Wegovy® Injections Dosage: The Complete Titration Schedule

Like other weight loss injections in the UK, Wegovy® is available in a number of doses that you may use as you navigate your weight loss journey. It may feel overwhelming to figure out when to increase your dose, how to pick a maintenance dose, and what to do if you miss an injection.

It’s completely normal, and that’s why Hers is here to help with a detailed guide on managing your titration schedule: the step-by-step process of moving between doses, what to expect at each one, and how Wegovy® can affect you specifically as a woman.

Full Wegovy® Dosing Schedule

Wegovy® comes in a range of 6 doses. It is designed so you can start at a lower dose and then increase slowly when it suits you. This gives your body time to adjust to increasing levels of medication in your system.

The doses of Wegovy® are:

• 0.25mg - starter dose

• 0.5mg 

• 1mg 

• 1.7mg

• 2.4mg

• 7.2mg - maximum dose

The ‘normal’ dosing schedule is to spend 4 weeks on each dose before increasing to the next one, until you reach the maximum of 7.2mg. In reality, you can increase your dose at your own pace when it suits you. You may not go as high as 7.2mg and you may even drop your dose if your appetite is too low or you’re having trouble with side effects.

Your experience with Wegovy® is going to be specific to you. Don’t feel like you need to rush to the maximum dose or feel pressured to increase if you’re not ready. A Hers clinician can help you find which dose works best for you. Message them any time through your Hers App for extra advice.

When should you increase your dose?

Timing your dose increases may not always feel straightforward. While the normal dosing schedule has a set timeline, the reality of increasing doses for people using Wegovy® can be very different.

The best time to increase your Wegovy® dose is when you feel ready. You can’t increase your dose until you’ve been on your current one for at least 4 weeks. However, this doesn’t mean you have to increase your dose as soon as the 4 weeks are up. Some of the reasons you might decide you’re ready for an increase include that you have:

• Been on your current dose for at least 4 weeks

• Not had any side effects that won’t go away or you find difficult to manage

• Noticed your appetite and cravings are returning

• Struggling to stick to your diet plan

• Had your weight loss slow down or stop - called a weight loss ‘plateau’ 

What is the Starting Dose for Wegovy®?

The starting dose of Wegovy® is 0.25mg - the first step for many people on their weight loss treatment journey. This is the lowest dose of Wegovy® injection pens available in the UK. If you’re starting weight loss treatment with GLP-1 medications like Wegovy® for the first time, you will have to start on 0.25mg.

Because it’s the lowest dose of Wegovy®, 0.25mg is the least likely to give you side effects, but it also has the lowest impact on appetite and digestion speed. Still, for some people, 0.25mg of Wegovy® is enough to lose weight long term. It may also be the dose people use once they have reached their goal weight and want to keep the weight off.

Can you ever start on a dose higher than 0.25mg?

Normally, the only time a clinician approves someone starting on a dose higher than 0.25mg Wegovy® is when they’re switching from another GLP-1 treatment. This is because if they are already on a higher dose of another GLP-1 medication, it’s likely they will be able to tolerate a higher starting dose as well

The dose you start on if you’re switching depends on the dose of your current medication and whether or not you’ve had side effects. Side effects from other GLP-1 medications may mean there’s a risk moving straight to a higher dose of Wegovy®.

What is the Maintenance Dose for Wegovy®?

There's no single dose everyone's meant to land on. A maintenance dose just means whatever dose you settle on and stay at, rather than one you're still working up or down from. Novo Nordisk officially recommends 2.4mg or 7.2mg for this. In practice, a lot of people settle on a lower dose long-term. 

There are two points where this usually comes up:

1. While you're still losing weight. You might hold at a dose for a while, or find one that gives you steady progress without needing to go further.

2. Once you've reached your goal weight. Here the aim shifts from losing to holding your weight.

Your maintenance dose isn't permanent. If side effects start creeping in, weight loss slows, or you start regaining after settling on a dose for a while, that's worth raising with a Hers clinician, who can help you find a different dose to settle on instead.

How does a Hers clinician decide which dose to suggest?

Your clinician will consider your personal circumstances alongside a few clinical checks:

• How you're tolerating your current dose. Persistent side effects are a good reason to hold off increasing, or step back down.

• How you're responding to treatment. Your weight loss so far, and how your appetite feels day to day.

• Your current health. Checked again at each dose change, since things can shift over time in ways that affect which dose is suitable.

• What you're aiming for. Your goal weight, how long you want to be on treatment, and how diet and exercise fit into your routine.

What is the Maximum Dose for Wegovy®?

There is a maximum safe limit for Wegovy® that you can take each week - it’s 7.2mg. It’s really important you don’t exceed this limit because it could have serious health consequences.

Of course, when it comes to weight loss, patience is challenging. It’s normal to want positive change to come as quickly as possible, but taking more than the maximum dose of Wegovy® won’t help and could put your health at risk.

When would you move on to 7.2mg?

Not everyone needs to move up to Wegovy® 7.2mg. You may move up to 7.2mg with your clinician’s approval if you are already taking 2.4mg and:

• Your appetite and cravings are making it difficult to stick to your diet plan

• Your weight loss has slowed down or stopped - a weight loss ‘plateau’

• You haven’t had any difficult or ongoing side effects

What if I Miss a Dose of Wegovy®?

Realising you’ve missed your Wegovy® day can bring on a flash of panic, like the whole week of progress is about to slip. It won’t. A missed dose is common, and your treatment can absolutely account for it.

• 1 to 5 days late Take the missed dose as soon as you remember, then go back to your normal injection day for the next one.

• More than 5 days late Skip the missed dose entirely. Don't inject today; wait until your next scheduled dose and carry on as normal.

Important: Never take 2 doses close together to make up for a missed one, doing this could put you at risk of serious side effects. Always leave at least 72 hours between any two injections.  If a dose is late or skipped, your appetite or cravings may return temporarily. That's the medication levels shifting, not a sign anything's gone wrong, and it typically settles again once you're back on your regular schedule.

How to avoid missing doses

Missing a dose can be stressful, and it’s a completely reasonable thing to worry about, especially early on when you’re still learning how your body reacts at each stage. While it shouldn’t hurt your progress too much to miss the odd dose or take it late, it can still cause your appetite to fluctuate. It’s best to do what you can to remember to take your dose on time as often as possible.

You reduce the chance of forgetting your doses by:

• Setting an alarm on your phone for the same day each week

• Adding a recurring reminder to your calendar

• Using a dose-tracking app, if you want a record as well as a reminder

What if I Can’t Tolerate My New Dose?

There’s no way of knowing how a higher dose is going to affect you. The only way to know for sure is to try it and see. You don’t have to increase your dose if you don’t want to; remember that it’s your treatment and you have a say in it. If you have concerns about moving up a dose, you can always message a Hers clinician through your Hers App for advice.

If you’ve just injected a higher dose and the side effects are truly hard to get through, you have real options, not just patience to wait it out.

• If your side effects are severe, get medical help: If your side effects are serious, then it’s important you get urgent medical help. Call 111 or 999, explain your side effects and they will advise you what to do next.

• If it’s not urgent, you could wait to see if things clear up: Once you’ve injected your new dose, there’s no way of removing the medication from your body more quickly. Side effects are most intense a few days after injecting. If this applies to you, things may improve after a few more days.

• You may be able to treat your side effects at home, or with help from a doctor or pharmacist: Home remedies and over-the-counter and prescription medications can help with difficult side effects.

• You could wait to see how your second dose affects you: Side effects are usually worse when you’ve just increased your dose. You may find the next dose is not as hard to tolerate.

• You could drop down to your previous dose: Whether you’ve had several of your current dose and you keep getting difficult side effects, or you’ve just had one and you don’t want to risk getting them again, you can reduce your dose and return to a previous one you feel comfortable on.

How Your Wegovy® Dose Affects Your Menstrual Cycle

Period-related side effects are a common concern when starting a new medication. This can especially be true for a treatment like Wegovy® where you’re slowly increasing the dose.

Weight loss and lifestyle changes: Rapid or substantial weight loss, changes to your diet or exercise, and changes in energy availability can affect your hormones and menstrual cycle. This may make periods irregular, lighter or heavier, or cause them to stop temporarily. The amount of weight loss that causes these changes varies from person to person. If you have PMOS (preciously known as PCOS): Weight loss and improvements in metabolic health may help improve menstrual regularity in some women with PCOS. Research into GLP-1 medicines has found improvements in menstrual cyclicity, although this doesn't prove that Wegovy® itself directly causes these changes*.

As you increase your dose, any gastrointestinal side effects or changes in your diet and food intake may also temporarily affect how you feel around your period. The best way to understand what's happening is to track when you get your periods, how heavy they are, and any period-related symptoms.

If your periods stop or become significantly different, speak to your clinician regarding this rather than assuming Wegovy® is the cause.

*Zhou L, et al. (2023). Effects of GLP1RAs on pregnancy rate and menstrual cyclicity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a meta analysis and systematic review.

In Summary

Most people start on 0.25mg Wegovy®, except those switching from other GLP-1 medications. You can increase your dose only after at least 4 weeks on your current dose, providing you don’t have difficult side effects. The dose of Wegovy® can be increased up to a maximum of 7.2mg, but you don’t have to reach this dose.

Overall, your Wegovy® dose is personal. It depends on your progress, what side effects you experience, your appetite and cravings, and ultimately what you feel comfortable with.

FAQs

What is the 7.2mg dose and who is it for?

7.2mg is the maximum weekly dose of Wegovy® that can be prescribed in the UK. It might be right for you if you have safely increased your dose up to 2.4mg and you want to increase again after 4 weeks with no severe side effects, either because your weight loss has slowed or your appetite is returning.

Can I stay on a lower dose long-term?

Yes. You can stay on any dose of Wegovy® long term if that is what works best for you. Lower doses can still support significant weight loss, while having a lower chance of causing side effects. However, lower doses will also have less of an effect on your appetite as well.

Do higher doses of Wegovy® work better?

Higher doses of Wegovy can lead to greater weight loss. In the STEP UP study*, people taking 7.2mg experienced greater average weight loss than those taking the 2.4mg dose over 72 weeks. Side-effects may be higher with higher doses, and your Hers clinician can help navigate this.

But, it’s important to remember that what works best for you may not be the highest possible dose. The dose that works best for someone is one that suits their needs best, taking into account their goals, side effects, budget and so on.

*Wharton S, et al. (2025). Once-weekly semaglutide 7.2 mg in adults with obesity (STEP UP): a randomised, controlled, phase 3b trial. 

Can I change the day I take Wegovy®? 

Yes. You can change the day of your weekly injection as long as there are at least 3 days (more than 72 hours) between doses. Once you've chosen your new injection day, continue taking Wegovy® once a week on that day. For example, if you normally inject on Monday, you could move your injection to Thursday, provided at least 3 days have passed since your previous dose.

Can I split my Wegovy® dose?

No, and this is one of the few places we’ll be blunt: don’t. A Wegovy® pen isn’t built to be split, so half now and half later doesn’t give you half a dose, it gives you an unpredictable one. If cost or side effects are behind the question, tell your Hers clinician. There’s usually a safer way to solve that specific problem

Does Wegovy® have a ‘golden’ 5th dose?

No. Although there may be some medication left in your Wegovy® FlexTouch pen after the 4th dose, this is not an additional dose. The remaining amount is insufficient for a full dose, so don't try to inject it as a 5th dose. Dispose of the pen after the 4th dose.