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Medicines that affect swallowing
Some medicines make you sleepy, dry your mouth, or irritate the food pipe.
Awaiting clinical review. This page is written from general, widely accepted background on how eating and swallowing work. It has not yet been signed off by a named clinician, and it is not a substitute for asking one.
Medicines help, and can have side effects
Most medicines do their job without touching swallowing. Some can affect it in a few ways.
Knowing the ways helps you ask the right question.
Medicines that make you sleepy
Some medicines calm the brain or cause drowsiness. Swallowing needs you alert, so a sleepy swallow can be less careful.
Examples can include some sleep, anxiety, pain and seizure medicines.
Medicines that dry the mouth
Hundreds of medicines can cause dry mouth. Some for blood pressure, depression, bladder control and allergies are examples.
Less saliva makes dry food and pills harder to get down.
Pills that irritate the food pipe
A pill that sits in the food pipe can irritate it. Doctors call this pill esophagitis.
It can cause pain when swallowing, or a feeling of something stuck in the chest.
What you might notice
- Swallowing felt different after a new medicine or a new dose.
- Feeling drowsy at mealtimes.
- A dry mouth, or pills that stick.
- Pain in the chest when swallowing, after taking a pill.
What can help
- Pharmacists often advise taking pills with a full glass of water, sitting or standing up. Ask yours what fits your medicines.
- Many pharmacists also advise not lying down right after a pill. Ask how long.
- Ask your pharmacist to review your whole list, including supplements.
- Ask if a pill comes in another form. Never crush or split a pill without asking first.
- Keep a note of when swallowing changed, and what changed before it.
Questions to ask your care team
- Could any of my medicines affect my swallowing?
- Do any make me sleepy or dry my mouth?
- How should I take each pill, and with how much water?
- Is there another form or another option?
When to get help
Get checked soon if you notice any of these. A doctor or SLP can look at what is going on.
You know your own body best. Bring what you notice to your care team, and decide together.
- Coughing or choking when you eat or drink.
- Food or pills that feel stuck.
- Losing weight without trying.
- Pneumonia or chest infections, especially if they come back.
When this is worth asking about
- A pill is stuck and will not go down, or you cannot breathe. Call 911.
- Swallowing hurts after taking a pill.
- Swallowing changed after a new medicine or dose.
- You are skipping medicines because they are hard to swallow.