Wegovy

How to use Wegovy

Using Wegovy is simple. It comes as pre-filled pens you inject just under your skin. Always follow your clinician’s advice on how to inject it.

• Inject Wegovy once a week, on the same day of the week. Set a reminder on your calendar or use an alarm to help you remember to use it.
• Wegovy pens need to be kept at a temperature of 2°C to 8°C before use. You can keep them in your normal fridge at home. Once you've opened the packaging and started using the pen, it can stay out of the fridge and will remain active for the next 28 days.
• You can use Wegovy at any time of day, with or without meals. Take it on the same day each week and try to use it at around the same time on this day.
• Before you use your pen, give it a mini inspection. If the liquid you can see through the window is clear, colourless and smooth, it’s ready to inject.
• Pick the area you want to inject. Your options are your upper legs (front of your thighs), your stomach or your upper arm. Avoid areas with irritated or broken skin, and don’t inject too close to your navel. You can change your injection site every week if you want to, but don’t use the exact same spot as your last injection.
• Take the cap off the Wegovy pen and press it against your chosen injection site until you hear the pen make a click. You’ll know it’s working when the yellow bar on the pen starts moving.
• Once you hear the first click, keep holding the pen down for 10 seconds. You’ll hear another click to tell you the injection is ongoing.
• When it’s been 10 seconds and the yellow bar stops moving, the injection is finished 
• You can then remove the pen from your skin and dispose of it in a sharps container. If you order through us, we’ll give you one free of charge[3].

How long does it take Wegovy to work?

Wegovy starts working in your body immediately. You’ll need to work your way up to the maintenance dose before you start seeing the full effectiveness of Wegovy in reducing your hunger, but you should see some difference from the first month of use.

When you use Wegovy, you’ll need to eat healthily, and make sure you have a calorie deficit. Luckily, Wegovy helps you achieve this. It’s an effective weight loss treatment and it’s safe to use long-term. So you can stay on Wegovy until you’re at a healthy BMI, or you’ve reached your target weight.

What should I do if I make a mistake when using Wegovy?

If you don’t hear a first click while giving your injection, or the yellow bar doesn’t start moving, press the pen more firmly against your skin. Creating a smooth, firm area for injection by spreading your skin between your fingers might help.

If you forget to use Wegovy on your scheduled day, inject yourself as soon as you remember if your next dose is more than 48 hours away. Then just keep taking your injections as normal. If it’s less than 48 hours until your next injection, just wait for that one.

If you skip more than one dose of Wegovy, you can carry on with your dosing as normal. If you have a sensitive stomach, you may want to start from a lower dose again before raising it, to reduce the chance of side effects. 

If you inject too much Wegovy, you should talk to your doctor. Using too much can make you feel nauseous, be sick or lower your blood sugar. Seek medical attention if you have any side effects that concern you.

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.

Serious side effects : 

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

•Complications of diabetic eye disease (diabetic retinopathy). If you have diabetes you should

inform your doctor if you experience eye problems, such as changes in vision, during treatment

with this medicine.

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

• Inflamed pancreas (acute pancreatitis). Signs of inflamed pancreas may include severe and longlasting pain in your stomach, the pain may move to your back. You should see your doctor immediately if you experience such symptoms.

Rare: may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people

• Severe allergic reactions (anaphylactic reactions, angioedema). You should seek immediate

medical help and inform your doctor straight away if you get symptoms such as breathing

problems, swelling of face, lips, tongue, and/or throat with difficulty swallowing, wheezing, fast

heartbeat, pale and cold skin, feeling dizzy or weak.

Other side effects

Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people

• headache

• feeling sick (nausea)

• being sick (vomiting)

• diarrhoea

• constipation

• stomach pain

• feeling weak or tired.

These usually go away over time.

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

• feeling dizzy

• upset stomach or indigestion

• burping

• gas (flatulence)

• bloating of the stomach

• inflamed stomach (‘gastritis’) – the signs include stomach ache, feeling sick (nausea) or being

sick (vomiting)

• reflux or heartburn – also called ‘gastro-oesophageal reflux disease’

• gallstones

• hair loss

• injection site reactions

• low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) in patients with diabetes.

The warning signs of low blood sugar may come on suddenly. They can include: cold sweat, cool pale

skin, headache, fast heartbeat, feeling sick (nausea) or very hungry, changes in vision, feeling sleepy or

weak, feeling nervous, anxious or confused, difficulty concentrating or shaking.

Your doctor will tell you how to treat low blood sugar and what to do if you notice these warning

signs.

Low blood sugar is more likely to happen if you also take a sulfonylurea or insulin. Your doctor may

reduce your dose of these medicines before you start using this medicine.

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

• fast heartbeat

• increase of pancreatic enzymes (such as lipase and amylase) shown in blood tests.

If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse.

Children and adolescents

This medicine is not recommended in children and adolescents under 18 years as there is no
information on use in children below this age.

Other medicines and wegovy

Tell your doctor, pharmacist or nurse if you are using, have recently used or might use any other
medicines.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding

This medicine should not be used during pregnancy, as it is not known if it may affect your unborn child. Therefore, it is recommended to use contraception while using this medicine. If you wish to become pregnant, you should stop using this medicine at least two months in advance. If you become or are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby when using this medicine,talk to your doctor straight away, as your treatment will need to be stopped.
You should not use this medicine if you are breast-feeding, as it is unknown if it passes into breast milk.

Driving and using machines

wegovy is unlikely to affect your ability to drive and use machines. Some patients may feel dizzy
when taking wegovy mainly during the first 3 months of treatment (see section 4). If you feel dizzy you should not drive or operate machines until you feel better. If you need any further information,talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse.

Sodium content

This medicine contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per dose, i.e. essentially ‘sodium-free

How is Wegovy different from other treatments for weight loss?

While most other weight loss treatments have to be taken every day, Wegovy is different because it’s only a once-weekly treatment. So you might find it easier and more convenient to stick to the treatment course than with other options.

Wegovy is different to some other weight loss treatments because it helps to make you less hungry. It can help you adjust to eating fewer calories without feeling like you’re missing out. You don’t have to go on a crash diet or cut out a major food group. You just need to eat a little less. Wegovy will help with this, by controlling your appetite.

Is Wegovy similar to any other treatments?

Wegovy was created off the back of the weekly injection treatment for type-2 diabetes: Ozempic. When people with diabetes used Ozempic to help lower their blood sugar, it was found that it had the side effect of reducing their appetite and encouraging weight loss. Because of this, clinicians started prescribing Ozempic to people ‘off-label’ (outside of its license) in order to help them lose weight. As a result, Wegovy has now been formulated as a different version of Ozempic specifically licensed for weight loss. 

The other main difference between Wegovy and Ozempic is the dosage, with Wegovy available in higher strengths than Ozempic (the maximum recommended weekly dose of Ozempic is 1mg, compared with 2.4mg for Wegovy). This means that it should be able to help you lose weight more quickly and effectively than Ozempic.[4]

Saxenda is another similar treatment to Wegovy in that it’s also a licensed injectable treatment for weight loss. But where you only need to use Wegovy once a week, Saxenda needs to be used every day for it to be able to work effectively. Saxenda also uses a different active ingredient (liraglutide) which you might find more or less suitable for you. Although Saxenda has been a licensed treatment for longer, some studies suggest that Wegovy is more effective.[5]

Which foods should I avoid on Wegovy?

To make Wegovy work as well as it can, you need to eat a diet lower in calories. Wegovy helps you eat at a 500 calorie deficit (where you consume 500 calories fewer than you spend), as it makes controlling your hunger much easier. But there are no foods you can’t eat in moderation, you just need to keep an eye on calories – but you might want to eat less of some foods that are very calorie dense. You can also try eating more low-calorie foods or those rich in fibre. Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes can help keep you feel fuller for longer. 

Can I drink alcohol while using Wegovy?

Talk to your clinician before you drink alcohol while taking Wegovy. If you have diabetes, alcohol can affect your blood sugar levels. As both alcohol and Wegovy lower your blood sugar, combining them can lead to hypoglycemia, which may be dangerous. Alcohol is also high in calories, so it could get in the way of your weight loss if you drink too much.

How effective is Wegovy?

Wegovy has proven very effective at helping with weight loss, as well as improving other aspects of your health. It was studied in four clinical trials against a placebo, to see how it compared. In every trial, treatment with Wegovy led to significantly greater weight loss than with a placebo. Participants lost up to 15% of their body weight. Some trials also found improvements in systolic blood pressure and cholesterol levels. [3]    

Wegovy is also more effective than some other weight loss drugs on the market. In a trial comparing Wegovy with Saxenda, Wegovy caused significantly more weight loss. [5] 

To make Wegovy as effective as possible, remember to eat in a 500 calorie deficit and exercise more. This generally means eating around 2000 calories a day if you’re a man and 1500 calories a day if you’re a woman. If you’re not confident about your exercise ability yet, brisk walking or dancing work well as moderate physical activity.

How often do I need to change my Wegovy pen?

One pen lasts for a month, and you’ll use it once a week. You’ll be prescribed the lowest strength pen first, and then move up to the next dose of Wegovy every month until you reach a maintenance amount you feel works for you.

Weight loss moves at a different speed for everyone. A clinician might decide you only need to move up a dose once or twice before you strike a balance that suits you. There’s no fixed agenda, so the rate you increase your pens will depend on how you respond to Wegovy. It’s flexible in that way. Because your goals are personal, you can decide when you’ve reached a dose that controls your hunger spikes and helps you lose weight at a rate you’re comfortable with.

Do I need a prescription for Wegovy?

You will need a clinician to prescribe you Wegovy. It’s designed for people who have a BMI over 30, or a BMI over 27 and a weight related health condition. If your BMI is less than this, speak to one of our clinicians.

Also, if you have other health conditions or take other medications, Wegovy could also interact with them. So it might not be safe for you to take. If you tell us about your health, we can let you know if Wegovy might be right for you.