What happens if you miss a dose of Deutetrabenazine?

**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.