Being in the health care field I get this often. People have a hard time swallowing pills/ tablets

Maybe you do./ or have a family member that can't or doesn't do them because of this problem,

Here is a great way to change that. please follow all recommendation at least a few times. Then you can decide if all or some are important.

Get a can or small bottle of seltzer (not club soda .,bubbly water etc)

get a FAT straw (Often they have them at Duncan donuts)

put tablet (or later tablets if it works well for you) in your mouth,..roll it around just a little bit to get it wet,

then with the straw in the seltzer,..drink it up WITH YOUR HEAD TIPPED SLIGHTLY DOWN ,thats important ..as it open your throat ,..IT'S REALLY bad,...that I see people doing the opposite,..with their heads back,..even jerking their head back like its going to help,...it doesn't,...tipping ones head back is good for chickens to drink as it opens their throats ,..but it closes your throat enough to make it more difficult..

So Head slightly tipped DOWN,..a FAT straw, FRESH very active PLAIN eltzer,..and any pill/tablet goes all most magically down 98% of throats so well that some/most are amazed,

Even if a not a problem for you,..some people who take drugs and health supplements tend of not do it as often they should as would be good for them/you,,... avoid doing it.

I suggest you at least TRY IT ONE TIME as directed,..as I have seen people with serious health problem get very weak,..and what wasn't a problem,..is now a problem,..so weak that they can't or doesn't want to,..so perhaps you can remember it in the future,.

I've taught this to many nurses that say its so frustrating in a hospital trying to get a pt to swallow much need meds, ..and some of the say they now buy small bottles/cans of seltzer and get wide straws with their own money and take them to work,..which makes their lives much easier.

Go down to the drug store and buy a morter and pestle. (That's a small stone bowl and a little stick with a bulb on the end) Put the pill in the little bowl and crush it into powder with the stick.

When the pill is reduced to powder, put that on something you normally eat, like a slice of pizza or soup or chili, etc. Eat that and you will have eaten the pill as powder. No pill to stick in your throat.

Yes,.Richard .that can work for some meds,..but with others that can be very bad,even very dangerous..as it can greatly increase the amount of drug absorbed too fast,.(more than intended by the manufacturer) and also not good for enterically coated drugs which are inactivated in the upper GI and made to release down further in the gut.

I wouldn't trust many Drs or nurses to know which,..maybe contacting the manufacturer of the drug for that information..

My kid was teaching his friend how to swallow a pill using a cooked elbow pasta.

Not sure how he got this idea, but it worked.

Yes some good tips,...BUT REALLY TRY IT ONCE AS DIRECTED in the first post here,..You will be surprised and may have a real impact to your health if you get hit by a bus tomorrow and you are too weak to swallow something that you need and there is no drip for,..or if it happens to a family member,..if you do it once,..you just may remember it if needed,

I think I have nearly a hundred nurses and at least 5 medical Drs that have found this very useful. Plus a number of alternative practitioner's for their pts that take supplements,

Just tried the head down method on a big horse pill. No straw and regular water. Still was much easier than the way I normally take them (head thrown back, big swallow.)

I am definitely going to try this. I don't take pills often yet. But my dad does and his health is deteriorating. This may come handy down the road.

WMH and Barbara,

Wow! some of you are really missing the point from the original poster.. Its not what works for you now.Or that you have no problem swallowing pills. Its what you or a loved one may need in the future, read it again.

This does work and very well if you do all the recommended steps as suggested My wife thinks its a miracle for her.Last night she couldn't believe it worked so well.