trouble swallowing tablets

[black bunny]

my 15 year old son has been prescribed some tablets for his acne. He's never had to take tablets in his life till now, and just cannot seem to be able to swallow them whole - believe me,he's really tried but ends up gagging.
He is happy to crunch them and swallow them that way, but he's now worried that doing that may affect the tablets working the proper way. Will it make any difference? I'd be grateful for any advice.

[jack daniels]

can you not half or quarter the tablets and then try swallowing them one at a time with water? I used to cut them with a knife for my children.

hth

[shaneystar2]

Someone told me to take tablets with a fizzy drink ..lemonade or sparkling water .It does work I am the biggest baby for gagging on tablets and I have to take medication every day .

[herculiscbr]

A lot of people have this problem. I have just taken mine after swallowing them i eat a choccie biscuit .

[daffy654]

I always take tablets by filling my mouth with whatever drink I am taking the tablets with,insert tablet into full mouth and swallow the whole lot.My son has to do it the same way.

[Velvetee]

I'm nearly 40 and still can't swallow tablets. The boluses of food we swallow are much larger than any tablet, but it seems to be a phobia, my throat kind of seizes up and I stat wretching. Maybe you should speak to his GP for other alternatives

[spudqueen]

My 16 year old son couldn't swallow tablets either, then I noticed that he had the tablet near the front of his tongue. Since I suggested that he move them nearer the back of his mouth he's not had any problems.

[andy-hughes]

I always used to fill my mouth with water, bend forward,
slip the tablet in my mouth, and then straighten up and throw my head back in one quick movement, which takes the whole lot down.

Because of sleep aponea I had to have my tonils, uvula and half my soft palate removed, so you can drive a pantechnicon down my gullet without touching the sides, so my problem is solved.

I don't recomend that as a solution though! Try the first method, that worked for me every time.

[monkeywiener]

maybe they would go down well with a nice pepperoni pizza?

[mike-bones]

This really works - I recommend it to patients all the time:
Instead of trying to wash tablets down with a glass of water - try using a bottle of water instead - the narrow neck of the bottle changes the tingue shape and opens up the back of the throat so making swallowing easier (whereas a glass / cup flattens the tongue and closes the throat slightly.
Hope this helps