How to Identify Pill Markings

Every day you take your medications, not paying much attention to the pill markings. But those numbers, the color and the shape can be crucial in identifying medications, if you accidently spill your medicine container or pull a stray pill out of your purse. That's where a pill identifier comes in handy. Read on for tips on how to positively identify pills.

Instructions

• 1

  The markings will be your biggest clue when trying to identify pills. Look closely at the tablet or capsule to locate the number or letters.

• 2

  Input the pill's numbers, letters or a combination of both into an online pill identifier. Be sure to look on both sides of the pill, some have markings on both sides. So that you don't confuse the system try using the digits from one side at a time.

• 3

  You'll be able to further narrow your search, for the mystery pill, if you include as much information about the medicine as possible. Describe the pill's color, shape and type as precisely and accurately as possible.

• 4

  If the pill identifier still can't positively identify the medication, through the markings, hopefully your search is now narrowed down to just a few pills. At this point you'll need to closely look at the pill and compare it to pictures of possible matches. Drugs.com has a database of pill pictures.

• 5

  If you're still not having any lucky identifying pills, use a medication database to search by name. This will only work if you have a general idea of what medication you're trying to identify. For example, if you take five prescription drugs daily, it's likely the pill is one of the five. You can search the name of each and try to identify the pill through pictures or the pill's identifying features.

• 6

  Even if you believe you've been able to positively identify pills, you should always double check with a pharmacist before taking the medications.