Take 1 tablet after lunch and supper (2025)

Hi,
Here are the dosage directions that I was asked to explain:

"Take 2 tablets before breakfast, 1 tablet after lunch and supper, and 2 tablets at bedtime." Am I correct to understand the message as:

(1) Before breakfast, a patient needs to take 2 tablets.

(2) Then after the patient finishes lunch and dinner, the patient needs to take 1 more tablet.

(3) Before going to bed, the patient needs to take 2 more tablets.

Am I correct, please confirm. Thanks in advance.

NickJunior said:

Oh Thank you Michel09. However, another person understood the part "1 tablet after lunch and supper" to mean 1 tablet after lunch and another 1 tablet after supper. Is the person correct?

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That is how I would understand it, but if these are really instructions for taking medicine, they are poorly written, in my opinion. I would have made it more explicit:
"Take 2 tablets before breakfast, 1 tablet after lunch, 1 after supper, and 2 tablets at bedtime."

NickJunior, I believe Michel thought that you meant 1 after lunch and 1 after dinner.

I agree with Nunty. They want you to take it often. Like Nunty said, it is written very poorly.

Nico11 said:

NickJunior, I believe Michel thought that you meant 1 after lunch and 1 after dinner.

I agree with Nunty. They want you to take it often. Like Nunty said, it is written very poorly.

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Yes, I did read it and assume that the directions required taking it after lunch and also after dinner. And, I must also agree, the directions are poorly written. For a native English speaker, they would be probably understood. However, as said, they are overall pretty poorly written.

As you say, NickJunior, the original text is ambiguous. However, because lunch and supper are meals eaten at very different times, it would be odd to say "one tablet after lunch and supper" if you did not mean one after each meal.

My understanding is that the patient has to take four tablets a day: one after each meal and one before bed. If he is to take three tablets a day, I don't understand why it would be necessary to mention both lunch and supper.

EDIT: Cool. I think we all agree.

Harry Batt said:

Nick Where did you get the context for these directions? It might explain who wrote them and whether to group lunch and supper together as a single occassion.

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Hi Harry, a relative of mine asked me to take a look at her prescription and tell her the dosages. She told me that the PA of her doctor wrote out the orders. Surprisingly, the orders were neatly written, not a typical doctor's scribble.