The Zen of Everything™, Day 20: Learning to take one’s medicine
For years, the only things I took orally—and let me pause here ever-so briefly, that some of you may retrieve your mind from that trench below the curbing—were food and drink.
I was young! Healthy! Carefree! I thought the corrals of pill bottles blooming on my elders’ nightstands were needless, if one lived life well and thoughtfully.
46 years later, the joke is on me. On top of the Crohn’s medication, I take a multivitamin, a calcium-plus-magnesium supplement, an acidopholus capsule and an omega-3 supplement. And that’s when I’m doing well, like now.
Most of these pills are no big deal once they’re in my gullet. (Other than the omega-3, which makes my burps taste like three-day-old fish for the next five hours.)
Getting them down is another thing, entirely. And I’ve gotten worse, not better, with practice. The longer I take them, the more episodes of choking and sputtering and heinous powdery throat afterburn I get. And so I come to dread taking them, which, given my tendency to bow to the Woo, makes me feel like they’re enemy agents, not helpful troops.
Today, I ran out of the calcium supplement. (I figure I’ll live until I can get around to re-ordering—I eat enough yogurt to sustain the bone health of the entire population of Sun City.) With the usual dread, I filled my mouth with water, mentally prepping myself for the daily chokefest, and…nothing. Nothing! Went down like a couple of old skool Sudafed.
Apparently, the calcium tabs—specifically, the large and chalky nature of them—were what put me over the top. So it would appear that all I need do when they’re back in rotation is… take them separately!!!
Lesson #21: Bigger problems are swallowed in smaller doses.
No kidding…
xxx
c
Image by Wahish via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.
TOPICS: 21 day salutes, zen of everything.
4 Comments, Comment or Ping
Mark Silver
Amen to that one, sister. I used to hate taking pills, and watching the number of supplements and etc my wife takes in her ongoing recovery from Lymes Disease (after 7 years she’s clear of Lyme, but now she’s rebuilding her system) can put me over the edge- and I’m not even taking them myself.
Lots and lots of empathy to you regarding Crohns… we have a friend who also has that. Sigh.
And yet, the smaller doses thing- really does make a difference, eh? As my spiritual guide often says: “Do not eat the apple all in one bite…”
Jun 2nd, 2007
Ian
Ok, I know this ‘Taking One’s Medicine’ post was meant to be read other than literally but http://www.tradetricks.org/ has an entry from a pharmacist about an apparently easy way to swallow medicine capsules. I have no idea if it works but just happened to be reading about it immediately before seeing your post and thought the serendipity was too good to ignore.
Jun 3rd, 2007
Robert Groby Blum
#21a - you can actually break those calcium supplements into chunks. Much easier to swallow. (Still chalky as heck, but that’s kinda unavoidable…)
As for the Omega3 stuff - Whole Paycheck^W Foods has “purified” O3 pills. They’re quite a bit less nasty than the standard stuff. (And they don’t smell. Most O3 pill bottles make me choke when I just open them ;)
Jun 13th, 2007
Nicole
Hey Colleen - Just fyi - I take the fish oil caps from Metagenics and they are lemon flavored. Can I just say life changing?
I’ve got Hashimoto’s so I completely get the drama of auto-immune disorders. I take a large pile of pills every day but I take the cal/mag before bed. Maybe give that a try?
PS - you can get the Metagenics pills at Capitol Drugs.
Jun 17th, 2007