Medication Success with anxiety?

[Collette2011]

Our daughter has been on Adderall for ADHD until this week when her Dr made the decision to switch it to Strattera due to the stimulant making her ticks and behavior worse. Problem is, the Strattera cannot be broken apart like the Adderall, and she's never had to swallow a pill before, so she is giving herself severe anxiety about it and refusing to do it at all (picture crying, screaming, hyperventilating fits, making herself vomit). Has anyone tried anything that worked to get their child with a similar issue to take it? My husband has told her he'll take away her toys, etc but now we're arguing because I think that's making her anxiety worse. Thoughts?

[krdickinson]

My 7 year old son has a strong pill anxiety as well. I tried showing him YouTube video of kids showing how to swallow a pill, that didn’t work, I also cut smarties candies in half for “practice pills” and that didn’t work either but both those might work for your daughter. The real problem is that I have to give him the liquid medication; because of the pill anxiety, whereas the pills are much, much cheaper than the liquid. Fortunately our pediatrician always has great coupons. One thing that did work was crushing the pill up and putting it in a spoonful of yogurt. I’m sure it would work with peanut butter or Nutella as well, or even jam. Hope that helps

[LalaG]

Is it in capsule form? My sons was so we just opened it and mixed it with a bite of pudding. If it's in pill form, have you tried crushing it and mixing with something she likes? My son is 6 and had terrible side effects from the Strattera like manic behavior and saying he wanted to kill himself and very aggressive behavior so he is no longer taking it. I know it's different for each child and hope you find success with it

[anirush]

I used to put my grandson's capsule in yogurt and it would slide down. Now I use a little bit of whipped cream he likes the taste and it's amazing he can take two or three pills together and just swallow them all at once

[JenD94]

I am fortunate that my 5 year old has not complained about her small pill she swallows but her dr said put it in applesauce (I’m unsure about the size of the pill). Or maybe something similar like pudding ?

[Jaset]

Took a while for my son to start taking a pill, he never took any medicine before, not even liquid, but when he understood he has better days at school with medicine than without things start going smooth. I literally put the pill inside his mouth, but he drinks little liquid before I put the pill in his throat.

Good luck!

[seller]

Call your pharmacist and see if the pill can be crushed and mixed with grape jelly or peanut butter. Strattera works much differently than the stimulants and must be taken consistently in order for it to work, so skipping doses means that it will never become effective. However, if your daughter cannot swallow the pill, and it cannot be crushed, you will have to find another medication. My son could not take pills when he was young and we found them stuffed under the couch and behind the china cabinet months later.....and we wondered why the medication was not working!