Gloup vs Bread, Jam and Yogurt – Difficulty swallowing Medication

If you have ever had difficulty swallowing medication you are likely to have been advised to take medication hidden in food such as bread, disguised in a sugary jam or maybe a thicker liquid such as yoghurt.

In fact, if you conduct an internet search on the difficulty in swallowing medication you will see many articles with this outdated, and in some cases, dangerous advice.

Taking Medication in Food.

Most people understand that different medications can interact with each other and affect how they work in the body. But did you know food can affect how the medication works as well?

Most of you will have seen the instruction on prescription medication ‘take with food’ or ‘take on an empty stomach’ this is because food can affect or delay the rate, or amount of medication that gets absorbed in the body.

Depending on the medication it can mean you are not getting the full dose as prescribed.

Medications can interact with certain types of foods which can change how your medications work.

For example:

Calcium: Dairy products or other foods that are high in calcium can reduce absorption and therefore decrease the effectiveness of some antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin.

(Source: http://www.safemedication.com/safemed/PharmacistsJournal/Food-Drug-Interactions)

Crushing Medication In Food

If you have difficulty swallowing medication it may seem like a good idea to crush medication in food, unfortunately not all medications are suitable for crushing. Generally, medications that should not be crushed are:

• Sustained-release tablets, which can be composed of multiple layers for different drug release times, as can beads within capsules.
• Enteric-coated tablets, which are formulated because certain drugs can be irritating to the stomach or are degraded by stomach acid.
• Some medications are sugar-coated because of their taste, crushing these tablets you are subjecting yourself to the unpleasant taste which often is not masked by jam or yoghurt.

Encouraging Vulnerable Groups To Take Medication

If someone isn’t taking medication they need to keep well, concealing in their food or drink may be a solution. If we put aside the medical reasons as discussed above, we need to ask this question; is it their choice?

“Disguising medicine means that the person believes they are not taking it when in fact they are. We all have the right to consent to medication – if someone doesn’t know they are receiving it, they can’t have given informed consent.”

(Source: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/dementia-together-magazine/aug-sept-2017/it-ok-hide-someones-medication-their-food-or-drink)

If taking medication is in their best interest but they haven’t got the mental capacity to take as prescribed it’s preferable to find a way that affects their rights in the smallest way possible.

Taking Medication in Young Children.

Any parent will attest to the difficulty in getting young children to take medication, but physically they have the swallowing mechanism to do so, after all, children have swallowed things from coins to toy parts!

“A recent study from the Netherlands which was published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood suggests that all of the tricks tried by parents and doctors over the years to get medicine into their children – such as grinding up a pill into jam, squirting a plastic syringe-full of medicine into the mouth or simply bribing a child to swallow medicines – are not necessary.”

(Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25006956)

This view is echoed by the World Health Organization which would like to promote the use of solid tablets for children – given the issues of storage and the nasty taste of some liquid formulations.

Often, it’s the taste of liquid formulations that children don’t like, if we can introduce a solution which reduces stress for the child, anxiety for the parent but keeps the medication whole, it’s a win, win!

Introducing Gloup…

Gloup Original is a swallowing gel with 100% natural ingredients, which is intended to make solid pills and unopened capsules, easier to swallow. Crushing pills or opening capsules or hiding in food is not needed when using Gloup.

• Gloup is simple
  Gloup’s solution is simplicity itself. A lightweight, smooth gel, it allows tablets to be swallowed as easily as a spoonful of yoghurt, or a sip of soup. It simply covers the tablet on the spoon, to allow for its safe transportation – so it can get to work in the way it was designed to.
• Gloup is safe
  Gloup has no known interactions with medication, is made of 100% natural ingredients all certified ‘food grade’ and biodegrades harmlessly in the stomach. Gloup does not contain gluten or lactose.
• Gloup is stress-free 
  Gloup is designed to address the stress and discomfort so many of us face when suffering from a fear of taking oral medicines or living with a condition that physically makes swallowing difficult: such as Parkinson’s, dysphagia or dementia.

Difficulty in swallowing medication is a thing of the past with Gloup, order your free sample and try for yourself!