Not Just a Pill for Every Ill: Medication Options That Make Life Easier

Medications don’t just come as “pills.” Changing the form of a medication can make life much easier — especially for older adults juggling multiple prescriptions, swallowing issues, or complex routines. Let me break down the options available to you.

Medication form plays an important role in medication safety, particularly when someone is managing multiple prescriptions — a situation often referred to as polypharmacy in older adults. If this sounds familiar, you may also want to read Too Many Meds? Time to Reconcile! to better understand how medication overload happens.

Standard Medication Dosage Forms

These are the forms you’ll see in every pharmacy:

• Tablets – swallow whole, sometimes scored.

• Capsules – powder or liquid inside a shell.

• Liquids / Solutions / Suspensions – good for people who can’t swallow.

• Chewables – easier for kids and adults with swallowing problems.

• Extended-Release (ER / XL / SR) – slow release over time.

• Topicals – creams, gels, ointments.

• Transdermal patches – steady absorption through the skin.

• Inhalers – asthma/COPD medications.

• Injectables – insulin, B12, biologics.

• Suppositories – rectal/vaginal medications.

• Eye / Ear Drops – targeted delivery.

Compounding pharmacies can prepare versions you won’t find on store shelves — extremely helpful when someone can’t tolerate the standard form.

For more on how aging affects the way medications work in the body, Is It Just Aging or Is It My Medication? offers important context.

Popular Compounded Options (Not Commercially Available)

Compounded medications allow customization when standard options don’t work:

• Transdermal creams for medications that normally come as pills
  (e.g., certain pain meds, hormone therapies — when appropriate)

• Rapid-dissolve tablets or “troches”
  Melt in the mouth for those who can’t swallow.

• Customized liquid forms
  For meds that only come as tablets commercially.

• Combination creams
  Multiple medications in one topical (pain, dermatology, etc.).

• Allergen-free versions
  No dyes, lactose, gluten, alcohol, or fillers that cause reactions.

• Tiny-dose formulations
  For people who need ultra-precise adjustments (thyroid, hormones).

According to guidance from the National Institute on Aging, aging changes how the body responds to medications, increasing sensitivity to side effects and making safe dosing especially important.

Why This Matters

Changing the form of a medication can help with:

• Swallowing difficulty

• Vision issues (reading labels)

• Arthritic hands that can’t open bottles

• Cognitive challenges

• Nausea or GI problems

• Reducing caregiver stress

• Improving medication safety

Medication form isn’t just a convenience — it can be the difference between “it’s working” and “why isn’t this helping?” Older adults often take 8, 10, sometimes 12+ medications a day. Adjusting the dosage form can simplify everything.

Practical Ways to Reduce Pill Burden

If reducing pill burden is on your to-do list, consider talking to your provider about adopting one of the following changes:

• Switching from twice-a-day to extended-release once daily

• Combining two topical ingredients into one cream

• Changing a hard-to-swallow tablet into a liquid

• Losartan, Ramipril, and Amlodipine now available in oral solutions 🤩

• Using patches instead of multiple pills

• Using orally-disintegrating tablets for faster/simpler dosing

Fewer steps = higher likelihood the medication is actually taken correctly.

You don’t have to struggle with pills, schedules, or impossible packaging. A simple change in dosage form can improve safety, comfort, and compliance.

If you or a family member is overwhelmed by medication routines, I can help build a safer, simpler plan.