My son is 20 and diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy. He has a tongue thrust issue and I have to crush his pills each day (he takes 24 pills daily that are not available in liquid form.) currently, I am crushing up his pills and serving them to him with spoons of applesauce. He is now burned out on applesauce, and I don’t blame him.
He and I have decided to take the crushed pills and put them in some kind of liquid, and then let him swallow from a syringe. Does anyone have any ideas as what kind of liquid to use? Or does anyone have any other suggestions?
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Nutella. Peanut butter. PBnJ. Present it as a treat once in a while, so he doesn’t get used to it as well.
Cool whip
No fruit juices. They may react with the meds. Whipped cream idea is good.
Ice cream is nice as a treat. Also flavoured Greek yogurt
Peanut butter on a cracker. The crunchiness of the cracker masks any textures from the medicine
Gelato
Peanut butter
Ice cream, yogurt, clear Gatorade (the clear is cherry flavored).
Yogourt, jam, maple syrup
Discuss this with the doctor, not all pills can be crushed or disolved (they are less effective like that), the doctor is the only one who you should take advice from
I wouldn’t use a syringe (unless doctors says its fine) cause some of the crushed pills get left behind and he doesn’t ingest everything
Have you guys seen a speech therapist for his swallowing issues?
Chocolate pudding.
Nutella, peanut butter, Nutella, peanut butter, etc
When I did disabled adult care, we usually used pudding or yogurt for semi-solid foods, or smoothies and shakes for something with a more liquid consistency. Smoothies were the best because we could make them “healthy” (aka still tons sugar but with a little spinach thrown in). In a pinch, we’d add liquid thickener to Gatorade
Have you tried reaching out to a compounding pharmacy? They can likely convert medications into a liquid form. Might cost a bit more than standard meds though.
Any sauce condiment you like enough to eat by the spoonful for example mine is mustard 😂😂 strong flavor dosent necessarily take away the taste but it dulls it severely
What about smoothies?
Milkshake. You can do more than the usual amount of milk to make it thinner. Enough ice cream for flavor and to cover the pill’s taste. I’m not sure I’d get sick of milkshakes. So many flavors.
Anything liquid is fine. Apple sauce, yoghurt, pudding, jello, etc.
You can buy compounding syrup on Amazon- I’ve used Humco brand. It masks a lot of the taste and is safe to use with crushable meds.
I’ve also used pudding but not in a syringe.
24 pills is so crazy. My sympathies and respect to you and your family.
Coconut milk or coconut cream.
Is he able to swallow more viscous foods? Maybe cold-pack cheese spread or liverwurst, if he likes savory foods better than sweet.
A nurse who works at a nursing home, or a speech therapist would have great ideas. I know there’s a thickening powder used to help stroke patients swallow their liquids, and I wonder if that might hold the medicine in suspension.
Pudding or yogurt
Have you seen the pill-taking cup? I only came across it recently and it seems like it could be so helpful for someone who needs it. It could maybe fool his reflex into thinking he’s just taking a big gulp of a drink?
https://a.co/d/0xfRyAR
Cereal? I used to take pills with a mouthful of flake-type cereal and milk. The texture of the cereal covers up the texture of the pill.
frozen blended banana or ‘nice cream’ could be fun on a hot day.
No diagnosis, but I can’t swallow pills, either. I either chew them with a flavored liquid in my mouth, or crush them and put them in pudding or yogurt.
Yoghurt. Icecream.
Yogurt, Nutella, nut butters mixed with honey, ice cream with small dollop of fudge or chocolate sauce, fruit syrup, whipped cream cheese, any type of jam or jelly.
Some users have warned of fruit juices.
Yes, particularly grapefruit. Grapefruit contains a large amount of furanocoumarins, which interact with many medications (not in a fun way). However, just do your research on a fruit if you are considering a fruitjuice. I’m sure there are plenty that are perfectly safe. You should try “miracle berries” and lemon juice or different sour fruits maybe, for fun y’know. If it’s safe of course.
You are an inspiring person.. Thank you for everything that you do. Tell your son I say “Whatup” from South East Asia.
So, I’m thinking, if you want: I’ll be in the mountains next week. If you tell me your names, or give me nicknames, I’ll carve them (as peacefully as I can, no vandalism lol, ya’ll deserve it). I’ll take a picture and send it to you on a sub that allows photos or something. I think that would be something cool to think about during the inevitable difficult times of life, thinking, “My name is on a mountain in Asia, a part of me is with nature” or whatever… something like that.
Let me know if your’e keen. And again, thank you for being who you are.
My mother used to put pills in jelly. We could swallow it in one bite if we wanted and it kind of covered the bitter taste.
Peanut butter
Mix it into cream cheese & crackers?
My kid doesn’t swallow pills so we crush and put them in a spoonful of chocolate syrup.
Peanut butter!