Semaglutide dose chart: how Wegovy's titration schedule actually works

The biggest myth: a higher dose always means better results

People looking at a semaglutide dose chart often assume the top of the ladder is the goal, that 2.4 mg (or now 7.2 mg) is what everyone should aim for, and anything less is somehow failing. That is not how the schedule works.

The titration steps exist primarily to protect you from side effects, not to delay results. Semaglutide slows gastric emptying and suppresses appetite through the GLP-1 receptor; jumping straight to a high dose would cause significant nausea for most people. Holding at 0.25 mg for the first month lets your gut adapt. Some people find they lose weight steadily at 1.0 mg or 1.7 mg and feel well there, there is no clinical reason to push further if that is working and the side-effect profile is comfortable.

The STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed an average body-weight reduction of around 15% over 68 weeks at the 2.4 mg maintenance dose, but that was a group average. Individual responses vary considerably, and prescribers take that into account. The right dose is the one that works for you with a tolerable side-effect burden. Worth remembering.

What the full semaglutide doses chart looks like in practice

Here is the licensed Wegovy schedule, as described by the NHS semaglutide medicines page and the prescribing information:

Weeks 1–4: 0.25 mg once weekly. This is purely a tolerability starter, and if you want to understand how the very earliest dose fits into the broader picture, our 2.5mg semaglutide page explains how low starting strengths are used in practice. Do not expect dramatic changes here, and do not judge the medicine on this dose alone.

Weeks 5–8: 0.5 mg. The first step where some appetite suppression becomes noticeable for many people.

Weeks 9–12: 1.0 mg. A meaningful therapeutic level for a proportion of patients; some will make good progress here long-term.

Weeks 13–16: 1.7 mg. The penultimate rung, moving toward the standard maintenance dose.

Week 17 onwards: 2.4 mg. The original licensed maintenance dose. A good number of people settle here. Wherever you keep your Wegovy (for many patients it lives in the fridge door alongside everyday staples) it should stay refrigerated between 2°C and 8°C; check the patient information leaflet for the exact rules on temporary room-temperature storage.

7.2 mg: Approved by the MHRA in January 2026 and available as a dedicated single-dose pen from April 2026. This is the maximum dose and is indicated for adults with a BMI of 30 or above only. Trials reported an average weight reduction of around 20.7% over 72 weeks at this level, narrowing the gap with tirzepatide's headline figures, and you can find a full breakdown of how each strength steps up on our 10 mg semaglutide dosage chart page. You can find a detailed breakdown of all available strengths on the Wegovy doses page.

If you are curious about semaglutide specifically at lower concentration formats used in compounded or unlicensed preparations, the semaglutide dosage chart page covers that context separately.

When the schedule slows down, and when it stops altogether

NICE's appraisal of semaglutide (TA875) recommends considering stopping treatment if someone achieves less than 5% weight loss after six months at the maintenance dose. That is not a punishment, it is recognition that the medicine simply works much better for some people than others, and continuing an ineffective course carries side-effect burden for no benefit.

A pace adjustment is different. If nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea is severe at a given step, staying at the current dose for an extra four weeks rather than moving up is clinically reasonable. Your prescriber makes that call after reviewing your experience. At nume, a real clinician reads your follow-up check-in before any dose change, no automated escalation, no rubber-stamp. You can see more on how our team approaches these reviews on our about us page.

Certain situations pause treatment regardless of dose: surgery, pregnancy, and breastfeeding all require stopping semaglutide and discussing with the prescribing team. Anyone trying to conceive should talk to their prescriber before the next dose, as the medicine is not recommended during pregnancy. Under-18s are not within the licensed population.

For a broader picture of how Wegovy fits into the private weight-loss treatment landscape in the UK, including cost context, the Wegovy price comparison page is a useful read. And if you want to compare how Wegovy's schedule sits alongside Mounjaro's titration, the weight-loss treatments overview sets both out side by side.

What this means before you start, or before you switch doses

A dose chart is a map, not a prescription. The schedule tells you where the journey goes; it does not tell you how fast you should travel or whether this is the right route for your health profile. Factors including your kidney function, history of pancreatitis, any oral medicines you take (oral contraceptives in particular, tirzepatide users have specific guidance here, though the current evidence does not show the same interaction for semaglutide), and your weight-loss history all feed into the clinical picture.

The semaglutide dose page goes deeper on what influences which dose a prescriber might start you on. If you are transferring from another provider and want to continue at your current dose, our prescribers will ask for evidence of where you are in the schedule, a safety check, not a bureaucratic hurdle.

If you are weighing up whether Wegovy is right for you, or you want a clinician to look at the full picture, start a free consultation with our prescribers. They will review your answers the same day.