Bitter Pill to Swallow: Twitter Discusses Best Way to Pop a Pill

To take a pill with water or not became a top topic of discussion on twitter.

A spoonful of sugar may make the medicine go down, but how else do you swallow a bitter pill?

This was the latest topic of contention on the Internet, as a tweet by former Buzzfeed writer and hilarious Bollywood meme-maker Imaan Sheikh sparked off a debate. Which method works best – with water or without?

I need to kno if other ppl also fill their mouth w/ water 1st & then drop their pill in & swallow?? Bc most of you are out here just putting bitter ass pills directly on ur BARE TONGUE & casually waiting till u fill ur glass w/ water. But I get made fun of for doing the dive-in??

— Imaan Sheikh 🌈 (@sheikhimaan) July 10, 2019

Twitter users chimed in with more suggestions, although most agreed with Sheikh.

Yea that's all cool, but I have seen white people in the movies swallow pill with no water. What's that about?

— Aman Mishra (@mishraboi) July 10, 2019

People exposing their naked tongue to a naked pill are spawn of the devil.

Don't @ me.

— Bulbous Dumbledore 🧙🦄 (@petite__potato) July 11, 2019

There were some, however, who disagreed and opted for swallowing a pill without water.

Nooooo...By putting water first there's a chance that stupid pill will float anywhere else in the mouth from where it'll be difficult to swallow.
(So much thoughts and efforts)
🤣

— Sana Fatima (@High_Dives) July 10, 2019

I've done the well drop method. The first time I ended up swallowing the water and not the pill, and ended up with soggy tablet in my mouth I was like nah bro. At least pill-first makes sure shit gets done for sure.

— Gwyn D'Mello (@GwynDMello) July 11, 2019

You keep the pill UNDER the tongue. No taste buds. No bitterness.

— Jayesh Sharma (@WordWandering) July 11, 2019

Alternatives to the Water Debate

Then there were a few detractors who came up with some alternative suggestions that went beyond the water debate, ranging from sugar-coating the medicine to crushing the pill to make it go down easy.

Always had a tough time with pills. I do exactly this now. Until my late teens I would break a pill into four pieces and smother them with honey

— Nadir Hassan (@Nadir_Hassan) July 10, 2019

While the idea of sugar-coating is appealing it may not be the healthiest. There were some who crushed up the pill.

I know one of my friend crush the pill or open the tablet and dilute it with water and then take it like an infant @harshitnuwal

— Gaurav Somani (@gauravsomani9) July 13, 2019

I break my big pills into small pieces then pop them with water while holding my breath and hoping that I won't die by choking on them.
My mother had the hardest time teaching me how to swallow capsules.

— Vidhi Bhardwaj (@vidhiing) July 10, 2019

Whichever the way you take it, it turns out that even the act of taking a medicine is quite tricky, with people debating the pros and cons of various methods.