Ideas needed to get a bitter med down.

[Cathy in IL]

Ugh! The first dose of chemo was officially a disaster! The pill was way too big for ds to swallow, so I had to open it and mix it with jelly like the nurse had suggested. He couldn't seem to swallow the jelly and spit it all around the kitchen and on me. This is the med that is not supposed to be touched and is to be cleaned up with hot water and a towel that is disposed of in a sealed container. It was all over the floor, his pajamas, my arms. . .

I tried having him practice swallowing with gummy bears because he at least likes the taste, but he can't do it at all. I need to mix this with something. It's a decent sized amount of a powdery substance. I am planning to try brown sugar tomorrow, but I am open to ideas. I can't have a replay of tonight, that's for sure!

[Soph the vet]

Is it something you can crush and mix with cherry syrup or chocolate pudding? Check with your doc before you start mixing it with just anything. My experience is obviously with getting horses and dogs to take their meds. Cherry syrup is great tasting and can be found at most pharmacies. Otherwise, you could ask about getting the med made into an elixir at a compounding pharmacy or maybe the hospital pharmacy. That way he could drink it diluted in something else.
I am so sorry you are going through this. I'll pray something here will work and that your ds will respond well to the meds.
Soph

[Jumping In Puddles]

Ugh! The first dose of chemo was officially a disaster! The pill was way too big for ds to swallow, so I had to open it and mix it with jelly like the nurse had suggested. He couldn't seem to swallow the jelly and spit it all around the kitchen and on me. This is the med that is not supposed to be touched and is to be cleaned up with hot water and a towel that is disposed of in a sealed container. It was all over the floor, his pajamas, my arms. . .

I tried having him practice swallowing with gummy bears because he at least likes the taste, but he can't do it at all. I need to mix this with something. It's a decent sized amount of a powdery substance. I am planning to try brown sugar tomorrow, but I am open to ideas. I can't have a replay of tonight, that's for sure!

Brown Sugar might work, also you could try mixing it with a spoonful of honey.
Maybe make him some VERY sweet oatmeal and mix the powder in? I am surprised that the doctors think a 4 year old can swallow a pill... there is no way my 4 year old could do it.

Good luck and let us know what works! :)

[Julie Herbster]

So sorry! :grouphug: How old is your son?

My dd9 couldn't swallow any pills at all until just recently. I'd grind the tablets into powder and mix it with honey, or a small amount of oatmeal (which dd likes), or brown sugar, or white sugar, or...whatever I could think of that I had on hand.

I'm sorry that your dc has to go through chemo. :grouphug:

[Mandamom]

struggles swallowing a tiny allergy pill and so I give it to her with a spoonfull of peanut butter or ice cream.

I hope you find something that works.

[Jen3boys]

First of all, sorry you're going through this. Here are some ideas on what we've tried:
Follow the medicine immediately with something really cold-like a drink of slushee or a bite of popsicle.
My ds3 does best with small amts of medicine at a time (followed by something to eat/drink) It is tedious and takes some time, but that's the only way he'll do it. Trying to get it down in one or two gulps just makes him spit up or throw up.
Try to get the medicine towards the back of his throat (without gagging him)
Also, keep the Dr. informed of your problems.
Good luck.

[RebeccaC]

My boys had to take high doses of prednisone for a few years and what I learned was that I needed to mix the crushed pills with something tart. Prednisone is very bitter and sort of metallic in taste. Sweet just made the bitter all the more bitter but mixing it with a tart unsweetened or very lightly sweetened yogurt like lemon, or with anything sour like home made lemon lime jello, made taking the prednisone ok, played down the bitter. I even used non alcoholic beer :001_huh: and that worked. Unsweetened chocolate might work because it is bitter and you could make your own pudding.......

Blessings,
Rebecca

[ljf]

Is the medicine available in a smaller dose that he could swallow more then one of? If it is unavailable in a smaller dose can a pharmacist make it into smaller capsules or sell you capsules to fill?

Also, if the capsule floats it will be easier to swallow if he looks down at his feet while trying to swallow. That way the capsule will float to the back of his mouth.

For flavorings I'd talk to a pharmacist that carries something like FlavoRx http://www.flavorx.com/human/default.asp
I assume that these flavoring are concentrated and the pharmacist might have more ideas.

[love2read]

This may be no help, but my cousin gave her daughter pills with ice cream. Have you been able to find a message board related to this online? Someone must have already figured out this trick. Here's a pill swallowing video for children http://bayloraids.org/resources/

[Tap, tap, tap]

Then put the medicine capsule in a spoon with a bite of applesauce. Tell him to swallow the applesauce and med all together. It usually goes down good with apple sauce because of the texture.

You may want to try some different approaches with M&Ms first or gummie bears to see what he likes the best.


Good luck,
Tap

[love2read]

Cathy, have you figured out a way to get the medicine down yet? I've been praying for you.

[Tracey in TX]

I'm so sorry DS has to go through chemo and swallow large pills. Poor little guy.
I don't tolerate large pills or anything that dissolves in my mouth well. I've found that swallowing a diet coke before, during, and after masquerades the taste greatly. Maybe a root beer would work as well.
Hugs to you both.