• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Please GAF help me out: teach me how to swallow pills

Status
Not open for further replies.
Go ahead and make fun of me, I deserve it, but this is real. I am terrible at swallowing pills.

Even the tiniest pills with coating take me about half a minute after I've put them in my mouth before I can swallow. It's stupid, I know; it takes me a while to "remember" the swallowing movement and then I'm finally able to replicate it and down they go.

The truth is I rarely swallow anything whole. I really chew the eff out of my food before I swallow. Hell, a few years ago a friend asked me why I was chewing my drink. I was doing it unconciously. I'm really bad at this!

I got food poisoning last Thursday and It's been hell for me the past few days. Not only because of the stomach cramps, fever, etc, but also because it's been a constant battle to try and swallow the goddamn shitload of pills that I got prescribed. Seriously, I got a 1 gram pill that looks like it was made as a suppository for Elephants. How the hell am I supposed to swallow that?

I've been reading online and I've tried multiple things and nothing has worked. The last thing I read (yet to try) is that I should coat the pills in butter and they will go down my throat easily and won't leave the nasty taste in my mouth. I had thought (before reading) of coating it in Nutella but I decided I wouldn't try that because I don't want to ruin Nutella with disgusting pills (also because Nutella is thick as hell so I'd probably choke on it and my cats would eat me after I'm dead).

What do I do GAF? I'm open to suggestions. Make fun of me all you want but please save me!

P.S. this is not a joke thread, nor a drunk thread, nor a high thread. I'm a grown man that can't swallow pills and I need help.
 

Spoo

Member
Had a similar issue for a while. Trick is to get it as far back as possible so you're basically choking on it, and are forced to drink water to not die. Survival instinct kicks in.

You'll be okay, tiger.
 
Take them with a gulp of water. If they're capsules tip your head forward, it's sort of counterintuitive but it's really the way to do it. It's only if they're tablets that you'll tip your head backwards to encourage them to go down your throat.
 

eliza0224

Member
It's hard for me too. I put the pill way back in my mouth, and just start drinking big sips until I swallowed it. I also close my eyes, helps me deal with the irrational fear.
 

vatstep

This poster pulses with an appeal so broad the typical restraints of our societies fall by the wayside.
I had this issue when I was younger, but I just realized that the average mouthful of food swallowed is larger than even the biggest pill — actively thinking this made it easier to do.
 

Sai-kun

Banned
omg

for the longest time, my mom would have to toss pills into my mouth to get me to down them. it was funniest/weirdest shit but i literally just could not swallow them on my own, even when i was drinking something. When I had headaches as an older teen I still was taking children's chewable tylenol lmao
 
Place them on the middle of your tongue, fill your mouth with water and take a big gulp. If you do it correctly you won't even feel yourself swallowing a pill.
 

Stet

Banned
omg

for the longest time, my mom would have to toss pills into my mouth to get me to down them. it was funniest/weirdest shit but i literally just could not swallow them on my own, even when i was drinking something. When I had headaches as an older teen I still was taking children's chewable tylenol lmao

did she make you beg first
 
I had this issue when I was younger, but I just realized that the average mouthful of food swallowed is larger than even the biggest pill — actively thinking this made it easier to do.

It's not about being too big for me, but rather they're usually too small to trigger my swallow reflex.
 

CSX

Member
Same issue as you OP especially if the pill is large. Really small pills like Zyrtec for allergies are no issue.

My solution is to swallow it down with water. It takes a 2nd gulp of water sometimes but water will always do the trick for me.
 

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
I'm really glad my mom taught me how to swallow pills.

Try swallowing you saliva. Repeat. Then put a pill into your mouth. Swallow again.
 

kirby_fox

Banned
The only way I get pills down is water first, then pill straight to the back of my throat and pretending it's only water I'm swallowing. I gag when the taste hits my tongue personally.

It's mostly a mental thing I think, so overcoming that is hard.
 

Maximo

Member
Ha had this problem a couple of years ago, Just put it to the back of your throat without choking, drink some water and tilt your head up.
 

Alphahawk

Member
Don't put it at the back of your mouth, just put it in the front, it may seem counter productive but it will actually go down quicker this way.
 

akira28

Member
someone has to grab you, hold your mouth open, put in on the back of your tongue, then hold your mouth closed while holding your nose closed too until you swallow it.

or just hide it in a hotdog or something.


ok seriously, put the pill under your tongue. now fill your mouth full of a sweet liquid like orange juice or my personal favorite, purple stuff. OK now your mouth is full of purple stuff, you lift your tongue, and the power of science and physics will cause the pill to float into the liquid, suspended. Now you can gulp everything down, and the force of the liquid and the volume should carry the pill down your throat and into your esophagus. This is a fool proof method for taking any pill.
 

cajunator

Banned
I used to struggle with this but really just put the pill long side towards back of the throat and get a gulp of water and just concentrate on getting the water down. The pill just rides along.
after a few go's you get used to it and realize the fear is in your head.
 

Sophia

Member
Don't do this. Many medicines are time-released.

Correct. If you break up a time released medicine, you will make yourself seriously sick.

OP, Glass of water or applesuace are two ways you can go about it. If water doesn't work, try putting it in a spoon full of applesauce and swallowing it all at once.

If you generate a lot of saliva, you can also start just gathering it in the front of your mouth too and use it in place of water.
 
My grandfather was a Vitamin distributor. He taught me how to swallow many pills without water. That pretty much never comes in handy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom