3 Ways to Handle a Medication Moaner

By Anne-Marie Botek, AgingCare.com Editor

As a parent, how many times have you heard your child, spouse, or aging family member utter the phrase, “I don’t want to take my medicine because…”?

Papatya Tankut, vice president of professional pharmacy services at CVS/pharmacy, offers solutions to three common complaints of people who won’t take their meds:

“It tastes gross.” The first step here is to make sure the meds can be taken with the proverbial ‘spoonful of sugar.’ Look on the bottle to make sure the prescription can be taken with food. Tankut says some important things to watch out for are whether the medicine: has to be taken on an empty stomach, can’t be crushed, or can’t be taken with dairy products or certain types of juice. If the medication can be taken while eating, she suggests placing pills inside small pieces of food, or taking liquid medications in conjunction with a tasty beverage. If a tablet cannot be crushed, you can still put it in their food—just make sure that it’s something they can swallow without chewing, like applesauce. For meds that can’t be taken with food, Tankut suggests telling your loved one to place the medicine on the back of their tongue and swallow it with a large glass of water.

How to Handle A Medication Moaner originally appeared on AgingCare.com.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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James B.

7:00PM PST on Dec 1, 2012

Thanks

December 1
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Sue H.

9:30AM PDT on Aug 29, 2012

Good tips, thanks.

August 29
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Kathy P.

9:23AM PDT on Aug 29, 2012

thanks so much

Terry V.

9:24AM PDT on Jul 14, 2012

thanks

July 14
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JL A.

9:34AM PDT on Jul 12, 2012

With older people, one can respond based on it being their choice and do they want to live with the consequences of not treating/preventing the condition(s)?

July 12
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Julie W.

3:21AM PDT on Jul 8, 2012

I told an adult who said she 'didn't like' a herbal tea - "you don't have to like it, just drink it"! I grew up with nasty tasting medicines (no pandering to children's tastes then!) , and survived.I
wonder if we are not overdoing the 'spoonful of sugar' idea, as they now expect everything to taste good. It doesn't!