As someone with past heart conditions, I take several pills morning and nighttime. These include Bisoprolol which is a very tiny tablet. I often find this gets stuck on the back of my tongue so need water to flush it down.
I also suffer from acid reflux which causes me to hiccup quite a lot.
A few days ago, whilst taking my Bisoprolol I hiccupped and had a sense of the tablet 'going down the wrong way'. I was sure I had inhaled the tablet into my windpipe.
I wasn't too concerned st first, but after a couple of minutes I began to cough uncontrollably. I can honestly say it was the worst coughing experience I had ever experienced. I was finding it difficult to get my breath between coughs.
I tried drinking water and sucking a cough lozenge, but it was clear that my breathing was getting worse and I was really struggling to breath.
My wife who was in another room came to see what was happening and I was trying to gesture to her that I couldn't breath and i was pointing to the phone to get her to call 999.
My wife is a mild asthma sufferer and always has a ventolin inhaler to hand. She reached for the inhaler and told me to try it, which I did. Fortunately my breathing improved almost immediately and within a couple of minutes I was back to normal.
It was a very scary experience. I assume that the tablet had dissolved and caused some irritation and eventually started to close up my windpipe. Thank goodness my wife had the inhaler.
I've been taking the bisoprolol for seven years and never had this happen before. Hopefully it will never happen again.
Written by
Geoff47
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I had a swollowing condition last summer and could not eat solid food for a while which also impacted on Bisoprolol and other meds. My GP said it is ok to chew tablets but not capsules. So do that if you are concerned.No way could i have swallowed my tablets.i am ok now. It took a few weeks to resolve this issue which was due to food suddenly becoming lodged at the back of my tongue. Nobody knew why as i had never experienced this e.
I remember my mother crushing tablets between two spoons and feeding the resulting powder to me mixed with jam.... that was back in the 1950s.
Hello
That does sound like a very scary experience
Something similar happened to me when I got some chicken stuck so I have an idea how you will have felt
I try and drink lots of water when taking my tablets as I have a fear of them getting stuck
Quick thinking wife you have there x
I've had similar experiences but due to amlodopine. Sometimes it's soluble and they don't 6 mark it obviously on the box. I've taken soluble ones by mouth and it causes a really bad cough reaction.
I've not had the same issue as you with bisoprolol but I can sympathise. Its not a nice experience.
A scary experience indeed. Do you take your tablets ‘dry’? Most of the instructions say to take with plenty of water to ensure they go right down and don’t get stuck!
I always take my tablets with food, in fact my breakfast cereal on which I put plenty of milk. It avoids the need for a PPI, important as I am allergic to them.
Dear Geoff47
What a nasty experience for you and so easy to do.
I choked the other day as taking countless tablets a day I had got a bit lazy how I took them, often bolting them down as I rushed out the door.
Well one day something just happened and for want of better words, the pills seemed to swell and fill my throat. It was the weirdest and frightening feelings to happen so quickly.
Dash back in doors and a glass or two of water later and the log jam burst.
It took a day or so for the sore throat to go, now I’m a good boy and take time for my med taking.
Taking tablets with no water must be a male thing. I was on holiday and took a pill without water. It got stuck in my throat and I was in real pain. I ended up in the local A&E. For 10 days I lost my voice. The pill had damaged my vocal chords . Never again
I had a similar problem with paracetamol just yesterday. Thankfully I managed to cough it up. They are long oval tablets and I Just can't get them down without breaking them in half. I wish they would bring back round tablets. The paracetamol really burned my throat. I always drink lots of water with tablets
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