How to Easily Swallow a Pill or Capsule

During the last six months, my husband has had trouble swallowing pills. He’s thrown up a few times. He’s gagged and thought he was going to choke on them. They’ve gotten stuck in his throat. He has about 20 pills to take at different times of the day, so it’s an all day problem. 

Anyone at any age can have trouble swallowing pills. Perhaps what I discovered might help someone you know. I hope so.

We tried the cutting the pills in two. Inevitably, some of the pill was lost. I even ordered a big mortar and pestle to crush a whole bunch at one time.  We could tell that a lot of the pill was lost. We hid pills in pudding or applesauce. That didn’t work too well because the taste got through to his tastebuds. Yuch!

I looked online for vitamins in small pills or capsules. I discovered a few. You could also ask your pharmacist if the medicine comes in a smaller pill or in liquid.  But these two ways worked for Carl, so he’s a happy camper. I am a happy camper, too. Now he’ll be able to do his meds by himself. He won’t be afraid any more. 

I asked the doctor if there were some medications or vitamins that he could do without. The doctor said he needed all of his prescriptions but that he could stop one vitamin for awhile. 

That left him with about 19 pills to take: most of them tablets; many of them are capsules. 

Totally frustrated while trying to help him get back to taking his meds himself after being in rehab, it was evident that I needed more help. 

Dun ta Dun!

I went to YouTube and searched, “How to take a large pill easily.” I knew I needed to see it demonstrated.

Hurray for the internet! Hurray for YouTube.com. Hurray for Google.

To Swallow Capsules

The Lean Forward – Glass of Water Method

For capsules, put the capsule on the front of your tongue, take a sip of water from a glass, then lean your chin forward and swallow.

To Swallow Tablets

The Pop Bottle Lean Back Method

For a tablet, put it on your tongue, take a pop bottle full of water, lean your head back and take a drink of water, then swallow. Voila! The pill goes down. It’s like magic.

Here are two videos I liked best for showing these two techniques:

Videos

Joe Bereta. Dr. Feelgood Fun and Energetic and Informative “The Best Way To Swallow Pills:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBqrCLS4Mtw 

AbrahamThePharmacist. “How To Swallow Tablets Easily | Best Easy Way Technique To Swallow Capsules | Difficulty Swallowing:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a5b2u7MG7U&

Below are links with clearly written descriptions and more ways to swallow pills that I found. 

Healthline.com. “How to Swallow a Pill: 8 Methods Worth Trying:” https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-swallow-a-pill#strategies

Arch. Red8rbit.com. “How to Swallow a Large Pill and Other Tips for Taking Pills:” https://www.redorbit.com/how-to-swallow-a-large-pill/

Tessa Berenson. Time Magazine. “Science Says These Are the Best Ways to Swallow Pills:” https://time.com/3583717/how-to-swallow-pills/

I hope the information here helps you and someone you love solve a problem of taking any kind of pills. It helped me and my husband. I am thankful to God that this helped lessen stress for Carl.

My book. Joan’s Elder Care Guide  has many practical and helpful ideas I wrote to help those caring for a loved one who is not a spring chicken any more. I hope you’ll check the reviews on Amazon. I’d be honored if you buy it and let me know what you think of it.

Please leave a comment. It makes me smile to hear from you. 

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2009-2020 Joan Y. Edwards

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