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Tilting back slightly and drinking plenty of water may make swallowing pills easier for some individuals, though if this method doesn’t help or you have difficulty do seek medical or psychological assistance as soon as possible.
Tablets
Tablets are solid dosage forms used for medication. Tablets are produced by mixing powdered drug with fillers & then pressing it together into one solid form.
Most tablets are round or oval in shape; however, some can come in more unusual forms with scores in their centers to make swallowing easier for patients. Their size depends on what kind of drug is needed to treat you as well as if any breaking down occurs before reaching your system.
Although various manufacturers produce similar drugs in tablet form, distinguishing pills by shape, color, markings and imprint codes helps you identify them more readily. You can also use Medscape Pill Identifier to learn more about a specific pill’s characteristics.
Capsules
Orally administered medications can come in two forms – tablets and capsules. In the past, most were made from gelatin but there has been an effort to replace it with cellulosic polymers such as hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC, commonly referred to as hypromellose). Capsules can easily be made at the prescription counter and filled with powders, granules or microparticles/pellets for administration.
As opposed to tablets, which must be held together with binders that can be difficult for your body to absorb, capsules are typically airtight and sealed with plant-derived cellulose gel that is easily digested by your stomach and intestines, potentially increasing effectiveness as well as speed of drug delivery into your bloodstream. In addition, capsules tend to be tamper-resistant and harder to crush than tablets.
Liquids
Liquid is a state of matter that lies somewhere between solids and gases in terms of rigidity and flexibility, with both moving freely inside their containers at room temperature as they take on any shape the container provides. At room temperature, common examples include water and oil.
Liquids cannot be easily compressed and have an inherent volume. Their ability to flow depends on the size and strength of their molecules as well as intermolecular forces – these intermolecular forces determine a liquid’s viscosity.
Low viscosity fluids move more smoothly, making transporting, pumping, and other movement processes more efficient. Furthermore, their reduced friction reduces costs significantly making them an excellent solution for lubrication, cooling, and cleaning processes. Most liquids on Earth exist as mixtures containing various substances like salts or minerals which dissolve. And like other forms of matter, liquids too can transform from solid into gas states or vice versa – though this does not happen all that frequently.
Hormones
Hormones are chemical messengers that circulate through your bloodstream, sending messages directly to organs and tissues in order to regulate body temperature, the amount of energy coming from food sources into cells and your mood.
Sexual hormones such as estrogen and progesterone play an integral part in puberty and reproduction, as well as helping balance weight and build bones. But other hormones play essential roles too – for instance melatonin affects how we sleep while cortisol can act as a natural stress reliever and even be used therapeutically as medicine.
Most hormones are released directly into the bloodstream by their gland of origin and travel through to attach themselves to receptors on other cells in your body, where they then activate a chain reaction that alters how these cells behave.
The Pill
Pills are solid pharmaceutical oral dosage forms intended for oral administration. In colloquial usage, “pill” refers to any tablet or capsule.
The FDA mandates that most prescription and over-the-counter pills carry an imprint code, which combined with its color, shape and size helps identify its respective drug.
People commonly take birth control pills to avoid pregnancy by thickening mucus around their cervixes and blocking sperm from entering the uterus. Unfortunately, however, it doesn’t protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), so couples using birth control should still use condoms for protection. It is easy to forget or miss taking your pill every day at a set time – make a reminder alarm or have someone remind you with regular reminders who takes theirs too if this becomes an issue.
