Over-the-counter diphenhydramine, for instance, at least in my country, says adults can take “1 to 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours.”
If you decide “my symptoms aren’t so bad; I’ll just take one” and then two hours later your symptoms are still bad (or worse), is it safe to take a second tab then? And if you do, should you wait until “4 to 6 hours” after taking the first tablet or the second to take an additional tablet? Does it depend on the drug? (Maybe it’s fine for diphenhydramine but not for ibuprophen?)
I’d imagine blood levels of any particular drug tend to quickly spike and then exponentially decay back to undetectable levels. If you take two tabs, I’d imagine that graph is just twice as tall. If you wait a couple of hours between tabs, it’s got two spikes and the second is a little higher than the first (but not as high as the two-tabs-at-the-same-time spike.)
If the concern is total concentration of drug in the bloodstream at any one point, a second tab a couple hours later is less of a concern than two tabs at the same time. If the concern is total area under the curve, then probably there’s no difference between two tabs at the same time and a couple of hours between. If the concern is total time spent with a blood concentration of such-and-such, I could see there being more concern with taking a second tab just a couple of hours after the first.
And maybe there are other effects that I’m not aware of. Maybe if the blood concentration kicks up to two-tabs-at-once levels, the liver kicks into high gear, clearing the drug out quicker, but if you go a couple of hours between tabs, the liver neve kicks into high gear or some such.
And maybe this question hasn’t even been well studied and maybe there’s not really any good answer. But if there is, I’m curious.
OP, please don’t take medical advice from strangers on the internet. The most confident voice here could be a 12-year old who heard about the medication you’re taking on House MD reruns.
Your country may have a state-organised information line to give you advice about medication. You could call and get an authoritative answer to your question. Or you could ask the staff at any retail chemist. They’ll know, or be able to look it up.
Usually I agree here, but this is completely silly in context. We are all perfectly capable of helping OP interpret and follow the directions, because you don’t need to have eight years of medical experience to understand the instructions on the back of the medication box. We’re also talking about over-the-counter medicine here, and it’s basically guaranteed safe for all but the most excessive doses, which OP is not in any danger of exceeding because they’re asking if its okay to take a second pill, when the box already said you can take two simultaneously every “x” hours.
If OP is unsure about those instructions, OP probably isn’t sceptical enough to evaluate advice from internet randos.
I’ve been seen by worse attendings in my time, but your point is valid.