• • have your child put the pill in his mouth and then drink a glass of water through a straw. With this method, many kids concentrate on the straw and don't think about the pill, so it goes down easily.
  • in addition to the pill, put a spoonful of applesauce, yogurt, or pudding in his mouth and then have him swallow it all together.
  • have him chew on a piece of bread or a cookie and then put the pill in his mouth just before he would swallow it
  • put the pill under your child's tongue and then have him drink a glass of water
  • have your child practice swallowing smaller things first, before moving on to a pill
  • put the pill on your child's tongue and then have him fill his mouth with water, so that his cheeks are full and puff out, and then have him swish it all around and then swallow it all

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My son has been on the Daytrana transdermal patch for 2 years. It has been a godsend. My son would not swallow pills without gagging. It is now a simple daily exercise. He has only had to have the patch strengthened one time over the 2 years. The only side effects we have endured are loss of appetite at lunch and for the first year the patch left a red rash after it was removed. Now, that doesn't happen anymore. We both are happier now!

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My son started on strattera this morning and could not swallow the capsule. We tried applesauce and jello. Nothing. I called his dr and she said to put his favorite flavor of frosting on the spoon and make a hole in the middle, open the capsule and fill the hole with medicine, cover medicine with more frosting. He loved it! It's a sure win.

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My daughter is 7 years old and has ADHD, GAD and Asperger's. She's currently on Strattera and taking it has been a nightmare. First we were trying to gag down the pills (and I do mean gag). Her unique set of issues is giving her heightened mouth-feel problems. The plastic of the capsules makes her have a gag reflex so I decided to wrap them in Fruit Roll ups for a while. Problem with that is it's a complete pain in the butt to get right and if she held it in her mouth (due to anxiety) it would wear away in a spot and she'd gag it up anyway. Obviously the tried and true practicing with Tic Tacs, mixing with pudding, ice cream and applesauce but those solutions didn't work either. (yes i did try them...) If you open the capsules and mix them into something it makes anything taste terrible, really, really terrible and it lingers for a LONG time! (hence the capsule coating) Recently I've found a specialized pharmacy that will COMPOUND the medication into a liquid. There aren't very many pharmacies that do this so you'll have to do a web search probably to find one near you. Problem is, she still has the anxiety taking it and even though it's a liquid she still has trouble taking it - now due to the still bitter taste rather than the texture. I've tried making her rinse with mouthwash first, following it with soda (carbination is supposed to lift the syrupy medicine out of the tongue crevices), bribery, threats and begging. Anyone have any other ideas aside from working on her anxiety levels which is what I'm working on now...? Thanks

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My 7 year-old son has recently been prescribed Concerta, which must be swallowed whole, cannot be crushed and cannot be opened and sprinkled onto/into food.... it can only be swallowed whole !

I have tried every possible thing that I could think of and that I have read on this forum and other forums including all of the following... • Putting his pill in applesauce • Putting his pill in pudding • Putting his pill in Jello • Putting his pill in cereal • Putting his pill in a straw and blowing it into his throat (like a blow gun) • Throwing it into the back of his throat • Mixing it in his mouth with whipped cream • Freezing it inside an ice cube (He likes to eat ice) • Putting the pill in his mouth and washing it down with a drink • Putting the pill in his mouth and then swallowing a drink • Put the pill under the tongue and then swallow water • Have him chew up food and just before it is swallowed add the pill • Practice with mini M&Ms and Tic-Tacs

We have had limited success with some of the options above but only by accident after gagging the pill down.

Then I thought of a new method which I have not read about anywhere. I went to my nearest Wal-Mart pharmacy and asked the pharmacist for a "medicine pourer" (I'm not sure what is officially called). It looks kind of like a spoon but has a reservoir which typically holds medicine. Well, what I did was fill the reservoir up about 1/4 of the way with water and then placed the pill onto the spoon part of the pourer. I then had my son tilt his head back and stick out his tongue REAL far (I tell him to try to touch his chest with his tongue) then I put the pourer into his mouth and dump the pill into the back of his throat. Immediately after the pill goes in the water from the reservoir pushes the pill down his throat and washes it down.

I have had tremendous success with this "pourer" and would recommend it to anyone whose child is having difficulty swallowing pills.

Another thing that helped emotionally (that I learned the hard way) was to set a limit on how many times a day you would attempt to take the pill. At first I was gung-ho about "we'll keep going until you swallow it", but for my son it just kept reinforcing that he couldn't do it and was not good for him emotionally. I now limit it to four tries, if he can't get his pill down after four tries then we stop and we try again tomorrow. I've also now given him the extra incentive that if he can take his pill Monday thru Friday then he can have the weekends off, this has also been a great motivator to try and get his pill down all week.

The whole process was extremely frustrating for both myself and my son, so hopefully this information will prove to be helpful for someone just starting this process and eliminate some of the frustration for you.

Take it day-by-day, be patient (it's not always easy) and good luck !

-Dave

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i as a child had trouble swallowing my adhd medication, until we found Methylphenidate ER it is a chewable tablet that worked quite well for me

i sure hope my information helps!

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Hello to all... I've been reading everyone's replys and suggestions and I have believe me tried everything but still it's a frustrating and usually leads to one of us getting upset... My son is 7 and he's been on Concerta since October and I've tried hiding it in fruit, milkshakes, ice cream, etc. you name it I've tried it, he know's it's there and then he seeks it out and then pushes it between his gums and front bottom lip, it's so frustrating watching it... We've tried all the options in this post as for many other ideas in books and the internet... He wants to take it and knows it helps him sooo much at school but he just mentally pushes it to the front and then try's so hard to get it down...

We tried the Addrella XR and that was awesome because it could be opened and put on a spoon, he would take it and then drink juice or milk or whatever to get it down and off to school we went, but it doesn't work for him, he's on Concerta 18mg which was the perfect amount he has no issues at school, but we were up to 20mg of Addrella with still issues at school with sitting still etc. I was worried to go up any higher and so was our doctor due to side effects etc.

We tried the medicine scoop thing this morning thinking OH MAN this is going to be my life saver but no luck... It would hit the back of his throat and bang he finds it and sticks it back to the front of his mouth...

What am I doing wrong...

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I posted last year to this topic. If you tried it sorry for the repeat. The right way to take pills is to put them under your tongue then drink through a straw. If he leaves it under his tongue and then sips he will not have a chance to stop it before he swallows. practicing with tic tacs may help. that way he can try multiple times (like riding a bike) without taking a bunch of meds :) The best thing is he wants to take it!! Good luck

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MY SON IS 7 AND HE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS NOW. HE STARTED TAKING A LOW DOSE OF VYVANSE, AND IT WORKED. NO MORE NOTES HOME FROM THE TEACHER. BUT THE NEW PROBLEM WAS AT HOME IN THE MORNING TRYING TO GET HIM TO TAKE THE CAPSILE WHICH OPENS UP AND CAN BE DUMPED INTO A LIQUID. I GOT TIRED OF BEING THE BAD GUY, FIGHTING HIM EVERY MORNING, SO I SWITCHED HIM TO THE DATRANA PATCH. HE IS BACK TO HIS OLD BEHAVIOR, BAD NOTES FROM SCHOOL, TEACHER CALLING ME MOST EVERY DAY. ITS HARD TO MEDICATE YOUR CHILDREN. SO I STOPPED THE PATCH TODAY AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS. I GUESS ITS BACK TO VYVANSE, EVEN THOUGH HE SAYS IT MAKES HIM SICK ALL DAY. I USED TO PUT IT IN A SMALL SHOT OF MILK AND HE WOULD TAKE NEARLY 15 MINUTES TO DRINK IT, GAGGING THE WHOLE TIME. I MAY LOOK INTO THE METHYLIN CHEWABLE, BUT ITS SCARY TO KEEP SWITCHING AROUND EXPOSING YOUR CHILD TO MANY DIFFERENT POTENTIALLY HARMFUL DRUGS.

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I could not swallow pills as a child and now as an adult it is very difficult. I also have ADD and on top of that Sensory Attenuation Disorder. My gag reflex is so strong it frequently triggers from brushing my tongue. When swallowing a pill I must mentally and physically suppress the urge to vomit. Also when I do swallow a pill it frequently is pressed upward and lodges in the top of my throat where it dissolves slowly. I am not sure what causes any of these reactions but it seems frequent in people with ADD. However pills with a candy coating such as Coated IBprofen are easy to swallow. I believe I could swallow anything if it were candy coated. If knew a way to put this coating on capsules I believe you would save us all some agrivation. Perhaps an unassembled capsule that you could buy at the store that you inserted your medication into.

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I am also struggling with a child who will not swallow his medicine. I have tried everything from ice cream, pudding, jello, sneaking it in food,and even bribing. It has done nothing. He holds it in his teeth and refuses to swallow it. His doctor wants him to stay on this medication which is concerta and is time released and can not be crushed or chewed. It is very frustrating knowing he needs this medicine but will not take it.

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My DD, now a high school freshman, has given me problems with taking her pills for a long time. We discovered that she was hiding the pills instead when our GBG triplets were very small and I was childproofing the house. I found pills under cushions and in her room. I have adult ADHD and find it impossible to stand over her to make sure that she swallows her meds, especially when trying to keep her siblings out of trouble. We simply cannot leave the meds laying out.

At her first parent/teacher conference in 7th grade, I found out that I could have her take the meds in the nurse's office before school. They would bring the meds to her if she forgot. She never forgot and never gave the nurse any problem with it. Her grades improved after she started taking her meds consistently. She still is hit or miss (mostly miss) on weekends and school breaks, but life is a million times better now. Why she can't swallow pills at home but can at school is still a mystery.

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