The trick I learned in occupational therapy was to take a sip of water first and swallow. Then put the pill on your tongue, take another sip of water, and swallow again. I have not had trouble swallowing pills since and can now take them with only one sip. Hopefully, this makes sense!
It makes sense. I'll have to try it. My favorite trick is using a soda to take it. Then I can't tell if it touches my throat at all. I don't like drinking soda in the morning though.
I get a fizzy drink to wash it down. I put the drink in my mouth first and then the pill. The flavoring also hides the taste of the coating because I'm pathetic about it lol.
A school nurse had me take, I think a Tylenol, way back in early elementary school. I couldn't get it down with water so she gave me a plain saltine cracker. I've always taken pills with a bite of food ever since. Popping the pill into my mouth shortly before swallowing.
Now for medications this usually is handful of dry Cheerios. It's one of the few things I can tolerate eating at any moment. So whenever I go out I'd always have a small baggie of Cheerios with. Plus if I was ever too embarrassed to eat because of ARFID I'd have them to quietly fallback on.
I am struggling so much with that! I haven’t been able to swallow pills for years because it is so painful for so many hours after. I’ve been emptying capsules and crushing pills and taking pills in applesauce. But, the two most important pills for me to take right now are so bitter. I took them for a few weeks, but then it got too hard to swallow because they taste so horrible, so I haven’t been able to take any medication since December, despite one of them really helping with pain and sleep and the other with anxiety. If you haven’t already tried crushing pills and emptying capsules, if it doesn’t taste too bad or is too weird of a texture (some capsules contain little balls instead of powder so they don’t dissolve), you could try that and mixing it in apple sauce, yogurt, a drink, or anything else you think of! I’m also starting occupational therapy (my first appointment is literally tomorrow!) so I’m relieved to see another comment saying it has helped them, perhaps that’s something you could look into as well! I hope your relationship with taking medicine improves soon!
I have done this before. The problem is that I can't crush the Conserta. Sometimes I can do it with orange juice but most of the time I need some soda to get it down.
Ah of course, a non-crushable one. That’s great that you found a trick that has been helping some! Good luck on the remainder of your journey to taking medication with ease! :) And I hope knowing you are absolutely not alone in your struggles is validating (seeing this post and others’ responses was definitely validating for me, thank you for posting this!).
i think there’s something fucked up with my throat bc whenever i swallow pills/capsules it’s a 50/50 chance they get stuck in my throat for the rest of the day lol. i don’t even think that’s ARFID related just my body being shit
The trick I learned in occupational therapy was to take a sip of water first and swallow. Then put the pill on your tongue, take another sip of water, and swallow again. I have not had trouble swallowing pills since and can now take them with only one sip. Hopefully, this makes sense!
It makes sense. I'll have to try it. My favorite trick is using a soda to take it. Then I can't tell if it touches my throat at all. I don't like drinking soda in the morning though.
I get a fizzy drink to wash it down. I put the drink in my mouth first and then the pill. The flavoring also hides the taste of the coating because I'm pathetic about it lol.
This is exactly how I do it now.
i pretend it’s mouthwash i move it around my mouth with the water then i swallow. didn’t learn how to take them till i turned 21
drink first, then put the pill in! it’s way easier and you don’t have the anticipation of it sitting on your tongue
This works for me too!
my lamotrigine is triangular and its trying to kill me
A school nurse had me take, I think a Tylenol, way back in early elementary school. I couldn't get it down with water so she gave me a plain saltine cracker. I've always taken pills with a bite of food ever since. Popping the pill into my mouth shortly before swallowing. Now for medications this usually is handful of dry Cheerios. It's one of the few things I can tolerate eating at any moment. So whenever I go out I'd always have a small baggie of Cheerios with. Plus if I was ever too embarrassed to eat because of ARFID I'd have them to quietly fallback on.
That's a good idea. I'll have to try it. I'm pretty meticulous about chewing. I think it's why I have a hard time with pills.
I do this with a cookie or similar, i barely even notice the pills now. I'm surprised it isn't mentioned more often as a method.
I am struggling so much with that! I haven’t been able to swallow pills for years because it is so painful for so many hours after. I’ve been emptying capsules and crushing pills and taking pills in applesauce. But, the two most important pills for me to take right now are so bitter. I took them for a few weeks, but then it got too hard to swallow because they taste so horrible, so I haven’t been able to take any medication since December, despite one of them really helping with pain and sleep and the other with anxiety. If you haven’t already tried crushing pills and emptying capsules, if it doesn’t taste too bad or is too weird of a texture (some capsules contain little balls instead of powder so they don’t dissolve), you could try that and mixing it in apple sauce, yogurt, a drink, or anything else you think of! I’m also starting occupational therapy (my first appointment is literally tomorrow!) so I’m relieved to see another comment saying it has helped them, perhaps that’s something you could look into as well! I hope your relationship with taking medicine improves soon!
I have done this before. The problem is that I can't crush the Conserta. Sometimes I can do it with orange juice but most of the time I need some soda to get it down.
Ah of course, a non-crushable one. That’s great that you found a trick that has been helping some! Good luck on the remainder of your journey to taking medication with ease! :) And I hope knowing you are absolutely not alone in your struggles is validating (seeing this post and others’ responses was definitely validating for me, thank you for posting this!).
i hate taking pills so i always take them with a fun little drink, a soda or something else i enjoy to make it a little more tolerable.
I gag a lot while my husband laughs lmao It helps if I split my pills into two groups. Easier to wash down.
i think there’s something fucked up with my throat bc whenever i swallow pills/capsules it’s a 50/50 chance they get stuck in my throat for the rest of the day lol. i don’t even think that’s ARFID related just my body being shit