How much semaglutide do you take per day in tablet form?

You've just been prescribed the Wegovy tablet and you're staring at the box wondering what happens next

The starting point is 1.5 mg once daily. That dose isn't there to produce weight loss, it's there to let your body adjust to semaglutide before the dose climbs. Most of the gastrointestinal side effects people experience (nausea, loose stools, that queasy-after-eating feeling) are most noticeable in the early weeks, and a low starting dose keeps that window manageable. After a minimum of one month, a prescriber reviews how you're tolerating treatment and, if appropriate, moves you to 4 mg daily.

From there, the ladder continues to 9 mg and then to 25 mg, the licensed maintenance dose at which the clinical evidence was gathered. Each rung requires at least four weeks before moving up, and your prescriber decides the pace based on tolerability rather than impatience. Some people take longer at a particular step; that's not a problem, it's the system working as intended. If you want to understand how the semaglutide tablet dose is structured specifically for weight loss and what each level is designed to achieve, the full licensed dose breakdown covers the schedule in detail.

One practical note: the tablet goes on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, swallowed whole with a small amount of plain water (up to around 120 ml). Nothing else (no coffee, no food, no other oral medicines) for at least 30 minutes afterwards. The absorption mechanism is sensitive to what else is in your stomach, so that window is part of the medicine working correctly, not just a preference. Many people slot it in before the kettle boils. According to the NHS medicines page for semaglutide, following this routine consistently matters for how well the tablet is absorbed.

What separates the 25 mg maintenance dose from the injection's 2.4 mg, the numbers don't mean the same thing

A question that comes up constantly: why does the tablet dose sound so much higher than the injection? The 2.4 mg weekly injection and the 25 mg daily tablet are both semaglutide, but the oral version needs a far larger nominal dose because only a fraction of it crosses the gut wall into the bloodstream. The tablet contains a co-formulation ingredient (SNAC) that aids absorption, but bioavailability is still substantially lower than subcutaneous injection. So the 25 mg figure reflects how much semaglutide needs to enter your digestive system for a clinically meaningful amount to reach the circulation, it's not a higher biological dose.

If you've been taking the 2.4 mg weekly injection and your prescriber decides to switch you to the tablet, the guidance is that you can move directly to the 25 mg tablet. That transition still requires clinical assessment rather than a self-directed swap. The oral semaglutide dosing overview goes into more detail on how the injection and tablet routes compare for people considering a switch.

The trial evidence for the 25 mg tablet comes from the OASIS 4 study, a phase 3 trial in 307 adults with obesity or overweight plus at least one weight-related condition. Over 64 weeks, average weight loss was around 13.6% for participants on the tablet versus around 2.4% on placebo; among those who adhered fully to treatment, the figure was approximately 16.6%. Those are the canonical numbers, quoted carefully because the fuller figure only applies to the fully-adherent group, not as a general average.

Which daily dose applies to whom, and why the Rybelsus doses are a completely different conversation

The Wegovy tablet is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 to 29.9 where at least one weight-related condition is present (such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol or type 2 diabetes). Those are the licensed parameters as approved by the MHRA on 11 June 2026, making this the UK's first oral GLP-1 medicine for weight management. A prescriber assesses whether those criteria apply to you and whether anything in your medical history changes the picture.

A firm boundary worth knowing before you dig into this topic further: the 3 mg, 7 mg and 14 mg semaglutide tablet strengths are Rybelsus, licensed for type 2 diabetes, and if you want to know exactly what the semaglutide 3 mg tablet is used for and how it fits into the Rybelsus schedule, that page explains its role as an initial tolerability dose for diabetes management rather than weight loss. If you've come across information about semaglutide 7 mg tablets and weight loss, it's covering Rybelsus, not Wegovy, two different licences, different indications, different dose schedules. Mixing them up is a genuinely common source of confusion online.

The Wegovy tablet is not currently available on the NHS, NICE would need to appraise it first, and that process takes time. For now it is available through private prescription from a regulated UK pharmacy. If you want to understand the cost side of that, the Wegovy tablet pricing page covers what a private prescription typically involves. It's also worth knowing that the oral tablet requires no refrigeration at all, unlike both the injection and many other medicines, useful if your life doesn't revolve around a reliable fridge.

What happens if the dose isn't working, or side effects become a problem

Not everyone reaches 25 mg. Some people find a lower maintenance dose manages side effects better, and a prescriber might decide to stay at 9 mg rather than push higher. The MHRA approval is based on a defined escalation schedule, but the schedule is a framework, not a mandate. If you develop gastrointestinal symptoms that don't settle, your prescriber can slow the titration or pause at the current level. Pushing through persistent symptoms without clinical input isn't the approach.

The side-effect profile of the tablet in OASIS 4 was predominantly gastrointestinal, nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhoea were the most common complaints, affecting the majority of participants to some degree, though most effects were mild to moderate and tapered over time. Staying well-hydrated, keeping meals smaller and avoiding high-fat food in the early weeks all help. If side effects are severe or persistent, the right move is to contact your prescribing team. You can also report any suspected side effect directly to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme.

Semaglutide tablets are not recommended during pregnancy, while breastfeeding, or if you're trying to conceive. They are not licensed for use in people under 18. Anyone with a history of pancreatitis, medullary thyroid carcinoma or certain other conditions would need to discuss suitability carefully with a prescriber before starting. For a full picture of the treatment options available and whether oral semaglutide might suit your situation, you can speak to our prescribers through a free consultation, a real clinician reviews every case, and the process starts with your medical history, not a tick-box.