Wegovy doses UK: the weekly schedule from start to maintenance

You've been told to "titrate up" — here's what that actually means

You open the leaflet, see five or six different numbers, and wonder which one is yours. That's the moment most people first meet the Wegovy dose ladder. The short version: you don't pick a dose, you climb through them in order, and the climb is deliberately slow.

Titration means starting at the lowest strength and stepping up in stages so your gut has time to adjust. The UK maintenance pathway runs 0.25mg, then 0.5mg, 1mg, 1.7mg and 2.4mg, each held for about four weeks before the next move. The first rung, 0.25mg, isn't there to shift weight. Its job is to settle your system and reduce the nausea that comes with going too fast, too soon. Think of it as your body finding its feet.

Because semaglutide slows how quickly your stomach empties and dampens appetite, ramping straight to a high dose tends to cause more sickness, not more weight loss. The gradual build is the whole point. If a step feels rough, a prescriber may keep you on it longer rather than push on. That flexibility is why the schedule is a guide, not a countdown. The NHS sets out the standard titration approach on its semaglutide medicines page, and it's worth a read before your first injection so the numbers stop feeling random.

One thing to hold onto: nobody expects you to memorise the schedule. Your prescriber tells you the dose for each new pen, and the pen itself is set for the strength you've been prescribed.

Every Wegovy mg dose, in plain order

Here's the full set of doses for Wegovy as they're used in the UK, from first injection to the ceiling. Each is a once-weekly subcutaneous injection.

0.25mg is the starter, held for the first four weeks. 0.5mg comes next, then 1mg, then 1.7mg. 2.4mg has long been the standard maintenance dose, the level most people are aiming to reach and stay on. In STEP 1, the trial behind the 2.4mg dose, participants saw around 15% average body-weight reduction over 68 weeks alongside diet and activity changes, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Then there's 7.2mg, the newest and highest dose. The MHRA approved a dedicated single-dose 7.2mg pen on 14 April 2026 for adults with obesity at a BMI of 30 or above. In trials it reported roughly 20.7% average weight loss over 72 weeks, edging closer to what the strongest tirzepatide dose achieves. Even for 7.2mg, everyone still starts at 0.25mg and climbs; you don't leap to the top.

If you want the whole set laid out side by side with the weeks and strengths, our breakdown of all Wegovy doses keeps it simple, and the visual Wegovy doses chart maps each step against roughly when it happens. A quick note for anyone doing sums: mg is the dose, not the volume, and the same milligram figure can sit in a different amount of liquid depending on the pen, which is why we cover Wegovy doses in ml separately.

How fast do the doses go up, and can they slow down?

The default rhythm is a step roughly every four weeks. Four weeks at 0.25mg, four at 0.5mg, and so on. That cadence isn't arbitrary; it gives each new strength time to become tolerable before the next increase lands.

But the schedule bends around the person. If nausea, reflux or fatigue are still bothering you at the end of a four-week block, a prescriber can hold you at that dose longer before moving up. Some people spend six or eight weeks on a rung. Others need to drop back down a step if a higher dose proves too much, then try the increase again later. None of that is failure; it's the medicine being used properly.

What you shouldn't do is speed things up on your own, double up after a missed week, or self-adjust based on the number on the scales. Whether a missed dose gets skipped or taken depends on timing, and that's a question for your prescriber and the patient information leaflet, not guesswork. This is also why our repeat process re-reviews you before each new dose rather than auto-shipping the next strength. If you're weighing up when to move on, our page on reaching your Wegovy maintenance dose explains what "settled" actually looks like, and there's a dedicated read on the highest dose of Wegovy for anyone curious about the 7.2mg ceiling.

NICE's guidance on the standard 2.4mg pathway (TA875) also builds in review points, including checking progress at six months. It sets the tone for how supervised the whole journey is meant to be.

Why 0.25mg barely touches the scales, and that's fine

A common worry: "I've been on 0.25mg for a month and nothing's happening." That's expected. The lowest dose exists to ease you in, not to treat your weight. Real appetite change tends to arrive as you climb toward the higher strengths.

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. It mimics a gut hormone your body already makes after eating, which nudges the brain toward fullness and slows stomach emptying so meals sit longer. At 0.25mg that signal is faint by design. The dose is essentially a tolerance test, letting your gut adapt so that when you reach 1mg, 1.7mg and beyond, the side effects are milder than they'd be if you'd started there.

So if the first pen feels like it's doing little, it probably is doing little to your weight, and quite a lot to your readiness. Judging the medicine by month one is like judging a run by the warm-up. Our explainer on the 0.25mg starter dose goes into what to expect week by week, and if you've already moved up, the 0.5mg dose page covers the first proper increase.

Appetite is only part of the picture. The medicine works best alongside a reduced-calorie diet and more activity, which is exactly how it was studied. If you feel like the higher doses have plateaued, our practical guide to getting more from your Wegovy covers protein, hydration and movement without any gimmicks. Patience through the low doses tends to pay off in the ones that follow.

Who the Wegovy doses are licensed for

The dose ladder only applies if Wegovy is clinically suitable for you in the first place. In the UK, Wegovy is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 if you also live with a weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes or obstructive sleep apnoea. The 7.2mg dose specifically is for a BMI of 30 or above, not the lower band.

Lower BMI thresholds can apply for people from South Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds, reflecting UK clinical guidance that adjusts the cut-off downward by around 2.5 kg/m². A number on a BMI calculator is never the whole story, though. Our prescribers look at your health history, current medicines and goals before agreeing any dose.

Some people shouldn't take Wegovy at any dose. It isn't recommended if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive, and it isn't licensed for anyone under 18. A history of pancreatitis or certain gut conditions means a proper conversation with a prescriber first. These aren't box-ticking exercises; they're where a real clinical review earns its keep. You can read more about how we work as a GPhC-registered pharmacy, and if you want to know who signs off treatment, our clinical lead's profile puts a name to it. For the full licensing background across strengths, the Wegovy strengths overview pulls it together.

What arrives, and how the pens carry each dose

Once a prescriber approves your dose, here's the practical reality. Your Wegovy arrives by DPD the next working day, tracked on your phone, in a plain unbranded box, cold-chain packed because semaglutide needs the fridge. No branding on the outside, no clue to the neighbours.

Each pen is pre-filled and pre-set for the strength you've been prescribed, so you're not dialling anything yourself. Depending on the pen format, a single device may hold one weekly dose or several, which trips people up when they first open the box. If that's your question right now, our pages on how the Wegovy pens carry each dose and how many doses sit in one pen clear it up quickly. The single-dose 7.2mg pen, by contrast, delivers one pre-set weekly injection with a built-in covered needle and locks after use.

Storage matters more than people expect. Wegovy lives in the fridge, and there's a limited window where it can sit at room temperature. Rather than quote a figure that might not match your exact pen, always check the patient information leaflet for the precise storage window; it's printed clearly and it's the source that counts. The MHRA's Drug Safety Update service is also worth knowing about if you ever want to check the latest safety guidance on GLP-1 medicines.

Getting the dose right is a conversation, not a form. Speak to our prescribers to check whether Wegovy suits you and which dose you'd start on. Every order is reviewed by a real clinician, and there's no subscription lurking in the small print.

Related questions we've answered

• What are the doses of Wegovy?
• The 2.4mg maintenance dose explained
• Stepping up to 1.7mg