ISO someone to teach to swallow pills

amother

Tue, May 23 2023, 7:09 am

For a young adult. Pretty urgent.
A speech therapist specializing in feeding? Any other professional?

honey36

Tue, May 23 2023, 7:14 am

Not exactly your request but thought the flowing would be helpful

https://betweencarpools.com/?s=Pills

Also a SLP or even dental hygienist who specializes in myofunctional therapy may be helpful. Sorry, I don't know anyone in that area personally.

ra_mom

Tue, May 23 2023, 8:36 am

I wish I knew who to recommend but can offer what worked after everything else didn't.

The trick is to curl your tongue.

Have her put a tiny tic tac candy on her tongue. Tell her to curl her tongue, and then drink. Dd finds a water bottle easier than a plastic cup. Practice with sprinkles or the tiny mini chocolate chips.

We tried those special cups. No luck.
This is what did it. Important, no tilting of head, as that can close the throat wnd make it more difficult.

amother

Maize

Tue, May 23 2023, 8:50 am

OP this is what helped me as an older teen.
I couldnt swallow pills but I found I could swallow a large blob of not/ barely chewed banana, or a huge blob of chewed up cake. For some reason larger soft things are easily swallowed but not hard pills. So if she can practice swallowing large blobs of banana or soft cake, then she can insert the pill inside, and swallow all that together

amother

Tue, May 23 2023, 9:08 am

ra_mom wrote:

Thanks for the advice. Not sure what you mean by curling the tongue. Upward?
She tried practicing with sprinkles and those lentil candies

amother

Stoneblue

Tue, May 23 2023, 9:11 am

Omg! I need someone as well. My son 17 refuses to swallow pills. And he’s on a daily medication. We either open capsules or disintegrate in liquid, neither which is optimal

Angel

Tue, May 23 2023, 9:19 am

I just taught my 6 year old since the medication he needed was only available in tiny pills.

The magic word is beer mayim selczer. Lol.

Place it on center of tongue and let them drink the strongest bubbly selczer. It should go down.

theoretical62

Tue, May 23 2023, 9:22 am

If you want a speech therapist, I have a family member in 5 towns who was helped by a speech therapist. It was expensive but only took 1 session. You can pm me and I can try to get the contact info.

amother

Clover

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:05 am

Depending on the size - put it into a spoon of applesauce. It's how the nurses do it with the elderly. To ease the swallow.

amother

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:10 am

jeg wrote:

Try a compounding pharmacy. They can sometimes make liquid versions of meds

Already asked, nope

amother

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:11 am

amother Stoneblue wrote:

Omg! I need someone as well. My son 17 refuses to swallow pills. And he’s on a daily medication. We either open capsules or disintegrate in liquid, neither which is optimal

Yup, that's what we've been doing until now, open capsules or grind pills. Can't do it with this one.

BusyMama1

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:12 am

I started swallowing pills when I was around 18. The only thing that I worked was taking with applesauce and then eventually was able to do it on my own

goldfish1

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:18 am

I'm generally ok with swallowing pills but when it's quite a large one I'll take it with juice or milk instead of water to make it a little easier.

ra_mom

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:54 am

amother OP wrote:

Thanks for the advice. Not sure what you mean by curling the tongue. Upward?
She tried practicing with sprinkles and those lentil candies

Yes curl it up and to the back. Nothing major, just curl up, no acrobatics needed. The pill should be dropped into that little pocket on the tongue. Then use a water bottle spout only to try to drink it down. Tic Taks are the perfect practice size.

Last edited by ra_mom on Tue, May 23 2023, 11:18 am; edited 1 time in total

Chayalle

Tue, May 23 2023, 10:56 am

One of my siblings had a hard time with pills, and I remember a doctor told her to practice with a can of corn niblets. She would swallow the corn kernels, which are slippery and easier, but this prepped her muscles for pill swallowing.

amother

Opal

Tue, May 23 2023, 11:09 am

I read a paper which argued that babies have no trouble swallowing coins, lego, and other solid items on a regular basis. Therefore it makes sense to maintain this skill, and give pills instead of syrup right from the beginning. Not very helpful, but an interesting argument.

amother

Narcissus

Tue, May 23 2023, 11:17 am

Angel wrote:

Yes, haven’t tried yet, but a PA in our pediatrician’s office said you don’t feel the pill going down when swallowing it with soda (or seltzer).

amother

Apricot

Tue, May 23 2023, 11:30 am

amother Maize wrote:

Yes- this worked for me too. Specifically with ice cream! It slides right down.