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Alternative Medicine InformationHow to Help the Medicine Go Down
by:
Lisa Simmons
I have a confession to make. I'm a 40-year-old adult that cannot with success
swallow pills. Shocking...I know. However, it makes give me a tremendous sympathy for the galore kids with special inevitably who must take one or multiple medication EVERY day. For galore of these families, medication time is a daily struggle if not a daily battle!
For those of you who are already saying, "Oh it's so easy, you simply ....". Plese stop. Every adult who has ever knowing of my quandary has shared his or her "no fail" strategy. Gratuitous to say, they can't claim they are "no fail" anymore. I think one of the problems is this -- if you swallow pills easily it's actually hard for you to explain how you do it. You simply DO it. In an effort to understand and ease my own situation and that of others like me, I went researching. Here are my findings, several the common and the "more creative".
1. Eliminate the non-essential
This tip is high on my list. Any medication I can manage NOT to take is a step in the right direction. Here are a couple articles to help you decide once
medications are essential:
** How to Get the Most Benefits with the Few Risks http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/takemed/medtips.html
** Psychiatrical Medications for Children & Adolescents: Questions To Ask http://www.childhooddisorders.com/children_medications.html
2. How to swallow pills
First of all, not everyone CAN swallow a pill. Several children truly do not have the mouth and throat control to swallow a solid pill. This can be seen in the really young child. It can besides be the case in an older child with a organic process delay that affects his ability to swallow or speak. If your child cannot swallow a moderate mouthful of water without it dripping out of his mouth, he may have a physical problem with the swallowing reflex. If you aren't sure whether your child has the physical ability to swallow pills, consult his/her doctor or a speech therapist. Once that issue is cleared up ....
Everyone has a theory on how to "teach" pill swallowing.
Dr. William Sears recommends this approach:
"Instead of following the natural tendency and tipping the head back to swallow a pill, have your child bend her head forward. Place the pill near the tip of her tongue. Have your child bend her head forward so that the chin touches the chest. As she swallows, she should lift her head up quickly. The pill wish rise to the top of the water (toward the back of the tongue) and wash down easily with the swallow."
A seasoned mom recommended this method:
"Get a couple of packages of those MINI m&m's. They are slightly bigger than galore children's pills and taste more better. Talk with your child simply about how more better they feel on the medication. Explain that you want to help him or her TEACH THEMSELF to swallow meds. Give him/her the M & M's and a glass of milk/water, any s/he picks, and a couple of M & M's. Here's the bargain: If s/he can swallow an M & M whole, s/he gets the rest of the package. Let him/her try. Limit your training to 3 chances so you don't reinforce failure. If s/he sincerely tries and Just simply about succeeds, then give a portion of the treat and try once again the next day."
And Christy Russell at the University of Kansas offers this idea:
"Sometimes children must take baby steps to master the art of the gulp. In those cases, it helps to sweeten their path. Start by teaching your child to swallow one of those Sprinkles used in cake decoration -- Blue, Yellow, Red, any color wish work. Then come up to spherical silver sprinkles. From there, it's a short jump to introducing your child to fragments of red licorice whip snipped to less than half an inch in length. Your final finish before the jump to an actual pill mightiness be a capsule-shaped candy like Tic-Tacs, then a vitamin."
NOTE: Though more than one expert recommends this approach (Dr. River Hack outlines a similar approach in Pill Swallowing Ready-made Easy http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/pill_swallowing.html) it is important to note that it can encourage several kids to think of medicine as candy. If you are concerned simply about confusing a child with organic process delays or another psychological feature
issues, then this approach is probably not a wise select for your situation.
Here are several another creative methods for acquiring a pill down:
=> Mix with food - The taste of most medicine is hard to disguise, but sometimes you can help "slide" a pill down or mix a capsule's contents into a food that hides it enough to help. Buttering the pill or burial it in a spoon of jam can help it to slide down more easily. Another foods to try mix with include: ice cream (especially flavors that already contain chunks of brownie, fruit, or nuts), whipped cream, cream cheese, bungalow cheese, yogurt, apple sauce, peanut butter, pudding, grits, mashed potato, sweet potato pie, Jell-O, the slippery sauce from canned peaches, mashed banana, battercake sirup or chocolate syrup. Remember to use only a small figure of food.
=> Use a straw - Have your child put the pill on his/her tongue. Then exploitation a straw, suck down three big gulps of water. With a straw there is no pill floating about in your mouth like there is if you simply try to swallow a pill with a big mouthful of water.
=> Use a cookie - Once
the cookie is chewed and available to be swallowed, pop the pill in and then swallow the cookie.
=> Add liquid - Dissolve the pill in a bantam bit of warm water and mix it with Cranberry juice.
=> Add a disguise - Take a small bit of Fruit Roll-up and wrap the pill inside it.
=> Try thicker fluids - If water isn't working try milk, fruit nectar, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Ensure, a milkshake, or one of the new liquid yogurt products. Thicker fluids create more bulk, devising it harder for the pill to separate itself from the fluid during swallowing. Remember: If you are diabetic, use the sugar-free version of these beverages.
=> Reduce your mouth sensitivity - Spray or gargle with an over-the-counter topical anesthetic (normally used for sore throats) before swallowing or have your child suck on a Ice lolly to partly numb the mouth.
=> A little at a time - Crush a cuttable tablet between two spoons and add a few drops of water, devising a paste of the medicine. Exploitation your finger, place a small figure of the paste on the inside of your child's cheeks and allow her to swallow a little bit at a time.
=> Give it a little squeeze - Liquid medications can often be administered exploitation an oral syringe. Draw the medicine into the syringe and give directly into your child's mouth. An oral syringe has no needle, simply a tip to dispense the medicine. Once
you give medicine with a syringe it is always better to give it on the left or right side of the child's mouth to reduce the risk of choking.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/oralsyringe.htm
IMPORTANT: Every medication is unique and how you administer it may impact the way it works. It is always smart to check with your regular druggist before you decide to use any approach that differs from the manual you were given with the medication.
3. Consider a pill alternative
I knew I wasn't alone in my struggle once
major pharmaceutical companies started to do Adult medication in a variety of formats -- liquid, dissolving pills, sprays, patches, etc. Children's medicines besides now come in liquid form, cuttable tablets, dissolving tabs, and spray formulas.
=> Oral sprays can deliver vitamins, minerals, and another supplements directly into the blood
in a way that is quick, convenient and requires NO special skills.
http://ezwaysprayvitamins.com/
=> Another option is to offer medication in a lozenge or medication stick form. Lozenges are solid preparations that are intended to dissolve or disintegrate slowly in the mouth. They contain one or more medicaments normally in a flavored, sugared base.
http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/lozenge/text.htm
=> Galore medications are accessible in liquid form. You can talk to your care provider, nurse, or druggist simply about which of your medications can be prescribed in liquid form but here are several tips from Dr. Carol Watkins:
Antidepressants: Several of the Selective 5-hydroxytryptamine Re-uptake Inhibitors (Prozac, Paxil, Sertraline and Celexa) come in liquid form. Paroxetime has a comparatively
appetising orange flavor. It was difficult to find in pharmacies for a piece but is now more available. Celexa has a mint flavor with a slight medicative aftertaste.
Stimulants: Adderall XR and Metadate CD capsules can be opened and besprent on pudding and applesauce respectively. Avoid swallowing amphetamines with citrus or another acidic juices.
Mood Stabilizers: Li comes as a syrup. Tegretol comes in a cuttable form. Depakote comes in sprinkles. Several major tranquillizer medications come in liquid or suspension forms. Several pills can be dissolved in certain specific liquids. Years ago, Fluoxetine came no smaller than 20 mg. Once
patients needful a smaller dose, we told them how to dissolve the capsule in cranberry juice-we called it Cranzac. Consult your doctor and your druggist before attempting to dissolve or crush a pill. Dissolving or crushing several medications, wish change how the pill works.
4. If all else fails . . .
When a medicine cannot be crushed and mixed with food, or once
your child still refuses to "eat" or "drink" the mixture, a druggist may be able to prepare a custom liquid mixture from a tablet or capsule form of the medicine. Really often, pharmacists can besides add a flavoring to the liquid, such as cherry syrup, to improve its taste.
http://www.flavorx.com/default.asp
This type of preparing of medication is called combination Several pharmacies do combination and others do not. Children's Hospitals about the country often have patient
pharmacies that can prepare special doses of medications for kids. Even as if you don't live near a Children's Hospital, they may be willing to prepare and mail a special prescription.
http://www.rxsolutionsonline.com/lab.html
As with more in life, the key seems to be creativeness and persistence!
Copyright 2003, Lisa Simmons
Just simply about the author:
Lisa is the director of the Ideal Lives Inclusion & Support
Center supporting parents raising children with special needs. "We provide the tools, resources, and information you need to get results. Our focus is on devising keep simple and connecting advocates to answers."
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