What happens if you miss a dose of Deutetrabenazine?
Last updated September 7, 2026.
**If you miss a dose of deutetrabenazine, skip it and take your next scheduled dose at the usual time with food, and never take two doses at once to catch up.** Deutetrabenazine (brand name Austedo) is dosed twice daily in the immediate-release form and once daily in the extended-release form, and both are taken with food to help absorption. One missed dose can let chorea or tardive dyskinesia movements come back for part of the day, and they typically settle once you are back on your schedule. Taking a double dose is the bigger problem, because it raises the chance of drowsiness, depression, restlessness, and parkinsonism such as stiffness or slowed movement. The rules change if you stop for a longer stretch: the FDA label says treatment interrupted for more than one week has to be restarted with a new titration, while a gap under a week can usually resume at your previous maintenance dose. Setting phone alarms tied to meals and using a weekly pill box makes missed doses far less common.
What to do
- Skip, do not stack: Leave the missed dose out and resume at your next scheduled time rather than taking two doses close together.
- Always take it with food: Both the immediate-release and extended-release forms are absorbed better with a meal or snack.
- Track the length of the gap: Write down the date you last took a dose so you and your prescriber know whether the break passed one week.
- Call before restarting after a week off: Your prescriber will usually retitrate from a lower dose instead of putting you straight back on your maintenance dose.
- Watch your mood: Deutetrabenazine carries a boxed warning for depression and suicidal thoughts in Huntington disease, so report mood changes right away.
- Build a routine: Pair doses with breakfast and dinner, set alarms, and refill early so you do not run out over a weekend.
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