Missed a dose? What to do, and what not to do

It happens to everyone: you look at the clock and realise the morning tablet is still in the box. The good news is that, for most medicines, there is a simple way to get back on track.

First, read the leaflet

Every medicine comes with a patient information leaflet. Under How to take, most leaflets say exactly what to do if you forget a dose. That advice is written for your medicine, so it comes before any general rule.

The general rules

When the leaflet does not say, the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service describes these general rules:

How late you are	Usual advice
Less than 2 hours	Usually take the dose now.
More than 2 hours, medicine taken once or twice a day	Take it as soon as you remember, unless the next dose is due within a few hours.
More than 2 hours, medicine taken more than twice a day	Skip the missed dose and take the next one at the normal time.

Some medicines are an exception, such as those where timing matters a lot. For those, follow the specific advice and ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure.

Never take a double dose

Do not take two doses at once to make up for the one you missed, unless your prescriber told you to.

A double dose does not “catch up”. It can increase side effects.

Make the next miss less likely

• Tie the dose to a habit you never skip, such as breakfast or brushing your teeth.
• Use a reminder that you will actually notice. On iPhone, a reminder that is marked as time sensitive, or a critical alert, is harder to miss during Focus.
• Log each dose. If you are not sure whether you took it, a log answers the question in a second and stops you taking it twice.

PillRem records every dose you mark as taken, so the question “did I already take it?” has an answer.