Problem with pills in feeding tube

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Kelly,
I have been crushing my husbands pills for about 5 months and putting them in his tube with no problems. I have a mortal and pestal that I use to crush all the pills, the pharmasist told me to add a bit of water to the pestal to form a paste and then add water, and then I use a large 2 oz shot glass and I add water to it and stir vigourously to help dissolve the pills. I then take a 60 ml syringe add ensure that the pill solution and the water equals 60 mls sometimes that means filling up the shot glass a couple of times. I flush his tube with 60 ml water and then the pill solution then another 60 mls of water to ensure all the meds are in his tummy. Then I will proceed with his gravity feed after that. We have had no clogging problems at all ... Good luck !
 
Harry77

We take a cup and add hot water to it. Crush the pills, stir well and let it set for a little while.

I posted this in my relpy!
 
I used to use liquid forms of meds that we could purchase, then for the others fine crush them and put them in a small medicine measuring container only enough to fill the syringe(to make sure that you get all of the meds Hold it overnight, this gives it time to dissolve. I always put in a 60cc of water beforehand, then flush with the same after. Another note, it was always much more comfortable for my partner to have me use slightly warmed (I boiled prior) water in the gtube. He found the cold water gave him a feeling of a cold rock in his stomach. I also noticed that I would have to administer it slower as time went on, as he did not absorb it as quickly, if it went in too fast, he ended up coughing. It used up valueable energy and left him exhausted.
 
Darn! I wish my stupid printer wasn't broken :[ I would print this out and put it in his folder for reference! Great tips :] Thanks!
 
Hi everyone,

Glad to see this post about crushing pills. My Mom (she and I are posting this together) is about to start on the Rilutek, although we postponed for a couple of weeks as we learned more about disease. She had a G-tube put in about 2 weeks after diagnosis. She has dramatic bulbar onset and can no longer swallow. Her ENR doctor, right before the neurologist DX, gave her a large botox injection that is just now wearing off. So we are feeding and giving all meds through tube. We have been crushing with mortar and pestle but we are concerned about blockages. So glad to see some ideas -- her nurse at the hospital mentioned coke too!

Sorry for long post, but this is our first one. Big question really is -- is the Rilutek only in pill form? And have bulbar onset PALS had good results? It is so expensive and we have heard mixed things. But we do want to give it a try if there are potential good results.

Thanks!
 
fab1, sorry about your mom but welcome to you both to the forum. I was diagnosed with bulbar onset in January of 2008 and have steadily lost my swallowing and speech since then so that now i use my computer to talk and my peg to eat.

I do know what your mom is going through and understand your questions about Rilutek. I don't think that it is available in anything but pill form, I haven't had any problems with crushing it and putting it in the syringe with water. I still have pretty good use of my hands and just use a small pill crusher I bought at WalMart for about $5 and it has worked well so far.

As far as whether it works, I can't tell you because other than some people having side effects there are no effects that you can feel. I have been on it since may of 2008 and the few times that I have stopped taking it for a few days I have not noticed any difference at all. Some people have reported more or less fasiculations when on it but I have felt no changes. There are a lot of threads on here re Rilutek, just do a search and you will find a lot of comments.

Barry
 
fab, if your mom does not experience side effects from Rilutek, and you can afford it, it's worth a try. They say it only extends life a few months, but that's because that's what they found when the studies ended. I have heard anecdotes that in fact it extends life longer than that for many patients.

There is a tiny brush you can get for the PEG (my first one clogged up with deposits on the side of the tube eventually), and I use the little brush as a "pusher" when there's a clog on my new PEG. There's a thread under Tips & Gadgets that tells where to order the brush. I only have problems with capsules that I dissolve or with pills that have hard, thick coatings (the "easy swallow" type pills) that don't dissolve quickly in hot water. Most pills that are crushed with mortor and pestle go right down. Be sure to flush the tube well after pills, and there shouldn't be a problem.
 
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