Tuesday, March 5, 2013

I Cannot Swallow Pills

Yesterday I told you I was going to tell a doozy of a confession and today I am following through with that.

Are you ready?

I cannot swallow pills.

No, I am not joking.  I put them in my mouth and they seem to float around every which way except down the throat.  I remember as a teenager my mom would have to request liquid medicine for me. My pediatrician was shocked and appalled! "She still cannot swallow pills!" he would say in his heavy Indian accent.  I often didn't understand much of what he said, but that I heard loud and clear.

I would practice with M&M's those little buggers would just not go down.  When I was about to get married I knew I would be going on the pill- and well it is called 'the pill' for a reason, it doesn't come in liquid; I seriously worried about how I was going to manage.

Thankfully they were so itty bitty that they actually did the right thing and went down.   Success!!

But then a few years later it was time to be on prenatal vitamins... and well those aren't so itty bitty.

I would take a big chug of water, choking and eventually spitting it out, it was awful.  My throat just could not get the idea to swallow.  If only I could trick it somehow.....

And I did, I figured out the perfect way to trick my throat into swallowing that pill.

What was my fail proof method?

Bread.

I ever so carefully loosely wrap a small piece of bread around the pill, then I very carefully chew just the bread.  My body was used to chewing and swallowing.  After a little bit of chewing then-bam- I could swallow the bread and pill.

My husband thoroughly makes fun of me for this and it actually quite amazed I can do it this way as basically I am swallowing the pill dry (I do drink water after the fact), but hey it works.

And for your enjoyment- video evidence of how I swallow pills.



Since it is Tuesday I am linking up with some other great Tuesday meme's.  IA and Shawn's Talk to Us Tuesday and Stacy Uncorked's Random Tuesday


Stacy

30 comments:

  1. But wait a second? Don't you then taste all the nasty bitterness and taste of the inside of the pill? I mean I'm glad you've found a way to get them down, but dang!

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    1. That is where the very careful chewing comes in- I just chew the bread and do not bite into the bread, it is quite the trick and I have only accidentally bite into the pill a few times, which yes tastes very nasty when I do.

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  2. That is too funny. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't take pills. My hubby laughs at me because I take minds with chesse he says like a dog. I have never had a problem before until I became a egg donor in 2008. Ever since then forget about it. Good luck I have to not think about it when I do take pills.

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    1. Yea! Glad I am not the only one out there :)

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  3. Isn't the taste from chewing way worse? I have to admit that I don't like to swallow them either, but I can choke it down when I have to.

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    1. That is why I just carefully chew the bread and often do it much faster than in the video-- it was hard not to start laughing as my husband was pulling faces while recording me.

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  4. You're so cute Em! I forgot about that pill cup we gave you so long ago! Funny memory! I say, WHATEVER WORKS! :)

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    1. Yep, but even the cup didn't work for me :)

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  5. That's a great trick! I've met a lot of people who have the same problem, so I will remember that! Its too bad all pills don't have a gummy bear form haha!

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    1. See this is what is awesome about blogging- I figured I was one of the few but you know a lot of people, so I know I am not alone :)

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  6. We all have something, don't we, Emmy? Hey, I've nominated your blog for the Very Inspiring blogging award on my Writing Tips blog today - Emmy Mom a fun blog to visit, so I simply had to share: http://mjjoachim.blogspot.com/2013/03/very-inspiring-blogger-award-round-1.html

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  7. I have that problem too but eventually I can get it down. When it's the huge prenatals I have to consciously think about it and tell myself I'm just taking a sip of water to try and trick myself into swallowing it. I recently found out there's actually a straw that some company has designed just for people like this. http://www.medistraw.com/

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  8. Hey look at you being all creative...at least you found a way to deal with it :)

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  9. I know exactly what you mean! I have to put my pills in applesauce and eat it real quick before it starts dissolving. My cousin is even worse, she has to cut her pills up in to tiny pieces and eat them in something.

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  10. I just realized, after watching your video, that you remind me of my my hairdresser - no wonder why I like you so much ;0)

    I'm glad you're able to swallow pills easily now - what a way to work around it!!

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  11. You are way too cute!! :) My sister has always had trouble swallowing pills - my mom used to have to crush them and mix them with apple sauce and sugar (to mask the taste) so she'd be able to take them. :) She still has issues to this day (I wonder if she crushes them and adds them to applesauce still?) :) My sister-in-law also has trouble - she was on medication for acne years ago, and tried to take her teeny acne pill, but it got stuck in her esophagus and burned a hole (that was not a fun day for her). I'll have to tell her your trick of the bread to see if that will help her out, too! :)

    Thanks so much for joining in on RTT Rebel! I always love 'seeing' you. ;)

    Princess Nagger the Shining Star – and Dork Child: Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel

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  12. You'd hate my life then, I have to take pills four times a day, every single day. I'm trying to think of how many I take total and I can't add them up in my head. About a dozen I'd say.

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  13. I was in my early 20's before I ever learned to swallow a pill! I was like you and started with the small ones. Even now if I have too much water or I don't just do it, I have trouble swallowing them. Never thought of your trick!

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  14. I can totally relate to the not being able to swallow pills thing. I used to not be able too. In fact, for the big pills I have to shove them down my throat like I am gagging myself.

    It's not pretty but it works and I haven't thrown up on anyone.

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  15. Oh man! When I was in junior high and high school, I had some vitamin deficiencies so I went on prenatals (aka HORSE PILLS). My mom wouldn't tell me they were prenatals though, because she was afraid it sent the wrong message, lol. I got used to swallowing gigantic pills, but it was pretty gross. I like the bread trick, mostly because I like bread!

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  16. I couldn't swallow pills till I was in high school. I remember having severe headaches in grade/middle school and would be forced to take Tylenol. Guess what... I let them dissolve, DISSOLVE... gross right! I am not quite sure what made me be able to finally do it but man o man I can still remember all the years of that awful taste of the medicine coating my tongue because my dad would not let me get away with not taking it. Verging on child abuse right... LOL :)

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  17. Great trick! So glad you found a solution!

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  18. my first question is they don't make those prenatal vitamins in like chewable forms? I've never seen them nor have I been on them :). Second... cool!

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  19. I hate swallowing pills too and now that I'm pregnant again, I am forced to take those stupid prenatals! At first, I gagged and several times actually choked and had to cough it back up! Now, since I'm further along and I've been taking them for 8 months, I'm kind of getting use to them.

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  20. I was an adult before I was able to swallow pills! Still, half the time I end up gagging pills back up!

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  21. I couldn't swallow pills for a long time either. They'd make me gag even as a teenager. It wasn't until I got into my 20s that I had an easier time (except with those awful huge prenatal vitamins--I had to find a brand that made them smaller), and now I can do it pretty easily, although my gag reflex is still pretty strong and trips me up sometimes! I'm so glad your bread trick works for you!

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  22. Emmy, it took me FOREVER to learn how to swallow pills. I hated it. I usually ended up gagging.
    Glad you found something that worked for you :)

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