Stress Center Peer Support

okay i wouldn't say i have a phobia with swallowing pills bc i still do...but i deff am afraid every time i have to..well i just got vitamins..the one is a multi vitamin that can cut to make smaller..the other is a fish oil capsule that i can not cut..it is pretty big..for anyone who uses the good days vitamins it is probably the same size or a tad bigger then the yellow capsule in the package..the reason i get scared is bc one time a few months ago when i was takin a pill it got caught in my throat..i was able to breath kind of shallow while it was stuck, but it was still scary...then about two months ago i was taking the same vitamin (this time cut it in half). i took the first half fine, but the second half went down a little rough..for the next 24 hours i was concentrating on my breathing and thinkin that half of pill was still in my throat...eventually this helped trigger my first panic attack and started all my anxiety ...so now you can understand why i'm kind of scared...if anyone can give me advice or some encouraging words i would appreciate it...thanks, angelo

Angelo
Ive had that same problem for years... Sometimes i feel very comfortable swallowing pills, but most times i dont.. So i bought a plastic pill crusher.. I crush my vitamins and put then in large spoon of water and take them that way.. I know how big the fish oil pills are, and that why i dont take them...
I have managed to take capsules that are smaller and cant be crushed or cut,, but like you i still get scared when i do it, and sometimes takes me 3 or 4 trys....
Dont know if this helps, but wanted you to know your not alone... Nelly

Try a blender shake or drink. My husband came up with that idea and it worked for me. I was taking 800mgs of Ibuprophen for migraines (another horse pill) It will burn your trachea and stomach. I was also on a multi-vaitamin plus iron. The iron also burned my stomach. Just a thought.

I had a pill swallowing phobia as a child and eventually it went away somewhat, but I still struggle, especially when I am feeling very anxious, with swallowing them. I can handle pills that are easily cut in half. The fish oil pill is a different story. That pill challenged me. The thing I did is I would swallow it with the BIGGEST mouthful of water possible. It kind of floats and it goes down very easily if there is A LOT of water, I mean a lot. Put as much water in your mouth as you possibly can. Swallow the entire gulp AT ONE TIME. Don't do little swallows at a time. And try very hard to stay calm and have a clear mind. I find that sometimes if I just slow down and do some deep breathing before hand, I am okay. Try to relax your throat and neck when swallowing. It's the scary thoughts and anxiety that make it hard to swallow! Trust me! Take the fish oil pill at a time when you feel as relaxed as possible and just do it! Take my advice with using as much water as possible and just swallow the entire amount of water with the pill! You can do it. You've just got it in your mind that you can't!

thanks for the advice...i was able to swallow that gigantic capsule..i am surprised it went down so easy...but i'm still scared that one time i take it, it might go down funny and get caught...but at least i was able to swallow it