Sat in my room with a mouthful of water. In that mouthful is a capsule of penicillin. Next to me is my mother. Both of us are trying everything we can think of to deceive my body into swallowing the pill. Several gulps and many erratic arm gestures later I managed to get it down - and of course it was fine. Swallowing tablets is one of those things that comes easily to many and is a source of much fear, frustration and embarrassent for others.
I am not afraid of swallowing pills, I know that I swallow food in much bigger chunks, I know that the pill will make me feel better and I know that I won't even notice it when I actually swallow it. So why is it that I gulp-down all the water in my mouth and there, left on my tongue, is a soggy, semi-dissolved pill. No matter how much I rationalise, it takes a great deal of time and effort to trick my body into going against natural instinct. Is it just that swallowing without chewing first is unnatural? In that case surely survival instinct should counter-act this with the notion that medicine will help us get better? I suppose natural instinct cannot be taught about modern medicine can it?
There are several options for someone who, like me, has trouble gulping down pills:
1 - don't get ill. ever. pills are not for healthy people - unfortunately we have little control over this
2 - when ill, pretend not to be, or that you don't need medicine
3 - whenever possible use melting/dissolving/chewy pills - how odd it would be to find one that does all three?!
4 - Leave it until you absolutely cannot wait any longer then spend ten minutes awkwardly pacing around a room with a mouthful of water until it magically disappears...then celebrate until the next dose is required.
I think the message here is to all of you fellow pill-phobics: Take heart that you are not alone, it is not wussy and you have a much stronger anti-choking survival instinct in you than others. And to those of you who casually chuck 4 pills to the back of your throat, have sympathy for your less cavalier friends, and understand that saying "Just swallow it! Now!" does not help. Ever.
Monday 10 January 2011
Sunday 9 January 2011
Glimmer of sunshine?
January is rubbish. That is the general vibe I'm picking up from everyone around me at the moment. The way I see it January is a test. Testing our will power to keep up those new lofty new year's resolutions, testing our new shoes in apocalyptic weather, testing many 17 year olds literally as they find their month littered with A level exams. After the excitement of the "Holiday Season" where shiny things are hung from every tree and staircase, it is inevitable that we should fall into the dreary January mood.
This is the point where my sunny optimism kicks in, I am convinced that there are goodies to be found in a month of rain and grey. For starters all the best TV shows return in January, How I Met Your Mother, America's Next Top Model, 90210, and of course my favourite Grey's Anatomy. Whatever you fancy, it's there for the watching, with brand new series brandishing story lines ready to make us gasp and oh-em-gee. So after a hectic day of school/work/revision theres a new episode to collapse in front of with a cup of tea and a chocolate hob-nob/digestive/[insert favourite biccy here].
Another biscuit in the tin of joy this month is that the shortest day is behind us. From now on the light will be lasting longer and longer and longer, before you know it it'll be spring and we'll all be wondering what the fuss was about. Somehow once we hop into spring time we forget how miserable it can be when it gets dark at 4. There is a sense of emerging from a tunnel in January, it feels as if we're one step closer to spring, temperature wise the only way is up (sometimes literally as it could not possibly be any colder.).
Of course I mustn't forget the joys of january sales, exams being over until june (this at the end of the month) and of course enjoying all your spangly new christmas presents. For those of us able to stick to a new years resolution, there is the added bonus of the satisfaction of a resolution well resolved.
Though the world seems gloomy in a non-eventful month of grey, try to find your own glimmer of sunshine and hold on for dear life, it will help you make it through a tricky month. There is always something positive to be found, even if it is as trivial as stonking good telly.
This is the point where my sunny optimism kicks in, I am convinced that there are goodies to be found in a month of rain and grey. For starters all the best TV shows return in January, How I Met Your Mother, America's Next Top Model, 90210, and of course my favourite Grey's Anatomy. Whatever you fancy, it's there for the watching, with brand new series brandishing story lines ready to make us gasp and oh-em-gee. So after a hectic day of school/work/revision theres a new episode to collapse in front of with a cup of tea and a chocolate hob-nob/digestive/[insert favourite biccy here].
Another biscuit in the tin of joy this month is that the shortest day is behind us. From now on the light will be lasting longer and longer and longer, before you know it it'll be spring and we'll all be wondering what the fuss was about. Somehow once we hop into spring time we forget how miserable it can be when it gets dark at 4. There is a sense of emerging from a tunnel in January, it feels as if we're one step closer to spring, temperature wise the only way is up (sometimes literally as it could not possibly be any colder.).
Of course I mustn't forget the joys of january sales, exams being over until june (this at the end of the month) and of course enjoying all your spangly new christmas presents. For those of us able to stick to a new years resolution, there is the added bonus of the satisfaction of a resolution well resolved.
Though the world seems gloomy in a non-eventful month of grey, try to find your own glimmer of sunshine and hold on for dear life, it will help you make it through a tricky month. There is always something positive to be found, even if it is as trivial as stonking good telly.
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