Taking Dexedrine

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders » Obsessive Compulsive » Taking Dexedrine

Question:

My 6-yr old lost 5 pounds, lost his appetite on Dexedrine, Dr. now has him on Ritalin, appetite improved. Gina Cherry

Response:

Jillian Johnston wrote about her son’s pill swallowing probs… My 13 year old son…can’t get whole pills down his throat. I’ve tried …

I’ve *always* had probs w/swallowing pills! As such, I avoided taking ANY medications. Anyway, I discovered that taking a bite of BANANA and when it is mashed good enough to swallow, put the pill in. It works 100% of the time for me! Even VERY LARGE antibiotic pills ‘go down’ easily w/the banana method! Give it a try… . . . . <stuff deleted I wouldN’T advise crushing [pills/capsules] as it will become a ‘crutch!’ …CT

Response:

i’m not sure but if the kid really wants to use the meds i think he will figure out. the old you are 13 and only little ones use liquid meds might work. he’s old enough he might go for it. you are not making fun of him but just stating a fact. plus if he uses the dex he won’t have to go to the nurse after lunch for pills which most kids hate doing. try working with that. bernice

Response:

<snip Anyway – can I really crush the pills for him? and does anyone have any helpfull hints on teaching someone haw to swallow pills? Thanks for your help. — Jillian Johnston Dept. of Biological Sciences Guider Univ. of Calgary 30 Pathfinders, Tanisi District

Hi Jillian – One doctor suggested that we "teach" my son to learn to swallow pills using M&M’s. I noticed the other day that there were mini-m&m’s at the store. — Mary L http://www.delphi.com/add http://people.delphi.com/emmlevin

Response:

Why no fruit juice? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My 13 year old son will be starting a trial on Dexedrine this week and I need some advice. Our Psychologist told me not to crush the tablets and not to have fruit juice with it. The fruit juice we can do without but try as he might, my son can’t get whole pills down his throat. I’ve tried showing him how with TicTacs but he gags on even half of one. My next attempt will involve burying one in spoons of pudding. I don’t think there’s a physical impediment judging by the way he wolfs down food! I asked a couple of pharmacists and the Dr.if the tablets could be crushed and they all said yes and that the effectiveness would not be reduced. The Dr also said that once the trial is over and we’ve found the effective dose, he’ll go to slow release capsules and the capsules can be split open and the beads swallowed in food. Anyway – can I really crush the pills for him? and does anyone have any helpfull hints on teaching someone haw to swallow pills? Thanks for your help. — Jillian Johnston Dept. of Biological Sciences Guider Univ. of Calgary 30 Pathfinders, Tanisi District

Response:

Jillian Johnston wrote about her son’s pill swallowing probs… My 13 year old son…can’t get whole pills down his throat. I’ve tried … Anyway, I discovered that taking a bite of BANANA and when it is mashed good enough to swallow, put the pill in. <stuff deleted I wouldN’T advise crushing [pills/capsules] as it will become a ‘crutch!’ …CT

Suggestion for those with difficulty swallowing pills: Place pill/capsule in a spoon and cover with pudding, applesauce or baby food. (or curshed bananna). We give it to the old folks this way if we can’t crush it due to the pill being time released or enteric coated. anncam

Response:

My daughter has taken Dexedrine for several years. When she was small, we crushed the pill into a very small amount of applesauce. It was important to put the entire amount into one teaspoon of applesauce so that we could be sure that she had the entire amount of medication. No one ever suggested a problem with the interaction of Dexedrine and fruit, and we never had any problem. When applesauce was not available, we put the Dexedrine in: ice cream fruit yogurt a banana slice rolled in a small piece of American cheese a McDonald’s french fry One day she simply picked up the pill, put it in her mouth, and swallowed it whole without even a sip of water. That solved the entire problem. Barbara

Response:

: Suggestion for those with difficulty swallowing pills: Place : pill/capsule in a spoon and cover with pudding, applesauce or baby food. : (or curshed bananna). We give it to the old folks this way if we can’t : crush it : due to the pill being time released or enteric coated. I don’t have any trouble swallowing pills. I can even do it without water. That’s how I’ve been taking my meds at work. I just go to the locker room, get out the meds, and take the pill and *gulp*! Sort of like the stereotypical druggie…. — CAUTION: Email Spam Killer in use. Leave this line in your reply! 152680 "A man’s car is his battleship" 1709744 bytes of spam mail deleted. http://www.wwa.com/~nospam/

Response:

My 13 year old son will be starting a trial on Dexedrine this week and I need some advice. Our Psychologist told me not to crush the tablets and not to have fruit juice with it. The fruit juice we can do without but try as he might, my son can’t get whole pills down his throat. I’ve tried showing him how with TicTacs but he gags on even half of one. My next attempt will involve burying one in spoons of pudding. I don’t think there’s a physical impediment judging by the way he wolfs down food! I asked a couple of pharmacists and the Dr.if the tablets could be crushed and they all said yes and that the effectiveness would not be reduced. The Dr also said that once the trial is over and we’ve found the effective dose, he’ll go to slow release capsules and the capsules can be split open and the beads swallowed in food. Anyway – can I really crush the pills for him? and does anyone have any helpfull hints on teaching someone haw to swallow pills? Thanks for your help. — Jillian Johnston Dept. of Biological Sciences Guider Univ. of Calgary 30 Pathfinders, Tanisi District

Response:

juice we can do without but try as he might, my son can’t get whole pills down his throat.

I use jujube’s <sp or those fruit treats and pressed up fruit rollups. I can stick fairly good sized tablets (full tylenol size) into this and my 7yo daughter can swallow it down. I find it’s the aversion to both pill and the immediate bitterness or foreign taste that suddenly put’s em into a panic. I started my son (9yo) that way and now he can swallow anything including a full 1 gram sized slow release vit.C tab. (quite large). You should be able to shove it into any such gulp able kids favourite (like caramels, chocolate etc.). They obviously need to avoid the chewing and when presented with the problem the fact that knowing it is in there may give em a hangup. So at first I put out a bunch of same size same candy trials and watch em gulp. Then I jokingly said, well one of em had the pill in it. The alarm and reaction was not surprising but then I said, now show me again how you did it the first time. Aaaaah isn’t it just terrible how we sometimes lie to our kids???? obsessive,compulsive,with ADD,SAD,extropian and mystical views,as well as a pragmatic optimist,preocupied with essoteric subject matter,the Web and immortality. Otherwise normal and happy as hell thanks

Response:

crush the tablets and not to have fruit juice with it. The fruit juice we can do without

In case you’re curious, this is because vitamin C interfers with (I think) the absorption of the drug into the system. I’ve been told it’s ok to have juice one hour before or one hour after a dose of Dexedrine. I asked a couple of pharmacists and the Dr.if the tablets could be crushed and they all said yes and that the effectiveness would not be reduced.

I’m wondering if the pills in question are the orange 5mg tablets from Smith-Kline Beecham? If so, your son is not alone in trouble swallowing them. They are *big* pills in my opinion! Not to mention that they are chalky, which makes swallowing even more difficult. I don’t think the over-all effectiveness will necessarily be reduced if you crush them, but you may lose some medicine in the crushing and it may be absorbed into his system faster and thus eliminated faster–so the effects might not last as long as they would with a whole pill. I can see your doctor’s concern if he’s trying to adjust the dosage. Try breaking them in half first. I’m pretty sure even the pills by the other company are scored. And the time release pills (from SK-B) are *qutie* small and easy to swallow. The Dr also said that once the trial is over and we’ve found the effective dose, he’ll go to slow release capsules and the capsules can be split open and the beads swallowed in food. Anyway – can I really crush the pills for him? and does anyone have any helpfull hints on teaching someone haw to swallow pills? Thanks for your help.