good pill crusher?

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It is crucial that you check first if a certain medicine can be crushed such as with your doctor or pharmacist. You should never crush a modified release tablet unless a medical professional tells you to otherwise. In addition some medicines are not meant to be swallowed such as buccal tablets - example buccastem, an antisickness medicine used for adults.

It is possible to overdose if you crush medication which shouldn't be crushed, Many medications are available in a modified release form, that is one that releases the medication slowly so you don't have to keep taking it. If that kind of tablet was crushed the levels in the bloodstream would be very high at first and would likely cause toxic effects and in some cases the potential for a fatal overdose.

A resource I use in the UK as a healthcare professional is www.medicines.org.uk - this is only really meant to be used for medication available in Britain and it is important to click on the correct brand name and manufacturer as well as the correct form eg immediate or sustained release [MR, XL, PR]

In America and other countries you need to look at the package insert, have a read through that and it will tell you what to do if you or your child have swallowing difficulties. If it says do not crush, swallow whole then ask your doctor or pharmacist if there is an alternative.

If a person is old enough and hasn't had any conditions which can cause swallowing difficulties such as a stroke, they should be able to swallow tablets without any problem. Just put the tablet [or capsule] in the middle of the mouth and keep drinking fluid fairly rapidly until you are confident that the medicine has been swallowed. You could try this with vitamin tablets/capsules first of all. I taught my younger sister to swallow tablets this way, This should minimise the need for liquid medications which can have an unwanted after taste in the mouth.

For liquid medications that taste unpleasant, hold your nose when taking them and much of the taste should go away and be ready to eat something sweet afterwards to mask the taste or rinse your mouth with water.

My son's medication is prescribed by a psychiatrist and she is aware that we have to both halve and crush it.

if no one's said two spoons...

two spoons.

you are much nicer than i am. my son gets his medication regardless of how much he hates it. i have never tried to disguise it or anything. he was getting it in a liquid form and it tasted aweful. if he didn't let me give it to him, i'd pry his mouth open and spray it in. spit it out, we do it again. now he gets pills because it was too much work for the pharmacy to order in his liquid medication. he has to take 2 pills. again. i give him the medication and told him how to take it. if he doesn't follow the directions and doesn't swallow it properly, he has to hold it in his mouth until he gets it right. if it's melting on his tongue and tastes bad, too bad. he should swallow it right away the next time. it only took him 3 tries to figure out how to swallow them right away without tasting it. mean, eh? oh well. i just get fed up with him by the end of the night when it's medication time and he knows it.

I apologize for bump an old topic from the dead, just have a few interesting things from personal experience, maybe someone will need this information in the future.
I put the pills in the 'container' for the mini chopper with some pig food, which is basicly corn meal, then use the chopper. The meal keeps the powder from getting too fine and stuck in the processor, also, the horse enjoys the corn meal and will eat the medicine more easily. You may need to cover the top with a teatowel to keep the particles from flying out if the processor doesn't have a lid.I also have to take Bupap for headaches and had one the 3rd day after my surgery. I put it in a small thank you card and took a glass and smooshed it to smitherines. Then I put it in a medicine cup and poured crystal light pink lemonaid over it - shot it and then took sips of the crystal light. I had no problems and my doc said I don't have to crush them any more. So far, I have taken Vit. C capsule and my BP med and have not had any problems.

I know the pharmacy has some type of crusher they sell where the pill splitters are as well...what I did worked fine.I like to watch YouTube videos of a similar theme when I'm looking for information about the right product. I hope this helps someone in the future. Good luck!