A way that I find helpful to answer questions like this is to look backwards when taking multiple doses:
“If I were to take another pill now, would I have had no more than 1-2 pills in the last 4 hours?”
The pharmacokinetic questions are outside the scope of what the patient should be trying to figure out when taking a drug. That was the responsibility of the drug label writer and (if applicable) the prescribing physician and/or pharmacist. Yours is to faithfully follow the instructions, not make assumptions about drug residence time or loading doses.
A way that I find helpful to answer questions like this is to look backwards when taking multiple doses:
“If I were to take another pill now, would I have had no more than 1-2 pills in the last 4 hours?”
The pharmacokinetic questions are outside the scope of what the patient should be trying to figure out when taking a drug. That was the responsibility of the drug label writer and (if applicable) the prescribing physician and/or pharmacist. Yours is to faithfully follow the instructions, not make assumptions about drug residence time or loading doses.