Swallowing so many pills

Hi,

I got the DS Starter kit from Vitalady. The sheer number of pills was a hit. It is so hard to swallow the few I am taking now. Does it get easier? How do you take 20+ pills per-day by mouth. I don't see how I could do it right now. I am 5 months out but only have been taking food by mouth for about a month.

Thanks for any tips. Terri

First of all, it does get easier. I now throw my entire handful of cites back four times a day no problem. Give your self some time. Good luck!

Don't try to force it. Start slowly and just do the best you can. Slowly increase over a few weeks until you can do them all in small batches. It will get easier.

--gina

 Untill you are ready to take all those pills you have , there are other good ways to get all the vitamins and supplements you need. My labs have been spot on with a variety of vitamins in shake form, capsules, chewable, and gummy. I've tried them all because of trouble swallowing from temporary  esophageal spasms post surgery. I began using the vitamin list from my surgeon, then my labs determined where to go from there. At a year out from surgery now my labs are stable, I'm healthy, havent had a cold, flu or illness all year. The bariatric specialists at Grand Health Partners have helped guide me all along the way.  Mostly I use the supplements they have in their store. Extra supplements I may need  of D3, C, B-12, calcium, fiber and more are in gummy or chewable  form, my favorite. I buy extra for everyone in my family, they want to be healthy too.  ;-)

Sure, it gets easier. I thought I'd die trying to choke down my calcium...but practice makes perfect. Just get in what you can and the rest will follow in time. It helps when you're finally able to take big swigs of water to wa**** down. I remember my first guzzle fondly! *lol*

Thanks everyone!

I just started vitalady too and frankly, I don't see it lasting too long. I do much better with the gummies and other forms.

Yes I just ordered my multivitiam in gummy form. I will take all the gummies I can get. Perhaps I will start another thread about what people have found in gummy form. Thanks

 Set an hourly alarm to remind you to take vitamins and to eat/drink something.  The best way I can recommend to accomplish this:

1)  Fill mouth with water
2) tilt head back
3) drop pills in mouth and swallow it all together

Usually you don't feel a thing.  At first I could only do a couple of pills.  Now I can do 5 or 6 at a time.  I even taught my son this technique when he was 4 and never had to chase him around the house with syrup on a spoon again.

Route 66-

I cut all my tablet form vites into fourths, place into medicine cup, and swallow them a third at a time. You'll need a pill cutter to make sure you get most of the particles in, since sometimes they shatter when you cut them.  I do my capsule forms first, since they seem to glide through easier.

The benefit of smaller pieces is obvious, but cutting the tablets also gets the coating out of the way, and exposes the "business" part of the vites to your stomach acid, so thorough dissolving is assured.  You might want to also drink something warm, like decaf coffee or tea, so the heat will help with dissolving the vites in your tummy.

These are just tricks I learned by applying what I've learned in my chemistry classes.  Heat catalyzes damn near everything!  I'm studying to become a bariatric dietitian, and I'm doing prereqs now.   I'm pausing for the moment, to get my LBL/Thighplasty by the end of this year.  I've lost 245 pounds. I'm 3 1/2 years out, and I decided to go back to school, at 52 years old,  for dietetics after frustration with NUTS counseling me to eat using the "one plan fits all" approach.  I'm hoping to be able to combine my previous degree and experience in radio news,  with my new credentials,  to become the "Dr. Oz" of bariatric nutrition!