Check with your pharmacist before crushing pills. The doctor does not know about all medications but it is the pharmacists job to know this information.
@@macafadeal1 that's really not the point... it help me because I can't swallow pills, due to a severe chronic illness. So this saved me since I have a Lot of pills that keep me alive. This isn't cool dude
My cardiologist kinda didn't want me to cut my Metoprolol 50 mg tabs because they're extended release. I have to cut them because 1) I can't swallow them whole & 2) I take 6 tabs a day 2 tabs have to be cut because of the dosage. But it's working out because my BP & HR have come down considerably.
As a pharmacy technician, please make sure you ask your pharmacist or doctor if it’s ok to crush your pills. Mostly because they can loose their dosage strength or not have full effect on your body. Also some pills can’t be crushed due to their contents. So if you can’t swallow pills talk to your doctor or pharmacist about it.
Or, you know, the professional books made to be used by professionals.. no need to even try and waste your time asking other "professionals" who'll often not even know the answer by heart.. not to mention due to hospital organisation no one in their right mind would waste time by trying to talk face to face with a pharmacist when you have 10+ patients waiting to be cared for...
@@itay_arbel Could have been adressed to the people handling all meds in hospitals too, aka nurses. For the patients that advice would be more appropriate I figure, but even they could learn to use certain sources to verify just that, if the med is safe to crush.
@@Ice.muffin You mean the same patients telling me they can’t have Trichomoniasis because they “looked it up online” and they never eat pork? Those patients? Ask a Health care professional kids.
@@bubbleheadray976 The mentally-abled ones, obviously, as it is the case for pretty much any task at hand in life. Are you alright for even thinking of asking such a painfully useless question with a painfully obvious answer?🤨 And why the deep denigration for our fellow human beings? There's a TON of variety in the capabilities of each patient in taking care of themselves in a responsible manner. There's lots of idiots and there's lots of perfectly intelligent, capable people as well. This world would truly irrevocably go to hell without the existence of the smarter ones, but since it's still sort of standing, yeah, there's your answer.
My grandma has dementia and one time my mom put her meds in applesauce and they somehow made it all bitter… that’s a memory I would kind of like to forget.
We used to have to do this on the pediatric ward if something wasnt available in liquid or IV form. Its the quickest and easiest way to get a 10 month old baby their medication. Also, it came in very useful after my car accident when i was taking over 30 tablets 4 times a day to stay alive 😂
@@Gatekeeper0880 horse pills are the absolute worst. I remember when I was pregnant I had a vomiting sickness and my doctor prescribed anti nausea medication that were HUGE. I just laughed and told his office to prescribe something else. What a joke. I can't even brush my teeth without vomiting because of the toothbrush and you expect me to swallow a pill that big? Ffs!
@@BrightElk I find it both funny and horrifying lmao. Like, oh, you have a stomach cramp? Swallow this bowling ball 3x a day for the next week. I use baby chewable aspirin because I can't swallow the normal ones without gagging and you want me to swallow this entire dog house?
Nursing home flashback! 50 patient med pass, every single patient on multiple meds (5-10+), and 1/4 of them had to be crushed! Loved my patients, but I literally hated that job! You ever wonder why there is so much room for error/“neglect” in nursing homes? It’s because they’re severely understaffed and overwhelmed. We’re nurses not super humans!
We used to “crush” my brother’s med in a small bit of water and shot glass and then he would just take the shot and have a chaser. Made it super easy for a 3 year old to get down the meds easily for his cancer.
I just crush them between 2 spoons. My grandma was a nurse in WWII and didnt have syringes to waste, that's how she taught me, no water, no mess and super easy.
I’m thinking of the nurses and TMAs at the nursing home. Needing a new syringe for each resident who needs crushed meds, times how ever many residents times 2-4 times a day? That’s a lot of plastic into the garbage. The little Silent Knight pill crusher bags are also plastic, but less total plastic in the trash at the end of the day when compared to this syringe method. That said, I’ve currently got 6 grandchildren and my four adult children all have pets …. I will definitely be filing this one on my memory for “just in case”
You don't have to go through all of that. You can buy a pill crusher at the pharmacy. It's only about $2. But you have to make sure that you can actually do that to your pills because some pills should not be crushed or chewed.
@@susie9893 Yeah, pill crushers are waste of time. I just shake them up inside the syringe with water and air though. This trick was fun for first few times and i realized i could mix medicine in one hand and clean up the work station with the other hand at the same time if I just shook it. It wasn't even faster or more effective than just shaking.
@@marciwhitman3513and you will have to get a new one within a few weeks probably. I worked at a dollar store… stuff there is cheap for a reason and it’s because of poor quality. Buy yourself a good quality pill crusher
Another trick if you have meds that taste terrible: Hold your meds in one hand & your drink in the other. •Take a sip but don't swallow. •Tilt your head back a bit & drop the pills in, then close your mouth. •Keep your head back if it's regular pills •Tilt your head forward if it's a capsule (Correct me if im wrong) •Swallow Works most of the time & it was the only way I was able to swallow my meds.
The warning at the beginning is really important. The only med I'm on would be a Bad Time if I crushed it (I'd get a double dose of stimulants 🥴) but luckily they tell you that if you can't swallow the capsules you're allowed to open them and put the extended release beads into a spoonful of apple sauce
How would that even work? The volume of the pills are the same. You just changed the mass. The only issue you might have is losing some of the powder/paste (if mixed with water) thus reducing the dose.
@@taxabledj8571 so you know bean bag filling? Imagine that, but tiny and inside a capsule. It's not a powder. Basically, they take the medication, form it into little beads, and coat those little beads in a chemical that dissolves very slowly in stomach acid. Often there is multiple layers, like an itty bitty jawbreaker. Medication+slowly dissolving coating+more medication+quickly dissolving coating. That way, I get 7.5mg now and another 7.5mg about 4 hours later. All the capsule does is make sure there is a consistent dose each day and prevent those little beads from spilling everywhere. So, opening up a single capsule and mixing it into a small amount of easily swallowable food makes no difference, but crushing it would destroy the careful layering of medication and coatings and give 15mg now instead of 7.5 now and 7.5 later. So, I'd get a double dose up front, be extremely jittery and anxious, and then approximately 4 hours later I'd crash. While trying to figure out the right dosing for me I had one day where I tried something that was too much and that's about what happened. I was also very sweaty and my thoughts felt like sand. So yeah, no crushing my extended release meds lol
A friend of mine use ritalin with those beads. When she was sick and couldn't swallow them whole she decided to just chew them. She felt it. She got a double dose instead of the usual dose.
@@Erika-kw7ur Lmao i take IR tablets for and during the shortage my DR literally gave me XR and told me to crush it and take half the powder, thankfully the IR tablets are back for adderall, but the dexedrine is still XR only so creativity is needed to get the stuff to actually do what i need it to. especially because Dexedrine XR is not 2 doses spread out, its one dose with 12 micro doses of increasing size over a long period of time to try to maintain the effect of onset, which works great, but also can linger on wayyyyyy longer than i want
We do this sometimes when a dog or a cat won’t take there meds and make it a liquid form. I learned this from a coworker that used to help disabled people.
I was searching for this comment. Can we do this with their deworming medicine? Because our vet has advised against crushing pills.. but my cats won't swallow whole pills.
@@jeon_artemis This is gonna sound really bad, but, sometimes you just gotta force it down their throat. I'm not joking by the way. It's unpleasant for all parties involved but sometimes that's the only way. Only give your pets medication in the method the vet has instructed you to. If I took my ADHD meds, for example, crushed up or as a liquid I would likely hallucinate, have tremors, all sorts of crap I don't want to deal with :)
@@jeon_artemis if you watch enough TH-cam videos of vets giving pills to cats then you could get the technique down. Or there are pill dispenser tools designed for pets. Seriously, if your vet told you not to crush it, don't
@@jeon_artemis like Charlotte said you can try to open there mouth and put the pill as far as you can. Then when you did that tip the head up a little and massage the throat, so it goes down easier and it helps them out too follow with some water after.
Remember that you can always tell your doctor if you have trouble swallowing pills. They usually have a liquid version available, or they could tell you to crush the pills.
The fun fact here is that you actually have to let the pill dissolve partially before you can actually do that. If you put the pill in the syringe with water it doesn't automatically dissolved. It does take a few minutes to do that soap ill becomes off enough in the water. So you can then get it broken up and do what they did with the syringe with the thumb over it. It takes a little bit of time.
That was funny enough for the new one he's not a red bull in a chest instead but he should have braked it in a different time and then the other day I can do that also but I'm sure you will have a lot to be like you have a little more time with the repair shop in your room I don't want you in my bedroom but I'm sure it would have to go through the house is huge for the rest I think it's not a good thing for you and your mom
The meds you can crush are those with no label of Modified release, Extended release, Film coated etc. Coz these meds have a coating/formulations which intends to keep those meds from dissolving fast especially with the help of stomach acid, coz first It keeps your meds working throughout the day, like some antihypertensive meds. And/or They need to be absorbed in the intestines for it to work.
@@susie9893 i was doing thr same for vet med but i managed to break several 10ml syringes like that spraying antibiotics everywhere. It's a hazard for eyes too so make sure to always wear eye protection when doing it a lot cause it can be dangerous
As a home health pedi nurse, I use this all the time for my feeding tube patients. There are also caps for the end of syringes now to keep the meds from leaking out until you are ready to give them.
TY for the tip. I had gastric bypass 16 years ago and I still have to dissolve or cut all my meds because then I will not absorb all of the med/vitamin.
I just chew on mine. Used to crush them between spoons but it was annoying and I don’t always carry spoons around with me. I do make sure to ask doctors if I can chew on the pills I'm prescribed btw. Only ever received 1 tablet I had to swallow hole (which I mostly failed at and it went down already partially dissolved from the water in my mouth).
As someone with a horrible gag reflex, this seems like game changer. Even with my very small high blood pressure medicine, it's difficult for me so thank you for this hack.
I don't know if you've already tried this, but if you can't crush your pill, you can try taking it with a spoonful of yogurt or ice cream. Sometimes taking it with something a little thicker than a regular drink, helps make it easier to swallow. A milkshake might even do the trick. If you can't have dairy, maybe a spoonful of oatmeal or even mashed potatoes (made without milk, ofc) could work. Anyway, just an idea. Hope it helps. 😊
@@mariebelladonna437 Thank you. I'll try this. Normally I just try to mentally prepare myself and try not to accidentally throw it back up so I'll have to try to try this method.
Make sure to ask your pharmacist or dactor if your medication is safe to crush. Most medications are not safe to take in an altered state. They may need to alter the dosage, or prescribe a liquid version of the medication.
This is why your blood cells can easily hemolyze when being drawn via syringe. You wouldn’t believe how often we (the lab) get blamed for hemolyzed blood when the blood hemolyzed during collection. Fun fact: hemolyzed blood looks identical to non-hemolyzed blood until it’s been centrifuged. So when we hear “it wasn’t hemolyzed when I sent it down!” We roll our eyes because there’s no possible way for them to know if it was or wasn’t.
My mom used to crush the pills between 2 spoons and mix in some jam or apple sauce and then you just eat what's in the spoon. Jam really did a great job hiding the taste.
If rhey are time release pills be very careful. You dont want to accidentally release all those meds at once if its supposed to be gradual. Check with a pharmamcist or doctor first! Good luck to you and your Dad.
@@robertcampomizzi7988 they Dr and pharmacist would obviously know that he has a feeding tube and the medications would be prescribed as "crush and dissolve" that's really the only way to give meds to a person with a feeding tube.
When I was younger, even when I was about 14 I couldn't never swallow pills, and I remember my family would get so annoyed at me because it was "simple" and I always use to cry.. It got to the point that if I was in pain I would tell or say anything so I wouldn't have to struggle to take a pill until my mum finnaly crushed it up for me... I never blamed myself. I knew the way my family went about it was wrong, as if I was doing it on purpose.
That's what I was thinking lol! Unless you can also get an ng tube to go with that. It wouldn't be too hard to put down yourself but if you're that sick you should probably go to the ER. I broke my own blood clots loose with a back massager because there was no circulation going to my feet with covid, my arm turned purple but it turned out fine, but this may be a bridge too far for me. Pain I can handle. The risk of stroke I can balance. Nasty? Nope...
I was in the hospital about a month ago and they had to give me potassium pills. I was all super confident. I can swallow those pills no matter how big they are! But they're so chalky and awful. She ended up putting them into a cup of apple sauce but then they didn't dissolve cuz the applesauce was too cold. Swallowing the applesauce with pills in it was like the world's weirdest drink.
Omg potassium pills are the worst! I have a rare kidney thing and have to take Lasix around the clock and since that depletes my electrolytes I have to take a ton of those potassium pills. Even snapping them in half they are so grainy and fall apart immediately if you don't get it down right away or it gets caught in your throat or takes forever to clear that grainy mess and taste out of your mouth black! 🧡🦇
That's interesting, cos in my country potassium pills have a sweet smooth coating. Or you can get them in a tablet that dissolves in water and tastes like blackcurrant
it says that both in the vid and on the bottle VERY LOUDLY on any pill where this applys. really the only extended release medications that can be safely crushed are stimulants IF you half the dose in 2 parts, but theres literally no reason to do that unless theres a shortage because IR pills are available
Everyone caring for or who takes care of their own feeding tube def needs this! Super good for getting little ones to take meds too. Easier for them to take liquids so when you can’t get liquid versions of whatever for whatever reason you could do this with their favorite juice/milk if not contraindicated or even their formula if they are still on that to get them to take it so it isn’t as terrible tasting.
My grandma had to take a lot of pills throughout the day. Because she struggled with aspiration, she couldn't swallow them whole. So my aunts and I crushed them using an inexpensive electric coffee grinder and mixed them into pudding to make them palatable. Word of advice: an antibiotic she had to take because of an infection (most likely a UTI) did not taste or smell good in pudding (like the smell of cheap cat litter).
Please don't shoot crushed pills with regular water directly in your bloodstream . It's ok to swallow, but not to shoot. Without the proper procedures you can loose your life in the spot, or produce a liver failure that could end with your life if you Don't ask for emergency medical assistance right away. I really hope hope every thing gets better soon for everyone in this situation.
@@Dulce-mn1zr I was an IV addict for nearly 20 years. I started with Vicodin, then Percocet, to Oxycodone. Big Pharma was concerned and people smoking or shooting OxyContin so they made their pills nearly impossible to smoke/shoot. Any shot can kill you in an instant, but you can shoot most narcotics.
But please make sure they are safe to crush pills. Some pills are not meant to be crushed due to time release capsules and such. You could get too much dosage at a time if they're not meant to be crushed
This is quite the hack, thank you for sharing it. (If you don't happen to have a box of syringes lying around, get a baby dosing syringe from the baby depth or your local pharmacy. It doesn't have to have a needle y'all.) I've got chickens who occasionally need something in a pill form and, well, have you ever tried to give a chicken aspirin? It's very difficult. (The dosage is 325mg in a 24-hour period, mixed into drinking water. The only aspirin that dissolves well is the low-dose 81mg chewable flavored kind. Three of those babies dissolved in a cup of water and offered at regular intervals and there you go.) It's incredibly difficult to find vets that know about chickens. In many cases the owner IS the vet.
THANXX!!! I need to take a bunch of pills twice a day through a PEJ probe because my stomach doesn't digest food and meds the right way. All pills need to be crushed, mixed with a water and drawn up into a syringe - which can be really annoying as it takes quite some time and strength and sometimes pills "jump" out of the mortar while crushing. So this is a great and handy tip - going to try it right away! 🤩
I tired it with s ENFint syringe, I recommend trying it with bigger pills pre-split. I used the cap that came with the syringe since it was hard to get a good seal with my finger.
My grandmother taught me this. I taught my kids and they are teaching their kids. It’s funny watching things I’ve been doing forever and people just now finding out how to do it!!😂😂
We use this in veterinary, there are a couple pills that must be administered in a slurry with water in order to be most effective (they’re stomach meds, it helps it cost the stomach that way).
See thats exactly where my mind went. I remmeber watching my ex get his stuff ready. This wouldve been a game changer for him. But honestly, likely more sanitary than what he usually did crishing them up in a mcdonalds straw first.
I wish this worked for gel tablets. Doing this at work with my intubated patients has helped preserve my wrists after being sore from crushing meds all shift.
Y’all- he’s crushing them for patients were trouble swallowing or need their meds down a tube. We only do the pills that are crushable-This is always checked and double checked by the nurse administering the drugs and everyone involved before anything is crushed and given to a patient. I’ve been using this crush method since nursing school and I love it! so convenient
Check with your pharmacist before crushing pills. The doctor does not know about all medications but it is the pharmacists job to know this information.
K, no one asked. But, k...😅
Very true. Some medications say not to crush. So yes, always make sure to read the instructions on meds if they are new meds.
This. I turned my Concerta into Ritalin by crushing or cutting the pills...
@@macafadeal1 that's really not the point... it help me because I can't swallow pills, due to a severe chronic illness. So this saved me since I have a Lot of pills that keep me alive.
This isn't cool dude
@@katsnboots4709 “k no one asked, but k….”😂😂😂😂😂 no one cares about your chronic illness
6 kids finally old enough to swallow pills. I needed this in my life 10 years ago
😂
no??
Usually its given through a ryles tube. It will be too bitter to swallow. Also that is why we have sweetend pediatric syrups
😂
6 kids? Wow.
Pills are crushed for patients who have trouble swallowing 🙂
Me. I need this.
like the ones in the neurology ward that have suffered strokes
Vet med has been doing this for years.
is there something you can do about the awful taste?
@@despresssomix it with applesauce or pudding.
Listen, make sure your meds should be crushed. Sometimes even if the pill physically can be crushed your dr may say don’t
i would more likely believe the pill person than a doc who is popping their own pills.
Thats true.
I take opiates, oxycontin...not to be crushed
..or they will cause great harm and addiction
..by working too fast
My cardiologist kinda didn't want me to cut my Metoprolol 50 mg tabs because they're extended release. I have to cut them because 1) I can't swallow them whole & 2) I take 6 tabs a day 2 tabs have to be cut because of the dosage. But it's working out because my BP & HR have come down considerably.
@@carolr.4863
As long as it works for you
Great to hear.
@@Morgan-yl3ou Yeah, it works pretty well. 😊👍🏼
As a pharmacy technician, please make sure you ask your pharmacist or doctor if it’s ok to crush your pills. Mostly because they can loose their dosage strength or not have full effect on your body. Also some pills can’t be crushed due to their contents. So if you can’t swallow pills talk to your doctor or pharmacist about it.
Or, you know, the professional books made to be used by professionals.. no need to even try and waste your time asking other "professionals" who'll often not even know the answer by heart.. not to mention due to hospital organisation no one in their right mind would waste time by trying to talk face to face with a pharmacist when you have 10+ patients waiting to be cared for...
@@Ice.muffinI think they were speaking to the patients, not professionals.
@@itay_arbel Could have been adressed to the people handling all meds in hospitals too, aka nurses. For the patients that advice would be more appropriate I figure, but even they could learn to use certain sources to verify just that, if the med is safe to crush.
@@Ice.muffin You mean the same patients telling me they can’t have Trichomoniasis because they “looked it up online” and they never eat pork? Those patients? Ask a Health care professional kids.
@@bubbleheadray976 The mentally-abled ones, obviously, as it is the case for pretty much any task at hand in life. Are you alright for even thinking of asking such a painfully useless question with a painfully obvious answer?🤨
And why the deep denigration for our fellow human beings? There's a TON of variety in the capabilities of each patient in taking care of themselves in a responsible manner. There's lots of idiots and there's lots of perfectly intelligent, capable people as well. This world would truly irrevocably go to hell without the existence of the smarter ones, but since it's still sort of standing, yeah, there's your answer.
After working in a hospital, I will be the old person suspicious of applesauce.
My grandma has dementia and one time my mom put her meds in applesauce and they somehow made it all bitter… that’s a memory I would kind of like to forget.
oh god that’s what my parents used to put pills in when i was probably a toddler
We used to have to do this on the pediatric ward if something wasnt available in liquid or IV form. Its the quickest and easiest way to get a 10 month old baby their medication.
Also, it came in very useful after my car accident when i was taking over 30 tablets 4 times a day to stay alive 😂
Probably doesn't help that a lot of pills are more akin to swallowing a watermelon than a pill, either
@@Gatekeeper0880 horse pills are the absolute worst. I remember when I was pregnant I had a vomiting sickness and my doctor prescribed anti nausea medication that were HUGE. I just laughed and told his office to prescribe something else. What a joke. I can't even brush my teeth without vomiting because of the toothbrush and you expect me to swallow a pill that big? Ffs!
@@BrightElk I find it both funny and horrifying lmao. Like, oh, you have a stomach cramp? Swallow this bowling ball 3x a day for the next week. I use baby chewable aspirin because I can't swallow the normal ones without gagging and you want me to swallow this entire dog house?
Hope you are doing better now!
I just assumed the pill filler would be an issue but i guess im wrong, interesting
Nursing home flashback! 50 patient med pass, every single patient on multiple meds (5-10+), and 1/4 of them had to be crushed! Loved my patients, but I literally hated that job! You ever wonder why there is so much room for error/“neglect” in nursing homes? It’s because they’re severely understaffed and overwhelmed. We’re nurses not super humans!
We used to “crush” my brother’s med in a small bit of water and shot glass and then he would just take the shot and have a chaser. Made it super easy for a 3 year old to get down the meds easily for his cancer.
I’m sorry to hear that, I hope he’s better and in remission now ❤
I sincerely hope he beat the cancer. 🙏
I just crush them between 2 spoons. My grandma was a nurse in WWII and didnt have syringes to waste, that's how she taught me, no water, no mess and super easy.
I’m thinking of the nurses and TMAs at the nursing home. Needing a new syringe for each resident who needs crushed meds, times how ever many residents times 2-4 times a day?
That’s a lot of plastic into the garbage.
The little Silent Knight pill crusher bags are also plastic, but less total plastic in the trash at the end of the day when compared to this syringe method.
That said, I’ve currently got 6 grandchildren and my four adult children all have pets …. I will definitely be filing this one on my memory for “just in case”
I still use two spoons, I'm still nursing at 63
The day i finally got a mortar and pestle i nearly cried. Always had pills that squirted out from between the spoons.
My mom did the same thing 😅
@ecouturehandmades5166 My dad is a pharmacist, so he's got a few of those around the house too, but they're more intended to be decorative
Absolutely LOVE this! I am definitely trying this my next shift! (ICU RN here… yes, I am fully aware of meds that cannot or should not be crushed).
You don't have to go through all of that. You can buy a pill crusher at the pharmacy. It's only about $2. But you have to make sure that you can actually do that to your pills because some pills should not be crushed or chewed.
This is a trick for nurses - if you worked in a hospital you'd know why 🙄
@@susie9893
Yeah, pill crushers are waste of time. I just shake them up inside the syringe with water and air though. This trick was fun for first few times and i realized i could mix medicine in one hand and clean up the work station with the other hand at the same time if I just shook it. It wasn't even faster or more effective than just shaking.
Lmao I'd love to see where a pill crusher can be bought for $2. Bought 1 a week ago and paid $12 plus taxes for it.
@@melissab1360 they have them at the Dollar Tree now
@@marciwhitman3513and you will have to get a new one within a few weeks probably. I worked at a dollar store… stuff there is cheap for a reason and it’s because of poor quality. Buy yourself a good quality pill crusher
Thank you i just had surgery and i have to crush my pills for a month. I SERIOUSLY LOVE YOU FOR THIS
Get a pill crusher. You drop the pills in, put the top on, and twist crushing the pills. Easy and you don't lose your meds.
Another trick if you have meds that taste terrible:
Hold your meds in one hand & your drink in the other.
•Take a sip but don't swallow.
•Tilt your head back a bit & drop the pills in, then close your mouth.
•Keep your head back if it's regular pills
•Tilt your head forward if it's a capsule
(Correct me if im wrong)
•Swallow
Works most of the time & it was the only way I was able to swallow my meds.
The warning at the beginning is really important. The only med I'm on would be a Bad Time if I crushed it (I'd get a double dose of stimulants 🥴) but luckily they tell you that if you can't swallow the capsules you're allowed to open them and put the extended release beads into a spoonful of apple sauce
How would that even work? The volume of the pills are the same. You just changed the mass. The only issue you might have is losing some of the powder/paste (if mixed with water) thus reducing the dose.
@@taxabledj8571 so you know bean bag filling? Imagine that, but tiny and inside a capsule. It's not a powder. Basically, they take the medication, form it into little beads, and coat those little beads in a chemical that dissolves very slowly in stomach acid. Often there is multiple layers, like an itty bitty jawbreaker. Medication+slowly dissolving coating+more medication+quickly dissolving coating. That way, I get 7.5mg now and another 7.5mg about 4 hours later. All the capsule does is make sure there is a consistent dose each day and prevent those little beads from spilling everywhere. So, opening up a single capsule and mixing it into a small amount of easily swallowable food makes no difference, but crushing it would destroy the careful layering of medication and coatings and give 15mg now instead of 7.5 now and 7.5 later. So, I'd get a double dose up front, be extremely jittery and anxious, and then approximately 4 hours later I'd crash. While trying to figure out the right dosing for me I had one day where I tried something that was too much and that's about what happened. I was also very sweaty and my thoughts felt like sand. So yeah, no crushing my extended release meds lol
A friend of mine use ritalin with those beads. When she was sick and couldn't swallow them whole she decided to just chew them. She felt it. She got a double dose instead of the usual dose.
@@harmonicaveronicaaah Adderall I remember it well and we would crush it for a high
Not recommended I'm sober now but yeah people do it for sure
@@Erika-kw7ur Lmao i take IR tablets for and during the shortage my DR literally gave me XR and told me to crush it and take half the powder,
thankfully the IR tablets are back for adderall, but the dexedrine is still XR only so creativity is needed to get the stuff to actually do what i need it to.
especially because Dexedrine XR is not 2 doses spread out, its one dose with 12 micro doses of increasing size over a long period of time to try to maintain the effect of onset, which works great, but also can linger on wayyyyyy longer than i want
We do this sometimes when a dog or a cat won’t take there meds and make it a liquid form. I learned this from a coworker that used to help disabled people.
I was searching for this comment. Can we do this with their deworming medicine? Because our vet has advised against crushing pills.. but my cats won't swallow whole pills.
@@jeon_artemis
This is gonna sound really bad, but, sometimes you just gotta force it down their throat. I'm not joking by the way. It's unpleasant for all parties involved but sometimes that's the only way.
Only give your pets medication in the method the vet has instructed you to. If I took my ADHD meds, for example, crushed up or as a liquid I would likely hallucinate, have tremors, all sorts of crap I don't want to deal with :)
@@jeon_artemis if you watch enough TH-cam videos of vets giving pills to cats then you could get the technique down. Or there are pill dispenser tools designed for pets.
Seriously, if your vet told you not to crush it, don't
@@jeon_artemis like Charlotte said you can try to open there mouth and put the pill as far as you can. Then when you did that tip the head up a little and massage the throat, so it goes down easier and it helps them out too follow with some water after.
And yes if it’s ok to do so you can crush it in a syringe. (Ask your vet is the best I’m just a Animal Care Technician) 🙂
Fluid dynamics is a marvelous field!
Remember that you can always tell your doctor if you have trouble swallowing pills. They usually have a liquid version available, or they could tell you to crush the pills.
POV: it’s 3am and you’re “crushing your pills” to get better sleep
Seeing him cross eyed made this whole thing worth it
The fun fact here is that you actually have to let the pill dissolve partially before you can actually do that. If you put the pill in the syringe with water it doesn't automatically dissolved. It does take a few minutes to do that soap ill becomes off enough in the water. So you can then get it broken up and do what they did with the syringe with the thumb over it. It takes a little bit of time.
“…that soap ill becomes off enough in the water..”
Dude what?
That was funny enough for the new one he's not a red bull in a chest instead but he should have braked it in a different time and then the other day I can do that also but I'm sure you will have a lot to be like you have a little more time with the repair shop in your room I don't want you in my bedroom but I'm sure it would have to go through the house is huge for the rest I think it's not a good thing for you and your mom
You definitely had a lot of fun making this 5 minute craft/hack!😂💜☠️
I told my friend about this a little while ago and she never heard of it until then. She's been a nurse for over 7 years now. 😂
It's not a common trick AT ALL, certainly not in my country and I've been to MANY wards.. first time I've seen this today as well.
So many pills look exactly the same, those look EXACTLY the same as my cyproheptadine pills
As someone whose tube fed and takes meds via syringe, this was an absolute game changer for me when I found this out!
The meds you can crush are those with no label of Modified release, Extended release, Film coated etc.
Coz these meds have a coating/formulations which intends to keep those meds from dissolving fast especially with the help of stomach acid, coz first
It keeps your meds working throughout the day, like some antihypertensive meds.
And/or
They need to be absorbed in the intestines for it to work.
Also never do that with bigger syringes. Anything above 5 ml can break and expode from the power of the hit. I have done that many times.
Good tip. I'll have to remember. What do you recommend most - 5 or 3ml?
@@susie9893 if you can manage with a 3 do it with a 3. The 5 one hurts when it hits and your finger will be sore after if it's a harder pill
@@AcheronAlex ta. I'll bear that in mind (although on my ward we're often crushing in bulk)
@@susie9893 i was doing thr same for vet med but i managed to break several 10ml syringes like that spraying antibiotics everywhere. It's a hazard for eyes too so make sure to always wear eye protection when doing it a lot cause it can be dangerous
I never had a whole ass syringe explode. I kinda wanna try it. What about a 60ml syringe with 20ml water. I wanna see it create a big bang.
This is brilliant.....Im do going to try this when on my meds rounds! Thanks Steveioe. 👍🏻❤️
just don't do this with a glass syringe....
As a home health pedi nurse, I use this all the time for my feeding tube patients. There are also caps for the end of syringes now to keep the meds from leaking out until you are ready to give them.
As a mom with a kid that thinks they can't take pills.... Thank you for this hack
In all of my years of nursing, I never knew this. Pretty cool, gonna try it.
TY for the tip. I had gastric bypass 16 years ago and I still have to dissolve or cut all my meds because then I will not absorb all of the med/vitamin.
Never. EVER. crush Potassium!!
It works really well. Used to do it as a Med Tech at a care facility
So helpful! Thanks! But as others have warned-check with the pharmacist or doc first!❤❤
The surprise on his face when it actually works
I just chew on mine. Used to crush them between spoons but it was annoying and I don’t always carry spoons around with me.
I do make sure to ask doctors if I can chew on the pills I'm prescribed btw. Only ever received 1 tablet I had to swallow hole (which I mostly failed at and it went down already partially dissolved from the water in my mouth).
I appreciate. the videos u make that informs the public. You obviously care..
As someone with a horrible gag reflex, this seems like game changer. Even with my very small high blood pressure medicine, it's difficult for me so thank you for this hack.
I don't know if you've already tried this, but if you can't crush your pill, you can try taking it with a spoonful of yogurt or ice cream. Sometimes taking it with something a little thicker than a regular drink, helps make it easier to swallow. A milkshake might even do the trick. If you can't have dairy, maybe a spoonful of oatmeal or even mashed potatoes (made without milk, ofc) could work. Anyway, just an idea. Hope it helps. 😊
@@mariebelladonna437 Thank you. I'll try this. Normally I just try to mentally prepare myself and try not to accidentally throw it back up so I'll have to try to try this method.
Make sure to ask your pharmacist or dactor if your medication is safe to crush. Most medications are not safe to take in an altered state. They may need to alter the dosage, or prescribe a liquid version of the medication.
This is why your blood cells can easily hemolyze when being drawn via syringe. You wouldn’t believe how often we (the lab) get blamed for hemolyzed blood when the blood hemolyzed during collection. Fun fact: hemolyzed blood looks identical to non-hemolyzed blood until it’s been centrifuged. So when we hear “it wasn’t hemolyzed when I sent it down!” We roll our eyes because there’s no possible way for them to know if it was or wasn’t.
The way he tossed back those crushed pills though 😂😂😂
Back in my day we just use the cellophane from cigarettes and snorted it
☠️
😭
Lol
Nothing beats an ID card and a piece of cigarette cellophane. It's still faster LOL
Now a days a pill crusher is cheeper than a cigarette condom.
Consult pharmacy always.
so this method works with *some* pills. it's super handy though
Clever! This technique could come in handy for me as a caregiver for the elderly. Thanks!
My mom used to crush the pills between 2 spoons and mix in some jam or apple sauce and then you just eat what's in the spoon. Jam really did a great job hiding the taste.
A pill crusher is cheap and available at your pharmacy and will get you fewer looks than buying a syringe. Lol.
I think I'll swallow, better than tasting the bitterness of the meds
Best method if possible. Just not always possible - some patients have swallowing impairments and some have to be tube fed
You are so funny but yet informative! Love ya!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️
Omg honestly. This is a game changer for managing my dad's peg. Thank you!
If rhey are time release pills be very careful. You dont want to accidentally release all those meds at once if its supposed to be gradual.
Check with a pharmamcist or doctor first! Good luck to you and your Dad.
Right, I took way too much time when I had a client with a mickey button
@@robertcampomizzi7988 hopefully their GP and pharmacist are on top of it
@@robertcampomizzi7988 they Dr and pharmacist would obviously know that he has a feeding tube and the medications would be prescribed as "crush and dissolve" that's really the only way to give meds to a person with a feeding tube.
@Shirley Marie You're right. That was a generic warning... I assumed PEG was a condition not a device. I shouldn't have
When I was younger, even when I was about 14 I couldn't never swallow pills, and I remember my family would get so annoyed at me because it was "simple" and I always use to cry.. It got to the point that if I was in pain I would tell or say anything so I wouldn't have to struggle to take a pill until my mum finnaly crushed it up for me... I never blamed myself. I knew the way my family went about it was wrong, as if I was doing it on purpose.
But most pills taste horrible, so I would rather just swallow whole as long as I am able. I will use this for the cats medicine though.
That's what I was thinking lol! Unless you can also get an ng tube to go with that. It wouldn't be too hard to put down yourself but if you're that sick you should probably go to the ER. I broke my own blood clots loose with a back massager because there was no circulation going to my feet with covid, my arm turned purple but it turned out fine, but this may be a bridge too far for me. Pain I can handle. The risk of stroke I can balance. Nasty? Nope...
Yeah ok, but snorting that goop would be a huge pain...
So why wont he show how to crush a large pill because I know that doesnt work for huge pills.i need a video on that one 🤦🏽♀️
I was in the hospital about a month ago and they had to give me potassium pills. I was all super confident. I can swallow those pills no matter how big they are! But they're so chalky and awful. She ended up putting them into a cup of apple sauce but then they didn't dissolve cuz the applesauce was too cold. Swallowing the applesauce with pills in it was like the world's weirdest drink.
Omg potassium pills are the worst! I have a rare kidney thing and have to take Lasix around the clock and since that depletes my electrolytes I have to take a ton of those potassium pills. Even snapping them in half they are so grainy and fall apart immediately if you don't get it down right away or it gets caught in your throat or takes forever to clear that grainy mess and taste out of your mouth black!
🧡🦇
@@T0xXx1k That's exactly why they were giving me the potassium pills. Lasix in the IV.
You have my sympathy. Best wishes for better health.
That's interesting, cos in my country potassium pills have a sweet smooth coating. Or you can get them in a tablet that dissolves in water and tastes like blackcurrant
@@susie9893 The coating sounds sensible. It probably costs two cents to coat them so too expensive for American health care 😁
This was a lifesaver during the children’s medicine shortages
Please put a warning not to do this with certain meds. Those that have a protective coating or slow release meds or meds like risedronate sodium
@@Squishy_Seal it said it in the video
Those are the pills you never crush...obviously.
You can accidentally overdose and it can be fatal so ask your doctor if you can do it
Because all the medication is released at once when is crushed potentially causing an overdose.
it says that both in the vid and on the bottle VERY LOUDLY on any pill where this applys.
really the only extended release medications that can be safely crushed are stimulants IF you half the dose in 2 parts, but theres literally no reason to do that unless theres a shortage because IR pills are available
Everyone caring for or who takes care of their own feeding tube def needs this! Super good for getting little ones to take meds too. Easier for them to take liquids so when you can’t get liquid versions of whatever for whatever reason you could do this with their favorite juice/milk if not contraindicated or even their formula if they are still on that to get them to take it so it isn’t as terrible tasting.
Ah with the disclaimers. For the nurses who use NG tubes or PEGs... if this works at all, I would love to try it.
Funnily enough this reminded me to take my meds only one min before my alarm went off to remind me. Lol
Epileptic seizures suck.
Depends on the solubility of pill ingredients. Check with your doctor before crushing
Check with a pharmacist instead.
Steve my eyes are up here not down there
I don't know who figured this out but they deserve a metal! Like world recognized Nobel Peace Prize
Probably some stung out person
My grandma had to take a lot of pills throughout the day. Because she struggled with aspiration, she couldn't swallow them whole. So my aunts and I crushed them using an inexpensive electric coffee grinder and mixed them into pudding to make them palatable. Word of advice: an antibiotic she had to take because of an infection (most likely a UTI) did not taste or smell good in pudding (like the smell of cheap cat litter).
As a former addict uhhhh where has this been my whole life?! Why am I just hearing about this!! Lmfao.
Please don't shoot crushed pills with regular water directly in your bloodstream . It's ok to swallow, but not to shoot. Without the proper procedures you can loose your life in the spot, or produce a liver failure that could end with your life if you Don't ask for emergency medical assistance right away. I really hope hope every thing gets better soon for everyone in this situation.
@@Dulce-mn1zr I was an IV addict for nearly 20 years. I started with Vicodin, then Percocet, to Oxycodone. Big Pharma was concerned and people smoking or shooting OxyContin so they made their pills nearly impossible to smoke/shoot.
Any shot can kill you in an instant, but you can shoot most narcotics.
I learned this about 2 years ago through my mom's hospice nurse and have been using it for my dogs medicine since and it's been so much easier
But please make sure they are safe to crush pills. Some pills are not meant to be crushed due to time release capsules and such. You could get too much dosage at a time if they're not meant to be crushed
I remember discussing the best pill crushing techniques in the parking lot before work.
they gotta be water soluble or it wont work
Not if youre just trying to swallow the mixture 😮
That is a syringe not a needle.
I heard that if I crush the pills it won't work 😭
Pills in applesauce or apple butter tends to soften them enough to be easier to swallow with out the bitter taste that can occur
I’m actually pretty impressed ❤ that’s pretty cool
Impressive 👍🏻
Noted 🙃
This is quite the hack, thank you for sharing it. (If you don't happen to have a box of syringes lying around, get a baby dosing syringe from the baby depth or your local pharmacy. It doesn't have to have a needle y'all.) I've got chickens who occasionally need something in a pill form and, well, have you ever tried to give a chicken aspirin? It's very difficult. (The dosage is 325mg in a 24-hour period, mixed into drinking water. The only aspirin that dissolves well is the low-dose 81mg chewable flavored kind. Three of those babies dissolved in a cup of water and offered at regular intervals and there you go.) It's incredibly difficult to find vets that know about chickens. In many cases the owner IS the vet.
Pin this: it will make your finger hurt from the pressure. I do this all the time ❤
THANXX!!! I need to take a bunch of pills twice a day through a PEJ probe because my stomach doesn't digest food and meds the right way. All pills need to be crushed, mixed with a water and drawn up into a syringe - which can be really annoying as it takes quite some time and strength and sometimes pills "jump" out of the mortar while crushing. So this is a great and handy tip - going to try it right away! 🤩
I tired it with s ENFint syringe, I recommend trying it with bigger pills pre-split. I used the cap that came with the syringe since it was hard to get a good seal with my finger.
Try this with arthritic fingers.
"Let's try it!"
*_aggressive head shaking_*
My grandmother would crush meds between two spoons then put the powder between 2 circus peanuts. Those things can kill the taste of a lot of stuff.
Fun!
That turned aggressive 😭 blink if you’re okay
Genius! Thank you for sharing, this will be a life saver!
My grandmother taught me this. I taught my kids and they are teaching their kids. It’s funny watching things I’ve been doing forever and people just now finding out how to do it!!😂😂
When we adopted our cat, this is what I did to feed her the respiratory infection medication she needed, super helpful during that!
We use this in veterinary, there are a couple pills that must be administered in a slurry with water in order to be most effective (they’re stomach meds, it helps it cost the stomach that way).
When he said wow why did he sound so much like the aliens off of toy story lol
You're awesome! LOVE YOU! 😊😊
as a former drug addict I'm impressed
See thats exactly where my mind went. I remmeber watching my ex get his stuff ready. This wouldve been a game changer for him. But honestly, likely more sanitary than what he usually did crishing them up in a mcdonalds straw first.
Toddler mom are loving it. 🎉
At the beginning I was thinking: snort hack? 😂 I'm 3 years sober
THE MIN HE SAID “cheers” AND HIT THE CAMERA MY DO NOT DISTURB WENT OFF-💀💀
I wish this worked for gel tablets. Doing this at work with my intubated patients has helped preserve my wrists after being sore from crushing meds all shift.
Your little eyebrows and eyeballs and button noseball are toooooo cute. I'm gonna get sick just so I can have you treat me.
Don't worry, guys. He crushed vitamins.
Y’all- he’s crushing them for patients were trouble swallowing or need their meds down a tube. We only do the pills that are crushable-This is always checked and double checked by the nurse administering the drugs and everyone involved before anything is crushed and given to a patient.
I’ve been using this crush method since nursing school and I love it! so convenient
Thank u!!!! I needed this lil trick
Many adult pillsxare bitter when crushed. Thatsxwhy with seniors we tend to add the "crush" to applesauce or juice if not contraindicated.
Now your ready to inject that oxy 😂😂😂
Just had gastric bypass surgery on Monday so this hack came at the perfect time
This is super common in veteran medicine
Home health nurse here, and i just told a patient to do something similar yesterday. 😂 whatever works and doesn't destroy the meds in the process.