have you tried the Daytrana Patch?
My child just swallows them without taking a drink. Wierd.
have you tried practicing with tic tacs or mini m&m's. some of the capsul meds can be sprinkled on apple sauce, we initially tried that with focalin. my daughter would gag on the texture of apple sauce with sprinkles, but you can't chew the sprinkles. when i told her she could take it in a pill form she was all for it. it took a day or two of practice but she got it. Also have you thought of bribery? i wish my 6yo had a better understanding of the value of a dollar, but it is amazing what she will do for a batch of home made cookies, or a family bike ride. we also really hype up how proud she should be that she can swallow a pill, like a big kid. i am trying to get my 4.5yo to take a pill so i have my 6yo shows off in front of her little sister in the morning when she takes her omegas in a pill and little sis has to drink apple juice with smelly fish oil. i also make a point of taking my omegas and vit in the morning with her, so she can see that i do it also.
look under the meds section of this message board. i know i have seen a question re a swallowing cup before. from what i remember it got mixed reviews.
I haven't tried the M&M's or the tic tacs yet. Getting him to even TRY to swallow is a challenge in itself. My best friend's daughter is on Adderall, and they spent a few days with us over the holidays and he watched her swallow down her meds without any problems, but he still refused and had a tantrum when I tried to get him to do it too. I think I might try getting him to practice with the M&M's and see what happens. Maybe tell him for every 1 he can swallow, he gets to eat five. LOL Ah, sweet bribery! We went medication free today and what a day it has been! The Daytrana sounds like a dream come true, if it will work well as a medicine for him. Slap on a patch and off you go! It's obviously easy, and the only troublesome side effect I've heard about it was skin irritation, but will the doc prescibe it? We'll see on Wed. I know what might not work for some, works wonders for others. We're still trying to find "the one" for him.
Thanks for the input. The advice is very much appreciated!
My son is 6 years old, and absolutely cannot swallow a pill. He has tried, and ends up making a big wet mess all over himself and wasting meds. Right now, he is on Vyvanse 50 mg, which we can dissolve in juice/kool-aid and he drinks it. But I don't think this is the med for him, because when it wears off his emotions are out of control and he is super grumpo in the mornings until they kick in again. So we will be going to the doctor on Wed. and I will be requesting that she put him on something different, but I'm afraid it will be something that he HAS to swallow (I know alot of meds can't be dissolved or crushed). So I thought I would ask my fellow parents out there what they have done to encourage easy pill swallowing? I have heard of a special cup you can buy, but none of the local pharmacies here carry it (Walgreens, Wal-mart, CVS). Any and all suggestions and ideas are greatly appreciated and will be attempted!!!I've never used that cup, but others have had success with it. For us, and my daughter was AWFUL, we just kept practicing with mini m & m's and tics tacs in a spoonful of pudding, ice cream, yogurt....etc., etc. All this time, she was taking Adderall which can be sprinkled, Focalin can be sprinkled also. Daytrana is a patch and there is no pill involved at all. May be worth a try using the Daytrana while practicing pill swallowing.My son just turned 11 and had trouble swallowing pills. I also looked up the ezy dose pill cup, but couldn't find it in stock or it was on back order online. Decided to try a "banana". I cut off a small piece and stick the pill in the banana slice - he eats the banana, and it slides right down his throat! Try it before you order the cup.My son is 9 and still can't swallow pills. (By the way I coudn't swallow a Focalin) We have to have something we can pour out into food so we are starting Vyvance next weeek. If that doesn't work, Daytrana is our next stop.spamula39457.3047453704If you end up needing to try pills again, I imagine you can order the Ezy Dose Pill Taker's Cup online if you want to try it. Just plug in the manufacturer and the cup's name into a search engine, and it should pop up. The cup hasn't worked for everyone, but it has helped a lot of people.Great! The doc agreed to let us try Daytrana 10 mg and I am excited and hopeful that it will be better for my son than the Vyvanse. Hopefully no more super emotional/angry evenings!Good Luck!! Let us know how it goes!
My DS cries now when I suggest we practice swallowing .. he is on Metadate 20mg so we open the capsule and sprinkle on applesauce. He likes it just fine that way and luckily, he's doing very well on this medication!
My 7 year old daugher had difficulty with swallowing meds, additionally, we tried vyvance and adderall which made her highly productive and attentive but extremely angry and potentially destructive when starting to wear off...yikes! The whole process trying to get it in her was a nightmare, even if the capsule could be broken.
So we tried daytrana and she has been on it since Sept. and his worked beautifully. We put it on her at 7 while she is sleeping and it kicks in by school. At school she is productive. She usually take the patch off by 5 or later depending on our evening plans. The PI states that it should be removed after 9 hours but sometimes it is on longer and carries her through then evening activities. She doesn't seem to have trouble sleeping - even when on later. You will want to talk to the Dr. about your situation. She occasionally has some skin irritations but nothing major.
On the weekends it is a more abbreviated schedule depending on what is going on - you just have to plan a head a bit.
Good luck!
i really think that it is so interesting how different people are. my six year old, no problem, takes her pill at 6 am then goes to sleep. my sisters (22 years old) gags at the thought of taking a pill, i kid you not she takes childrens chewable tylenol. My husband couldn't till he was 12. my older sister taught me at 7, and my 4.5 yo, has a fit on the floor if i even suggest the idea.Hi, I'm a newbie but I may have help on this issue for you. My son is 10 and still can't swallow his Focalin XR pills. We open the capsule and mix it with peanutbutter on a small spoon. This also works with the afternoon pill, but I have to grind it up first.
Another trick we learned on vacation, was to put it with some butter on a small piece of bread. The butter helps it stick to the bread and he said it wasn't too bad.
HTH
I don't see why the doc wouldn't prescribe Daytrana. It was developed pretty much FOR these situations. It takes a little getting used to and so you know ahead it takes 2 hours to start working. Everything has it's downside. You can get over this by putting it on while he is still sleeping.Great advice guys. Thanks again! If we don't get switched to Daytrana tomorrow, I'll definately be putting everyone's suggestions to use.