Tutorial for Calculating Medication Dosage

Medications bought over the counter often have directions instructing you to take "1 to 2 caplets" for pain relief, colds, flu symptoms and other ailments. Often, a doctor may prescribe you a medication with an order to take "1/2 to 1 tablet as needed." However, the actual dosage involves something measured in different units.

While you can generally trust FDA-approved over-the-counter medication guidelines and a doctor's professional advice, it's always a good idea to know how to calculate your dosage of a particular medicine---a simple process you can easily carry out through various methods.

Drug Fact Labels

• Most over-the-counter medications have a drug fact label. In order to determine your dosage, you can simply look under the "Active Ingredient" section.

  Doses in milligrams appear beside the list of active ingredients of the medicine you examine. For instance, a caplet of Extra Strength Tylenol contains 500 mg of the active ingredient, acetaminophen. If you take two caplets, you can easily calculate your dosage at 1000 mg.

Pharmacists

• You might also choose to speak to a pharmacist about the medication in question. Most pharmacists are happy to assist you in translating both prescribed and over-the-counter medications into dosage.

  Many times, the layperson can find prescription medication labels hard to read. A pharmacist can translate the medical jargon on the label and help you interpret the dosage in terms you can understand, as well as let you know whether you are taking a high, moderate or low dose of the medication in question.

Nurses and Doctors

• The fallback plan is always to talk to your doctor, or a nurse that works at your doctor's office. Even other doctors or nurses can help calculate your dose of a particular medication.

  Many 24-hour telephone hotlines have nurses on staff to answer questions about medication dosages. Please see the resource listed below to find one of these telephone numbers in case you need to use it.