Question
What happens if I miss a dose?
5 February 2018. Related: Adherence, All topics.
Hi,
I’m aged 28, female, im starting this new Atroiza today. I’m responsible but what happens if I miss a day or 30 min off drinking my tablet.
Answer
Hi,
Thanks for your email.
The best reason to aim for the same time every day, is so that you get into a good routine. This will help you make your meds an easy part of your life. This is especially true when you first start treatment until your viral load becomes undetectable.
Generally it is OK to have a window of an hour either side of your normal time to take your meds. So if you aim to take it at 9 pm each day so long as you take it between 8pm and 10pm this will all be fine.
Most people will miss a dose at some point, but so long as this is not every week , this is also okay.If this keeps happening, please talk to your doctor about things that might help. The more doses you miss though the more likely that you will develop drug resistance.
Please see this page about adherence for more information.
Note: This answer was updated in February 2018 from a question first posted online in September 2013.
Hi Yann, neither of what you have described is harmful.
As you have been undetectable and on treatment for the last 3 years, there is no risk to your health.
As you had vomited within 2 hours of taking your medication, this is considered a ‘missed’ dose. It would have been suitable to take a second dose after. Being late on this single occasion (7 hours) is not going to risk your treatment not working.
When undetectable it will take a week or more for your viral load to rebound. Even with these 2 events happening close to each other, there is still no risk of your viral load increasing/treatment failing.
I am 30 years old man and I’ve been taking ARV for over 3 years and my viral load is undetectable. But on the last Friday, I vomited about 30-50ml at 20 minutes after taking the pill. Does it count a missed dose?
And the next day, I took my pill at the usual time. But on the next day (Sunday), I fell asleep early and immediately took the pill when I woke up (7hours late).
It never happened like this before since I started the treatment. Is it harmful?
Hi Atamakin, why have you been missing treatment while in hospital? and how are you feeling?
Are you taking any other HIV medication alongside Tenofovir? and are you taking it as treatment or prevention?
Tenofovir, as all HIV medication should be taken daily. If this is the only treatment you are using, after a week there is a risk of viral load rebounding. Do you know when you will be able to restart?
After restarting it would be advised to book a viral load test for a few weeks. This is to check that your treatment is still working and your viral load is still suppressed.
Hi I am Atamakin and i have been missed more than a week a dose on tenofovir for some matter..as i am now in the hospital for lower blood
Is it okay to miss out more than a week not drinking tenofovir??
Hi Jonny, PEP is up to 80% effective when taken daily for 28 days and started within 72 hours of exposure.
Good morning I am taking pep how effective is it to be hiv negative.thank you
Hi Maria, no you should not take this last pill. Taking this pill days after the time it was meant for will not effect if PEP has worked. As you completed most of the course of PEP it is still likely to be effective. PEP has been shown to be effective for courses of 21 days. You do not need to do anything more.
hey i was on pep, i thought i drank all my pills but i found one left after 11 days …meaning i only took 27 pills…should i still drink it or what should i do?
Hi Mercy,
Are you taking HIV treatment (called ART)? If you’ve been taking HIV meds and your viral load is undetectable, then you can not pass on HIV. That’s even if you don’t use condoms. Please see undetectable = untransmittable (U=U) at this link.
Please let us know what HIV meds you’re on. And if you have access to your viral load and CD4 count results, please tell us what they are.