Doctorspeak: A list of common abbreviations

Hey guys,

Here is the singular "document" I have had the time to compile and it might be a good idea to sticky it. It's better off here than languishing in some private forum.

This is a list of commonly used medical abbreviations (many whose etymology is rooted in Latin, I'm confident many of you know by now.) There are, of course, hundreds of them in common use; however as many of what follows are abbreviations I have picked up on my own, I have often caught myself using one only to remember that the reader will be lost. And so here, in absolutely no particular order:

• rx: prescribe
• tx: I discovered to mean "treatment"
• hx: Would you believe "history"?
• dx: diagnosis
• q: every
• q.i.d.: Every four hours (may also mean simply four times a day)
• q.d.: Once a day
• t.i.d.: Three times per day
• b.i.d.: Two times per day
• PRN: As needed
• PCP: Primary care physician
• q.h.: Every hour
• q.n.: Every night
• CBC: Complete blood count
• SOB: Laughed my butt off when I first learn this years ago. No, your doctor is not listing an ugly personal opinion of you. lol! SOB is simply short for short of breath
• PCG: Primary Caregiver

Random thoughts:

When a pt is said to present with such and such, it merely means pt is seeing their doctor for whatever complaint.

A pt's compliance is referencing that pt's cooperativeness and willingness to follow their doctor's or other primary caregiver's instructions.

Noncompliance may reference a pt's unwillingness to either follow their PCG's directions at all; or sometimes, specifically refers to a pt's stubbornness about taking medications on time, and/or everytime.

You may add to this topic but I ask that this post, an original work, not be edited or altered in any way.

Thank you,

Ten

Ten,

Thanks for posting this. I find it to be very helpful.

Sandy

Hi Ten!

Thanks for coming up with this list. Can I add another? sx= symptoms

Linda

yes there are letters thrown around that i still don't know

ten thank you for starting a list - hopefully it can be put were it won't be buried in posts for quick referral for us and newbies.

i see you have been hard at work.

When a pt is said to present with such and such, it merely means pt is seeing their doctor for whatever complaint.

 

A pt's compliance is referencing that pt's cooperativeness and willingness to follow their doctor's or other primary caregiver's instructions.

 

Noncompliance may reference a pt's unwillingness to either follow their PCG's directions at all; or sometimes, specifically refers to a pt's stubbornness about taking medications on time, and/or everytime.

You might like to add to patient to the list!

i'v got the non compliance thing down pat

i think that is what dorctors call patients that won't take even more drugs.

i'v got the non compliance thing down pat

:laugh:

Sandy

ten make sure you get the benzo ones to - for months i thought sx described members having sexual problems - i am sure there are other ones to - i just don't know what they are.

good work ten - thank you

ten another thing that would be helpful - but it would be a real bear to do - is to get all the supplements that have worked for us in one place - maybe by cutting and pasting our comments regarding these supplements so they would be listed in context.

Ten,

Thanks from me ,too, for the list you started. At the very beginning I didn't even know what a 'c/t' is. 

Tanya 

Hi Ten,

 Great Job, thanks so much for compiling all that information for us. BTW psychiatrist = pdoc

  So here is my story in a nutshell:  I was in a car accident. my PCP did a dx and rx 5mg valium q.d., q.n.  Boy, did i feel better.  After two years of tx I thought i could just ct.  When I did, the PCG (who really is an SOB), x-ed my rx, said I was not in benzo withdrawals and advised me to see a Pdoc.  Boy, was that new guy nuts.  As a new pt, he rx 5 mg valium b.i.d. which eventually went up to 15mg taken q.n.  Wish I had known about benzobuddies, because after detox tx I was in a world of hurt.  When I got home, the pdoc rx 10 mg t.i.d or prn.  shook his head and said that much valium never hurt anyone.  After I discovered Benzobuddies, got a new PCG who did a CBC and even though I am always SOB, said I was fine but wanted to rx me an SSRI.  "No thanks", I exclaimed.  Now I am down to 1 mg q.d and 1 1/2 mg q.n. and boy, do I feel so much better!

TC

XXXXX

Christine/BlueMoth

Great job Christine! :thumbsup:

Sandy

Hi Christine,

I'll probably use that somewhere on the site!

ten you hard at work someplace?

hope you are doing ok.

Hi Ten,

 

 Great Job, thanks so much for compiling all that information for us. BTW psychiatrist = pdoc

 

  So here is my story in a nutshell:  I was in a car accident. my PCP did a dx and rx 5mg valium q.d., q.n.  Boy, did i feel better.  After two years of tx I thought i could just ct.  When I did, the PCG (who really is an SOB), x-ed my rx, said I was not in benzo withdrawals and advised me to see a Pdoc.  Boy, was that new guy nuts.  As a new pt, he rx 5 mg valium b.i.d. which eventually went up to 15mg taken q.n.  Wish I had known about benzobuddies, because after detox tx I was in a world of hurt.  When I got home, the pdoc rx 10 mg t.i.d or prn.  shook his head and said that much valium never hurt anyone.  After I discovered Benzobuddies, got a new PCG who did a CBC and even though I am always SOB, said I was fine but wanted to rx me an SSRI.  "No thanks", I exclaimed.  Now I am down to 1 mg q.d and 1 1/2 mg q.n. and boy, do I feel so much better!

 

TC

XXXXX

Christine/BlueMoth

too funny Christine

I'm a nurse and that was almost too hard for me to read.

ten are you around - we miss you.