[denise33]

my son has been put on strattera but he cant tolerate anything in his mouth to swallow eg. tablets

i got told i could open the capsules but when i phoned the strattera help line they put me through to medical help team who said not to open them but dissolve them in a drink. is this ok to do. does anybody else have this problem with swallowing tablets and have to do this? advice welcomed

[DePressMe]

I have a similiar issue--I feel like gagging whenever I put a pill in my mouth. I found it helps to eat something while I take them. We swallow much bigger bites of food when we eat--bigger than the pills--it seems to calm my gag reflex down. I take a few bites of toast, swallow and then slip the pill in real quick and swallow it. I think it kinda fools my gag reflex.

[CamW]

denise - I find that a drink of water before hand lubricates the esophagus and makes swallowing easier, but dissolving the drug also works. DePressMe's suggestion is also good.

- Cam

[denise33]

thx for your help i am dissolving the stuff in water so i hope he helps.

he seem to just really dislike the taste.

so thx all xxx denise xxx

[Juliana]

I sometimes have trouble swallowing pills too. When my anxiety is bad, my throat becomes very tight and I have trouble swallowing, feel like gagging, etc. Peppermint confuses the gag reflex, so what works best for me is taking my medication with tepid peppermint tea. It might be hard to get your son to drink peppermint tea, though. I love it, but I know not everyone does.

If I need to take a pill when I'm out or at the office and don't have peppermint tea, I eat a strong peppermint (like an Altoid) right before I take my pill. Having that flavour in my mouth seems to keep my gag reflex from kicking in when I'm swallowing the pill.