It isn’t just the bad handwriting that keeps us from understanding the scribbles on a prescription sheet. There’s a bit of shorthand or code in there, too.
Are you ready to crack the code? Here are some terms and phrases you might see on your prescription — in case you’re curious.
Many of them deal with timing: what time of day the medication should be taken, and how frequently the medication should be taken. An “am” or “pm” (not surprisingly) refers to medication taken in the morning or the evening. But other bits of code might be less obvious. If you see “ac”, that means the medication should be taken before meals. “Pc” means the medication should be taken after meals.
A medication taken once per day may be marked “qd”. At the vet’s office, we mark once-a-day medication as “sid” — not sure if that is veterinarian lingo only, or if it’s also used in human medicine. But we use the same code for medication taken twice a day: “bid”. Medicine taken three and four times a day are marked “tid” and “qid”, respectively.
Medication taken at bedtime may be coded “hs”.
Sometimes, the code refers to where or how the medication is used. “Top” is for a topical medication; “ext” is for external use. “PO” means that a medication is taken by mouth. There are also ways to indicate left side only, right side only, or both — in the case of eyes or ears.
Medication taken as needed may be marked “ad lib” or “prn”.
If you have any questions about how to use a medication properly, you don’t really need to know the code. You can ask your doctor or other health care provider — or the pharmacist who fills the prescription. Still, I think it’s interesting to be able to decipher the doctor’s scrawl a little bit!