Medication question - swallowing pill is difficult , what will help?

Question

I would appreciate input from anyone, professionals or not. I have been prescribed a medication to treat my Crohn's disease. I am doing my best to take the meds - I have to take 2 pills four times a day (this is a must, non negotiable as the doctor makes it clear I have to have this medication). The problem is the pills are very large and hard to swallow. I CANNOT break the pills because they are extended release & that is not advised. Because of the Crohn's, I vomit frequently and therefore have a very sensitive gag reflex which is making this more difficult. Even when I do manage to swallow the medication, it hurts going down (I drink a lot when taking the med in hopes of helping it go down smoother). Is there anything I can do to make this easier? Would my pharmacist have answers?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

By all means talk to your pharmacist.  Lower dosage forms of the medications you are taking are probably available, which means smaller tablet size but taking more tablets.

When you get the smaller-sized tablets, try this: stick your tongue out as far as you can get it.  Then, holding the pill between finger and thumb, reach into your mouth and place the pill as far back on your tongue as possible.  Then just withdraw your tongue and wash the perfectly-placed pill down with a drink of water.

If that doesn't work, talk to your pharmacist again for other tricks and about alternative methods of administration.

Answer 2

I sometimes have trouble with the big pills too.  I have to make sure not to waste any time. As soon as the water hits my mouth, I swallow. It's harder to get it down when it floats around in your mouth.  Just knock it straight back! You probably already know that though.   :)

Answer 3

I think Crohn's disease is the one of the latest fad disease's now be treated by doctors and amplified by Drug companies (BIG MONEY) Hear is my post to people with Crohn's disease for you to try.

My son was diagnosis with Crohn's disease over 2 years ago. the doctor wanted to put him on Humira (after experimenting with several other drugs) which is anexpensive drug with life threating serious side affects. We did some research and wanted to take a new approach to combat His problem. This is what we found out. The liver is producing too much bile that is toxic to the digestive tract. The types of foods you need to eat are those that DO NOT create excessive acid or bile that help in digestion (simply put). The bile is normal unless it is in large quanity or toxic, the acid attacks the food as well as intestinal linings of your stomach

Your body is high in toxins that you need to remove and stop feeding into the problem by the foods you consume and an overactive liver.

1.) "Foods to eat" : water purified, fish, eggs, potatoes,rice, white bread,meat ground up fine or chewed well, skinless chicken cut fine, tortillas, broth, noodles plain with a little butter, plain yogurt with no extra ingredients, Goats milk or rice milk(rice dreams-Walmart) cherrios rice crispies or chex, plain oatmeal and 'most important' 5x/day at each meal and as a snack, one of the following legume's black beans, kidney, pinto, buttered,refried, with no lard or spices except salt to start. Sunshine calcium and D'3, Iron supplements(in moderation)

if you are anemic.

2.) "Foods to avoid!": fruit juice,dairy!,milk (hardest to digest, a cow use 4 stomachs!) chips!,processed foods of any kind, fast food of any kind, soda ,msg,sugar,corn, corn syrup,corn sweeteners,wheat products,sweeteners of any kind, coffee, teas,sauces, read the back labels (you are going to be surprised) for added ingredients any thing thats added, adds to your body's toxic level. NO artificial sweeteners. foods that produce too much acid to break down the foods you eat. No alcohol of any kind NO Tabacco. pork, fatty foods.

3.) 'Foods to eat': in moderation after you stop bleeding and start gaining weight or are having no discomfort : certain fruits,steak,venison, peanut butter or almond butter, more plain oatmeal A multi-vitamin with minerals with 100% RDA (not large dose's of any vitamins and 2x daily ,use shaklee as the bench mark for comparison ) of all of the B's, hard cheese, soy milk,well cooked vegetables" Psyillium powder".

4.)The beans,psyillium powder and oatmeal are a soluble fiber that absorb bile and remove the toxins in your body,then the liver will produce more bile but less toxic(simplified for lack of space).

5.)This is not an all inclusive list and your Doctor will disagree with the elimination of drugs, all removal of drugs should be done slowly if you decide to stop taking them, but they will add to your body's toxic level as you continue take them. which will make your Crohn's worse and make you susceptible to other more serious disease's. I am not a specialist in any field or giving medical advice. I also hired KarenHurd.com at a fraction of the cost to teach my son to diet properly but you can go to her web site and get free information, but I recommend you pay her for a short time to get you healthy and on a routine faster. She has a very high success rate. Stress will make it worst so exercise and relax. Most importantly Faith, Hope, and Prayer, you will get better. God is faithful what ever the results. E-mail me if you have any questions and I can help. I don't know if you have crohn's but changing your diet could help you and most of us in America because of the poor nutrition we unknowingly subject ourselves too. Ibs and colitis is similar but the diet still apply's. Routine and a little bit of self disipline and you will be drug free and have more money in the pocket. You may have other complications with the Crohn's because you are now susceptible to all kind of complication's and other disease's because of the medicine you take! My son has gained 15 lbs in 4 months has no blood,no diahrea,no gut aches,and takes no medication. Stay in touch and let me know how it works out I'm very interested. God Bless you and keep you safe.

Answer 4

Mary Poppins answered this long ago - "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." Try it in the form of a spoonful of honey.

Answer 5

See the drugs@fda website

They list Pentasa as being available as 250mg and 500mg capsules. The 250's might go down easier but will probalby be more expensive.

According to Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 11th edition, page 1013 'there is no clear benefit in continued therapy in patients who achieve medical remission'.  You might get you local library to get an interlibrary loan if it is not in stock to read the short chapter on the topic for yourself.

Also see:

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec02/ch018/ch...