Getting in all those pills without tasting them
Hi
I'm 10 days out from RNY surgery and having trouble getting down all the meds.
I've blended them in a magic bullett and added that to applesauce OMG it tasted so bad!
I thought I'd try taking them whole with applesauce. They went down OK but I don't know if I absorbed them or not.
I need a better idea, my pills are so bitter I had trouble taking them before the surgery, now I'm desperate for a solution to get them down, hopefully without tasting them.
Ideas anyone????????
Technoqueen
I'm 10 days out from RNY surgery and having trouble getting down all the meds.
I've blended them in a magic bullett and added that to applesauce OMG it tasted so bad!
I thought I'd try taking them whole with applesauce. They went down OK but I don't know if I absorbed them or not.
I need a better idea, my pills are so bitter I had trouble taking them before the surgery, now I'm desperate for a solution to get them down, hopefully without tasting them.
Ideas anyone????????
Technoqueen
You will absorb whole pills just fine.
Why did you have trouble taking them before surgery? Because of the bitter taste? One of my medications that I take four times a day (Effexor) has a very bad taste and even though it only touches my tongue for a second, the taste lingers. I try to swallow it with a strong flavored liquid, like a protein shake, or else I swallow it and then immediately take a bite of something with a strong flavor such as a chocolate protein bar or some sort of spicy food to get rid of the terrible taste.
Why did you have trouble taking them before surgery? Because of the bitter taste? One of my medications that I take four times a day (Effexor) has a very bad taste and even though it only touches my tongue for a second, the taste lingers. I try to swallow it with a strong flavored liquid, like a protein shake, or else I swallow it and then immediately take a bite of something with a strong flavor such as a chocolate protein bar or some sort of spicy food to get rid of the terrible taste.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I use Kelly's second suggestion for a med I take that is very bitter no matter how quickly I swallow it... I either take it with a very strong tasting liquid or immediately after swallowing, I eat a bite of something with a strong flavor (my usual choice is some jalapeno or habanero pepper cheese) but I also sometimes just use tuna salad.
As Kelly said, there is no different in absorption if you swallow the pills whole or cut them in half or crush them (assuming that they are meds your physician or pharmacist specifically indicated COULD be crushed... some meds should never be crushed, and will NOT absorb properly if they ARE crushed).
Lora
As Kelly said, there is no different in absorption if you swallow the pills whole or cut them in half or crush them (assuming that they are meds your physician or pharmacist specifically indicated COULD be crushed... some meds should never be crushed, and will NOT absorb properly if they ARE crushed).
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
kidnamedtoad
on 1/16/12 3:29 pm
on 1/16/12 3:29 pm
I used to crush pills in a pill grinder but now I just cut pills into smaller pieces with a pill cutter. If it has a bad taste I'd take a big spoonful of sugar free jello and swi**** around my mouth for a while. Good Luck!
Toad Starting weight: 249 Day of surgery wt: 217 GW: 109 CW 149 
JJ_
on 1/16/12 7:26 pm
on 1/16/12 7:26 pm
Another idea is to try Smuckers SF Caramel sauce.
However, I have chewable multivitamins and I found the best thing was to use a pill cutter and slice it up to a smaller amount then swallow. Once these chewable multivitamins have finished, I will move onto regular multivitamins.
Judy
However, I have chewable multivitamins and I found the best thing was to use a pill cutter and slice it up to a smaller amount then swallow. Once these chewable multivitamins have finished, I will move onto regular multivitamins.
Judy
Oh, Kelly! I also take that same medication and it IS nasty! I try to get it as far back on my tongue as possible just so I won't have to taste too much of it and I swallow the pill as fast as I can.
To the O.P: When I had to crush my pills post-op, my husband mixed Mio with each one, in a spoon. Mio, as you probably know, is the sugar-free flavored concentrate that can be squirted into a water bottle to create a calorie-free beverage. The Mio flavor was so intense that it actually made swallowing the crushed pills bearable.
To the O.P: When I had to crush my pills post-op, my husband mixed Mio with each one, in a spoon. Mio, as you probably know, is the sugar-free flavored concentrate that can be squirted into a water bottle to create a calorie-free beverage. The Mio flavor was so intense that it actually made swallowing the crushed pills bearable.
I hated crushing pills. My surgeon wanted us to wait until 7 weeks out before we started swallowing them whole. I think I made it 3 weeks.
What did help was layering them between a bite of applesauce as opposed to mixing them straight into it. Take your spoon and put on enough applesauce to cover the bottom well. Then dump your pill crushings on top of this...careful though you don't want to go all the way to the edge. Then add a dollop of applesauce onto the top all the way to the edges so you sort of seal the "crushings" in. Swallow. Quickly. It helps quite a bit. Just don't add too much of your pills crushings to a single spoon. Might take 2 to get all your meds down.
I started taking them whole as soon as I thought I could get away with it. You will absorb them.
What did help was layering them between a bite of applesauce as opposed to mixing them straight into it. Take your spoon and put on enough applesauce to cover the bottom well. Then dump your pill crushings on top of this...careful though you don't want to go all the way to the edge. Then add a dollop of applesauce onto the top all the way to the edges so you sort of seal the "crushings" in. Swallow. Quickly. It helps quite a bit. Just don't add too much of your pills crushings to a single spoon. Might take 2 to get all your meds down.
I started taking them whole as soon as I thought I could get away with it. You will absorb them.
Wow what great ideas! I guess I did leave out some info when I asked for your help. I had a RNY surgery.
I have 4 different pills that are not capsules, and have always been difficult to get down due to their size. They are about the size of my little finger around and are nearly 3/4 inch long.
The pain medication is the size of a nickle and just as thick. The rest are more normal size pills, but until I get off some of them, which I wish was now, I take 18 medications per day only 2 of which are evening repeats.
I suppose it would be ok to take them whole because that's how they were given to me in the hospital.
Thank you all for your help. I'm going to try them all and see which one works for me.
Thanks
Technoqueen
I have 4 different pills that are not capsules, and have always been difficult to get down due to their size. They are about the size of my little finger around and are nearly 3/4 inch long.
The pain medication is the size of a nickle and just as thick. The rest are more normal size pills, but until I get off some of them, which I wish was now, I take 18 medications per day only 2 of which are evening repeats.
I suppose it would be ok to take them whole because that's how they were given to me in the hospital.
Thank you all for your help. I'm going to try them all and see which one works for me.
Thanks
Technoqueen
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