Wegovy is taken once per week. You inject it on the same day each week, at any time of day, with or without food. The schedule stays consistent from your very first dose through long-term maintenance, though the amount you inject increases gradually over the first several months.
The Weekly Injection Schedule
Pick any day of the week that works for you, and that becomes your Wegovy day. Monday, Saturday, Wednesday morning, Friday night: it doesn’t matter. What matters is consistency. You’ll give yourself one subcutaneous injection on that same day every week, and the timing relative to meals is irrelevant.
You can inject into three areas: the front of your thigh, your lower stomach (at least two inches from your belly button), or the back of your upper arm. You can use the same general body area each week, but shift the exact spot slightly to avoid injecting the same point repeatedly.
How the Dose Increases Over Time
You don’t start at the full dose. Wegovy uses a gradual escalation schedule to help your body adjust and reduce side effects like nausea. You begin at a low dose and step up every four weeks until you reach the maintenance level. Here’s the standard progression:
- Weeks 1 through 4: 0.25 mg once weekly
- Weeks 5 through 8: 0.5 mg once weekly
- Weeks 9 through 12: 1 mg once weekly
- Weeks 13 through 16: 1.7 mg once weekly
- Week 17 onward: 2.4 mg once weekly (maintenance dose)
Each step uses a different pen strength, so your prescriber will write for the appropriate pen at each stage. The recommended maintenance dose for adults is 2.4 mg once weekly, but if that causes persistent side effects, it can be reduced to 1.7 mg weekly as an alternative maintenance dose.
What to Do if You Miss a Dose
If your usual injection day passes and you realize you forgot, take the dose as soon as you can, as long as it’s within a few days of your scheduled day. The key rule: never take two doses in the same week. If too many days have passed and your next scheduled dose is close, skip the missed one entirely and resume on your normal day.
A single missed dose here and there won’t derail your progress. But if you’ve gone two or more weeks without an injection, contact your prescriber before restarting. You may need to step back down to a lower dose to avoid a spike in side effects, since your body will have partially readjusted during the gap.
Can You Change Your Injection Day?
Yes. If you need to switch to a different day of the week, you can do so as long as at least two days (48 hours) have passed since your last injection. So if you normally inject on Mondays but want to switch to Thursdays, simply take your next dose on Thursday instead. From there, Thursday becomes your new weekly day.
How Long You Stay on Wegovy
Wegovy is designed for long-term, ongoing use. The FDA-approved indication specifically mentions maintaining weight reduction “long term,” and there is no built-in stopping point in the prescribing guidelines. In the pivotal clinical trial (known as STEP 1), participants took semaglutide for 68 weeks, roughly 16 months. A follow-up extension tracked participants for about two and a half years total.
What the extension data made clear is that stopping Wegovy leads to weight regain. Participants who discontinued the medication after the initial treatment period regained a significant portion of the weight they had lost, along with worsening of the heart and metabolic improvements they had experienced. This is why most prescribers frame Wegovy as an ongoing treatment rather than a short course. The once-weekly frequency doesn’t change whether you’ve been on it for four months or four years.
Keeping Your Pens Ready Between Doses
Since you’re only injecting once a week, proper storage between doses matters. Wegovy pens should be refrigerated at 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C). If you’re traveling or refrigeration isn’t available, a pen can stay at room temperature for up to 28 days, as long as the temperature stays at or below 86°F (30°C) and the pen is kept away from direct light. After 28 days unrefrigerated, the pen needs to be discarded even if it still contains medication. This gives you plenty of flexibility for vacations or work trips without disrupting your weekly schedule.