How to read medical prescription, medical abbreviations, pharma abbreviations

Posted Date: 27-Jan-2011	Category: 0 - 9	Rating:
Author: Vandana	Member Level: Gold	Points: 20 (Rs 15)

Ever got confused by what your physician writes in the prescriptions list given to you? In this article you will know how to read the abbreviations in medical prescriptions and what are the meanings of the short forms used in a medical prescription.

It is a fact that most doctors' handwriting is incomprehensible! Honestly, most of the time it is like a spidery scrawl and I invariably ask the doctor to spell out the tablets/medicines written so that I would know whether the pharmacist is giving me the right one. Even more bewildering are the pharmaceutical abbreviations of the number of tablets / amount of dosage / number of times to be taken. It is literally Latin since all are the abbreviations are actually derived from Latin words!

My boss is a Dental Surgeon so I asked him for a list of commonly used pharmaceutical abbreviations which medical professionals write on the prescriptions list given to a patient. I have avoided giving the Latin derivatives as those may simply confuse you further!

List of Common Pharmaceutical Abbreviations used in Medical Prescriptions

1. Rx: Prescription - this is the very first abbreviation which you will see right at the top of the list of prescriptions given to you.
(Rx. means "Take thou", so it literally means the Physician is telling you to take your medicine)

2. Sig.: label

3. tab.: tablet

4. caps.: capsule

5. gtt.: drops

6. d.: to be taken daily

7. p.o.: to be taken orally

8. b.i.d.: to be taken twice a day

9. t.d.s. (also could be written as t.i.d.): to be taken thrice a day

10. q.i.d.: to be taken four times a day

11. p.r.n.: to be taken as required

12. m.d.u.: to be used as directed

13. c.: with

7. ad.: up to

14. a.c.: before meals

15. p.c.: after meals

16. h.: hour

17. h.s.: to be taken at bedtime

18. q.h.: to be taken every hour

19. q.3h.: to be taken every 3 hours

20. n.r.: not to be taken again / do not repeat

21. stat.: to be taken immediately / right away

22. M.: to mix

23. Mist.: a mixture

24. Ft.: make

25. G.: gram

26. Gr.: a grain

27. Mitte: send

28. aq.: water

Note of caution: The author of this article is not a medical professional. Readers are advised to confirm from their own Physician the meanings of the abbreviated words given to them so that the wrong dosage & duration of dosage is not incorrectly taken.

Hoping you won't ever need this list!

How to read medical prescription, medical abbreviations, pharma abbreviations

List of Common Pharmaceutical Abbreviations used in Medical Prescriptions

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