Thread: Can't swallow pills, have tried everything...

Put the pill in your mouth and swallow.

When I was younger and had that trouble, I would place the pill as far back in my mouth as possible, then I'd take a quick swig of something and be done with it.

Have you tried Carbonated soft drink? That stuff makes swallowing tablets a billion times easier then water

Originally Posted by AustralianFire

Have you tried Carbonated soft drink? That stuff makes swallowing tablets a billion times easier then water

Interesting idea. I'll give it a try.

Originally Posted by Zhaylin

When I was younger and had that trouble, I would place the pill as far back in my mouth as possible, then I'd take a quick swig of something and be done with it.

Mmm that might work...

Originally Posted by Marvo

Put the pill in your mouth and swallow.

Asshole. What else could anyone expect from a guy who used to use a Cyanide & Happiness avatar, though?

Originally Posted by Marvo

Put the pill in your mouth and swallow.

Basically this. It's not like it's hard or there's some secret to it. Unless the pill is the size of your thumb, there shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, some soft drink.

-Put pill in mouth
-Put soft drink in mouth
-Position it so that you can't feel the pill, but roughly know it's there
-swallow


PS: Don't take too much liquid in your mouth at once, it makes swallowing more difficult. Take just enough to wash the pill down, not more.

Just missile it back into your throat and start gulping down water. Don't flail your tongue about and it should be fine.

lol Mario. That's what I do now-a-days. I take so many pills, so frequently, that I got over my aversion to taking meds. With few exceptions. I cannot take Cafarate (or is it Carafate lol), and uncoated pills are sometimes difficult too. But it's mostly a mental block. Even though Cafarate is just a sugar pill, it makes me horribly sick every time I've ever taken it. And uncoated pills tend to stick more so you taste them *gag*

Okay I'll try just sticking it right at the back and drinking water pretending its not there.

To anyone else who says "its just a pill swallow it" you are severely stupid.

Originally Posted by Loaf

Okay I'll try just sticking it right at the back and drinking water pretending its not there.

Once you've put the pill back there, remember to swallow. That's essential to the process.

Originally Posted by Loaf

Okay I'll try just sticking it right at the back and drinking water pretending its not there.

Carbonated soft drink, not water. Water makes Tablet swallowing difficult

Originally Posted by AustralianFire

Carbonated soft drink, not water. Water makes Tablet swallowing difficult

I might need to do a little more research into how safe that is, I think I heard somewhere if you consume a carbonated drink with sleeping pills (not that I use them) it can cause severe heartburn.

Originally Posted by Loaf

I might need to do a little more research into how safe that is, I think I heard somewhere if you consume a carbonated drink with sleeping pills (not that I use them) it can cause severe heartburn.

Oh ok :/ never heard of that. I myself always swallow tablets with carbonated soft drinks it makes it way easier, no side effects either.

The only thing i could think of is the caffeine screwing with the sleeping pill drug, so just use lemonade or something.

Originally Posted by AustralianFire

Carbonated soft drink, not water. Water makes Tablet swallowing difficult

I disagree. I think water is best. But it's also the only thing I drink. I'm not used to carbonated beverages, so they make my throat burn, and it's hard to swallow pills because you can't gulp down carbonated beverage as easily. Sometimes it really hurts to try, or I choke on the carbonation. Maybe if you drink lots of soda normally then it may be better for you. The best suggestion was Zhaylin's, put it at the very back of your tongue, take a large drink, and sort of throw your head backwards so that it all goes to the very back of your throat. You have to swallow at that point before you can take a breath, and you won't even feel the pill. Sometimes uncoated tablets can get stuck on the tongue, so stay away from them until you get used to swallowing pills. It took me awhile to learn how to swallow pills. My mom used to have to crush them up for me with a pill grinder. I actually ended up teaching myself using Fun Fruits. You might not be familiar with them, but they were really popular when I was a kid. They are the size of a pill, and the fact that they are a little more soft, they make for really good practice. However I don't know if you can find them anymore.



And for the people who give you crap, don't listen to them. What some people are not insightful enough to understand, is that some people naturally have smaller throats or larger tonsils that make swallowing pills more difficult. So screw em.

Ask for it in suppository form.

lol@suppository

I can put like 5-6 pills in my mouth at the same time and get them down in one gulp. Random tips that might help:

1) Get it far back on your tongue, and drink water (I think someone already mentioned this)
2) Do #1, but just kinda put it on the tip of your tongue, and raise your tongue into the "current" of drinking the water. Take several swallows - you're chugging some water, not swallowing once for a pill
3) The texture of the pill matters. Rough "compressed powder" ones (like aspirin) are harder to swallow than smooth, candied ones (like advil, or like fish-oil ones) are easier to swallow. Just orient them so they slide down lengthwise.
4) Open up your throat when swallowing: look up slightly (so mouth -> throat is straight line), and maybe do like a "yawning" position with your jaw/neck, which is when you lower your tongue muscle.

Also, when I was really REALLY young, and I had to swallow some pills, my parents did something cool: crush the pill between two spoons, and mix the crushed shards with honey. Then, just take the spoonful in your mouth, and swig a bunch of water. Don't chew, it's still bitter, but at least, it goes down easy that way. You can prolly do that for the capsules containing powder as well.

I can't swallow pills either.
Seriously.
I can't even swallow a tic tac.
A TIC TAC.

Yet I can swallow huge pieces of food when I eat. Why is a pill so much different?

Originally Posted by Puffin

I can't swallow pills either.
Seriously.
I can't even swallow a tic tac.
A TIC TAC.

Yet I can swallow huge pieces of food when I eat. Why is a pill so much different?

because you overthink it.

This is definately a mental thing. I'll bet you swallow larger chunks of food than that with no problem.
Don't "PICTURE BEING ABLE TO" swallow it, because that just causes insecurity. You wouldn't "PICTURE BEING ABLE TO" poop. You would just do it.
Just do it!

Yeah, just think of the amounts of water you're gulping, and the pill is just an innocent victim caught in the flash flood.

Although, I do think some people Have smaller throats and do find Pill swallowing a lot harder. Have you tried the wrap it up in ice cream trick? I was also thinking you could freeze it up in a ice cube, cause swallowing ice cubes is a piece of cake.

Holy crap the ice cream trick sounds really clever!

I had really sticky pills that stuck to your tongue if they were in for too long. And what made it worse was the really bad tasting crap that was inside them... I practiced by swallowing hot chips whole (if I could do that then I definitely could swallow a pill) and then tilting my head up with water, putting the pill in and swallowing it together. Works for me...

I like the ice cream idea too xD

Put it in your nose and breathe in (with your nose) really hard and fast.