How to undrstand meaning of tds and q in doctors prescreption?
Answers
Doctors are notorious for having particularly bad handwriting, but even when you figure out what's been written down, you still don't know what it means.
The reason for this is that certain sections of your prescription are written in Latin, or at least in abbreviations of the Latin language.
Latin abbreviations are used to indicate the directions of how to take your medicine, and it's used as a type of shorthand between doctors and pharmacists.
So don't feel stupid if you don't understand your script, because unless you have a medical background, prescription abbreviations will be almost impossible to decipher.
But if you learn to understand the medical shorthand you can read your own script, which will help you ask the right questions, and ensure that you are getting the right medication and directions of use from your pharmacist.
Here are some tips to help you see how this works:
Rx: I tab po qid pc & hs
Translates into:
Take one tablet by mouth (po) four times a day (qid), after meals (pc) and at bedtime (hs). The "Rx" in front stands for "recipe" in Latin.