What to do if you miss a dose of medicine

Check which medicine and dose

Missed-dose advice depends on the medicine. Before contacting a pharmacist, note:

• The name and strength on the pack.
• When the dose was due, and the time now.
• Whether you are sure it was missed.
• Any other dose today of the same ingredient, including a different brand.

Two cold, flu, or pain medicines can share an ingredient such as paracetamol and look like different products.

If someone is not breathing, will not wake, is having a seizure or is very unwell, call 000 for an ambulance. For a possible overdose without these symptoms, call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.

Read the leaflet, then ask

Look for the missed-dose section in the Consumer Medicine Information leaflet. Follow it for this medicine only.

It may say to take the dose when you remember, to skip it if the next one is close, or not to double up.

An antibiotic course uses that same leaflet section. See how to take antibiotics.

No leaflet, or it does not answer the question? Call your pharmacist or the prescriber, with the pack in your hand.

In Australia, 1300 MEDICINE (1300 633 424) can answer questions about medicines.

Say if a carer may already have given the dose. Until you have an answer, do not take an extra dose to fill the gap.

If two people may have given a child the same dose, see how to give medicine to a child.

Taking a twice-daily medicine three times is one way an accidental overdose happens. If you have already taken the dose twice, see what to do if you accidentally took your medicine twice.

When you need urgent help

• Call 000 if the person is not breathing, will not wake, is having a seizure, or looks very unwell after too much medicine. Ask for an ambulance.
• Call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for advice about a possible overdose when it is not that emergency. It is available 24 hours a day from anywhere in Australia.
• Outside Australia, use the local emergency number and the local poisons service.

Keep the medicine pack and your dose record with you when you call.

If you cannot remember taking it

Check your dose record and ask anyone who may have helped. If you still cannot tell whether the dose was taken, ask a pharmacist or doctor before taking more.

An app can store that record. It still cannot decide whether the missed dose should be taken.

Pillbo will show what was logged as taken, skipped, or missed. It will not tell you to take another.

For help with reminders, see how to remember a daily medicine. If you are travelling, see taking medicines across time zones.

If the pack is already empty, see what to do when you have run out of medicine.

The same caution applies to a vitamin you are not sure you took. The best time to take vitamins explains why a second one is not the safe default.

Make the next dose easier to check

Once a pharmacist or doctor has told you what to do about this dose:

1. Mark it the way they advised, with a note of who you asked if a carer will see the chart.
2. Put the leaflet back in the box.
3. If several people help, agree again who gives the next dose and who writes it down.
4. Do not move the rest of the day's doses unless you were told to.

If missed doses are the pattern, ask the pharmacist about a simpler routine or a pharmacy pack. Talk with your prescriber before stopping a medicine.

When more than one person is involved, see a parent's medicines.

Common questions

Related guides

• How to remember to take your medicine every day
• How to manage multiple medicines on one schedule
• How to keep track of a parent's medicines
• How to take your medicines across time zones
• Ran out of medication? What to do in Australia
• When should you take your vitamins?
• How to take antibiotics properly
• How to give medicine to a child safely
• What to do if you accidentally took your medicine twice