Clozapine missed doses: first response ๐จ ๐
Clozapine missed doses: first response ๐จ ๐
Recognise the immediate risk
- Confirm when the last dose was actually taken and whether there have been more than 48 hours without clozapine.
- Tolerance to hypotension and tachycardia can be lost rapidly: if the interval exceeds 48 hours, restarting the old maintenance dose is unsafe and requires specialist-guided re-titration.
Practical actions
- Contact the clozapine monitoring service and mental health pharmacist/psychiatry team for authorised restart and blood-testing instructions.
- Review fever/infection, constipation/ileus, sedation, smoking changes and medicine interactions; urgent clinical escalation if severe symptoms.
- Document brand, last dose, plan, authorised prescriber and next administration time.
UK sources (checked 4 Nov 2026): NHS SPS: clozapine interruption and monitoring
Clinical safety: educational editorial draft, not an authorised NHS prescribing order. Clinical/pharmacy sign-off pending. Check local policies, BNF/BNFC, up-to-date guidance and individual patient factors before any treatment.