I can't swallow that darn...
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (63594)
United States
September 9, 2023 8:35am CST
pill.
No, really. I tried 3 times!
THREE times!
It would get to the back of my throat and stop!
The bigger ones went down... okay... but that medium sized one just would not pass! I can also swallow the 5 small ones At. The. Same. Time!
Something I did before, with the same sized pill, actually the 'same' pill, not the same exact pill, but an earlier version of it. What I did that time, when I could neither get it down, or get it up again, was grab a slice of raisin bread and take a bite.
It got it down that time.
So, what I did was try to swallow the pill, again. It got stuck again, but this time I was armed with a slice of raisin bread that I chewed up and got the damned thing down!
Apparently I have this 'ring' thingie at the top of my esophagus, like those that hold the trachea open. This was discovered when they did the endoscopy last year.
Why, after 69.5 years, does this thing suddenly decide to act up?
I do not know.
But on the 22nd, that is September 22, 2023, I'm going to have yet another endoscopy and the doctor says they will break it up!
I'm going to guess that I'll have a sore throat, but if it can stop this darn pill/s getting stuck in my throat, that'll be a good thing.
Mind you, it does not block my breathing, don't worry about that, it just doesn't let the pill/s pass. I'll tell you, I was taking some pills in the spring that seemed to have started this. I still take the same thing, just in the form I had started with, and not the ones that gave me the problems, but... why???
Have you ever had a problem that just started up out of the blue like this?
6 people like this
7 responses
@Raine38 (12250)
• United States
9 Sep 23
I can somehow relate to this. I swear sometimes the pills or capsules will take a somersault in my throat and will land sideways. It's small enough that it does not block my airway, but big enough to be a complete pain. My friend said to hop and it should help. I thought it was so silly, but what the heck, I tried it and what do you know, it worked!
2 people like this
@popciclecold (38721)
• United States
10 Sep 23
Never knew that about hopping. Glad I read this. Thanks for sharing.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47308)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 Sep 23
Another thing that could help the pill pass is applesauce.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
10 Sep 23
Oh... I never considered that. And I eat applesauce everyday because I mix one of my other medications in it. That med is cholestyramine for oral suspension. It can be mixed in water, but I was also told it worked in applesauce, so that is what I do. It is, normally prescribed for cholesterol, but I was given it last fall for the ulcer. Why? Corn starch in the preferred medication, of course.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (180674)
• United States
9 Sep 23
Not really, but I hate big pils. it seems some are the size of horse pills!
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
9 Sep 23
That's just it, I'm doing the big pills pretty well, it is only this smaller pill I'm fighting with. It is a half inch long and a quarter inch wide, that is 1.5 centimeter and .45 wide for those of you using metric. I have no particular problem with my calcium pills that are just over a quarter of an inch longer, they are .5 cm larger so they are 2 cm for you metric folks.
2 people like this
@sulynsi (2671)
• Canada
9 Sep 23
Isn't it weird!?
When you actually look at these large pills, they aren't really that big compared to some things a person may swallow, but its crazy how they don't go down!
I always have to split them in half, and make sure I've positioned them properly so AND have a big glass of water!
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
9 Sep 23
I have never had this problem with pills until I started taking those other ones. I ended up putting some olive oil on them and that helped them slide down. And now I'm gagging on these pills that are smaller and do actually have a kind of coat on them. So do the bigger pills, calcium pills, while the ones I'm having trouble with are potassium. I started taking them last year when a blood test showed I was rather low on potassium. It wasn't until July of this year I've had a problem with them.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (68000)
• United States
9 Sep 23
Yes, I’ve had problems swallowing smaller pills after getting the “horse pill” down. I always take my pills with soda or carbonated water….seems the “fizz” helps it go down (or takes my mind off of the process of swallowing the pill).
2 people like this
