Strattera: “My son can’t swallow the pill”
ByOn my last post, Lori posted a question about the fact that her son cannot swallow the Strattera. It seems to be working after only a few days (which is possible, yes, though not that common for many people), and she wants her son to keep taking it even though he has trouble swallowing the pills.
And all of the information says that the capsule shouldn’t be opened. This includes information from the pharmacies, the product monograph, and I have even checked with the company that manufactures Strattera, Eli Lilly. Not only do they say that the capsule cannot be opened, but they are not allowed to even comment on any possible solutions.
Lori asks: “Is this because of the capsule??”
Here is the situation on opening the capsules of Strattera (atomoxetine).
The fact is that the actual medicine is an irritant.
The main reason to not open the capsule is that having the medication in the mouth, throat, stomach etc. without a capsule will feel like it is ‘burning’ to the person taking it. One of the main side effects of Strattera is nausea, and it can be worse without a capsule as well.
Now, if Strattera is the only medicine working, or the best medicine for your child, what can you do if your child cannot swallow the capsule?
Yelling doesn’t help.
Battles once daily tend to ruin the day.
And if your child tells you that the medicine mixed in water (or milk, or jam, etc) tastes terrible, or burns their mouth, believe them, because it’s true.
An American colleague of mine made a suggestion to me, which has helped many of my patients.
I will share it with you, but please check with your doctor, and realize that this is not an official recommendation, as the pharmacists and Eli Lilly will just flatly tell you not to open the capsule.
Peanut Butter.
That’s right. Putting the contents of the Strattera capsule into a spoonful of peanut butter, and mixing it in, can help your child to get the medicine down. The peanut butter kind of ‘binds’ the medicine, so that it doesn’t irritate the mouth, throat, or stomach.
Now, this doesn’t work for everyone, because some kids are allergic, and others hate peanut butter!
But, if you can, give peanut butter a try.
If this works for you, please post a comment to share your experience.
If it doesn’t work for you, and you have found another solution, please share that as well by posting a comment so that other parents can benefit from your experience.
Before finishing this article, I would like to mention that there are ADHD medicines which do not require a child to swallow a pill.
They are:
- Dexedrine Spansules: These capsules can be openned and sprinkled into apple sauce. (Amphetamine)
- Adderall XR: These capsules can be openned and sprinkled into apple sauce. (Amphetamine)
- Biphentin: This newer methylphenidate (same medicine as ritalin) medicine can be sprinkled as well.
- Daytrana: This is the first methylphenidate (ritalin) patch, and is applied to the skin for most of the day.
- Methylin Solution: This is methylphenidate (ritalin) in a liquid solution.
- Methylin Chewable: This is methylphenidate (ritalin) in a chewable tablet.
When it comes to these medications, unfortunately, many of them are not available outside of the United States.
However, if your child has trouble swallowing the ADHD medicine that is prescribed, hopefully this article helps you to find a solution.
Again, please post a comment to share your experiences – successes or failures, so that other parents can learn from you. Thanks in advance!
Our son has learned to swallow the pills when taken with a spoonful of pudding. We tried other methods, but this seems to work best.
Kathryn & Alex
Thank you for sharing your experience.
You son doesn’t have any burning sensation or bitterness with the strattera in pudding?
Dr. Kenny Handelman
Wow! This post was so long ago. I wish I found it last summer. My son was not able to swallow the Strattera pill. I contacted a compound pharmacist about creating a liquid after seeing that suggestion on several sites. They said they had tried before but the bitterness was too strong. And then of course the reality of the expense of changing the Strattera form. So we decided to try other “sprinkle” friendly medication. All year we have tried almost all stimulants on your list but not getting the best effect. He was calmer but very flat. So now we are back to Strattera. I did save tons of the empty capsules from his other medications for us to practice swallowing with. Still not successful but will keep practicing. However, in the meantime…we are using the peanut butter mixing method. Still in the first week of the process but he is taking it. There is an after taste that is bitter but he said no burning or upset tummy. The next day I tried a taste and yep, once the peanut butter goes down then you have a bitter taste. So I added a little bit of cooled melted chocolate chips. That worked better but definitely need to have a flavored drink handy to wash the after taste. And we give it to him before bed so he goes straight to brushing his teeth which might help with the after taste. But so far he has had no complaints of irritation. I am just monitoring to see if this Strattera will even be helpful to him. But we are still going to practice with the empty capsules. I am just surprised that this original post was from 2005 and there hasn’t been any new way of administering Strattera. At least more Children Friendly. Why can’t the powder be trapped in little bead form?
Hi, just an update with the peanut butter and strattera. We have tried the peanut butter and spreadable honey in a little mini sandwich with dinner. No complaints or any other side effects I have read about. No burning, no upset tummy, and definitely no vomiting. And he said he can’t even taste the medicine.
i put the capsule into a fruit smoothie in the morning. strawberries, blueberries, orange juice and ice. so far no complaints.
i also do hot chocolate at night. its kroger brand dutch hot chocolate – so it is pretty strong. i’m not happy about sugar at night, and am still looking for a better option – i am going to try the peanut butter this week!
everything else bombed. it is really a strong and horrible tasting medication!
thank you for the information and the ideas
My son just chews a mouthful (of anything), sticks the pill in the middle, and swallows it. It works just like the peanut butter in making a bolus that is normal food-consistency so that the capsule-shape doesn’t get caught in the back of the mouth. Works beautifully!
My 5 year old son started on Straterra a couple of weeks ago and we battled every day to get the whole capsule into him using peanut butter, honey, marshmallows none of this worked for us. For the past three days we have been emptying the capsule into a cup of strawberry flavoured milk and he has drunk it easily not noticing that the Straterra is in it, long may that continue.
I take strattera, and my son, who is 8, has just started taking it. It floats. If you lift your head and swollow, it will not go down. I tell my son to drink a little to get his mouth wet, put the pill in his mouth, take a mouthful of juice, look down, and swollow. That way the pill goes down first. If you try to swollow it with your head up, it really doesn’t work. Hope this helps!
We were having such a problem with my son being able to swallow Strattera so we were sprinkling it in hot sauce, because that seemed to be the only thing that would hide the nasty taste. One day we decided to just drop the whole capsule in his drink and it worked! The drink washed it down and we haven’t had any issues since.
My 8 year old son just started taking Stratera and we were concerned about him learning to swallow a pill. We had him practice swallowing tic tacs with a sip of chocolate milk. Fortunately, it became a positive challenge for him. We then said can you swallow 2 tic tacs with whatever he was drinking, through a straw, which helps. Even my younger son wanted to try the tic tac challenge. now they can both swallow 3 tic tacs with no water. After that, the Stratera was a breeze! Hope it helps.
I take a small amount of OJ and sprinkle my sons meds in it. Its not the best tasting but he will wake it. Have tried almost everything else and he can tell the pill is still there.
We are new strattera users in Melbourne, Australia. I have a 7 year old son who will not swallow pill whole.
Our best success has been mixing it in a medicine cup with a single mouthful of ribena (a sweet blackcurrant juice mix). We tried it in a spoon of chocolate sauce and scored it 10/10 for disgustingness.
he described it as ” f…ing disgusting and so bad I think I will pewk and do diarreoh. I hope I never have to take it again with chocolate sauce”
With Ribena blackcurrant juice he scores it 6/10 for disgustingness. Apple juice is 8/10.So Ribena WINS!!! Followed by a ribena chaser.
My son swallows the pill and chases it with a large marshmallow. He doesn’t have trouble with any other pills, just the strattera capsule which he reports goes down sideways and gets stuck. The marshmallow pushes it down when it gets stuck and is a minor reward when it doesn’t.
hello!
my 8 year old daughter just started on Strattera. i really hope it works for her.
we have been opening and mixing it in a teaspoon of peanut butter the last 2 days. this morning she had the peanut butter spread on an eggo waffle.
my question is…will the medicine be as effective? i mean, does sitting in a teaspoon of peanut butter dilute it in any way?
of course, the goal is to eventually swallow the capsule!
if anyone can answer my question that would be swell!
The peanut butter solution worked great until we got to 25mg. Seemed there was too much for it to be blended into peanut butter enough so that it didn’t taste bad. Rather, I my son didn’t want to eat about 1/4-1/3 cup of peanut butter every morning – and I don’t blame him.
We’ve just switched to chewable Methylin – but it’s a stimulant, so we’ll just see how it goes.
I have a lot of my young patients that need pills for whatever reason learn to swallow them with the use of a straw. I have them take a sip of water from the straw and then place the pill as far back as possible and then another drink from the straw. The straw creates a unidirectional flow of water that aids swallowing the pill rather than turbulent flow experienced just drinking from a glass without a straw. Good luck!!
Great tip, Dr. Patterson. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that out as well!
My 7 year old son started taking Strattera about three weeks ago. I read this blog and it has changed his life. I have to be careful not to spill the powder, but once I mix it around he takes it like a pro and swallows it down with a big gulp of milk. He hasn’t complained of any bad taste or burning. He’s just happy to be taking something that will help him be able to focus and get through his day. He’s even playing soccer with the kids at school. Before, group activities were a complete disaster. Now he’s just a regular kid, not the one all the other kids have to avoid because they don’t know what he’s going to do next. It is expensive, but worth it. I was never in favor of medication before, but I have to say, I have been converted.
My son’s pediatrician and I are planning on trying to get my son on Strattera this summer after trying it when he was 7 and he just couldn’t swallow the pill. In fact, it got stuck in his throat and he freaked out and would never try it again. After a lot of discussions and several different stimulant medications, she seems to think Strattera would be a good match for him (of course we won’t know until we try, but summer is a perfect time for that.) I am glad I found this site, because I have never heard of the tip Dr. Patterson gave. All my research has been on how to disguise the bitter taste. Will certainly be giving this a try!
hello! nancy back again. my daughter is now swallowing the strattera capsule after practicing with tic-tacs. also our OT suggested having a big cold drink of water with it and tipping the head back..it helped a lot and i am now glad i don’t have to mix it with peanut butter.
when we went up to 40mg, however, it made her very sick to her stomach. we now do two doses a day at 25mg with meals. its better.
i think it is working but it is subtle. also she still complains of nausea and headache sometimes.
good luck to everyone!
We get strattera in liquid form through our compounding pharmacy. When my son takes it we make sure we have a toothbrush ready and he quickly brushes to get any taste out of his mouth. I recently learned that strattera now is available in a transdermal gel so I will be contacting my pharmacy. My son is also on tenex and zoloft. I have all of these compounded. Hope this helps.
I have been giving Strattera to my son for a few days now. I just sprinkle it on a spoonful of yogurt, then cover it up with a little more yogurt and he swallows it down no problem. I just give him something to drink (juice) right afterward.
try a little olive or safflower oil oil on the capsule. it reduces the stickiness and the capsule slides right down.