Finding an unidentified pill in your household can be disconcerting, especially, if you think it may belong to someone who lives with you. Because there is no universal system of pill markings or shapes, you generally cannot identify a pill simply by looking at its markings. However, these markings are often unique to a particular pill and can be used to ascertain the pill's identity.
Step 1
Write down every detail of the pill you can think of. This includes the pill's shape, its color, as well as any etchings or imprints that the pill has. Make sure that you look for imprints on both sides, as imprints can be particularly useful in identifying a drug.
Step 2
Enter the details into a searchable pill database. Drugs.com and Rxlist.com both have useful pill databases in which you can enter a pill's markings, shape and color, and view pills that match. It is usually best to first search the database with the pill's imprints and markings, since they are often unique to each pill.
Step 3
Compare the results from your database search to your pill. The Drugs.com pill identifier can be especially useful in this regard because it displays images of the pills in your results.
Step 4
If you are still unable to identify your pill, take your pill to a pharmacist. Before you go, write down some of the results from your database search to help guide your pharmacist as to the pill's possible identity. The pharmacist may also be able to tell if the pill is crudely made, which suggests that it may not be from a pharmaceutical company.
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