diff --git a/telebot/apihelper.py b/telebot/apihelper.py
index d3a8dd0..ee442d9 100644
--- a/telebot/apihelper.py
+++ b/telebot/apihelper.py
@@ -8,13 +8,12 @@ def send_message(token, chat_id, text, disable_web_page_preview=None, reply_to_m
     api_url = telebot.API_URL
     method_url = r'sendMessage'
     request_url = api_url + 'bot' + token + '/' + method_url
-    paras = 'chat_id=' + str(chat_id) + '&text=' + text
+    payload = {'chat_id': str(chat_id), 'text': text}
     if disable_web_page_preview:
-        paras = paras + '&disable_web_page_preview=' + disable_web_page_preview
+        payload['disable_web_page_preview'] = disable_web_page_preview
     if reply_to_message_id:
-        paras = paras + '&reply_to_message_id=' + reply_to_message_id
+        payload['reply_to_message_id'] = reply_to_message_id
     if reply_markup:
-        paras = paras + '&reply_markup=' + reply_markup
-    request_url = request_url +  '?' + paras
-    req = requests.get(request_url)
+        payload['reply_markup'] = reply_markup
+    req = requests.get(request_url, params=payload)
     return req.json()