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How do you swallow giant tablets like Joint Ace?

(32 Posts)
25Avalon Mon 16-Jan-23 21:56:36

I’ve been having problems with low back ache and shins on and off so decided to take a supplement called Joint Ace. The pills, however are enormous and you mustn’t break or chew them but swallow whole and not just one but two. They are also a hideous dark green colour. I can just about swallow one but often the second is beyond me.

Does anyone else have this problem? Or is there something easier I could take?

Callistemon21 Mon 16-Jan-23 21:59:57

I bought some and found they are difficult to swallow even though I don't usually have a problem.
It might be why they'll be past best before date soon!

No tips, sorry, except a huge glass of water.

MayBee70 Mon 16-Jan-23 22:10:07

I’ve found that with tablets I’ve bought in the past. I realised that Holland and Barrett actually showed the size of the tablets they sell because of this. I make a point of buying capsules now. Some people just can’t swallow large tablets. Taking them with eg warm milk might help rather than water.

Callistemon21 Mon 16-Jan-23 22:13:27

They are capsules, I think.
Bottle green - that put me off them straight away!

25Avalon Mon 16-Jan-23 22:15:15

I bought several packets of the darn things. Never drank so much water all at once before and tablet not gone down!

MayBee70 Mon 16-Jan-23 22:19:24

I’m thinking of gel capsules I think. Capsules probably just means that they’d torpedo shaped. I once amused myself by musing in the fact that I’d nearly choked on a tablet that I was taking to keep me healthy. I was watching a programme about the last Emperor of China who poisoned himself by taking mercury to make him live forever and thinking what a silly fellow he was when I nearly choked to death on a vitamin of some kind that went down the wrong way.

1summer Mon 16-Jan-23 22:28:35

I find the best way to take large tablets/capsules is to put in back of mouth and drink quickly through a straw. I have some large/wide straws that I use, or if I think it hasn’t gone down take a large spoon of yogurt after taking a tablet.

VioletSky Mon 16-Jan-23 22:38:39

I have to take quite big tablets daily, at first it was awful and if they got stuck, they'd come back out along with what I recently ate..

I've learned to remain calm and not panic and keep drinking and swallowing until they go and now its easier

I honestly think what was happening was that the fear of taking them was making my throat tighter... which might explain why your second is harder?

Septimia Tue 17-Jan-23 08:51:58

Many years ago, when I was at school, a group of us used to visit an elderly lady. She told us that she had difficulty swallowing tablets and her doctor had told her to take them with milk rather than water. The thicker fluid carried them down her throat more smoothly.

25Avalon Tue 17-Jan-23 10:22:33

Yes the advice on the instructions is to take it with food but I don’t swallow food whole! Why do the tablets have to be so big? I’d rather take 4 smaller ones.

muppett1 Tue 17-Jan-23 10:35:29

I don’t have problems with capsules but sometimes do with tablets. I was told years ago to try taking them with something fizzy - soda water or lemonade- and I find it helps.

PiscesLady Tue 17-Jan-23 13:05:35

Porridge! Always works for me and DH. Even those torpedo size ones slide down easily.

eazybee Tue 17-Jan-23 16:42:05

No help but aged sixteen I was on a school trip to Switzerland when a friend was taken ill and became slightly hysterical; the hotel sent for a doctor who came while the staff were fetched and left some enormous tablets for her to take. She was in tears about taking them as the staff arrived, and they too collapsed in hysterics because the 'tablets' were suppositories, something we had never encountered before.

nanaK54 Tue 17-Jan-23 16:44:25

Try drinking from a bottle...

Rosie51 Tue 17-Jan-23 16:46:43

I read a tip for swallowing tablets recently. It said most people tilt their head backwards to swallow. The tip said to take a good measure of liquid and then tilt your head down to swallow. I'm dreadful at swallowing tablets, but it has worked for me some/most of the time. Worth a try?

Chestnut Tue 17-Jan-23 16:48:42

Yes, suppositories are like huge torpedoes, but not that different from my glucosamine tablets and my cod liver oil tablets. Both are large and torpedo shaped. I just open my throat and swallow a goat! I think warm tea, yoghurt, milk and porridge are all better than water for getting them down 'ya.

fflur Tue 17-Jan-23 19:02:17

I am really grateful for the tips above. I have torus palatinus, large bony lumps on the roof of my mouth and some tablets are impossible to swallow particularly the turmeric and glucosamine I need for arthritis. I sometimes open a turmeric capsule into yoghurt or kefir but I will try these ideas tonight.

Gingster Tue 17-Jan-23 19:04:44

Swallow with a mouthful of yoghurt. Slips down a treat!

nexus63 Tue 17-Jan-23 19:16:43

i have to take 15 tablets in the morning, 4 of them are large, more like suppositories, i find it easier to take with something like orange, apple or pineapple juice, take a drink to wet your mouth and throat, then take 1 tablet, keep it in your mouth, take a drink and keep that in your mouth then bend your head back and swallow, if you still have a bad taste in your mouth take some more juice. i have to repeat the same thing at night but only with 12 tablets.

J52 Tue 17-Jan-23 19:46:16

Every time I scroll past this I read it as a giant tablet like Joan of Arch. No idea 😂

Oreo Tue 17-Jan-23 20:19:17

Septimia

Many years ago, when I was at school, a group of us used to visit an elderly lady. She told us that she had difficulty swallowing tablets and her doctor had told her to take them with milk rather than water. The thicker fluid carried them down her throat more smoothly.

I was told this by my GP a few years ago.Milk is the way to go, even large tablets go down easy.

Fleurpepper Tue 17-Jan-23 20:19:39

Gingster

Swallow with a mouthful of yoghurt. Slips down a treat!

yes, same advice. My dad use to complain bitterly if his GP prescribed any large tablets and made such a fuss.

Caleo Tue 17-Jan-23 20:22:10

If you actually mean tablets, not capsules, you can often cut them in two or three bits with a pair of kitchen scissors. I find alendronic acid tabs are too big, and that is what I do.
Many tablets can be crunched up if you don't mind the taste.
When I take senna tablets I crunch them in my mouth

fflur Tue 17-Jan-23 20:42:20

Well I swallowed my turmeric capsules easily tonight. A milky drink and leaning forward. Thank you all.

swampy1961 Tue 17-Jan-23 22:35:56

A nurse at our Doctor's surgery said to take tablets with some fizzy pop.
It actually works very well.