Question
Is it ok if I take my meds 15 or 30 mins late?
10 October 2016. Related: Adherence, All topics.
Do you have to take your arvs at exactly the same time each day? Will for example 30 mins (or even an hour) each way have any impact whatsoever on the suppression of the virus or cause resistance? I am worried as even though I take them every day some days it is 15 or 30 mins later or earlier than the previous day.
Answer
Thank you for your question.
It is sometimes difficult to take your meds at the exact same time everyday.
Even when starting, there is a window of about an hour either side of your target time when it is still fine to take them.
For example, if you want to take your meds every night at 10 pm, then any time between 9pm and 11pm will be fine.
Everyone has a few times when we forget our meds though.
The less this happens the better. But if it does happen once in a while then there is nothing to worry about. If you forget in the future, take them as soon as you remember. However, if this is already close to the next dose DO NOT take a double dose.
Once you get an undetectable viral load, especially if it has been undetectable for several years, you have more flexibility. This partly depends on which drugs you are using.
Some once daily drugs (including tenofovir DF, emtricitabine and efavirinz) have long half-lives. This means drug levels stay in your body for long enough to cover being several hours late or even missing a dose completely.
Several studies are looking at whether reduced dosing might be safe – for example by only taking ART for four days a week. We need bigger studies before we know if this is safe though.
Note: this question was updated in October 2016 from and original answer in April 2011.
Help, I’m a 21 y/o male who forgot to take his ARVs at exact time. I was diagnosed last Oct 2017 as well. They prescribed Efavirenz + lamivudine + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. I take it at exactly 9pm. But i fell asleep a while ago because of tiredness from work. I suddenly woke up and realized that i forgot to take it but it’s already 4 hours and 30 mins late. I still took it immediately at 1:30am. Is it fine? Or resistance has already developed? Pardon me of I’m overreacting but I dont wanna go to the next in line ARV drugs if ever. Btw, i started my very first treatmenf last Oct 23, 2017 so I’ve been taking the said medications for 15 days now. For my CD4 count, it was 460.
Hi Joe,
Its fine to take your meds at this time. Being late by an hour won’t cause you any problems. Please also see Q4 here:
http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
Hi!
I strated ARV late Oct 2017 and I always take them at 11pm before I go to sleep but since last week my work hours has changed and I now work on graveyard shift (1am-9am) so I switched drinking instead of 11pm, I took it at 12:50AM Before going to work, is this fine or I will be having drug resistance?
Btw I havent had any missed doses so any bad effects on the drugs?
Hi Vivie,
You can take your meds at whatever time you like, the main thing is that you take them at roughly the same time every day.
I take my meds at 8 so i thought. Now that i am in holidays i forget to take them. Can i change my time to a morning coz tgen it will be easy for me to remember.
Hi Tony,
Is there any specific reason why you want to take selenium?
Hello can I safely take selenium with Stribild ?
. I have been on Stribild since detected in January .
Now undetectable and CD4 was 480 at last test in July !!
Hi Lindiwe,
Yes its OK to do this, it won’t cause you any problems.
Is it ok/safe to take your ARVs an hour or 30min earlier than the time you set for yourself?
Hi Lovey,
You can email me at: lisathorley@i-base.org.uk