I have to take extra calcium every day, I really have a hard time swallowing pills, especially the big ones. I found a solution, I put the pill between a paper towel and bang on it with a hammer until it is a fine powder. I sprinkle it every morning on what I am having for breakfast; i. e.: toast, cereal, eggs, etc. You can do this with any daily pill you have to take.
By Eileen Hays from Yorktown, VA
Editor's Note: Slow release or capsule type pills should be taken whole to work correctly. Consult with your doctor before grinding up your prescription medications.
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As stated in the editor's note, I can't stress too much to be sure to consult with your doctor or pharmacist about ANY medication before you crush or split. Many of them are NOT recommended to be crushed, split, or broken & they do not work as effectively.
Also, for 1.00 at the Dollar Tree, you can get a pill cutter. When you do it this way, some of the pill gets ground into the paper towel. Please find pills that are coated for ease of swallowing. This way works but not so much in your favor.
I use the two tablespoon method: Put your calcium supplement in a tablespoon. Use the second tablespoon to crush it. It really works! Or buy smaller calcium tablets and use my spoon method.
You can also buy calcium chews and other forms of calcium that are not a pill to grind.
Often coated pills are coated so they won't desolve in the stomach but in the intestine where they will not cause irritation to the stomach. I am sure you all have seen enteric coated aspirin. If a pill has an indention in it (a line) then that indicates it can be cut in half. Some pills are meant to desolve slowly into the body. These should never be crushed. Do no take it upon yourself to crush meds. Ask a pharmacist .
Ditto with the advice of asking your pharmacist about crushing any medication or any vitamin first! Some medications are intended to be released slowly and if they release all at once can cause adverse results. With some types of medication it can cause seizure. Even some vitamins will not perfom correctly/as well as they should if crushed or, in some cases, even cut in half so you're simply wasting the money you spent on them.
I also have to take those horse pill calcium tablets every day, twice a day. What I do to make it easier to get them down is place one as far back in my mouth as possible, take a big swig of water, tilt my head back very slightly and swallow quickly. Doing it all as fast as possible seems to be the trick.
Thank you for all the good advice. I did ask my Dr. if it would be alright to grind my calcium pills into a powder, she said it would be alright to take them that way.
Amen to all who say you should not crush the pills. I do it the very easy wasy and this should get me a lot of thumbs up. Take a spoon full of apple sauce or sour cream or pudding place the pill on it and just swallow.
They are hard for me to swallow, too, but have always been leery of crushing them. Instead, they taught me at the cancer clinic (this was with potassium) to cut in halves (or fourths) and allow to melt some in them mouth before swallowing.
I've had a terrible time swallowing large pills most of my life, but I found that if I look out the window and focus on something nice in the yard or the landscape then it takes my mind off the pill when I swallow. Now I can get them down with no problem.
My husband sell liquid multi vitamin/mineral, amino acids, along with liquid calcium, etc. More money but you get more absorbed then with pills. Just my 2 cents.
I take VIACTIV chewable chocolate calcium. It is so good I could eat 10 of them, but of course I only take 2 a day as recommended. Believe me, you would love them instead of a tablet.
I also use a pill cutter for those vitamins that are large.
Every morning I fix a cup of instant 20 calorie hot chocolate. I put in 3 marshmallows. When they get soft and gooey I swallow my pills with the marshmallow. If it still gets stuck, I take a drink of the hot chocolate. Makes a difficult chore more or less enjoyable.
Tried doing the editor's note, but I choked on the calcium pill and had to cough it up. Too bad they have to make calcium pills so big.
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