Do you swallow your pills whole or grind them into powder?
@lordwarwizard (35747)
Singapore
April 14, 2007 12:03pm CST
No one likes getting sick. Unless you are a saint (and a sick saint at that), you would want to stay fit and healthy.
I remember the times when I was a kiddie and got sick. Those times sure weren't fun. Visiting doctors and having them poke at you weren't that exciting. But the worst part was the medicine. More often than not, medicine comes in pill form.
Before I was "initiated" into the art of pill swallowing, I had a hard time "enjoying" them. I was a slow learner and I didn't get the hang of swallowing pills till many tries later. I often choked on either the pill or the water. So in the end, my parents had to grind them into powder and stir them into water... and force me to drink it. I won't say more but I would ask you to imagine the taste, and hold it in your mind for 3 seconds. :P
Are you good at swallowing bitter pills (literally)? Or do you have them ground into powder then drink it with water like me? Or do you prefer the liquid form where possible? Or do you instead ask for the injection option? Or do you simply sulk and hide under your blanket? Do share your thoughts. ;-)
59 people like this
218 responses
@mariyamaka (931)
• India
14 Apr 07
swallowing pill is still somethin i hate.... i just cant!!! though i have learnt it now... but i still hate and if its a tablet and bigger one i break it and have!!!and hate injections tooo!!! so falling sick i what i hate!!! my cousin i remember used to swallow 4-5 pills at a time... and you know he has settle in singapore only and gettin married this month only;) (sorry for the personal talk)
@froggerwwomen4u (75)
• United States
14 Apr 07
well i swollow my pils hole and do it with ease but i also have been taking pills since i was 2 yrs old cause old havin seziers and all i have had to swlooow many pill plus give my self shots but it makes you feel better you do what you need to do
3 people like this
@wachit14 (3595)
• United States
14 Apr 07
Thankfully, I can swallow almost any pill whole, but many people suffer from not being able to for one reason or another. It makes me wonder why the manufacturers cannot come up with a small form of pill that is easily swallowed. Medication is not such a problem since most come in liquid forms or capsules, but vitamins are the worst. The calcium pills are often much to large to swallow comfortably and I wonder why the manufacturers cannot come up with a small version of it. Maybe more women would take their calcium if they could actually find a brand with pills that are easily swallowed.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
I think it is a form of phobia.. people just can't "open" their throats wide enough.
And you are right. What's with calcium pills? They are so big!! :P
3 people like this
@jeweledbluerose (3061)
• United States
14 Apr 07
Although I highly dislike the taste of any medicine. I have never really had a problem swallowing pills. I will take the pill form if possible. Th liquid forms can linger in your mouth for an eternity it seems even after rinsing your mouth out with mouthwash or gulping down your favorite drink to get rid of the taste. Injections I try to steer clear from as well, even though they don't bother me and I have a high pain tolerance. I just hate needles!! Even though hospitals keep their stuff sterilized and clean, I have always had a fear of getting some strange disease, by a needle that had been unknowingly contaminated.
Though I generally try to keep myself from getting sick, just so I can stay away from all forms of medicine. I have yet to find a medicine that is ever really easy to swallow. Well besides children's medicine, but I can only use that if my symptoms are very mild.
7 people like this
@yanjiaren (9031)
•
14 Apr 07
I have a thin throat so swallowing those things is quite hard so what I tend to do..As I take quite a few Chinese herbal pills daily, I take one at a time and swallow with a big gulp of water, that literally solves the problem and so I get to take my pills and not feel the taste. Mind you the teas I drink are quite bitter but it doesn't bother me at all. I know they are good for me and it is good for the liver.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
You are quite health-conscious, barbie! :P
I can take pills quite easily now... even a few at a time. I need a big gulp of water of course.
5 people like this
@sukumar794 (5040)
• Thiruvananthapuram, India
14 Apr 07
Pills in powdered form or even in a crumbled nature is definitely ineffective in curing ailments . The pill reaches your abdomen swallowed with sufficient water .. it gets disintegrated and the medicinal properties the pill purports to be reaches the bodily parts through the bloodstream .
6 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
Depending. Some pills cannot be ground - some that look plastic on the outside - it is meant to reach the stomach whole.
3 people like this
@samrat16 (2442)
• India
14 Apr 07
In childhood I used to eat pills for just enjoyment. I use to eat all pills in a second. I used to think of it as candy, and drink a little water before I used to take it if thats still no good then I used to chew or mix that with water. But now as I have grown up I hate tablets and can't think of eating a single one. lolz
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
Oh my goodness.. what pills did you eat for fun?
2 people like this
@loved1 (5328)
• United States
14 Apr 07
I don't have any problem swallowing pills unless they are very large. My daughter is 11 now and hates to take medicine. The last time she had a headache I told her she would have to chew up about 5 tylenol junior strength tablets to get enough medicine into her body. The other alternative was to swallow 1 adult strength ibuprofin tablet. (This is per physician's advice) She had trouble swallowing the tablet so I had her chew a bite of food but not swallow, and stick the tablet into the middle of the bite in her mouth before swallowing. When she did that, she found she did not even notice she was swallowing the pill. We use that method every time now and it works like a charm.
4 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
15 Apr 07
You need an empty stomach for some... not too sure. :P
2 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
But I thought you can't eat some pills with food...
2 people like this
@cjthedog64 (1552)
• United States
14 Apr 07
I've never had a problem swallowing pills. I guess I'd prefer a liquid over a powder, because a powder would get little pieces left in my mouth and it would take the taste longer to go away. They say you can take a powder with applesauce, but it'd just be easier to swallow the pill.
4 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
15 Apr 07
Some liquid medicine can be yucky too...
2 people like this
@chenxiaoyue_713 (2165)
• China
15 Apr 07
Hey, I had the same experience as you had when I was some 12 or 13 years old. That time, I got to be ill very easily. And the worst was when I got ill, it's serious ill. I had to take an injection, at the same time take medicine. I remember I was disgusted of medicine at that time. Once or twice, or even more times, I threw them away when my mom was away. Certainly, I did not recover from my illness after a long time.
Now, when I remember that story, I just can't help laughing. How infantile I was. Fortunately, I don't bother with healthy problems now, cause I became very healthy in high school days.
As for your topic, I prefer the first, to swallow the pill instead of grinding them into powder. I always think to grind pills into powder is the way for little baby.
4 people like this
@DeaXyza (577)
• United States
15 Apr 07
"ground into powder and then drink it with water" Why Wizard why would you have a mouthful of bitter powder? If it were me I would ask them to powder and mix it with honey or chocolate syrup and then drink up the concoction....
As for me well I could not swallow the big ones so I would halve them and then drink up the pills with water but my illnesses when young were the kind that lasted over a period and during one such illness (3 months) there was no alternative but to inject meds into my body once a day and since then I have never feared the injection much infact prefer the injections to eating pills!
But since I have grown up I have not had much illnesses (thank my luck and my immunity) so I am not the sulk type either though I try to avoid medicating myself over small illnesses, I try the medical cabinet in the kitchen cupboard method most of the time before turning to Pills and syrups......
Thats me ..... thanks for asking wizzy :)
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
15 Apr 07
You don't have a choice when you need to get the pill down but can't seem to swallow it.
My parents believe in not mixing medicine...
2 people like this
@kynni204 (2031)
• United States
14 Apr 07
I can swallow very large pills whole. I have always donethis. I cannot stand the taste of the pill so I prefer to swallow whole. I tried swallowing in the morning without water a couple of times and they enlarged in my throat. I don't do that anymore.
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
14 Apr 07
I've tried swallowing pills without water too.. and usually it doesn't work too well, except I have put one on my tongue and then flicked it down my throat with finger and thumb.. and that works best if you really have no fluid available.. then a bite of food will help it go all the way down.. I can swallow a bunch of pills at once! With liquid of course!
4 people like this
@aciddrop (798)
•
15 Apr 07
grinding pills into powder seems to be only what parents do for their kids.as grown-ups,we dont need that do we?when i was a kid,it was injection scared me most rather than pills.whenever it came to taking a shot,i cried out and hid around b4 the doctor did it on me:P
4 people like this
@rsmith512 (1561)
• United States
15 Apr 07
I have not known a grown up to grind their pills.
But, I guess if they really needed to that is the only way that they could do it.
I hated shots growing up!
My parents had to pin me down and squeeze me tight to get a shot...they I would kick and cry after the shot as well!! LOL :) It isn't that bad now when I have to get shots. But I sure do hate it! :D
3 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
15 Apr 07
Yea, of course. I was talking about when I was a kid. :P
2 people like this
@gizmo528 (731)
• United States
14 Apr 07
I'd like to think I good at swallowing pills but I remember growing up and teaching myself how to do it. I would take some block cheese and break it into pieces and swallow them whole like they were the pills. Eventually, I made it to the real pills and haven't had many problems since them. I just really, really hate it when I can smell the pills..that makes it hard to even want to put them in my mouth.
4 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
15 Apr 07
Is it wise to swallow blocks of cheese? Cheese doesn't even melt as easily as say, butter...
2 people like this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
14 Apr 07
No matter how small or large tablets are I always swallow them whole because I have no problem with swallowing them, my ex used to have great difficult with taking medicines etc and found it easier to grind them up. I've always been the same even as a child and mum used to give me a treat once I had swallowed the naughty medicine as she used to call it!
4 people like this
@Shaun72 (15959)
• Palatka, Florida
14 Apr 07
I swallow mine whole but I have to have something to drink behind it water or something. Espically the larger pills that I take. I had a hard time swalling mine to when I was a child. It took me awhile to swallow it. I think I had to have one of my parents to cut mine in half also.
4 people like this
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
14 Apr 07
When I was a little girl, my mother always brewed Chinese medicine for me. It was so bitter that I needed to hold my breathe followed by a glass of water and a little piece of candy. I can't, for the life of me, remember when I started to take pills.
I have to say, I'm too lazy to grind pills into powder for my girls. I will normally buy the one in capsule form. I will remove the capsule and let my girls take the powder. Its easier and not time consuming. There's a lot of liquid medicine nowadays that catered to children. It also comes in many flavors. My girls wouldn't mind taking them as the taste is pleasant.
4 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
14 Apr 07
i usually swallow them without water.
if they're the nasty non-coated ones that are truly horrible,then i'll drink water with it.that last thing i want is that turning to mush while swallowing LOL
4 people like this
@kaperkitty (1097)
• Canada
14 Apr 07
Well I take 44 pills a day so I have come to be pretty used to taking them whole. some of them are huge too but by cutting them into or grinding them I get the taste of the medicine and it can turn me off it for months and most of my medicines are life saving while some help withe the side effects of the pills. My medications cost me 2300.00 a months and that doesn't include if i get a cold or ear infection like last month that added another 388.00 dollars and I had a weekend stay in hospital.My medications keep me alive but are such a burden.
Cheryl
3 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 Apr 07
OMG... I am very sorry to hear that... :/
2 people like this
@kaperkitty (1097)
• Canada
14 Apr 07
thanks friend but at least i'm on this side of the ground thats the important part
Cheryl
3 people like this
