When to increase your Wegovy dose: what the schedule means in practice

What does the standard Wegovy dose schedule look like?

The licensed titration pathway for Wegovy runs across roughly 16 to 20 weeks. You start at 0.25 mg weekly, move to 0.5 mg after about four weeks, then to 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg in the same four-week steps. The NHS medicines page for semaglutide sets this out clearly and is worth bookmarking alongside your Patient Information Leaflet.

The 0.25 mg starting dose exists purely to let your system adjust. Side effects from GLP-1 medicines are mostly gastrointestinal (nausea, loose stools, indigestion) and they tend to peak around a dose increase before settling within a week or two. That pattern is why the schedule is spread out the way it is.

2.4 mg is the standard maintenance dose, though since January 2026 a higher 7.2 mg dose has been approved by the MHRA for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. Trials at 7.2 mg reported average weight loss of around 20.7% over 72 weeks. If that higher ceiling is something you want to discuss, our overview of Wegovy dose strengths covers what's currently licensed and how titration works at each level.

When does a dose increase actually happen — and who decides?

A dose increase happens when your prescriber is satisfied that you've completed the minimum time at your current dose and that you're tolerating it well enough to move up. That's two separate tests, not one. Completing four weeks does not automatically trigger an increase; your clinical picture matters too.

If side effects at a particular dose have been significant, a prescriber may recommend staying at that level for longer (sometimes an additional four weeks) before stepping up. That is not a setback. It is the schedule working exactly as intended. The question of when semaglutide dose increases are appropriate comes down to tolerability first, not the calendar.

Conversely, if you've been at a dose for many weeks with no side effects and feel you're not seeing the response you expected, that is a conversation to have with your prescriber at your next review, not something to act on unilaterally. Adjusting your own dose is neither safe nor in line with how the medicine is licensed. Every repeat order through a regulated service like nume (sorry, like a regulated online pharmacy) should involve a clinical review before the next supply is approved.

Can a dose increase be delayed or skipped?

Yes, and this is more common than many people expect. If gastrointestinal side effects at a given dose are still noticeable at the point your next increase would normally be due, staying at the current dose for another four weeks is a sensible and well-supported approach that our guide on when to increase your Wegovy dose explores in more detail. The goal is to reach your maintenance dose in a way that your body can tolerate, not to race through the steps.

Skipping a step entirely (going from 0.5 mg straight to 1.7 mg, say) is not something to attempt without explicit prescriber instruction. Understanding how a Wegovy increase should work makes clear that the titration exists to reduce the risk of significant nausea, vomiting and the handful of more serious gastrointestinal events that can occur when the dose rises too sharply.

If you've missed doses for any reason and are unsure whether your current dose is still appropriate, the answer is in your Patient Information Leaflet and with your prescriber, not online. Knowing when your own dose should increase is specific to your situation and best confirmed in a clinical review.

What about the new 7.2 mg dose, does that change anything?

The single-dose 7.2 mg Wegovy pen was approved by the MHRA on 14 April 2026 for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. It is the maximum licensed dose of semaglutide for weight management in the UK. The titration pathway to reach it still starts at 0.25 mg; there is no shortcut. People already established on 2.4 mg weekly will require a further titration phase to reach 7.2 mg, subject to clinical assessment.

The MHRA's approval of this higher dose is confirmed on GOV.UK's announcement of the 7.2 mg semaglutide pen. Whether this dose is appropriate for you depends on your BMI, your response at 2.4 mg, how well you've tolerated the medicine and other factors your prescriber will weigh up. It is not simply a higher option to request.

If you're weighing up the cost of continuing with Wegovy at various doses, that's worth factoring into conversations with your prescriber early. And if you'd like a clinical team to review where you are in your treatment, speaking to our prescribers is a straightforward first step, no waiting list, free consultation, same-day clinical review.