Why do medicines/Tablets taste so bitter

[Deepak]

Anyone?

Is it bec'se of some chemical? Or something else?

 

[arjan de lumens]

Probably something added as a safety precaution; if you place sweet-tasting medicine within reach of a child, it is not at all unlikely that the child will seek out and consume all your medicine in one go, resulting in a fatal overdose.

 

[Simon F]

I don't think children's medicines are necessarily bad tasting, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get them to take them! For example,I had a headache and we'd run out of paracetamol tablets so I took some of my daughter's Calpol(TM). It was an overly sweet strawberry flavour, but certainly not unpleasant.

Maybe some adult medicines are bitter to stop adults taking too much.

 

[Mariner]

Sickly child that I was, I got through quite a lot of Ventolin syrup when younger (this was in the days before inhalers). That used to taste great! Pity it stained my teeth as I grew up though - a nasty yellow colour as if I was a hardened smoker.

 

[slider]

Sickly child that I was, I got through quite a lot of Ventolin syrup when younger (this was in the days before inhalers). That used to taste great! Pity it stained my teeth as I grew up though - a nasty yellow colour as if I was a hardened smoker.

Did anyone, born in the 70's..., ever get a combo of 2 cough syrups for sore throats? Deepak, one was a yellow, gloopy thing that tasted very nice (Ventolin??) and the other was.... ugh, yeuckcee. Dunno if it wa exclusive to the UK or not.

Talk about stick and carrot.

 

[bloodbob]

many medicines are alkloids and as such are inherently bitter.

 

[V3]

All cough syrup I've taken taste like licorice. But the syrup was closer tasting to licorice jelly compare to licorice candy which I like. I think it tastes like licorice, because there is licorice in them, I don't know if licorice is the main ingridient or not. But normally I just take licorice candy when I have abit of a cough, even now days.

 

[Mariner]

If I remember correctly, Ventolin syrup (actually a brand name mixture of the drug Salbutamol) was a burgundy red colour. A sweet yet tangy flavour which seemed to burn on its way down the throat!

 

[slider]

A sweet yet tangy flavour which seemed to burn on its way down the throat!

Someone sounds like a real fan of this stuff!

 

[AlNom]

hm... only pills I take are for my allergies. Freakin histamine.

Spring:
<person >"Allergies?"
<me >yup

Summer:
<person >"Hay fever?"
<me > No... Allergies.

Autumn:
<person >"cold?"
<me > allergies.

Winter:
<person >"flu?"
<me > allergies.
<person >".... wtf?!"

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

i got the allergies too. used to take 2 shots a week for them (sadistic parents).

i just got a wicked sinus headache last sunday (complete with throw ups)...that's right folks, a headache so BAD you throw up.

don't get them much anymore. i was allergic to parents it seems.

 

[Deepak]

My throat is showing signs of unease (bec'se of weather change maybe, we are approaching winter), maybe it is time for some medication.

 

[Crisidelm]

And you probably never tried the medicines (pills) that are not meant to be tasted at all but just swallowed at once. Since I can't swallow them, I have to break them up before "use"...there are a few that are beyond bitter and yucky...

 

[Deepak]

When I was in school one of my friends used to chew Capsules for minutes and take water only after he finished chewing.

 

[Basic]

I'm a blood donor. After you donate blood, you get iron pills. The version I like best (they're best for my stomach) are called Duroferon. I tried to swallow one of those without the recomended glass of water once. (Stupid!) But the pill didn't want to go down, and it took half a minute or so before I finally swallowed it. No big deal except that it left a clearly metallic taste in the mouth.

... which changed to to a clear blood taste the next day as my gum was bleeding!

I asked the personel in the blood donor bus next time around. They hadn't heard of it, but gave me some info to read about it. And it clearly said that that should be expected if you didn't swallow the pill directly.

 

[AlNom]

I'm a blood donor. After you donate blood, you get iron pills.

We only get food here.

 

[DudeMiester]

Probably something added as a safety precaution; if you place sweet-tasting medicine within reach of a child, it is not at all unlikely that the child will seek out and consume all your medicine in one go, resulting in a fatal overdose.

I've had my stomach pumped twice for that reason. Once on Dimetapp and the other time on Flintstone vitamin pills. In the later case, I shared the experiance with my brother, as we helped eachother get on top of the fridge. Of course, we were experianced in doing that, previously having fed the cat bacon and eggs from its shelves.

 

[Basic]

We only get food here.

That's almost irresponsible of them. Here we get pills equvalent to the donated blood. If you don't take them (or eat extra iron rich food to compensate), they will usually notice it on the Hb value, warn you, and possibly cut you off donation.

You get a sandwich and juice here too.

 

[London Geezer]

Probably something added as a safety precaution; if you place sweet-tasting medicine within reach of a child, it is not at all unlikely that the child will seek out and consume all your medicine in one go, resulting in a fatal overdose.

True but also because they're full of stuff that just tastes bitter.

Bit off-topic but this thread reminded me fo a friend of mine who tried to committ suicide and took 350 pills (three hundred and fifty, yes) of extacy, which are REALLY bitter, in gulps of 50-70 or so... Makes me sick even thinking about it...

 

[Simon F]

That's almost irresponsible of them. Here we get pills equvalent to the donated blood. If you don't take them (or eat extra iron rich food to compensate), they will usually notice it on the Hb value, warn you, and possibly cut you off donation.

How often do you donate blood?! A normal diet is all you need to get your iron levels back in a reasonable amount of time.

In Aus', for a short while, I remember they gave out iron tablets, but that didn't last long.