Pill Popper

Sam detests his liquid anti-depressant.  I am guessing it tastes REALLY bad, because he complains for awhile after he drinks it about the bad taste he can't get out of his mouth.  We give him a glass of juice to chase the medication down with, and he still struggles.  With the last bottle, I paid $3 extra to get his medication flavored like strawberries.  He informed me that I made it taste even worse.

I told him I was out of ideas.  The only other thing we could do was get him pills to take instead of the liquid.  Sam perked right up and agreed to learn to swallow pills.

So yesterday was the big day.  The dreaded liquid was finally gone (yes, I made him finish the bottle.  I paid an extra $3 for that stuff!).  He got a bottle with very small pills.  He has to take 1 1/2 per day.

I gave him the proper dose, explained how he needed to put them on his tongue, then put a mouthful of juice in his mouth and swallow the liquid WITH the pill.  I never thought about it, but it is a little tricky to try and teach someone how to swallow pills.

Sam put the pills on his tongue.  He drank some juice.  He looked puzzled.  The pills were still on his tongue.  I told him to try again and go slower.  Sam did so, and then gave a huge swallow.  He looked relieved.  "One is gone!" he said.  I noticed the other one was dissolving on his tongue.  That couldn't have tasted very good!  I told him to try one last time.  This time he got the pill down immediately.

He was so proud of himself.  He informed me that the pills were much better than the liquid.  They were much cheaper too!  I got 3 months worth for about $12.

Bill and I continue to be pleased with how this medication is working for Sam.  He is so much more relaxed.  Hopefully, now that he is learning to swallow pills, we will see even more improvement!