Deciphering Prescription Drug Abbreviation Codes
How-Many-To-Take and How-Often Instructions on the Drug Labels
Sep 12, 2009
Anyone who takes prescription medications has probably wondered at one time or another, what the strange code is that doctors write on their prescription pads for patients to take to the pharmacy. Once there, a pharmacist seems to miraculously translate the letters with dots and numbers before and between them into instructions that make sense in English. When it’s picked up a few hours later, it has understandable phrases like “Take 1 every 4 hrs”.
Latin Still Used for Prescriptions
In reality, one of the things doctors are taught toward the end of medical school, often in a drug company-sponsored class, is the Latin abbreviations used to write prescriptions. Today it may be thought of as a form of shorthand to save time, but it was originally used for the physician elite to maintain their status while helping the non-elite. Few understood the codes and abbreviations except the doctors and pharmacists, guaranteeing them the admiration and patronage of the lower classes. It was so effective, it is still used today.
This is a list of most of the Latin abbreviations doctors use. Pharmacists translate the codes onto the drug container labels in English for the patient, explaining when and how frequently to take the medication. (Instructions to take medication several times daily, means over a 24 hr period, not just during the 12 daytime hours.)
- a.c. = before meals (from ante cibum, before meals)
- ad lib: = use as much as necessary (from ad libitum)
- b.i.d. or BID = twice a day
- caps = capsules
- da or daw = dispense exactly as written
- g (or gm or GM) = gram
- gtt. = drops (from Latin guttae drops)
- h. = hour
- h.s. or HS = at bedtime (hour of sleep)
- mg = milligram
- ml = milliliter
- p.c. = after meals (from post cibum, after meals)
- p.o. = by mouth, orally (from per os, by mouth)
- p.r.n. or pid = as necessary (from pro re nata, as needed)
- q.d. or QD = once a day (from quaque die, once a day)
- q.i.d. = four times a day (from quater in die)
- q.o.d. or QOD = every other day
- q._h.: = every h hours (from quaque, h = the # of hours)
- q.2h. = every 2 hours
- q.3h. = every 3 hours
- q.4h. = every 4 hours
- t.i.d. or TID = three times a day (from ter in die, 3 times daily)
- ut dict. = as directed (from ut dictum)
Medication Caution Codes
In addition, are medicine caution codes shown below that may also be accompanied by pictures or stickers to indicate the same thing.
Universal codes:
- D = Can/does cause drowsiness
- H = Can be/is habit forming
- I = Can interact with one or more other drugs, foods, herbs
- X = SOS (may be a problem-causing substance like acetaminophen; consult a doctor or pharmacist)
Specific Medication codes
- ASA = contains salicylates (aspirin-based substances)
- C = caution (for those with certain conditions like high blood pressure)
- G = May cause or aggravate glaucoma
- S = May cause or aggravate diabetes
With deaths from the use of prescription medications increasing, being aware of these codes means someone taking medication needn’t worry about having to call the doctor’s office or a pharmacist to clarify a written prescription. It also enables him to verify the prescription information against the container label to confirm that the pharmacist made no mistakes translating the doctor’s abbreviated instructions. And if he so chooses, he can further check the dosing with information that can be obtained in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR).
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