by the pill accompanied by more water. This works for me.
I have a big problem swallowing pills. I know it is a psychological block because any mouthfull of food is bigger than any pill out there, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
For some reason I have a real hard time making my throat open for pills. I’ve found one little trick, which may or may not help you: I try to take pills with a carbonated beverage. The bubbles “hide” the pill and I can get them down a lot easier than if I try with water.
Try wrapping your pills in a small piece of bread…that’s how I give pills to my dog.
Or try having someone hold your head and pry your jaws apart while someone else jams the pill down your throat with the eraser end of a pencil. That’s how I give pills to MY dog.
b.
[sub]NO! I do NOT do this to my dog, I just thought it was funny that someone suggested you “trick” yourself like they “trick” their dog…sorry for pulling your leg, I couldn’t resist.**
You may swallow backwards. I did this as a child and had to learn how to do it correctly.
Swallowing isn’t just a matter of the food or pill sliding through your mouth and down your esophagus. The tongue pushes it along, rolling along the upper palate from the front of the mouth to the throat. When the food reaches the back of the mouth, muscles in the throat take over. What I was doing was rolling my tongue from the back to the front, pushing my tongue into my front teeth, which pushed them forward. (N.B. This is what I remember from elementary school somewhere between 69 and 71; they may know more now).
This isn’t a real problem with food (except it messes up your teeth) because the food is usually soft enough to slide down without needing much help, and a good swig of liquid will take care of most food anyway. Pills, OTOH, while smaller than the bites of food you take, are much harder and drier.
I am now speaking ex cathedra as a physician. This is the advice I give to patients re: swallowing pills.
Get a big straw, put it in a liquid you like to drink. Drop the pill down the straw. Drink.
I have about a 70% success ratio with that.
Qadgop
try this-put the pill as far back in your mouth as you can. take a big drink of water, and bend completely over (with your face by your knees). then swallow. works especially well with capsules.
I don’t know as the bread-wrap technique is so much a “trick” as a more agreeable texture. I also have a thing about pills and bread wrap helps.
I have to take three pills at night; one of which is a horse pill, and they all taste bad.
What I do is swallow the pills with something that tastes stronger than the pills do. This does not work for Sudafed, which is the bitterest substance known to man.
I used to have a bigger problem with pills than I do now. Now I just stuff em in and they go right down.
Robin
I have to take 7 to 9 pills twice a day, I take all of them at once.
I get all the pills in the cap of one medicine bottle (deep screw on type top) take a drink of liquid, don’t swallow ! Tilt my head back, put the cap the pills are in to mouth, drop pills into mouth, swallow. Drink more liquid.
How about eating a really hot chilli pepper first, in order to temporarily numb your mouth?
I make thick fruit smoothies to coat my throat and buffer my stomach. Sip a smoothie, take a pill, another sip, another pill. I take a lot of medications and vitamins. The absolute worst is straight water. But don’t crush any pills unless you get permission from your doc. Some are time release and that will mess you up.