Prescriptions and medicines
Medication list decoder
A medication list packs each medicine into one line of shorthand: a strength, a dose, a route such as PO or INH, and a frequency such as BD or q8h, some of it abbreviated Latin. Lists from a hospital may also mark each medicine as continued, changed or stopped. Add your list below to see every line written out in full.
Explain your medication list
- 1. Add itDrop a PDF, take a photo or paste the text.
- 2. Check itPersonal details are removed on your device. You approve what is sent.
- 3. Read itSummary, table of results, terms and questions to ask.
The explainer opens on its own page with no adverts and no outside scripts. Your file is read on your device and is never uploaded.
What you get
- One row per medicine, with name, strength, dose, route and frequency in separate columns.
- Latin and clinical shorthand such as OD, BD, TDS, QDS, PRN, nocte and stat translated.
- Status words from a reconciliation list, such as continued, new, changed, held or stopped, kept beside each medicine.
- Questions to ask your pharmacist, including about abbreviations that can be read more than one way.
Shorthand on a medication list
- OD, BD (or BID), TDS (or TID), QDS (or QID)Once, twice, three times and four times a day
- PRNWhen required, as opposed to at fixed times
- Mane and nocte (or ON)In the morning and at night
- q4h, q6h, q8hEvery 4, 6 or 8 hours
- PO, SL, INH, TOP, SC, IM, IV, PRBy mouth, under the tongue, inhaled, on the skin, under the skin, into a muscle, into a vein, rectally
- ac, pc and ccBefore food, after food and with food
- MR, SR, XL and ECModified-release, sustained-release, extended-release and enteric-coated forms of a tablet or capsule
What this tool cannot tell you
MedicDecode translates the list in front of it. It does not check doses, look for interactions between medicines, or tell you whether to start, stop or change anything. A printed list can be out of date or differ from what you actually take, and several abbreviations have more than one meaning, so a translation is not a substitute for checking. Your pharmacist or prescriber is the person to confirm how each medicine should be taken.
Common questions
Does OD mean once daily or right eye?
Both uses exist. On medication lists in the UK and many other countries OD stands for once daily, while on eye prescriptions it stands for the right eye, and QD is the usual American shorthand for once daily. Confirm with your pharmacist which is meant on your list.
What is a medicines reconciliation list?
It is a list drawn up when you move between settings, for example on admission to hospital or on discharge, comparing what you were taking before with what is prescribed now. Each medicine is usually marked as continued, changed, new, held or stopped.
A medicine I take is missing from the list, or one I stopped is still on it. What now?
Tell the practice, pharmacy or ward that produced the list, because other clinicians may rely on it. The explanation only shows what the list says and has no way of knowing what you really take. Ask them which version is right before changing anything yourself.
Words you may see on this report
Tap a word for its plain-English meaning, an example line and what it does not mean.
- Generic vs Brand-Name Medicine
A generic medicine contains the same active ingredient as a brand-name medicine and must meet the same standards, but is sold under its chemical name.
- Adjunctive therapy
Adjunctive therapy is a medicine or treatment added to another main treatment to help it work better.
- Allergy alert
An allergy alert is a warning on an over-the-counter medicine label about allergic reactions the ingredient can cause, and what to do if one happens.
- BID, TID and QID
BID, TID and QID are abbreviations on prescriptions meaning twice a day, three times a day and four times a day.
- Bioequivalent
Bioequivalent means two versions of a medicine deliver the same active ingredient into the blood at about the same rate and amount.
- Boxed warning
A boxed warning is the strongest safety warning on a US medicine label, printed in a box, about a serious or life-threatening risk.
- Caplet
A caplet is a tablet shaped like a capsule: smooth, oblong and often coated, so it is easier to swallow. It is still a solid tablet.
- Contraindication
A contraindication is a reason not to use a particular medicine, test or procedure for a person because it could cause harm.
- Controlled substance
A controlled substance is a medicine or drug whose making, prescribing and supply are tightly regulated by law because it can be misused or cause dependence.
- Course of treatment
A course of treatment is the full planned period of taking a medicine, such as a set number of days of antibiotics.
- Excessive moisture
On a medicine label, 'protect from excessive moisture' is a storage instruction: keep the product dry so it does not break down or lose strength.
- Extended-Release
Extended-release means a medicine is designed to release its active ingredient slowly over many hours, so it is often taken less often.