What Is the Highest Dose of Wegovy You Can Take?

Step 1: where every course of Wegovy begins

Every prescription for injectable Wegovy starts at 0.25 mg weekly. That figure surprises some people who have heard about the higher doses. The reason is straightforward: semaglutide causes nausea and other gastrointestinal effects, especially early on, and the lower starting dose is there to let your body adjust rather than to produce meaningful weight loss from week one. A question our prescribers hear most weeks is whether it is safe to skip ahead to a higher dose sooner, the answer is no. The titration schedule exists for your comfort and safety, not as a formality.

After roughly four weeks at 0.25 mg, the prescriber moves the dose to 0.5 mg, then 1.0 mg, then 1.7 mg, and finally 2.4 mg, the previous standard maintenance dose. Each step takes approximately four weeks. For people now titrating toward 7.2 mg, there are additional steps beyond 2.4 mg before reaching the new ceiling. The exact schedule is set by your prescriber and detailed in the Patient Information Leaflet. You can read a thorough breakdown of all the dose stages on the Wegovy doses overview.

Step 2: what 7.2 mg actually is and when it was approved

The MHRA approved 7.2 mg semaglutide as a new maximum maintenance dose in two stages. The higher dose was first authorised on 12 January 2026, initially supplied as three 2.4 mg pens used in a single week. On 14 April 2026, the MHRA approved a dedicated single-dose 7.2 mg pen, one pre-set injection per week, with an auto-dosing mechanism, a built-in covered needle, and a lock that activates after use. The UK was among the first countries globally to approve this format, as confirmed in the GOV.UK announcement of the 7.2 mg pen.

There is one important licensing boundary to note. The 7.2 mg dose is approved for adults with obesity, defined as BMI ≥ 30. It is not licensed for people who qualified for Wegovy on a lower BMI threshold (BMI 27–29.9 with a weight-related condition), and it is not approved for the cardiovascular risk-reduction indication at this dose. If you are curious about what the highest dosage of semaglutide you can take actually is across different formulations, the Wegovy maximum milligram guide covers that in more detail.

Step 3: what the trial evidence says about 7.2 mg

The clinical case for a higher dose rests on the data. At 7.2 mg over 72 weeks, trials reported an average weight reduction of around 20.7%, a meaningful step up from the approximately 15% average seen at 2.4 mg in the STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. That narrows the gap with tirzepatide (Mounjaro) considerably. The SURMOUNT-5 head-to-head trial showed tirzepatide produced greater average loss than semaglutide 2.4 mg; at 7.2 mg, the margin closes. Neither medicine suits everyone, and trial averages describe populations, not individuals. If you want to understand what the highest dose of semaglutide you can take means in practice, including how the body tends to respond and what to expect, that page goes into the practical detail. If you want to understand the full picture of what happens at Wegovy's top dose (including how the body tends to respond and what to expect) that page goes into the practical detail.

Side effects at higher doses follow the same GI-led pattern seen across the Wegovy range: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, and reflux are the most common, and they tend to be most noticeable after a dose increase. They usually settle within a few weeks. Anyone experiencing severe, persistent stomach pain that radiates to the back should seek urgent medical attention, given the MHRA's guidance on pancreatitis as an infrequent but serious risk with GLP-1 medicines. Side effects or concerns can be reported at the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.

Step 4: getting the right dose through clinical assessment

Knowing the licensed maximum is one thing. Whether reaching it is the right goal for you is a different question entirely. Some people do well at 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg and have no clinical reason to increase further; others tolerate the titration well and benefit from pushing higher. That decision sits with a prescriber who reviews your weight, your response so far, any side effects you have experienced, and your wider medical picture. The Wegovy treatment overview explains the full landscape, and the weight-loss treatments page sets out the options available at nume, sorry, at our pharmacy.

Specific dose availability is confirmed at consultation rather than in advance. If you are thinking about starting or have questions about where you are in the schedule, the right next step is a clinical conversation. At nume, a GPhC-registered prescriber reads every consultation the same day, no automated triage. Check your eligibility with a free consultation and our prescribers will go from there.