I used to take my cat to an old country horse vet. On one visit she had to get a pill of some sort and I told the vet that my cat hated pills and it wouldn’t be possible to get one down her throat. He said “son, I’ve been a vet for over 50 years and I’ve never had a cat that I couldn’t pill.” He couldn’t get the pill down her throat and had to give her a shot instead. I’ve never been so proud. RIP Martha, miss you girl.
Sometimes vets never listen, even though you told them exactly how your pet will behave.
… Do y’all really have that much of a problem popping pills?
It took me until my 20s before I could swallow pills without gagging and spitting out water.
Then one day something just clicked and since then, no problem.
I can do one, two or even eight at a time like it’s nothing.When I got married and had a kid, I discovered “trouble swalling pills” is indeed a phenomenon.
I have been taking pills since I was five thanks to my temperature-based allergy. I just salivate when I see a pill. It’s quite inconvenient when I am handling my child or spouse’s medicine.
I mean yeah, I also had an aversion to swallowing pills when I hadn’t done it before. But I got used to it pretty quickly, using this method specifically. I just assumed everybody did it like this
I couldn’t swallow pills until after my SECOND child. Just stuck to liquids when available.
Yeah I’ve had daily meds since I was 6. I was confused when I first met people who couldn’t take pills
As a kid? Yes. I have a very strong gag reflex. The doctor using a tongue depressor would make me retch. I had trouble swallowing meat if it was tough or fatty. I would have to chew it for a very long time before I could swallow it. Fatty bacon I usually just had to give up and spit out.
It took me until I was a teenager until I could swallow a pill. I practiced on swallowing blueberries.
Now I have no problems, I can swallow a handful of pills and I’m a vegetarian.
I’ve always had a very sensitive gag reflex, to the point it’s difficult to clean my tongue while brushing.
Never in my life had issues swallowing pills. Absolutely no idea how I got one without the other
Same. I gag brushing my tongue every time. I’ve actually vomited a bit a few times which totally ruins the point of brushing the teeth. No problem with pills.
That’s crazy. I can swallow tons of pills in one go but the idea of swallowing a blueberry whole sounds tough.
This thread has me questioning my propensity for empathy. I never for a minute imagined, outside of folks with medical issues, that it was a problem. This has me interested. If I were a scientist and not just some guy, I’d study it.
As a kid, I had difficulty, as kids tend to. One day, as others have mentioned, it clicked, and sometimes I have several pills in there at once; e.g., Mucinex 12h, two Sudafed, two ibuprofen is a common combination on the rare occasion I’m sick.
As a kid, I recall practicing on Kraft Deluxe Mac n cheese, swallowing without chewing, and I think, from there, it just kind of developed. So load up on Kraft Deluxe, folks, cheese up that esophagus.
Some people do it voluntarily.
Why fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?
Every day I’m amazed by the most mundane shit that Lemmings somehow struggle with
It’s surprisingly common considering how ubiquitous pills are, not just for the oddballs here
No. Mouth full of drink as if going to gargle. Tilt head back, open mouth, drop in pill(s), IMMEDIATELY swallow, AND chase with more drink.
Dear god, its like some people want to taste our crimes against nature.
Someone already said it, but tilting your chin down opens your throat, while tilting your head back will constrict
Tucking your chin down while swallowing pills is best
Also many pills (especially capsules, where the coating and filling are separate vs tablets that are compressed as one) float, so counterintuitively, tilting your head forward actually brings the capsule up to the back of your throat!
… and I already replied to them. Enjoy spilling drink and pills everywhere.
The only pill you need to swallow is the truth
Sure. Fuck sincerity, fuck honest advice. This guy didn’t specify exactly how one should swallow, so he’s a lying liar! You got me!
What exactly are you imagining?
They are trying to be funny by playing on the fact that the person they are replying to didn’t include closing their mouth in the list of steps.
thank you
People that are capable of realizing I didn’t narrate the entire process of swallowing. IDK, if you’re imagining I would even put into words specific movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, etc, you’re opinion of my instructional skills is way off.
This…works less well with kids.
damn, you beat me to it. can confirm, it works like a charm
a lot of you here missed the point that this was how to get KIDS to swallow the pills. not you.
Same thing
LPT: Fill your mouth with water, hold your head back and open mouth. drop the pill in. close mouth and swallow the water.
you wont even feel the pill.
by throwing the pill into the water already in your mouth instead of putting itin your mouth and then drinking the water, the pill wont have a chance to stick to your tongue or gums and release its bitter/nasty taste.
Put pill in mouth, swallow pill. People hate this one weird trick!
I don’t like to do it, but sometimes I gotta take a pill and have no beverage.
Oh wow, I’m gonna try this next time I need to down an ibuprofen
Aight, lots of discussion on tricks here - adding one to the pile.
Use food.
Especially fibery food that still has some texture when you chew it up, vs something like a banana that just chews down to a liquid anyway.
Think like Triscuits or something.
Anywho, add food of choice to your face. Chew it up until you’re ready to swallow- but don’t swallow. Grab your pill, and shove it right into the middle of your mass of Triscuit paste. Then swallow.
The mass of food will just push the pill right along with it - you’ll barely even notice it’s there.
People struggle with liquids because they just wash around the pill without pushing it.
Food is king for pill taking.
your mass of Triscuit paste
Thanks for ruining Triscuits for me.
Apple sauce or ice cream work well
Wait what? That works??
If they’ll hold the pill in their mouth… Mine will spit if it is even a tiny bit sour or bitter.
Serious question - since when do pills have taste?
I’m with you. They exist, but I definitely haven’t had one in a lonnng time.
I mean, if you tried to chew them thatd be a different story. Don’t do that.
The cheap Walmart ibuprofen tastes like chalk or you don’t immediately swallow it
My Adderall comes in 2 forms: overly sweet & the worst thing that’s ever been in my mouth
Capsules don’t, tho
Some prescriptions and a good chunk of supplements have a taste.
Yeah, my blood pressure meds are pressed tablets that start dissolving right away and are extremely bitter. Not antibiotics bitter (thank god!), but still extremely unpleasant.
Former pharmacy tech here, 8 years compounding pharmacy.
Get a mortar and pestle, crush it up and put it in whatever.
If not then use yogurt or something gooey.
By the way if anyone’s curious yes you can crush up Viagra, put it in Vaseline, and use it as a cream.
Yes you can put it there, and yes it’s effective.
I’ve done it multiple times for people that would regularly go over that five hour limit, because skin absorption is slower and weaker than intestinal absorption.
Using yogurt, pudding, or apple sauce were always winners for me to get the kids to take pills.
Great for methylfenidaat…
Why are people talking about cats? That’s not how you get a cat to take a pill.
when i was in icu for 10 weeks, i learned this trick:
put the whole load of pills in your mouth, no water needed. then swallow them.
i dont know how i do it, i dont know why i couldnt do it before, i dont know how to explain it.
but i definitly can swallow half a handfull of pills just like that.
i learned it because that whole routine with glass of water and one pill at a time just was a PITA, when you are in icu for a good reason.
Why would you do one pill at a time? Just put em all in and wash the pills down with a glass of water.
I can’t swallow pills without water. They get stuck in the back of my throat.
Yep. I learned I can swallow about 20 pills in one gulp of water. Sorry for all you folks out there that say you can’t swallow pills, it’s a psychological issue.
Yeah I had it when I was a kid. For whatever reason my brain just wouldn’t allow it to happen and my tongue would grab the pill before I could swallow it. It cause a lot of problems. I don’t know what happened and I can’t even remember when it happened but one day it was just gone and I’ve never had an issue swallowing pills since.
it was a trick learned out of nescessity ;-)
yeah, I think it worked because they gave me lots of fluids anyway, I never had a dry mouth or sore throat.
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I know there is a reason for it to exist but I don’t like the idea/concept of a beverage thickener…
Pre-thickened water isn’t any less of a distrubing concept. “Here. Drink this water, it’s the same consistency of saliva.”
Then there’s the people that can’t have anything thinner than jello. I shuddered the first time I watched someone chew water
My cat is the best in that regard: either he eats the pills straight or off my hand or I put it on the floor and put his favorite creamy treat on top
lucky you, my dog isn’t like that. i either have to trick him with cheese or shove it down his throat and hold his mouth closed until he swallows.
I just slip it in the corner of his mouth, right on top of his tongue. Then I give him his favorite treat, kibble fresh out of the bowl.
My trick is to tap my upper and lower teeth together to poorly simulate chewing (avoiding the pill, of course) and then I’d just naturally feel the urge to swallow.
There’s also the pill crusher + jam/jelly/applesauce method.
More here:
https://health.ucdavis.edu/children/patient-education/How-to-Help-a-Child-take-their-Medicine
Bad idea to crush pills. Depends on the pill, but you could end up in the ER.
Also a good point, for example the extended release type pills
