What happens to you if a pill you swallowed accidentally went down your lung tube and you...?

Question

didn't cough it back up?

Answer 1

As long as it isnt one of those liquid release pill, i think it would just dissolve and enter your blood stream like oxygen would. But I dont know, Im not a doctor.

Answer 2

it will still disolve, and as long as it isn't an antibiotic it should work. if not it wont hurt you!

Answer 3

i would call the hospital right away

Answer 4

Depending on what drug, and the size of the pill, it might obstruct some of the air passages enough to cause problems.  If it dissolves, it can be quite an irritant, and cause problems.  Sometimes they have no choice but to do a bronchoscopy and remove it.

Answer 5

You would feel like you were going to cough up a lung.

In neurologically intact persons, aspiration of a foreign body (a pill) is next to impossible-- it would never get below the level of the vocal cords (the vocal cords form the valve at the top of the trachea, or "lung tube").

Imagine if you had a drop of saliva go down the "wrong way". You would have a huge coughing fit. Now, if just a drop of saliva does that, imagine how strong the coughing would be if a pill went down the wrong way!