How to Start Wegovy: What Happens Before Your First Injection

Step 1: getting a prescription — the only legal starting point

Before anything else, you need a prescription. That is not a formality; it is a clinical safeguard. A Wegovy prescription can only be issued after a prescriber has reviewed your weight, your health history, the medicines you already take and any conditions that might affect suitability. Wegovy is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above alongside at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or raised cholesterol. Lower thresholds apply for people from some ethnic backgrounds under UK guidance.

At nume, that assessment is done the same working day by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber, a real clinician reading your answers, not an automated system. You will also go through photo-ID verification and live weight confirmation. If you have transferred from another provider or are requesting a dose increase, clinical evidence is reviewed before any change is made. It sounds thorough because it is.

Once your prescriber approves treatment, the prescription is generated and your order is dispatched the same day if you placed it before noon, arriving the next working day by tracked DPD delivery in plain packaging. If you order on a Friday before noon, your pen arrives Monday. Worth planning around if payday or a bank holiday is in the mix.

Step 2: understanding the titration schedule before you begin

Knowing the schedule before your first dose helps enormously. Wegovy opens at 0.25 mg once a week for the first four weeks. This dose is not intended to produce significant weight loss; its job is to let your digestive system settle. Nausea, loose stools and indigestion are common in the early weeks, and the slow start reduces how disruptive those effects tend to be.

From there, a prescriber typically moves you to 0.5 mg, then 1.0 mg, then 1.7 mg, and eventually to the 2.4 mg maintenance dose, spending roughly four weeks at each level. The step-by-step guide to taking Wegovy covers what to watch for at each rung. For eligible adults with obesity (BMI 30 or above), the MHRA approved a 7.2 mg dose in 2026, initially delivered as three 2.4 mg pens per week, and later as a dedicated single-dose pen approved on 14 April 2026. Whether that higher dose is appropriate is a clinical decision made at the time, not something to decide before starting.

Every dose change at nume requires a clinical re-review. There are no automatic renewals and no subscriptions; each repeat order is looked at individually. That means the prescriber can catch problems early and adjust accordingly.

Step 3: your first injection, technique, timing and what to expect

The pen itself is pre-filled and pre-set, so there is no drawing up of liquid or manual dosing. Choose a site on your abdomen (at least a few centimetres from your navel), the front of your thigh, or your upper arm. Clean the skin, press the pen firmly against it and hold it there for the count of ten after you hear the click. Rotate your injection site each week.

Pick a day of the week you can stick to, then keep it. Consistency matters for the medicine's steady-state absorption. If you need to shift the day occasionally that is manageable, but your Patient Information Leaflet explains the minimum gap to maintain. On timing: some people find Sunday evening works well because a mild nausea day, if it comes, falls mid-week rather than on a busy Monday. Others prefer mid-week for the opposite reason. There is no medically correct answer, just a practical one for your routine.

The NHS England guidance on weight-management injections also advises discussing contraception with your prescriber before starting, particularly if you take the oral contraceptive pill; for tirzepatide users there is specific advice about absorption, but it is worth raising for any GLP-1 medicine. When you might notice early results depends on individual response, and the evidence from the STEP 1 trial showed around 15% average weight loss over 68 weeks at the 2.4 mg dose, so progress is measured in months, not days.

Step 4: setting realistic expectations for the weeks ahead

The first few weeks rarely feel dramatic. Appetite may dip modestly; side effects may or may not appear. Some people feel nothing different for the first fortnight and worry the medicine is not working. That is normal. The starter dose is calibrated for tolerability, not for early weight loss, and the prescriber-led titration exists precisely so the dose reaches a meaningful level safely.

If you are thinking about the longer-term picture, the highest Wegovy dose and what the evidence shows gives a clearer sense of where the titration can go. For people who find the injection format a barrier, it may be worth knowing that the MHRA approved an oral semaglutide tablet for weight management on 11 June 2026, the first oral GLP-1 licensed for this purpose in the UK. Whether that route suits you is, again, a conversation for a prescriber, and our guide on how to start semaglutide explains the practicalities of beginning treatment across the different formats. You can explore all licensed weight-loss treatment options on the consultation page, and our FAQs cover common early questions. If anything feels uncertain once treatment has started, our team is reachable seven days a week for aftercare. Speak to our prescribers to begin that process, or read our guide to starting Wegovy for weight loss before your first conversation with them.