Educational only — not medical advice. This planner reproduces the weekly titration schedules from the current FDA-approved labels (DailyMed) for four brand-name injections. It does not prescribe, recommend a dose, or change any dose. Only your prescribing clinician changes your dose. Medically reviewed by Dr. Taimoor Asghar. Label sources checked 24 October 2026; labels change, so always check the current label for your exact product.
Pick a product, a start date (your first injection day), and the maintenance dose you and your clinician have discussed. The planner then shows the earliest date each step could begin if every step lasts exactly 4 weeks and escalation is not delayed. In real life, escalation is conditional: the label for every product here makes each increase depend on need and tolerability, and clinicians commonly delay a step when side effects are troublesome. A delayed step moves every later date back — that is normal and is a clinical decision, not a failure of the plan.
Choose a product and press “Build my schedule”.
All four products are injected under the skin (subcutaneously) once weekly, on the same day each week, at any time of day, with or without meals, into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm, rotating the injection site. That shared rhythm is where the similarity ends: the starting doses, the step sizes and the maintenance doses are all different, because the molecules and the indications are different.
| Step | Ozempic (semaglutide) | Wegovy injection (semaglutide) | Mounjaro (tirzepatide) | Zepbound (tirzepatide) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–4 | 0.25 mg once weekly — initiation only, not effective for glycaemic control | 0.25 mg once weekly — starting dose | 2.5 mg once weekly — initiation only, not intended for glycaemic control | 2.5 mg once weekly — initiation only, not approved as a maintenance dose |
| Weeks 5–8 | 0.5 mg once weekly — first maintenance option | 0.5 mg once weekly | 5 mg once weekly | 5 mg once weekly — maintenance option |
| Weeks 9–12 | 1 mg once weekly, if additional control is needed after at least 4 weeks on 0.5 mg | 1 mg once weekly | 7.5 mg once weekly, if needed, after at least 4 weeks on the current dose | 7.5 mg once weekly, if needed, after at least 4 weeks on the current dose |
| Weeks 13–16 | 2 mg once weekly, if additional control is needed after at least 4 weeks on 1 mg — maximum | 1.7 mg once weekly | 10 mg once weekly, if needed | 10 mg once weekly — maintenance option |
| Weeks 17–20 | 2 mg once weekly (maintenance) | 2.4 mg once weekly — recommended maintenance dose (1.7 mg is the alternative maintenance dose) | 12.5 mg once weekly, if needed | 12.5 mg once weekly, if needed |
| Week 21 onward | 2 mg once weekly (maintenance) | 2.4 mg once weekly (maintenance) | 15 mg once weekly — adult maximum | 15 mg once weekly — maintenance option and maximum |
Reading the table honestly. The “weeks” column is the earliest timing: each row assumes the previous step lasted exactly 4 weeks. Nobody is required to reach the bottom row. For Ozempic, the recommended maintenance dose is 0.5 mg, 1 mg or 2 mg once weekly, chosen on glycaemic control. For Wegovy injection in adults, the maintenance dose for weight reduction or cardiovascular risk reduction is 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg (recommended) once weekly. For Mounjaro in adults, the dose is increased in 2.5 mg increments after at least 4 weeks on the current dose only if additional glycaemic control is needed, to an adult maximum of 15 mg once weekly. For Zepbound, the recommended maintenance doses for weight reduction are 5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg once weekly, and for obstructive sleep apnoea 10 mg or 15 mg once weekly; the 7.5 mg and 12.5 mg steps are escalation steps, not maintenance doses for weight reduction. The planner covers adults only: paediatric dosing (for example, Mounjaro's paediatric maximum of 10 mg once weekly, and Wegovy's paediatric maintenance of 2.4 mg once weekly) is a separate label section and is not modelled here.
First, Wegovy tablets are a different product with a different schedule (1.5 mg orally once daily for 30 days, then 4 mg, then 9 mg, then 25 mg once daily as maintenance). Tablet milligrams must never be compared with injection milligrams, and this planner covers injections only. Second, the current Wegovy injection label adds a clinician-directed step beyond the standard ladder: for adults treated for weight reduction who tolerate 2.4 mg for at least 4 weeks and for whom additional weight reduction is clinically indicated, the dose may be increased to a maximum of 7.2 mg (Wegovy HD) once weekly. This planner deliberately does not invent dated steps between 2.4 mg and 7.2 mg, because the label sections verified for this page do not set out such a step schedule; if that presentation is prescribed, its own label and the prescriber govern. The same restraint applies throughout: where the label is silent, this page says so rather than filling the gap.
Every label here uses the same safety logic: start low, wait at least 4 weeks, and increase only if needed and tolerated, in order to reduce gastrointestinal adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions listed across these labels are gastrointestinal — nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, decreased appetite and indigestion — and they are most likely around starting and dose increases. Slowing down is therefore built into the label, not an optional extra: Wegovy's label explicitly says to consider delaying escalation by 4 weeks if a dose is not tolerated, and the tirzepatide labels say to consider a lower maintenance dose if a maintenance dose is not tolerated. If side effects are severe or persistent, contact the prescribing clinician promptly rather than pushing on to the next step or stopping abruptly on your own — and seek urgent care for symptoms that worry you, such as severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, signs of an allergic reaction, or a lump in the neck, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness or shortness of breath (symptoms the labels link to thyroid tumour counselling).
Ozempic: if a dose is missed, take it as soon as possible within 5 days after the missed dose; if more than 5 days have passed, skip it and take the next dose on the regularly scheduled day, then resume the regular weekly schedule. The day of weekly administration can be changed as long as at least 2 days (more than 48 hours) separate two doses. Wegovy injection: if one dose is missed and the next scheduled dose is more than 2 days (48 hours) away, take it as soon as possible; if the next scheduled dose is less than 2 days away, do not take it — resume on the regularly scheduled day. If 2 or more consecutive doses are missed, the current label says to reinitiate dose escalation at a lower dose to reduce gastrointestinal reactions. Mounjaro and Zepbound: if a dose is missed, take it as soon as possible within 4 days (96 hours) after the missed dose; if more than 4 days have passed, skip it and take the next dose on the regularly scheduled day, then resume the regular schedule. The day of weekly administration can be changed as long as at least 3 days (72 hours) separate two doses. Never take two doses close together to “catch up” unless your prescriber specifically tells you to; the labels' spacing rules exist for a reason.
All four labels carry a boxed warning about the risk of thyroid C-cell tumours: in rodents, these medicines caused dose-dependent and treatment-duration-dependent thyroid C-cell tumours at clinically relevant exposures, and it is unknown whether they cause such tumours, including medullary thyroid carcinoma, in humans. They are contraindicated in people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or in people with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2), and in people with a prior serious hypersensitivity reaction to the medicine or its ingredients. The labels also warn about pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, acute kidney injury (particularly with severe gastrointestinal reactions and dehydration), serious hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis, and low blood sugar when used with insulin or insulin secretagogues (such as sulfonylureas). These medicines delay gastric emptying, which may affect how oral medicines are absorbed — another reason every other medicine you take belongs in the conversation with your prescriber. Do not use two GLP-1 medicines together, and do not combine a semaglutide product with another semaglutide product, or a tirzepatide product with another tirzepatide product; the labels advise against coadministration with other GLP-1 receptor agonists.
This planner is not a prescription, not a recommendation to start, increase, decrease or stop treatment, and not a substitute for the full prescribing information or the medication guide that comes with your product. It covers only the four brand-name injections named above. It does not cover compounded products: compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide are not FDA-approved, are not reviewed by the FDA for safety, quality or effectiveness, and have no FDA-approved titration schedule to reproduce here — any schedule claimed for a compounded product is not a label schedule. This site carries no affiliate links for these medicines and no links to sellers or telehealth sign-ups for compounded products, and the author reports no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies. If anything on this page disagrees with your prescription label or your prescriber's instructions, your prescription label and your prescriber win.
Sources checked 24 October 2026. If a label has since been revised, the revised label governs.