I have a dumb question re: Hammer endurolyte capsules

[biomaj5]

Do you swallow them or chew them? I've had cyclists tell me both ways, and google is stubbornly refusing to give me information. They taste god-awful when you chew them. The first time I had one was during a cramp, and my cyclist friend told me to chew it, so I thought that maybe you should chew it if you're actively cramping, and just swallow it to prevent cramps? Other people seemed horrified that I'd chewed it. I took one on Sat during a very hot ride because I felt some twinges in my left calf and wanted to stop that before it cramped.

I feel that the answer is probably "duh, swallow it," but I'm getting conflicting answers from people. I would prefer to swallow it because of the horrible taste.

[Susie]

I have use the Fizz tablets, but never Endurolytes, sorry!

[biomaj5]

Unfortunately, I can't use anything that has effervescent bubbles, like nuun (and I'm assuming Fizz). It tears my stomach up upon impact.

[sassystace]

Sounds like you can do either. If they taste bad, just swallow them. You stomach acid will break them down. Probably chewing them helps them to get into your system faster b/c you don't have to wait for your stomach acid to dissolve the outer layer if you've chewed them.

I have no first hand experience with these tabs though.

[kams]

I swallow.

That's what she said

[biomaj5]

Thanks!

and lol @ kams

[Susie]

Jul 28, 2014 12:23:24 GMT -5 biomaj5 said:

Unfortunately, I can't use anything that has effervescent bubbles, like nuun (and I'm assuming Fizz). It tears my stomach up upon impact.

They stop fizzing pretty quickly, you can't use them after they've flattened out?

I wouldn't want to use them while fizzing either, but they are never still fizzing by the time my workout starts.  I sometimes mix Heed with Nuun or Fizz to add electrolytes to the Heed; if I go with same-flavor combinations I can barely tell the difference.

[biomaj5]

Jul 28, 2014 12:49:43 GMT -5 Susie said:

Jul 28, 2014 12:23:24 GMT -5 biomaj5 said:

Unfortunately, I can't use anything that has effervescent bubbles, like nuun (and I'm assuming Fizz). It tears my stomach up upon impact.

They stop fizzing pretty quickly, you can't use them after they've flattened out?

I wouldn't want to use them while fizzing either, but they are never still fizzing by the time my workout starts.  I sometimes mix Heed with Nuun or Fizz to add electrolytes to the Heed; if I go with same-flavor combinations I can barely tell the difference.

I guess I could try letting them go flat. I just sort of assumed that they kept the fizziness for the duration. I could try it when I'm not going to work out-I'll know immediately if it'll work or not. The lining of my stomach got inflamed in 2011 after a horrid wisdom tooth removal and subsequent ibuprofen usage-it landed me in urgent care with morphine and dilaudid. Ever since then, I haven't been able to drink anything fizzy like that-soda is ok, but not fizzy effervescent stuff. My stomach starts hurting so badly that I end up curled up in a ball if I drink too much of it (and it doesn't take very long to get to too much-usually I feel it within a few mins of the first swallow). Stupid stomach.

[Susie]

That sounds really painful. But no, they don't stay fizzy. They stop fizzing pretty much once the tablet is dissolved. You can test it by closing up the water bottle for a while, then opening the top and seeing if any gas escapes. If there's nothing in the ingredient list that otherwise bothers your stomach I would guess you would be ok with it once it's flat and you're not getting the CO2 release.