Understanding your prescription is crucial to getting the correct medication and to make sure that the prescription was filled correctly by the pharmacist. Getting to know some commonly used medical notations will help.
Common instructions
om : every morning
on: every night
od: daily
bd: twice per day
tds: three times a day
qds: four times a day
q5H: every 5 hourly
iv: intravenous injection
im: intramuscular injection
sc: subcutaneous injection
po: per oral (the medicine is meant to be eaten)
pr: per rectal (the suppository is to be inserted into the anus)
5/7 : 5 days ( "any number / 7 " indicates the days the prescription to be filled for)
2/52: 2 weeks ( "any number" /52" indicates the weeks the prescription to be filled for)
1/12 : 1 month ( " any number"/ 12: indicates the months the prescription to be filled)
Example
po enalapril 5mg bd 2/12
means that the pharmacist will have to supply you 2 months of the medicine called enalapril. The instruction on the label will be " Take 1 tablet two times a day"
