Difficulty swallowing pills

Hello @jrayk,

I appreciate your post on your difficulty swallowing pills. I have that same problem and try to request capsules rather than tablets which do help with the problem. You said that this has been a problem over the last three months. Have you had any other swallowing problems, other than pills, during this time?

I have swallowing issues as well. I investigated the matter with an otolaryngologist (an otolaryngologist is a doctor who treats issues in your ears, nose, or throat as well as some areas in your head and neck). As it turned out I have a paralyzed vocal cord. In addition to difficulties swallowing, I also had a very soft, raspy voice.

How is your voice? Does it seem weak, raspy, etc.?

I can hardly speak. Also difficult to swallow at times. Choking

Hello @hildavenessa and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm pleased that you are interested in this discussion about swallowing problems.

If you are comfortable sharing more can you share when swallowing became a problem? Are there any other health issues that might contribute to this problem such as a stroke or other neurological issues?

Have you been evaluated by an otolaryngologist (an otolaryngologist is a doctor who treats issues in your ears, nose, or throat as well as some areas in your head and neck)?

@hildavenessa and @jrayk Speech therapists can be especially helpful with swallowing problems. Often people don't associate them with swallowing issues, but they do have expertise in the area of swallowing as well. If a speech therapist has not evaluated you, I would encourage you to ask your primary care doctor for a referral.

Hi Teresa @hopeful33250

Just want to share what just happened to me. I also have always had difficulty swallowing large pills. I also have some other swallowing and aspiration issues due to neuropathy. I've had some virus for 10 days with throat swollen and voice messed up along with many other issues. I was given Augmentin (because z-pak has a dangerous interaction with my Kisqali) because everything ends up as a bacterial infection in my compromised lungs. The pills are quite large for me so I broke them in half and now had two large blocks to swallow. Also not coated. I worried all week since I was having extra swallowing issues with the swelling. I may have to ask for liquid next time.

Sure enough when I took my last half this morning, it wedged in my throat like a blockage (not the normal sticking). Was hurting. I was afraid one more swallow would lodge it in my airways like what happened to my son years ago. I live alone. I let the water fall out of my mouth and tried to cough it up. Nope. I was hoping with no coating it might melt fast. I wanted to go to the neighbors, but I live in a retirement community (I'm the young one at 64). Most are 70s or more. No one close by is big enough, strong enough and balanced enough to do the Heimlich. My whole body started to shake violently and I thought this may be it. After a minute or two, I felt it start to shift down a little -- melting? At that point, I felt like it might go down so I drank water and it did.

I'm thinking about buying one of those suction cups they are using on babies. Has anyone tried them? Could you do it on yourself? You better know exactly how to use it because you don't have long. No time to call 911.

Almost 20 years ago, my then young adult son was having lots of allergy issues, going into anaphylactic shock, throat swelling, choking, etc. Constantly in the ER. One day he took a sudafed and it lodged in his throat. He couldn't breathe at all. I was standing next to him. He put my arms around his waist to tell me (I shared the choking signal with him later). I started the Heimlich, but it's not that easy. I was in my 40s, a strong 5' 9", but he's 6' 3" -- so much larger than me. Hard to get leverage. It took me what seemed like 20 tries before it was successful and then I had to listen to the most horrible gasping once he could breathe. I honestly thought he was going to die in front of me that day and it was going to be my fault because I couldn't save him. No time to get help. Worst moment of my life. He's had the Heimlich 3 times now. The other two were due to an olive and steak, but in a restaurant full of people and men as large as him did the Heimlick and even they had trouble. They were lifting him off the ground they were doing it so hard. Scary, scary stuff!

I have to add that my son was amazingly calm throughout. While I was doing the Heimlich, he realized his girlfriend could hear it all on the phone, reached over to the counter and calmly flipped his phone shut. When it was over, I asked him what was going through his head. He said that he thought, "Well, at least she tried. She just wasn't strong enough." It makes me cry just telling this story. I actually had some sort of PTSD from it and couldn't even talk about it to anyone else for 6 months. Too bad my big son wasn't here to help me today!

I really appreciate your narrative about swallowing problems and all of the efforts that need to be taken to solve them, @californiazebra! You have a lot of experiences to share on this topic.

There is a couple of strategies that I've found helpful as well:
--If I have a large pill without coating, I often will swallow it with warm (not hot) water, and before swallowing, I'll hold it in my mouth for 30 seconds or so. It seems to help it dissolve and go down easier.
--Often, if I'm tired and my swallowing isn't going well, I'll hold my breath when swallowing. I've mentioned this strategy to ENTs as well as speech therapists and they explained that there is a physiological reason why holding the breath when drinking helps with the swallowing process. Unfortunately, I can't explain the reasons like they did, but they definitely said that my method was a good one.