Coat pills with something that tastes really, really bad. The taste should be something that couldn't possibly be mistaken for food, toothpaste, denture adhesive, etc.. People would definitely know if they've taken their pill because their mouth would taste like a Dow chemical spill for a carefully engineered period of time. This would prevent missing a dose (and perhaps more importantly), double dosing.-- BladeDanger, Apr 02 2002 Arthur D. Little http://www.adltechn...hn_publications.htmWhen one wishes NOT to taste sludge. [reensure, Apr 02 2002] Zowie http://www.5years.com/keypeoplezb.htm [waugsqueke, Apr 04 2002] buckley's http://www.buckleys.com/it tastes awful.and it works. [mihali, Apr 05 2002] I don't understand. Why would people have trouble knowing they've just taken a pill, after having just taken a pill?-- waugsqueke, Apr 02 2002 I like this. The reason people forget is that they think "Did I just take my pill, or did I just remember taking it yesterday?"
It doesn't even have to be bad... it could just be a flavor that lingers for a good while.
It's the whole reason behind pill calendar boxes.-- lumpy, Apr 03 2002 How about a coating that turns your mouth pink? Or your urine purple? I think the bad taste might make people inclined to brush, thereby placing them at square one.-- phoenix, Apr 03 2002 Hmm. Better yet, coat each pill with a substance that is initially impermeable to water, then after a given number of hours becomes permeable for just a brief period, before becoming permanently insoluble again. This way, you could swallow the whole bottle of pills at once, and (at most) only one pill would affect you. Taking the pills at the proper times, on the other hand, would work as expected (because each pill would become digestible around the time you swallowed it).-- Jeremi, Apr 04 2002 You could vary the taste for each day of the week so if it tastes like brussel sprouts on Wednesday and ear wax on Friday you know that you are on schedule.-- Aristotle, Apr 04 2002 I have three problems with this:
1. Zowie already tastes pretty damn bad, especially when washed down with a giant tumbler of Scotch.
2. What's sick-making to one person may be quite tasty to another. I myself rather like the taste of ammonia, and often use it as a dip for chicken nuggets.
3. BladeDanger clearly knows all about my misadventures in pharmacology (DOCTOR: "What seems to be the problem?" ME: "I think I took sixteen Zolofts by mistake"), and must be stopped. Avaunt, knave, and quit my sight!-- 1percent, Apr 05 2002 1%, from the sheer enjoyment I get from reading you, I wish you had more problems with this idea.-- waugsqueke, Apr 05 2002 random, halfbakery