The UK one-tablet-a-day rule

The UK SmPC says to take a missed dose as soon as possible and no more than one tablet a day. Do not take two tablets together or build your own catch-up dose. If the timing is unclear, check the patient leaflet in your pack.

Do not swap in the missed-dose rule for a weekly injection or the advice for oral semaglutide. Medicines from the same class follow different rules. Keep a daily record, because a reminder alarm alone will not confirm you swallowed the tablet.

Restarting after a break needs the prescriber

After a longer break, ask the prescriber which strength to restart on and when. The UK dose increase schedule is gradual, and the dose you tolerated before the gap will not tell you what feels comfortable after it. Explain whether the gap came from supply, symptoms, travel or another illness.

If you use oral contraception, ask whether restarting changes the precautions you need. If a new medicine caused the break, have the interaction checked before you take Foundayo again. Your old prescription may no longer fit your current medicines.

Keep a record so doubt never becomes a double dose

Write down doses taken, beyond doses planned. Keep one pack in use, check its strength and tick a diary the moment you take the tablet. If several people help with your medicines, agree who records each dose so nobody gives a second one.

If an extra dose has already gone down, contact a pharmacist, the prescribing service or NHS 111 promptly. Have the product, strength, amount and rough times ready. Get emergency help straight away if someone passes out, has severe allergic symptoms or faces another immediate emergency.

Use the reason for the gap

Missed doses which keep happening suggest the routine does not suit your day. A gap in supply points to an unclear review process or ordering deadline. Doses skipped because of side effects show your tolerance needs a review. Raise each one with the prescriber and keep nothing hidden.

Do not stretch a prescription with every-other-day dosing unless the prescriber has given you a personal plan. A changed schedule blurs your response and side effects. If cost or supply puts the prescribed regimen out of reach, ask about an option you are able to keep up.

If a delivery failure left you without a pack, tell the service before the next prescription is issued. The clinician needs the dates of the gap, and the pharmacy needs to confirm the replacement strength still suits you. A late parcel should never turn into a restart decided by whichever tablets arrive.

Questions for your appointment

Give the prescriber your last dose date, your previous tablet strength and any new medicines. Ask how restarting affects the dose increase schedule and, where relevant, your contraception precautions. These answers help you more than asking whether to carry on where you left off.

Sources

Your own medicine leaflet and prescriber come first. A source from another country does not mean the same rule applies in the UK.

  1. Foundayo UK Summary of Product Characteristics medicines.org.uk
  2. Foundayo UK patient information leaflet medicines.org.uk
  3. MHRA UK authorisation announcement gov.uk

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