It's drain cleaner!!

[Eisa]

Mmmm, bubblegum-flavored amoxicillin...I also liked that stuff and was very disappointed I didn't get it more often.



This other stuff, though...when I had surgery at 16, they gave me liquid hydrocodone for pain. Problem was, it made me throw up. When you just had your tonsils out and various other things, that's not a good thing, I was throwing up blood.

So they gave me liquid phenergan to take before the hydrocodone.

Dear God, that stuff is NASTY. It tasted like vomit. And I had to have four teaspoons. I would take a twin popsicles thing, and bite off half with each spoonful to try and mask the taste enough that I could at least swallow it down. Ugh. So disgusting. That was the worst-tasting medicine I have ever had.

[ShinyGreenApple]

Ah, good ol' Wheel of Yuck. There are a few of us who, when we see the pharmacists consulting it, will chant together -

"Wheel.

Of.

YUUUUUCCCK! Yayyyy!"

As for nasty stuff, I hate, hate hate mixing amoxicillin. I always curse to myself when I pull one of those off the will call bin because it's a pain in the arse and takes one of us away from the register or fill and the line piles up. Also, when you first open it, at least to me, the powder smells like boogers. I don't even know if that makes sense, but it's revolting. I wish someone would invent a kids med that we didn't have to mix.

Most things ending in 'cillin' stink to high heavens, and I gag when I have to take the stuff. Keflex never had a smell to me, but I've always gotten the capsules, so maybe they don't smell.

If you want something really nasty, crack open a bottle of Rx strength B-1 tablets. Some of the prenatal vitamins stink really bad, too. They smell up the entire pharmacy when they're being filled. Benicar, on the other hand, has an interesting smell, kind of like cottage cheese and/or buttered popcorn.

But if there's one thing everyone agrees that they hate handling, filling, or taking, it's Metformin. Some people even call them 'the fishy pills'.

[MelodiousBubbles]

As a kid, bubble gum flavored amoxicillin. I had to take that stuff so much they actually used me as a test subject for new flavors.

I had so many ear infections when I was a kid (about every month or so from birth until I was 6 and my eardrum ruptured), and this was the stuff they gave me. I legitimately cannot smell or taste anything bubblegum flavoured without feeling ill now.

[Sparky]

Ew. Aspirin tastes fairly foul all by itself. I would hate to thing of trying to swallow anything with crushed aspirin in it. *shudder*

I even have trouble with coated aspirin. Most likely because there's at least one tablet that's broken inside the bottle, so there's just a little bit of aspirin powder on all of the other pills.

^-.-^

I love aspirin. Regular, uncoated, unflavored aspirin. Since I was a child, if I had to take an aspirin, I'd chew it, just to enjoy the flavor.

Yeah, I'm weird.

[workerbee222]

My favorite cat had to take Lactulose. After a while, that wasn't enough so I paid big bucks to the veterinary formulary to mix up a drug banned for human use (remember Propulsid? What a pleasant name for a laxative!) The pharmacist said, "It's just like a cigarette and a cup of coffee in the morning."

But the best part was that they mixed it into a product they called "triple fish emulsion." I smiled every month ordering the meds as the pharm tech confirmed the triple fish emulsion. I thought of Dan Ackroyd and "Bass-o-matic" every time.

[MoonCat]

My favorite cat had to take Lactulose. After a while, that wasn't enough so I paid big bucks to the veterinary formulary to mix up a drug banned for human use (remember Propulsid? What a pleasant name for a laxative!) The pharmacist said, "It's just like a cigarette and a cup of coffee in the morning."

But the best part was that they mixed it into a product they called "triple fish emulsion." I smiled every month ordering the meds as the pharm tech confirmed the triple fish emulsion. I thought of Dan Ackroyd and "Bass-o-matic" every time.

One of my cats had to use lactulose, too. He HATED that sticky crap. Then Mirolax came out, thank the gods! He actually enjoyed getting that.

[Shalom]

As for nasty stuff, I hate, hate hate mixing amoxicillin.

Shake it well before unsealing it, put in a tiny bit of water and shake again, then add the rest of the water. Works best this way.

I always curse to myself when I pull one of those off the will call bin because it's a pain in the arse and takes one of us away from the register or fill and the line piles up. Also, when you first open it, at least to me, the powder smells like boogers. I don't even know if that makes sense, but it's revolting. I wish someone would invent a kids med that we didn't have to mix.

There are a few. SMZ/TMP, for one. There were a few erythromycin derivatives that were also premixed, but they've been going away, one by one.

You think that one's a pain in the fundament, though, try mixing Ceftin. 19ml of water to reconstitute to 50ml suspension, which makes for an incredibly thick liquid. The instructions say to add the water, invert the bottle and "rock it vigorously from side to side" until you don't hear powder hitting the glass anymore, then turn it right side up and "shake vigorously in a diagonal direction". Every other ABX just says "Add 1/3 of the water, shake, then add the rest and shake again" or words to that effect. There's a reason they have to be so specific: if you don't follow the directions exactly, it doesn't work, and you wind up with lumpy goo.

(And I don't stock the 100ml ones. If a doctor prescribes 100ml, I'll make up two 50s. The reason for this is that two 50s together cost me $109.10, whereas one 100 costs me $123.61. How much sense does that make?)

Most things ending in 'cillin' stink to high heavens, and I gag when I have to take the stuff. Keflex never had a smell to me, but I've always gotten the capsules, so maybe they don't smell.

Yes. They do. Rotten eggs come to mind. The Teva capsules stink pretty badly, especially in the 500-count.

I think I've already mentioned the landfill-scented Cleocin suspension in this thread.

If you want something really nasty, crack open a bottle of Rx strength B-1 tablets. Some of the prenatal vitamins stink really bad, too. They smell up the entire pharmacy when they're being filled.

Pretty sure those are yeast derived. Any B-complex stinks. It was worse when they also included dessicated liver, though. Be thankful they don't make Theragran Hematinic tablets anymore.

Benicar, on the other hand, has an interesting smell, kind of like cottage cheese and/or buttered popcorn.

Butterscotch candy. Definitely butterscotch candy. (Which isn't my favorite candy, but it's better than some.) Not to mention the idiocy of packing them in unit-of-use 30-count bottles which are too small to fit a label bigger than a postage stamp on, so you have to dump them into vials anyway.

But if there's one thing everyone agrees that they hate handling, filling, or taking, it's Metformin. Some people even call them 'the fishy pills'.

The brand-name ones, definitely. Some of the generics are vanilla-scented.

Also, if you've got anyone whose doctor is still old-fashioned enough to prescribe natural thyroid extract instead of synthetic levothyroxine, hold your nose while counting them. Ugh.

[Zaiida]

When I went to get a dental xray recently, a few people were in the waiting room being told to drink some thickish, white liquid from a smallish bottle. Whatever it was the looks on their faces after the first gulp was I HAVE TO DRINK ALL OF IT?!?! and the look of horror as they swallowed it reluctantly then ran for the water cooler to wash out their mouths. Whatever it was they had to wait 40 minsish before being xrayed so it must have been for an upper intestinal contrast. Poor people, they looked utterly disgusted and horrified. One woman tried to bargain with the receptionist and was bribed with a lollipop to drink it.

On the bright side I now have dental records for the first time in my life so I can be identifed if I die horribly .

Question..if you don't have all your wisdom teeth you never grow up right?

[KatherineB]

Ah, that white liquid sounds like the lovely stuff I had to drink once which then sets like cement in your bowels so they can take pictures and make sure nothing is leaking from places it shouldn't be. It is foul, disgusting, and the only thing worse than drinking it is trying to pass it out the other end in a day or two...

[SongsOfDragons]

Was it that barium stuff?

[cindybubbles]

All of my vitamins were crushed and mixed into ice cream.

[Geek King]

Oddly, though, when I was in the hospital last month, they gave me some clear stuff mixed into a liter of water in preparation of a cat scan of my bladder area. I don't remember the name of the stuff, but I was to drink half over the course of an hour, and the other half during the twenty minutes before the scan.

They warned me it was horrible stuff, and to pace myself. So I took my first drink with great caution, but found it no worse than boiled water. Just kind of flat, really. I was kind of disappointed, after all that build up the nurses gave me.

[fireheart]

Oddly, though, when I was in the hospital last month, they gave me some clear stuff mixed into a liter of water in preparation of a cat scan of my bladder area. I don't remember the name of the stuff, but I was to drink half over the course of an hour, and the other half during the twenty minutes before the scan.

I take it that water only wasn't an option?

When I had to go for a kidney and pelvic ultrasound (to work out why the hell I was having recurrent UTI's) I had to drink a litre of water and hold it for an hour. Of course, with this particular UTI it hurt like CRAZY! In sympathy, the tech called me in first and got the bladder part out of the way so that I could let it out.

[ADeMartino]

There also used to be some kind of pill my parents would give me for hyperactivity. Again I don't know what it was called, but it was bitter and awful. I couldn't take it with water. My parents had to crush the pill and mix it with applesauce or ice cream, but I could still taste it. >.<

Tiny little light blue pill? Sounds like Ritalin (sp?). I had to take that shit every day. HATED it. Was so glad when I didn't have to take it any more.

[Geek King]

I take it that water only wasn't an option?

No. It was some agent to help them look around the whole system. They were checking to see if there was more cancer spread in the area. Fortunately, nothing showed up, and the doc believes now, based on what came out in the surgery and the pathology later, that it was caught early. They termed it stage 1-B, for what its worth.