Everyone forgets to take medication now and then, and for most people, missing an occasional antidepressant dose is okay, says Jared Harp, DO, a psychiatrist at the Center for Adult Behavioral Health at Cleveland Clinic.
Here’s what our experts recommend if you miss a single dose of your antidepressant:
- Take it as soon as you remember if it’s not almost time for the next dose.
- If you remember too close to your next dose, skip the missed dose and get back on schedule with the next one.
- Don’t double-up on your next dose.
- Call your pharmacist or healthcare provider if you’re not sure what to do, or if you have other questions.
“If you realize that you missed your dose soon after you would normally take it, you can take it at that time as long as you are not almost due for your next dose,” says Dr. Harp. If it’s almost time for your next dose, then you can skip the missed dose and take the next one at the normal time, he says.
When you skip a dose, you may feel tempted to take two to make up for the one you missed, but you shouldn’t do that, says Sharon Batista, MD, a psychiatrist and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
“Doubling up on doses is generally not recommended, as this can increase the risk of side effects,” she says. This is true for most antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), says Dr. Batista.
Because different antidepressants stay in the body for different amounts of time, and people take them at different dosages on different schedules, there’s no hard-and-fast rule for how many hours is “too close” to your next dose. Due to these variations, experts advise reaching out to your doctor or a pharmacist for help when you’re not sure what to do.
“I would encourage people to reach out to either their pharmacy or prescribing provider should they have any questions about what to do after missing a dose of their antidepressant,” says Malika Closson, MD, a psychiatrist and the owner of Closson Psychiatric Consultants in Washington, DC.
