I Forgot to Take My Antidepressant. What Should I Do?
Mental Health ConditionsDepression

I Forgot to Take My Antidepressant. Now What?

I Forgot to Take My Antidepressant. Now What?
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Published on November 7, 2025
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Antidepressants treat depression by increasing levels of mood-influencing chemicals in your brain, and they work best when you take them as prescribed. Discontinuing an antidepressant suddenly can lead to uncomfortable and potentially serious side effects, but what should you do if you forget a single dose?

While just one missed dose shouldn’t derail your progress, according to research, regularly missing doses can reduce the medication’s efficacy.

 But people who stop these medications suddenly rather than tapering off may experience antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, which usually starts about two to four days after your last dose.

If you forgot to take your antidepressant just once, however, you’re not guaranteed to experience side effects, especially if you get back on track with the next dose.

What Should I Do if I Forgot to Take My Antidepressant?

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.

Risks of Missing a Dose of Your Antidepressant

Skipping antidepressant doses poses some risk, especially when you miss more than one, says Harp.

 “Missing one dose of your antidepressant on rare occasions is usually not dangerous,” he says. “Most people will notice no changes at all.”
But some may experience discontinuation symptoms, especially with medications that have a short half-life, says Dr. Batista. A drug’s half-life is the time it takes for the amount of active ingredient in your body to be reduced by half. So medications with a shorter half-life can cause symptoms sooner after a missed dose than others — within 12 to 24 hours, in the case of paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft), or venlafaxine (Effexor).

Symptoms may include:

  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Flu-like symptoms, including fatigue, aches, and sweating
  • Vivid dreams or nightmares
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Headaches
  • Mood changes, including anxiety, irritability, agitation, or aggression
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Burning, tingling, and electric shock–like sensations on your skin, or “brain zaps”
  • Depersonalization (being detached from your body) or derealization (a sense that the world doesn’t feel real)
  • Mania
  • Suicidal feelings
These symptoms are more likely if you have been taking your antidepressant for more than six weeks.

 “You are [also] generally at higher risk of experiencing discontinuation symptoms if you are on higher doses of your medication, or if you have been taking the medication for longer periods of time,” says Harp.
These symptoms aren’t life-threatening, but they can be very uncomfortable and distressing, says Dr. Closson. Forgetting too many antidepressant doses can also prevent the medication from working well, which can allow depression symptoms to return.

When to See a Doctor

If you experience the following symptoms after missing one or more doses of your antidepressant, Batista recommends contacting your healthcare provider.

  • Persistent or severe withdrawal symptoms
  • Worsening of depressive or anxiety symptoms
  • Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
  • Any other new or unusual concerning symptoms

If you have thoughts of self-harm, you can contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, 24 hours a day, via phone, text, or web chat.

If you forget your antidepressant often, Closson recommends speaking to your doctor, who can offer strategies to help you remember to take your medication each day. There are a number of things you can try to stick to your regimen, such as taking the medication at the same time each day, or when you do a specific activity (taking it when you brush your teeth in the morning), setting a recurring alarm on your phone, or using a pill organizer case.

Another option, Closson says, is to ask your doctor whether or not an antidepressant that stays in your system longer is a better option. If you’re regularly having discontinuation symptoms when you miss a dose, this can help you avoid them.

The Takeaway

  • One missed dose of your antidepressant may not cause any symptoms at all, but multiple missed doses can prompt discontinuation symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, and dizziness.
  • If you forgot to take your antidepressant, take it as soon as you remember, but if it’s close to the time you’d take your next dose, you can skip it and get back on schedule with your next dose.
  • Tell your healthcare provider if you have trouble remembering to take your antidepressant, or if you experience withdrawal symptoms, and ask for strategies that may help.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Antidepressants. Cleveland Clinic. August 29, 2025.
  2. Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome. Cleveland Clinic. August 30, 2023.
  3. Andrade C. Psychotropic Drugs With Long Half-Lives: Implications for Drug Discontinuation, Occasional Missed Doses, Dosing Interval, and Pregnancy Planning. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. August 1, 2022.
  4. Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome — Update. University of British Columbia Therapeutics Initiative. June 18, 2025.
  5. Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome – Update. The University of British Columbia Therapeutics Initiative. June 18, 2025.
  6. Hallare J et al. Elimination Half-Life of Drugs. StatPearls. May 3, 2025.
  7. Zwiebel SJ et al. Discontinuing Antidepressants: Pearls and Pitfalls. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. January 2022.
  8. Albassam A et al. What Should Patients Do if They Miss a Dose? A Systematic Review of Patient Information Leaflets and Summaries of Product Characteristics. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. September 29, 2020.
  9. Taking Control of Your Medications. American Heart Association. April 26, 2024.
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Lee S. Cohen, MD

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Castle Connolly Top Doctor, From NewYork-Presbyterian

Lee S. Cohen, MD, is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, maintains a clinical practice focused on expert and complex diagnostics, and is considered an international expert in clinical psychopharmacology. He is also the director of the Clinical Neuroscience Center, involved in innovative development and discovery of new compounds for neuropsychiatric conditions and directly consults with multiple pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Dr. Cohen graduated from the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program at the CUNY School of Medicine at The City College of New York, an accelerated six-year BS/MD program. He then completed his MD at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine.

He trained in pediatrics and adult psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He served for 20 years as the director of psychiatry at the Clinical Neuroscience Center at Mount Sinai West Hospital.

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