As problems go this is probably not the most earth shattering but I have always had a problem swallowing pills, particularly large pills.

Recently I bought some vitamins supplements, seemed like a good idea, they contained the usually laundry list all sorts of good of stuff and things. But when I opened the bottle OMG these doohickeys could choke a horse.

When I try to swallow one they seem to get stuck part way down and I have a hard time convincing it to complete the trip. This is most unpleasant and only happens with pills, I do not have any problems with ordinary food. Tried cutting them in half, which helped, but just very slightly. Next I tried grinding one up and mixing it with water and drinking it. Oh! Yucky, phooey, very bad idea. Currently I am cutting them into quarters and at that size, with just the right amount of water, I can get them down without to much problem. But it sure is a lot of work for one pill.

Is there some secret or obscure method that I need to know so I can swallow a pill?


[Am I getting older or is elevator music getting better?]

MS,

My mom had this problem and my wife still does. The only (partial) solution that I know of is to drink the supplements with a warm beverage and to try and stay as relaxed as possible.

Apart from that, keep in mind that some people have a narrower passage than others. In fact, my mom actually had developed scar tissue in her esophagus that needed to be removed.

It may be best to avoid tablets all together - in the future. If your passage-way is narrow and/or delicate, there's a chance that you may be doing some damage. If nothing else, avoid the (larger) tablets so that you won't suffer through this again.

There's almost always an encapsulated version of the same or similar product. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer or distributor and they can give you an idea about what you're in for. Some places even post a capsule/tablet guide right on their site and list the size of each supplement ( example: www.swansonvitamins.com )

Be well,

HH

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Hi Mad S.

It can be panic time with the pill stops part way down. If you will make sure the pill is wet all over before swallowing, it shouldn't stick.

My method is to put a small amount of water in my mouth, put in the pill, and work it around in the water, then take in more water from the glass and swallow. Haven't had a 'sticker' in a long time.

Omie

Mad Scientest, I think you have solved the problem by chopping up the big pills into smaller pieces. There is one possible drawback to that method, as I have found, and that is that leaving a sharp edge on the broken pieces can make it as difficult to swallow as the larger whole thing. Also, there is the possibilty of the sharp edge scratching the lining of the esophagus.

Maybe if we all started to bombard the manufacturers with warnings about the damage suffered when trying to take their gigantic pills, they might take note, if only to avoid future lawsuits when one of us chokes on their products.

There are several makers of impossibly large tablets in this country too. I think we should demand more reasonably sized supplements. Start writing and phoning as soon as you can.

I have this problem, too. I take pills with a large spoonful of applesauce or yogurt, and I can't even feel the pill going down. .

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely try taking them �with a large spoonful of applesauce�. That sounds like it should really work!

Certainly If I can trick my dogs into taking their heartworm pills by hiding them in a piece of cheese then a similar technique should work for me.

At least I see that I that I am not the only one with this problem and yes I shall write the manufacture and explain why I will not be buying any more of their product. It is definitely worth the effort and who knows it might even do some good.

It depends what you mean by not able to swallow. It sounded to me like it is getting stuck in the esophagus, fot that I have no solution apart of what was suggested.

However I have two nephews who could not swallow pills, period. We took them to an osteopath who put his finger in their mouths, and pushed and pulled on the upper back part of the mouth, they almost threw up, he put a bucket next to them, it took two trips and now they can swallow two at a time. I think it has to do with the upper back part of the mouth, either narrow or too tight, etc. If you do not have the option to see someone who understands this, it is easier to swallow large pills with some apple juice, for some reason it goes down easier.

Good luck,
Josy

My husband and his sister both throw their heads back and swallow when they are taking pills< probably to open up their throat passage!

Rosnor, it depends, I was told to tilt my head down when I am taking the ones in caps, because it makes them float in the water in my mouth and it goes down much easier.. I tried and it is true!

One pill we have trouble with is fish oil, have you noticed almost all come in big soft gels? Unless it is liquid which I found unbearable, even the Carlson one that has a lot of orange flavor to it, but the fishy smell is still there, so if anybody knows of a fish oil supplement that is about half the size of the normal ones, please let me know..

Thanks,
Josy

Josy,

Here's a new smaller sized fish oil softgel that seems reasonably priced:

https://www.vitacost.com/NSIMegaEFA2Omega3EPADHA

I haven't tried this product myself but I have used other NSI products with satisfactory results.

Be well,

HH

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Josy is right about keeping the angle of the head looking straight ahead. Tilting the head backwards causes a bend in the upper part of the esophagus. Tilting the chin slightly downwards keeps it in a straight line, so anything in the mouth will go down more easily, and is less likely to "go down the wrong way".

Not a problem takin my suppliments..

THEY ARE ALL LIQUIDS!!!!

Ok, now for the really crappy part of this post... A friend of ours has her mother in a rest home. She is unable to take tablets or pills.. and the IV tears her arms up real bad.. So.. in order for her to take her handfull of pills, the nurse will insert them into her rectom?

And you complain about swallowin em??? LOL... Hey you can always just stick em up your uhhhhhh.. well.. ya could?

Pepawbear, that's OK if none of the pills has a sugar coating. LOL!

Do you always try swallowing pills with water?

I really find this strange: my wife has a problem swallowing pills with water but has no problem at all simply swallowing them as is -- without using water. It might be something you could try.

It might also be all in the mind. Try imagining the pill to be just a piece of food?

Gerry

bifrost99:
�Try imagining the pill to be just a piece of food?�
Doesn�t work. With food I have this uncontrollable urge to chew, even if it is ice cream. In fact I tried taking one of the pills with some ice cream just the other day and of course I just had to chew the damn thing. Well let�s just say that is not a new flavor that you�re likely to find promoted at you local ice cream store anytime soon.


�It might also be all in the mind.�
Oh I am sure that has a lot to do with it. My first unpleasant experience with a pill was two or three eons ago when I was still in high school. First year if I remember right, anyway my appendix and I decided it was time to go our separate ways. Got to the hospital early in the morning and they did the usual tests and confirmed that the appendix needed to go. By noon it was gone. By that evening I was awake and in my room and the nurse comes in and asks me how I�m feeling. Well aside from having an incision the size of the Grand Canyon actually not all that bad. (None of this microsurgery stuff back then, the doctor wanted enough room to get both hands in at the same time.) At any rate the nurse then asks me if I would like a pain pill. Well sure why not. So I take the thing and it goes down the �wrong pipe� Ahhhhh. You can�t imagine the fun trying to cough this damn thing back up when you can�t/don�t what to use your stomach muscles. Now that was truly a super strength pain pill to end all pain pills.

Papawbear:
I may have to look into your supplements but if it is all the same I think I will take a pass on your second sedgustion.