Crushed medications this morning and put in some applesauce. She didn't like the taste but swallowed everything. Advice?

Sheba,
Your ideas are great. Thanks so very,very much.:)

Depends a little on which tastes she is fond of. Many people indeed like chocolate very much. My grandmother did not, but was very happy with strawberry jam. So, we crushed the pills and mixed it with a large spoon of strawberry jam, which we than gave in 3 or 4 times. The taste of strawberry apparently was taking away the bitterness of the pills. I have heard from someone else that her husband was very fond of smoked salmon. So the crushed pills were mixed with chopped up smoked salmon and problems were solved. It's just a matter of finding a taste that they like very very much and take away the bitterness to an acceptable level. It is also a good idea to give a small treat after the medication so that the bitterness does not remain in her mouth afterwards. Wish you luck with your experiments.

What worked best when my husband needed his pills crushed to swallow them was dissolving them in a very small amount of grape soda. That seemed to overpower the taste of the pills best (and the carbonation helped them dissolve) and the small amount let him get it over with quickly. Then he had a chaser of just the pop.

This was for helping him to swallow them. He was willing. He understood what I was doing and experimented with me with several different approaches. This was not to hide them. That is a different issue.

Thanks ferris for adding that. I knew that. But you confirmed more of it

Yes, not ALL meds can be crushed. If her med can be, make a smoothie and blend it with fruits and see if that helps. Yogurt is also a choice, but try the ones without too much sugar.

Be careful because not all meds should be crushed. Those that can't be should be investigated as to if they come in capsule form. Those can be opened and mixed in with food far better.

Try some Stevia, which is a natural sweetener, with a little bitter taste which should off set the med bitterness. Beware though, use it sparingly as it is VERY sweet. Zero calories!

I agree with those who have advised speaking to your pharmacist to explore other options, perhaps there is a different form of the medication that would work better, perhaps even using 2 smaller dosed pills rather than one would allow her to swallow without crushing? Barring that Teepa Snow recommends using jam, it is very sweet and the not quite smooth texture can hide pills better than applesauce or puddings.

How about a soft pc of candy like a mini milkyway. Cut it in half put med in and put back together.

There may be flavor options for some types of medicines. Pharmacists can use a product called FLAVORx to make medicines taste better.

It sounds like you may have to get a little bit more clever when crushing the medicines and mixing it in the food. One way is to either try something different or to crush the pills in larger quantities of the same food. If she'll eat soup, you may try soup since pills are usually harder to detect in soup especially if that soup is served in larger quantities

Yes, many use applesauce my mom likes the pudding/ice cream especially with a dab of whipped cream and slick enough to go down crushed or not a couple at a time, she would just hold them in her mouth so she would get the taste in her mouth as they dissolved. If she not on any restrictions ie diabetic etc....Also make sure you have juice or water close by so they swallow quickly if they tend to pocket-hold it in their mouths- even with the applesauce/pudding etc....be careful of diluting into too big of an amount of anything, efficacy will be diluted of the meds hopefully just into a few spoonfuls.What does she like? Any special things that would make it more a time she looks forward to? Ice cream, mashed potatoes,puddings, cream pie fillings- something that does not to be chewed...whatever makes her happy! Good Luck!.

When my mom was having problems getting the bigger pills, calcium, vitamins, etc. after talking to the doctor, we stopped those medications.

Many meds don't need to be crushed---it is a misconception. If they are given with a soft food like pudding or yogurt, the pills will slide down the esophagus just fine. Only when pills are huge do they need to be crushed---and even then, if they are cut up into small enough pieces, they can be swallowed with soft food. Crushing many medications makes them impossible to swallow because they are bitter.

The assisted living facility where I Mom resides puts them in chocolate syrup. Mom eats every drop.

A spoonful of sugar always helped the medicine go down. Plain old white sugar unless there is a sugar restriction, it dissolves easily in liquid. "Simple sugar syrup" (1:1 sugar and water heated till dissolved then cooled) also masks taste well. This is an old nursing trick from 40yrs ago.

Nothing worked except a chocolate milkshake. He can't taste a thing.

Yogurt, the kind with fruit in it worked well for us. Think maybe that it was not cometely smoothe and was already lumpy. My mom would spit the applesauce and pudding back out before I could even get the next spoonful ready.

I used to buy my Mom Ensure pudding, choc, vanilla or straw. Unfortunately, I had to buy it online because no local store was selling it. I would crush your pills up and there. Metromedical was the cheapest I could find by the case. Just a thought. Good luck.

Really pulverize the meds. Try the variations of applesauce.They have all kinds of flavors. Even add some stevia..or sugar if allowed.
Good luck!

I Mom ran into the same problem, she didn't like the applesauce. One of Mom's nurses tried chocolate ice cream instead of the applesauce, and it worked. In fact, any time we gave Mom chocolate ice cream without the meds in it, she said it tasted funny :)