Question
I have missed a dose, what should i do now?
29 August 2014. Related: Adherence, All topics.
Answer
Hi,
If you have missed a dose you should take it as soon as you remember. If you have only realised when you’re taking your next dose do not take a double dose. Almost everyone will be late or miss a dose occasionally. However this becomes a concern if it is happening regularly.
If you are regularly missing doses you are at risk of developing resistance. This means that you meds will stop working effectively. This is why adherence is important. Adherence means taking your meds every day and as close to the same time as possible.
If you are you can talk to your clinic about why you are missing doses. If it is because of side effects for example there might be different meds available.
There is more detail about what you should do if you miss a dose in this treatment training guide
And more information about adherence in our online guide to treatment.
Hi Akha,
When will your delivery of ARVs be arriving? Do you have any at all? If you do try taking them every other day until your meds arrive.
Hello I’ve been tested positive last year nd my cd4 count was over 700. now I’m worried that I’m skipping days with our my Odimune due to lack of delivery. What must i do at this point because now it’s been 3days
Hi Chisenga,
Many people occasionally miss a dose. But the three drugs in Atripla take a long time to leave your body. So if you miss two separate doses, the drugs levels may still keep the virus suppressed anyway.
As the missed doses has only happened once it’s likely that there are no side effects. But if you are worried you can ask for a new viral load test just to check.
Am on atripla for almost a year now …My fear is am likely to miss two doses this coming weekend when i look at am remaining with and the day I will get home because am very far ..what could be the side effects of this?
Hi Richard,
Many people miss a dose very occasionally, and it’s fine. Have you recently started Genvoya? Modern treatment, like this, is very effective at working fast to reduce your viral load.
Viral load is usually reduced by 90% within the first few days of treatment. Please see this question and answer here.
When you see your doctor you can ask for a viral load test to check that the medication is working.
I think I forgot to take one of my genvoya medications a week ago but now I remind myself daily to take them still every day and I’m scared to death that they aren’t working. Plus I can’t see my doctor for another two days and I’m freaking out. Would HIV medications completely hault everything?
Hi Iwando
Everyone misses eds occasionally. So long as you took them when you rmeembered – and tek them ever day now – then it should still be okay.
The three drugs in Odimune stay in your body for more than a day so that missing an occasional dose is okay.
Im beat worried that I missed my odimune twice on conservative day so the will be no side effects or anything can happen to me and I also changed the time I used to take my pills
Hi Dumisa
The best thing to do is to talk to your doctor about your worries. However, because Odimune and Tribuss contain the came active ingredients, it is very unlikely that the change in drug manufacturer will be causing these problems.
Even if you had stayed on Odimune, the change in your belly could have happened.
This might be a side effect called lipodystrophy:
http://i-base.info/guides/side/lipodystrophy
If it is, then your doctor is likely to also look at diet and exercise. This depends on how much your body has changed.
I was diagonised with HIV in September 2013. I was given Odimune and everything was fine, but when I changed to Tribuss I developed pimples on my face and my belly is getting big. What can I do?