Oral Meds

To answer ?? about 98% of all meds do have a liquid. Most you have to have the Dr. to write the prescription for liquids. My mom died of Esophageal cancer and for the 1 1/2 months I took care of her we had to have them all liquids. The pharmacy said most could come as liquids but if they didn't they usually had an alternative. That said my daughter use to say she couldn't swallow pills. She is 30 and we have taught her to get her mouth moist and then to place the pill way back in the throat. She still has problem with real big pills but manages pretty well. We just told her one day she was grown and could do it. She still trys to gag on large but she does it.

Hi R.,

My dtr. had the same problem. We tried various tactics (including M&Ms) to no avail. Some kids just have a hyper gag reflex.

Now, this is going to sound stupid...but it worked. Have your dtr. put whatever it is you want her to swallow (m&m is fine for practice)...under her tongue and then start drinking a glass of water. The pill (m&m) will go down and she will never feel a thing.

Good luck!

K.
PS. This works on little people, too. My 7 y/o nephew learned to swallow meds this way, too.

I have to admit I used to live on liquid meds until I was 18 or so. My issue was both anatomical and psychological. I have abnormally large tonsils - never have had them removed and that makes it harder to swallow larger pills but I also had to have the right mindset to take them as well. It took me several years before I really learned to take pills (I just had to do it) and I still have difficulty/gag reflex when I have to take something larger than a tylenol. You can have some prescriptions compounded into liquids but it gets very expensive and they expire before standard pill medications. Some insurance companies will not cover it as well.

My best friend couldn't swallow pills until just a few years ago. She would chew all her meds and wash it down with something (even birth control, gross I know!)

Another idea is to crush the pills and put the crushed pill in a spoonful of grape jelly or some flavor jello the jello/jelly helps it all slide down and crushing it keeps it from getting stuck. At some point she is going to have to take pills so she will need to figure out a way to get them down.

No, she needs to master this. One of the ways parents with kids needing pills get them to learn is by using M&Ms. Those candies aren't very threatening and can work really well in training kids to swallow pills.

Good luck!

We also used M&Ms to teach our daughters how to take a pill. We started off with the mini M&Ms and then worked up to the regular size. Our doctor suggested this when our girls were young and neither one of them has had to take liquid medicine since they were about 3 years old. You can also get her to practice with small ice chips kind of like the ice that most Sonic restaurants have in their drinks. Getting her to practice with M&Ms or ice allows her to practice without having to worry about the nasty in her mouth in case it takes a couple of tries. Also it won't hurt her to swallow either of these items whole.

When you get her used to swallowing M&Ms and you get ready to try real pills, there is a trick to taking pills that she might try. If it is a pill put it on the back of your tongue, take a big drink of water and then throw your head back and then swallow. If it is a capsule put the capsule on your tongue, take a big drink of water and then lean your head forward and then swallow. The capsule will float on the water so that is why you lean your head forward and that will help the capsule go down easier.

Good luck.

my boyfriend has a really bad gag reflex and he will either chew his pills or get liquid gels and suck the liquid out of them.

I was beginning to think so. My 15 year old only learned how to swallow pills last year. And the only reason she did was because she had her big toenail removed and she REALLY wanted to play in a soccer tournament- and her pain meds only came in pill form. And she was in BIG pain. So swallow she did. But up until then we were getting 3 and 4 bottles of liquid anitbiotics just to knock out strep.
I always look for the smallest pill (say for Advil or Motrin- the narrow caplets) or ask the doctor for the tiniest pill he can give her. And it takes TONS of water for her to get the pills down. My daughter had (and still does have) texture issues with food- I am sure there is some connection.
And thank goodness the BC pill is a very tiny pill because she has just started on it for her skin and irregular periods!
There is hope. I think she just really needs to want the meds and start tiny. Another trick is to ask the doc for pills that can be broken in two....not all can.
Good luck.