Wegovy

What is Wegovy?
Wegovy is a medicine for weight loss and weight maintenance that contains the active substance semaglutide. This is similar to a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is released from the intestine after a meal.
Wegovy works by acting on receptors in the brain that control your appetite, causing you to feel fuller and less hungry and experience fewer cravings for food. This will help you to eat less and reduce your body weight, when used alongside a reduced calorie meal plan and increased physical activity.

Who is Wegovy for?
Wegovy is used for weight loss and weight maintenance in addition to diet and physical activity in adults, who have:

• A BMI of 30 kg/m² or greater (with obesity)
  OR
• A BMI of 27 kg/m² and less than 30 kg/m² (overweight) and weight-related health problems.

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measure of your weight in relation to your height.

Wegovy is used together with diet and physical activity for weight management in adolescents ages 12 years and above, who have

• Obesity OR body weight or over 60kg.
  As an adolescent patient, you should only continue using Wegovy if you have lost at least 5% of your BMI after 12 weeks on the 2.4mg dose or maximum tolerated dose.

How to use Wegovy

Wegovy® injections come in a variety of dosages. Depending on where you are in your Wegovy® journey, you will need to take a different dosage.
The dosage is upped gradually to make sure you cope with any potential side effects until you get to a sustained dose, this process is known as titration.
If all goes to plan and you can tolerate the treatment, the dosing schedule will be as follows:
Weeks 1-4: 0.25mg weekly
Weeks 5-8: 0.5mg weekly
Weeks 9-12: 1mg weekly
Weeks 13-16: 1.7mg weekly
Weeks 17 onwards: 2.4mg weekly

Adults:
Your treatment will start at a low dose which will be gradually increased over 16 weeks of treatment as follows:

• When you first start using Wegovy, the starting dose is 0.25 mg once weekly
• Your doctor/pharmacist will instruct you to gradually increase your dose every 4 weeks until you reach the recommended dose of 2.4 mg once weekly
• Once you reach the recommended dose of 2.4 mg, do not increase this dose further

How Wegovy is given
Wegovy is given as an injection under the skin (subcutaneous injection). Do not inject it into a vein or muscle.

• The best places to give the injection are the upper arms, stomach or upper legs
• Before you use the pen for the first time, ask your doctor or nurse how to use it. Detailed instructions for use are on the patient information leaflet.

People with diabetes
Tell your doctor if you have diabetes. Your doctor may adjust the dose of your diabetes medicines to prevent you from getting low blood sugar.

• Do not mix Wegovy up with other medicines that you inject (e.g. insulins).
• Do not use Wegovy in combination with other medicines that contain GLP-1 receptor agonists (such as liraglutide, dulaglutide, exenatide or lixisenatide).

When to use Wegovy

• You should use this medicine once a week and if possible, on the same day each week.
• You can give yourself the injection at any time of the day – regardless of meals.
• If necessary, you can change the day of your weekly injection of this medicine as long as it has been at least 3 days since your last injection. After selecting a new dosing day, continue with once a week dosing.

Is Wegovy for you?
At 24Hr Pharmacy you will be fully supported throughout your weight loss journey, with regular counseling, access to nutrition guides and a personalised plan. To find out whether Wegovy is for you, just fill out a consultation form and one of our prescribers will get back to you.