Pill Swallowing Cup

I bought this product because of my difficulty swallowing pills. It was initially frustrating as I was only able to successfully swallow a small percentage of my pills using this cup. I realized that only using it when I needed to take pills was a recipe for disaster as the stress of that situation would not allow me to get sufficiently relaxed for me to actually get used to the process. Instead, I began to practice using small candies and even though it took several months of daily work, I am now basically one hundred percent successful in swallowing pills using the cup. My takeaway is that it is not an instant fix and it will not work for everyone, but I think that it can be a useful aid for those willing and able to practice. Obviously, practice may not make the cup work for everyone, but it worked for me. At this price, it is worth trying if you have difficulty swallowing pills.

As an adult who struggles with swallowing pills, I've tried a few different products. This is the only one that's worked for me, and it's actually helping me be more comfortable swallowing pills without it. Does it magically make the pill disappear? No, I still feel it going down. But something about the angle it forces you into and the water flow helps a lot. I find I need to suck on it like an upside-down straw until empty, but it does the trick.

When I saw this cup I thought GREAT! No more having to open up pills and mix them up in food, potentially diluting their strength. Not to mention, there is always a little bit of food left over no matter how well you try to scrape it out. So still not getting the complete and full dose. So received this cup and my 4 year old was actually excited to try it. We looked at the pictures and saw how to do it. Well, she refused to do it. After lots of crying and screaming I finally got her to try it first, without the pill. Then when we added the pill in she took a swallow and then spit the pill back out and started crying. She could still feel the pill and it was "yucky". So that was with water. I next tried it with juice. Let her taste just the juice first so she would get the hang of swallowing out of the cup. And then when I tried putting the pill in the same thing happened and she spit it out and lots of crying and hysterics. I give up. Don't waste your money purchasing this cup for a younger child.

We have a 6 y/o boy with autism and ADHD and we're just starting on our medication journey. I bought this cup to help him learn to swallow Concerta (a small stimulant medication). We tried several times with no success. The thing is you have to actually tilt your head back quite far, put your whole mouth over the large spout and get the pill down on the first try or it will not work. This is a very unnatural way of drinking and therefore was not something my son was able to do successfully. The cup and its contents ended up being flung across the room in frustration almost every time, and this after I had to dry off the pill grate and the pill itself to try again (because if either get wet then the pill just sticks to the cup and won't go down). We ended up having much more success with me physically putting the pill in his mouth after coaching him that he could not bite or chew it and immediately putting his normal cup to his mouth to drink. I find if I do this first thing in the morning when he's thirsty for milk, he chugs and chugs and it goes down without a hitch. The first week it required a LOT of bribery (much like potty training) of surprises and rewards for big boys who swallow their pills, and within a week he had it down. He still doesn't like to do it but it goes down on the first try every time! That little cup hasn't been touched since. I think it is very thoughtfully and well designed and definitely could help adults and children who can be coached on how to do it properly (which is why I gave it 3 stars), but for our son it was just too unnatural and made the whole thing more stressful and difficult. I also think it's a little overpriced. For those of you in our situation, we practiced swallowing fruity tic tacs without chewing them first and then moved on to the pill. We always use whole milk as the thick texture and creamy taste help mask the feel and texture of the pill itself. I'm so relieved that we're finally swallowing pills now as I was worried it would never happen! I really hope this helps someone else as we were pretty desperate too!

This works for us. I think some of the reviewers who gave it a low rating are misusing it. The point is to place the pill into the nozzle sticking out of the cover while both at DRY. A dry pill does no stick to dry plastic. Then you separately fill the cup itself with water, and encourage the pill-taker to take a GULP of water - the more water and the faster the better. The water flow through the nozzle, taking the pill with it. Note for VERY small pills, or if you crush/break the pills into very small pieces, this will not work - the pill has to be bigg than the openings in the grid at the bottom of the nozzle. We are using this with round pills with a diameter of 6 mm (millimeter) and they work OK, but seem to be a lower bound. The only reason I am not giving this 5 stars is the way-too-high-price. I appreciate the clever idea, but $15 for this cup is ridiculous. I woul be amazed if producing this costs more than a Quarter ($0.25).