How to take Wegovy in 7 easy steps
Injecting Wegovy can seem daunting.
After all, unless you’re a diabetic, you’ll probably only witness a needle puncturing your skin when you have a blood test. Thankfully, getting the hang of injecting your weekly dose of Wegovy is easy, as long as you follow the instructions given in this guide or as advised by your prescribing pharmacist.
We’ll cover everything you need to know about how to take your Wegovy injections, from the preparation, the best injection site, and how to dispose of your needles safely. Weight loss treatments like Wegovy aren’t cheap. That’s why it’s important to know how to take them properly to avoid wasting any of those precious pens.
Step 1: Prepare your injection
Like most things, preparation is key. Always check that your pen is in date and the fluid is clear and colourless. Don’t use the pen if the liquid is discoloured, cloudy, or it has particles in it. This could be down to the medicine being exposed to the light, stored at the wrong temperature, or it's passed its expiry date.
Is this your first time using an injectable? With Wegovy, you’ll need to administer an injection weekly, so pick a day and time that suits you.
Step 2: Select your dose
Figuring out Wegovy dosing is easy. Each Wegovy pen is colour-coded depending on its dosage strength, so you can see the dosage you need from just a glance. Everyone who uses semaglutide to lose weight will start on the smallest dose, 0.25 mg.
This will increase every four weeks to 0.50 mg, 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg, and finally to the highest dose, 2.4 mg. This is known as the titration period which helps your body to adjust to the medicine, helping to prevent and make side effects manageable.
Each month, you should receive 4 individually pre-filled pens. Once you’ve finished them, you know it’s time to up your dosage. On the pen, turn the selector until the counter stops and shows your prescribed dose.
Step 3: Insert your needle
After you’ve selected the correct dose, it’s time to insert the needle. Along with your 4 pens, you’ll also receive 4 disposable NovoFine needles. First tear off the paper tab and push the needle straight onto the pen, turning until it's nice and tight.
The needle is covered by two caps which must be removed before use. Pull off the outer cap, but keep hold of it as you’ll need it later. Next, pull off the inner cap and dispose of it. You should never use bent, used or damaged needles.
Step 4: Check the flow
Even if you see a drop of Wegovy beading on the needle’s tip, you must still check the flow. To do this, hold the pen with the needle pointing upwards. Then press and hold the dose button until the dose counter returns to ‘0’; the ‘0’ needs to line up with the dose pointer.
A drop of Wegovy liquid should appear on the needle’s tip, indicating that your pen is raring and ready for use. However, if one doesn’t appear, check the flow again. You cannot do this more than twice. If a drop still doesn’t appear, change the needle and check again.
Do not use the pen if a drop still doesn’t appear.
Step 5: Choose your injection site
You can’t inject just anywhere. There’s a few prime positions on your body that work best, and you should always switch-up the area where you injected the time before. You can choose between the upper arms, stomach or upper legs, keeping a 5 cm distance from your belly button.
Step 6: Inject your dose
It’s time to inject your dose. Insert the needle into your skin, ensuring that the dose counter is still visible; covering it with your fingers could interrupt the injection. Keep holding down the dose button until ‘0’ shows on the dose counter, signifying that you have injected the entire dose.
With the needle still pressed into your skin, keep hold of the dose button and slowly count to 6. After this time, you’re ready to remove the needle. If you remove the needle too soon, a stream of Wegovy liquid may spill from the tip, preventing the full dose from being delivered.
A spot of blood may appear at the injection site – don’t worry, this is normal! You’ve just punctured your skin, after all. Press lightly on the area to stop the bleeding and apply a plaster if needed. Additionally, you might notice a bead of Wegovy on the needle tip after injecting. This, too, is normal and won’t affect your dose.
Step 7: Dispose of your pen safely
Safely disposing of needles and pens immediately after injecting is just as important as injecting your dose properly. Failure to do so can result in injury and cross contamination.
Remember the cap we kept to the side? This is where it comes in handy. On a flat surface, lean the needle tip into the outer cap, being cautious not to touch the needle or the outer cap. Once the needle is covered, push the cap completely on.
Unscrew the needle from the pen and dispose of it in a sharps bin, or as instructed by your healthcare provider. You should never attempt to put the inner cap back on as you could prick yourself. An empty pen without a needle can be disposed of in regular household waste.
Avoid overdosing
If you’ve used too much of this medicine, for example, you’ve injected more than 1 dose of Wegovy in the space of a week, you should talk to your healthcare provider straight away. You may experience some unpleasant side effects like nausea, severe vomiting and severely low blood sugar.
If you’re a diabetic and you’re taking semaglutide for weight loss, this can be very dangerous. Always take it as advised in the patient information leaflet or as instructed by your prescribing pharmacist.
How long to take Wegovy
Semaglutide is a weight loss treatment that you’ll take long-term. As obesity is a chronic condition, it makes sense to take it for a prolonged period of time. In fact, many people are able to lose 5% of their body weight within 12 weeks.
Generally, Wegovy is a well-tolerated medicine when taken long-term, but your prescriber will work with you to determine how long you should continue taking it depending on how much weight you’ve lost and any symptoms you’re having.
If you were hesitant about trying Wegovy due to it being an injectable medicine, we hope this guide has convinced you otherwise. Injecting your weekly dose of Wegovy is both simple and safe, as long as you follow the instructions carefully.
Better yet, there’s no need to deliberate over what needles you need to buy as they’ll all be provided for you, along with your monthly lot of pre-filled pens. So, what are you waiting for?
Not only is semaglutide one of the most effective weight loss drugs on the market, but it’s also easy-to-use. Sign up to receive Wegovy alerts to be the first to know when it drops here in the UK.
