Staying on schedule is very important to keep Apretude working effectively. Here’s what to do if you miss or expect to miss a dose:
Planned Misses (Travel, Scheduling Conflicts)
If you know in advance that your injection will be more than 7 days late, your Freddie clinician can help by prescribing oral cabotegravir (CAB) pills as a temporary alternative.
- Oral CAB can replace one missed injection for up to 2 months
- If your delay will be longer than 2 months, you’ll need to switch to a different form of oral PrEP (like Descovy or Truvada)
- The first oral PrEP pill should be taken 2 months after your last Apretude injection
- Resume injections on the last day of the pills or within 3 days after.
Unplanned Misses
Didn’t make it to your appointment on time? Here's what to expect:
- If it’s been less than 1 month since your missed injection date:
- You can resume injections and stay on the usual every 2-month schedule.
- If it’s been more than 1 month since your missed injection date:
- You’ll need to restart Apretude with:
- Two loading doses, 1 month apart
- Then resume injections every 2 months
- You’ll need to restart Apretude with:
If You Stop Injections
- If you stop receiving injections, you must switch to daily oral PrEP for 12 months.
- This is important because Apretude remains in your system at low levels but won’t fully protect you.
- Failure to do this can lead to resistance to HIV medication, making future treatment more difficult.