Son cannot swallow a pill | ADHD Information

Lying to them is never a good idea. They get old enough to figure it out and then where is the trust????? I would offer to ask for the suppository version (no it doesn't really exist) and then explain to him how exactly a suppository would work. Maybe that will motivate him. ya, it's a lie. I think maybe it has become a power struggle.
carylene38778.7962152778you could try telling him if he takes his meds all week long then on saturday he can pick a family fun outing...not sure if that will work or not.. good luck

I found an info site at http://www.ncpamd.com/swallowing_pills.htm that seems to have some pretty smart ideas. Most you have mentioned but I think there are some you may not have tried.

Best of luck!

lOOK IN TO TRYING LIQUID VITAMINS. THESE CAN BE ADDED TO JUICE.

lOTS OF WATER.

oldtimer38776.3205092593

I know I have posted this question on numerous occasions and have had some pretty good suggestions so now I am back needing more...

My son is 8 (3rd grade) and has been diagnosed with ADHD since he was 6 (1st grade) and we just cannot get him to swallow the medicine, so we have been very limited in choices of medications. First we started with Aderall XR, currently he is taking Metadate. These are the only two meds that can be opened up and sprinkled on food, etc.

We have tried and tried to get him to try to swallow a pill. He just has this mindset that he can't do it, though. We tried practicing with mini m&ms, regular m&m's, skittles, you name it we tried it, even bribery

We have been very creative in what we put his medicine in and something will work for say, 2-3 weeks, then it stops, so we try something else. We have tried to explain to him so many times that if he would just swallow the pill, he wouldn't have to worry about the yucky taste it has and wouldn't have to take it in something. We've demonstrated how to do it, he knows everyone in our family takes medicine of some sort. Even when his big sister had to take these gigantic pills for antibiotics, she showed him how she does it, so help encourage him that if she can swallow a big gigantic one, then he could swallow his (they are pretty small) with no problem. Didn't work.

Does anyone have any suggestions for this. We've tried putting it in yogurt, ice cream, pudding, twinkie, oreo, peanut butter, you name it, we've tried it. We have to watch him like a hawk because he will spit it out in the garbage, in the drink of whatever he is drinking, etc. or he will just keep it in his mouth and not swallow it (sometimes for 40 minutes) it is driving us crazy and making the morning a complete disaster. He doesn't want to swallow it because it takes gross, but when we tell him that if he just swallows the pill, he wouldn't even have to taste it whatsoever and it would be so quick...batta boom batta bang, down the hatch it goes, he just doesn't want too.

Sorry for my post being so long, but it is causing so much stress on our family. Every morning ends up with yelling, arguing, crying, etc. and I hate to start the days off like that. It makes me so sad to send him off to school with such a bad start. It affects my daughter too because she has to hear it all and deal with it too. He takes forever to get out the door.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

I can totally relate to your problem... and I thought I was alone here!

My son is now 12, and was dx'd with ADD last year. It started off fine, cuz the first meds the doc wanted to try was Adderall XR. It worked great, and we were able to sprinkle in food or liquid, but then Health Canada pulled it off the shelves 2 days after he started. We then had a heck of a time, because he too cannot swallow pills. We tried everything you mentioned, plus the special pill-platform cup (have you seen those? didn't work for us). I could have offered him a year in Disneyland and a million video games - it just wouldn't go down. Gotta give him credit, he tried hard. It's not like he didn't want to, it's more like he isn't physically capable of it. I suspect that it might have something to do with the fact that he has larger-than-normal tonsils. Unfortunately the only other meds that could be crushed or sprinkled caused other unacceptable side effects for him (chronic stomach aches, major moody crashing). So we gave up, cuz it just wasn't worth the aggravation. Needless to say it was a happy day when Adderall came back on the market here, right when things were starting to really get tough for him.

One thing I can share is that we've tried the meds mixed with various foods and liquids, and he says that sprinkling the meds into a tablespoon of milk seems to neutralize the bad taste the most.

A big factor here is that he's now willing to take it, because he knows it helps him a lot. If you don't have that buy-in from your son, you may need to work on that angle first.

We had the EXACT same problem back when our son was on meds. (he is not on any anymore)
First of all if your son has a gag reflex like mine does, there is NOTHING you can do. he cannot help it and bribing or hiding the pill will not work. Pills are out of the question.
As for sprinkling, which is what we did with Adderal, that was also a disaster. He hated it and could taste it no matter what we tried. I ended "hiding" it in scrambled eggs or peanut butter toast. He would usually notice and get mad. To this day, 1 1/2 yrs. later, he does not trust me to make him food. He has to WATCH me so I don't slip something in it. That is one of the saddest things in our relationship.

Oh ya, one more thought - when he complains of the taste - have you tried telling him to plug his nose while he swallows? You probably have, but I thought I'd suggest it anyway. Maybe a combination of milk and nose-holding will do the trick! PB

Bailey you hit the nail on the head there - the "hiding" it is a huge problem. I tried it once, and my son said he'd likely never trust me again. Ouch. We talked it all out and I promised to never do it again, and the trust has been restored. So it came down to his acceptance of it.

The only way you can make somebody do something is by convincing them THEY want to do it (a quote from a book I'm reading, suggested on this board!) PB

I totally agree. Still, after 1 1/2 yrs. I feel bad about the whole thing.
But we are lucky because he is doing fine without meds.
I understand Bailey, but I don't become involved in power struggles with seven year olds. Personal preferance. And by the time they figure out the white lie, they will understand the purpose. Noone tells the whole truth all the time. Good luck with the chewable! I hope he likes the taste of it! I just got home from a dr. appt for my 7 year old son and am hoping I have found the solution. I asked for a chewable grape flavor tab called methlyn. The PA who saw him hadnt heard of it so he couldn't give me any advice as to what I should expect. I, too, feel so guilty for the scream fests that occur every morning as we try to rush to make the bus. I try to tell myself to be adult and calm but you can't help yelling when the ice cream is melting or the pudding flings off the spoon as your child runs from you. I hope this med will work and he will take it. I especially love it when his therapist or teachers at school question me as to him not getting the proper dose and that I should "try to put it in this or that" when they have no idea how hard it is for a parent to force their child to take a medication that could be harmful to them, such as with the sudden heart attacks, etc. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If anyone has tried the chewables let me know.