As I’ve said before (click!), one of the shocking and scary aspects of Parkinson’s disease starts happening when your epiglottis no longer effectively closes off your windpipe when you swallow, and some food or liquid (or, in this case, pills) heads down your windpipe towards your lungs. If it happens often, you’ll end up with aspiration pneumonia, which could easily cause you to die.
This happened recently to me. I take about a dozen pills each night before I go to bed. For many years I did this easily without any problem, swallowing all 12 at once with a single gulp with water. It was fine until about a month ago, when two pills did not follow the rest down my esophagus but instead got stuck in my trachea. I was shocked and scared, and coughed and coughed until they returned to my mouth.
I asked one of my doctors if I could space these pills out during the afternoon and evening. She said no, because most of them should be taken right before bed, as they will help me sleep.
On the one hand, I thought OK, I need my sleep. For many years now, I have slept soundly through the night, never having to get out of bed in the dark to use the toilet or for any other reason. But on the other hand, I was freaking out about choking again.
The solution? Applesauce! As you’ll see in this video, I put two tablespoons of applesauce in a small bowl, mix all my pills in, and easily consume everything in a few swallows.
I follow this applesauce procedure with a table spoon of ice cream, because some pills burn the back of my throat and stomach. The ice cream is a soothing follow-up, and who doesn’t like ice cream?
OK. Let’s watch the video.
We’ll let Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, have the last words on the issue, as my speech these days (including in this video) is rather garbled:
The epiglottis (pl.: epiglottises or epiglottides) is a leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs. It stays open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food into the lungs, forcing the swallowed liquids or food to go along the esophagus toward the stomach instead. It is thus the valve that diverts passage to either the trachea or the esophagus.
Dysfunction may cause the inhalation of food, called aspiration, which may lead to pneumonia or airway obstruction.
