Taking pills when they make you want to gag
 

I just had surgery and I have to take Vicodin in a bit and right now pills just make me want to gag, I have a big problem with taking any kind of pills lately.. They all make me want to gag or throw up..

Any tips out there?

Thanks in advance..

Do they just get stuck in your throat, or is your stomach reacting to them?

In my throat, it's really annoying.. I make a gagging noise afterwards that my wife hates.. hehe.

I can't help it :/

Hmm, I had the same general problem when I got my tonsils out. Huge pills and I was never fond of pills in the first place there were only 2 ways to get them down without gagging I found and they were:
-cut it in half and take it in halfs (not sure if its a capsule or a pill if its a capsule it wont work since the stuff will fall out)

-get a pill crusher and shatter it then put it in a high flavor drink (gatorade works good because the acid in sodas may fuck with the pill) It tastes pretty bad but if you have huge problems taking the pill this may work

Also Im curious, how big is the pill and are you drinking lots of water with it? I take pretty big pills with little to no problem as long as I take alot of water with it (I can do it without water but ill gag also)

Not sure if this will help but worth a shot :)

For me, just taking pills with a flavored drink is enough to get them down.

I've heard that crushing a pill before taking it will greatly reduce the effectivness of the pill.
Can anyone confirm this or set me straight?

Hmm, Im not really sure if the results vary when crushing pills however my doctor told me when taking anti-swelling medication that crushing would be fine, However the pill had alot of calcium etc so I dont think it would evaporate or anything going down esophagus but my best advice to find out if the effect is worse is to ask the doctor, any opinion I gave you would merely be an opinion or speculation.

What I do is pour water into the bottom of my mouth, pop in the pills, then swallow it all at once. I started doing it mainly because my vitamins/meds taste so bad, but they've never gotten stuck in my throat as a result.

It depends on what type of pill it is. Many pills, especially blood pressure medications, are manufactured in such a way to allow timed release of the ingredients. This is helpful in decreasing the number of pills taken daily and helps to control problems like high blood pressure and diabetes over a 24 hour period. Crushing these pills will destroy the matrix and can be downright dangerous, releasing all the active ingredient at once instead of timed release(as in oxycontin abuse). Many of these brand name tabs have initials like LA, XR,CD,XL after the name. Obviously , crushing a time release tab will decrease its ability to control your symptoms over 24 hours

Most anti-inflammatories and pain meds(except oxycontin) are not timed release and can be crushed without loss of effectiveness, but it is important to check with your doc or pharmacist regarding your particular pill.

Whoohoo time to use my pharmacy school learned skills!


If it's just plain old vicodin (probably even the generic - Hydrocodone with Acetaminophin) then you're fine crushing it, cutting it in half or whatever. The only time you can't crush, cut or whathave you is 1) If its a capsule (as stated above) or 2) if it is a forumlation to be extended sustained or delayed release (again, as stated above). Crushing those will mess up the way it's realeased and you'll get a huge load at once or somesuch.

If you want to post exactly what the medication name is on the bottle I can tell you for sure if you can break it up, etc, that or just call the pharmacy.

Also, if you're having trouble getting them down drink some before you go to swallow, to get things 'lubed' up.

Well if all else fails, try slipping them into some food? I'm thinking of how I eat spaghetti; I sometimes forget to chew.

Or a thick liquid, like a milkshake.

My mom used to always crush them, and put it in orange juice.

Get a big glass of water.
Drink some beforehand, as VitaminH mentioned, to get your mouth "lubed up."
Place pill on middle of your tongue.
Take another sip of water and tilt your head up so that you are looking at the celing (get gravity working for you as well)
Done (hopefully)

cut them up or grind them and mix them in some juice.

some pills are meant to be dissolved in your stomach, and others in your intestine. The harsh acids in your stomach are much worse than any soda, and the outer coating of the pill is meant to protect it long enough to get through the stomach to where it can be effective. It may be easier to take a pill by crushing it up intoa drink, but it might just not do you any good at all.

When i was young i used have a pill that floated in water and i had a hard time swallowing it. Practice makes perfect however and i can swallow pretty much any pill. Ask your doctor if you can crush your medication when taking it orally. If not grin and bear it because the only other effective option is taking a supository :lol:

I was searching for something else and happened upon this old thread.

I have a rather uniq ability to swollow 10(large pills) at once. Saturday, I was taking my routine vitamins for the day (6) and my friend was quite amazed that I could do that.

Am I alone?

No, my wife can swallow handfulls as well. When she was a kid, her mom gave her every supplement and vitamin under the sun.

I remember when I was young and tried to dissolve an asprin in water, since I had trouble swallowing and hated the taste. Wow, that didn't work well at all. :D