Help!!

[ugly gourd]

Anyone got any tips on how to get my 14 year old to swallow tablets if he was one of my dogs no problem!! but how can I get him to swallow it

[Lesley Jay]

Pay him!!!

[ugly gourd]

Done that bribed threatened even got a towel like I used to with my old cat got to cure it hes on 13 tablets a day

[Alice]

Hello Ugly Gourd, you have my sympathy trying to give pills to someone who finds them hard to swallow. I take it that is the problem and not just a refusal to take the medication (that's a different problem). I do have experience of the situation so try this.
Get him to take a mouthful of water and hold it in his mouth.
Now get him to put the pill in his mouth and move it into the water with his tongue.
Now he should tip his head back so that the water and the pill are at the back of his throat
and swallow firmly.
Gone ! Hopefully.
Only give 1 pill at a time and try not to make a big issue. The more worked up and stressed he is about it the harder it will be for him to relax and do it. Good luck.

[pigletwillie]

LJ 's pea stick will do it!!!!!

[Lesley Jay]

Piglet he is 14 years old!!! I would be arrested!!!!

[madderbat]

Hi Ugly gourd, sympathy to you.
Hope the problem is solved by now, but if not, the only way I could ever get No 1 Techie son to take tablets when younger was to make sure that the inside of the mouth is moist before putting tablet in.
It takes some of the fear away, and its a kind of headology thinkg of believing that you can swallow the tablet. Tension in the throat stops tablets going down.
How about treats? bribery was mentioned earlier; promise his a beer or alcopop if he gets them down (unless contraindicated by medication). Sweets or icelollies probably won't work I guess.

You could go the 'old cat' way and bury it in his food so he doesn't notice!

Good luck

[ugly gourd]

Still trying another 2 at 8pm the doctors put him on 13 a day so he will be an expert at it by the end of the 2 weeks or Ill be giving them as suppositories (sp)

[supersprout]

Just the ticket ugly gourd!
I hate taking tablets too. I swig a small mouthful of a favourite hot or cold drink, pop in tablet, take another small swig to wash down the tablet, then another to wash the taste away

[bubblewrap]

Tried A funnel & a bottle of coke?

[smallblueplanet]

Still trying another 2 at 8pm the doctors put him on 13 a day so he will be an expert at it by the end of the 2 weeks or Ill be giving them as suppositories (sp)

Yes, perhaps a quick visit to the docs for him/her to explain how he can be prescribed suppositories if that's what he'd prefer, might do it?

[dexterdoglancashire]

UG you have my sympathies. Poor lad. I don't like taking tablets either but don't really know what to suggest. What about taking them with some favourite food? (but then I guess it would become his most hated food). DDL

[NOG]

Easy.....buy a lenght of 1/2in clear plastic tube and a funnel.....now tell him he can either swollow them or you are going to administer them by emema (and thats not a white Rap singer).

[Alice]

Hello Ugly Gourd, further to what I said before, many medications are available in liquid form, although they may not taste nice. Your son might find this more acceptable. If he is not /not able to take his medication you should let his doctor know ASAP. He hasn't been prescribed these pills for nothing.

[Peter]

Check with the Doctor first in case it changes the absorbtion rate, but if they are pills as opposed to capsules, you could crush them and put the result into yogurt or a milkshake?