3 medications?

MeantolearnIs it OK to say a person is taking 3 medications if a patient is taking 3 different drugs.

Thanks,

It would be more usual to say "3 types of medication". Although "medication" can mean "drug" it tends rather more to mean "treatment".

Hi Forbes,

Is it OK to say a person has '3 medicines' or '3 types of medicine'?

What's the most common way to say it in English? For instance, I have 3 types of medication.

Thanks for the reply.

In colloquial speech medicine tends to refer to something in a bottle, i.e. a liquid. If the drug is tablets, people will say I'm on three different tablets or I'm on three different pills. People sometimes pick up words and phrases they hear the profesionals use and may say something like I'm on three different types of medication.

Hi,

Recently, I've heard people saying 'He's off his meds' as a slang expression. It's sometimes said factually, other times as an ironic way of saying that he is acting a little oddly.

Best wishes, Clive

I don't know if this is a regional difference, but I find "I'm on three different medications" (or "I take three different medications") sounds perfectly ordinary, while "I'm on three different tablets" sounds very odd to me. (Forbes - are you British? Maybe that's the difference.) I often take my mother to the doctor, and they always ask "what medications are you on?" or "did you bring a list

KhoffForbes - are you British?

Yes; from Brighton on the south coast.