Q. May one take headache pills on Tzom Gedalia and Yom Kippur without water? Is it preferable to take a bit of water with it on either of those days to prevent any damage to the oesophagus?

A. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that when one suffers from a severe incapacitating headache, one may take a pill on Tzom Gedalia with the minimum necessary water for properly consuming the pill. However, on Yom Kippur this should be avoided. One should rather use the available suppositories or time delay capsules, taken before the beginning of the fast.

Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a.