Semaglutide Dosage Chart: What Each Dose Does, from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg
Physician Assistant · BHRT Specialist
The semaglutide dosage chart for weight management runs five steps: 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, and 2.4 mg, each taken as a once-weekly injection with about four weeks at every step. That comes from the Wegovy prescribing information, which labels weeks 1 through 4 initiation, weeks 5 through 16 escalation, and lists only 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg as a maintenance dosage. So the first sixteen weeks are a ramp, and 2.4 mg is the dose the label recommends holding at. If you're drawing from a compounded vial instead of a prefilled pen, none of those milligram numbers tell you where to stop pulling the plunger. The unit conversion is further down this page.
Below is the chart, then a dose-by-dose walkthrough, then the syringe arithmetic. Milligrams are the easy part. The pace, and the reasons a good provider slows it down, decide how this actually goes for you.
The Semaglutide Dose Chart at a Glance
| Dose (once weekly) | Weeks | What the label calls it, and what it does |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 mg | Weeks 1 to 4 | Initiation. This dose introduces the medication to your gut. Weight loss here is a bonus, not the point. |
| 0.5 mg | Weeks 5 to 8 | Escalation. Appetite usually starts to quiet down somewhere in this month. |
| 1 mg | Weeks 9 to 12 | Escalation. Most people can clearly feel the medication working by this level. |
| 1.7 mg | Weeks 13 to 16 | Escalation on the way up, and also one of the two approved maintenance doses. |
| 2.4 mg | Week 17 onward | Maintenance. The label lists this as the recommended maintenance dosage for adults. |
Those week ranges are the label's, and they're a floor rather than a deadline. Each step assumes four weeks at the dose before it, with side effects you can actually live with. The prescribing information says outright that if a patient doesn't tolerate a dose during escalation, the escalation can be delayed by four weeks. Sitting at 0.5 mg for eight weeks is following the label, not falling behind it.
What Is the Semaglutide Dosing Schedule by Week?
On the standard schedule you take 0.25 mg once weekly for weeks 1 through 4, then 0.5 mg for weeks 5 through 8, 1 mg for weeks 9 through 12, and 1.7 mg for weeks 13 through 16. From week 17 onward you stay at either 2.4 mg, which the label recommends, or 1.7 mg. The fastest path to a maintenance dose is about four months, and plenty of people take longer than that on purpose.
0.25 mg: The Starter Dose, and Why It Feels Like Nothing
Four weeks in, the scale hasn't moved, and you're wondering whether you got a bad batch. We hear this constantly.
Nothing is wrong. The 0.25 mg dose exists to let your body meet the medication. Semaglutide slows how fast your stomach empties and turns down appetite signaling in the brain, and both of those feel strongest when they're new. Start at a maintenance dose on day one and most people spend the first week in the bathroom.
The label is blunt about this in its own quiet way. Its dosing table calls weeks 1 through 4 initiation and weeks 5 through 16 escalation, and only 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg get the word maintenance. Everything below that is a ramp toward the dose that does the work.
A rough first month is still worth paying attention to. It usually means holding at 0.25 mg a while longer, not quitting. Baseline labs help here too. When we run advanced testing before the first injection, we know what your thyroid, insulin, and metabolic markers looked like going in, which makes every later dosing call sharper than a guess.
0.5 mg and 1 mg: The Climb
This is where it starts. At 0.5 mg, most people notice that food gets quieter. Portions shrink without a fight. The constant background negotiation about what to eat next turns down.
At 1 mg the effect is usually unmistakable. Plenty of people are losing steadily by here, and some would happily stay at this dose forever. They can't, exactly, because 1 mg isn't an approved maintenance dosage for weight management. But the instinct behind it is right: more medication isn't automatically better medication.
The climb is also where the supporting work matters most, and where most quick-script programs disappear. Semaglutide can blunt appetite so completely that you stop eating enough protein, and then you lose muscle along with the fat. Collin Dees, MPAS, PA-C, who works with weight loss patients in our clinic, builds protein targets and resistance training into GLP-1 plans for that reason. Body composition scans at follow-up show whether the pounds coming off are fat or lean mass, which a bathroom scale can't. Losing muscle belongs in the conversation at every dose, and our guide to body composition versus scale weight covers what to watch.
1.7 mg and 2.4 mg: The Two Doses You Can Stay On
For adults, the label gives two maintenance options: 2.4 mg once weekly, which it recommends, or 1.7 mg once weekly. Both are real destinations. If 1.7 mg is working and 2.4 mg makes you miserable, staying at 1.7 mg is a legitimate plan rather than a compromise.
There's one hard line in the prescribing information worth knowing before you start. If a patient cannot tolerate the 1.7 mg once-weekly dosage, the label says to discontinue the medication. Read that as a stopping point rather than something to push through, and let a provider who knows your labs make the call.
The trial numbers behind 2.4 mg are strong. In the 68-week study of adults with obesity reported in the prescribing information, semaglutide 2.4 mg averaged a 14.9 percent reduction in body weight against 2.4 percent on placebo. Averages describe a study population, not you, and the right dose is still the lowest one that keeps you moving with side effects you barely notice.
Semaglutide Dosing Chart in Units (Compounded Vials)
Everything above is written in milligrams, because that's how the prefilled pens are labeled. If you're on a compounded version, you're holding a vial and an insulin syringe marked in units, and the chart above doesn't tell you where to stop drawing.
Units measure volume, not drug. The same 0.5 mg dose is a completely different number of units depending on how concentrated your vial is, and concentration varies between compounding pharmacies. There's no universal semaglutide units chart, which is exactly why you should never copy one off someone else's vial or a group chat.
Read the concentration printed on your own vial, then use this:
units = (your dose in mg ÷ the vial's mg per mL) × 100
The 100 is there because a standard U-100 insulin syringe holds 100 units in 1 mL. Worked out across three concentrations that compounding pharmacies use:
| Dose | If your vial is 2.5 mg/mL | If your vial is 5 mg/mL | If your vial is 10 mg/mL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 mg | 10 units (0.1 mL) | 5 units (0.05 mL) | 2.5 units (0.025 mL) |
| 0.5 mg | 20 units (0.2 mL) | 10 units (0.1 mL) | 5 units (0.05 mL) |
| 1 mg | 40 units (0.4 mL) | 20 units (0.2 mL) | 10 units (0.1 mL) |
| 1.7 mg | 68 units (0.68 mL) | 34 units (0.34 mL) | 17 units (0.17 mL) |
| 2.4 mg | 96 units (0.96 mL) | 48 units (0.48 mL) | 24 units (0.24 mL) |
Look at the two ends of that table, because they fail in opposite directions. At 2.5 mg/mL, the 2.4 mg maintenance dose is 96 units, very nearly the whole syringe. At 10 mg/mL, the 0.25 mg starter dose is 2.5 units, and most U-100 syringes have no half-unit markings at all, so that dose is being eyeballed rather than measured. Any cell that lands on a half unit is an estimate. A 30-unit or 50-unit syringe with finer gradations is the better tool at the small end.
If your vial lists a total amount in milligrams and says nothing about milligrams per milliliter, you can't do this math safely. Call the pharmacy and ask for the concentration. Guessing it from the size of the vial is how dosing errors happen.
One more thing about charts. A units chart built for a different GLP-1 doesn't transfer, and the doses don't map onto each other, which is why our guide to switching from semaglutide to tirzepatide exists as its own piece. None of this arithmetic is permission to change your own dose, either. It tells you how to draw the dose you were prescribed. Where you land on the chart is a clinical decision made against your labs and how you're tolerating the medication.
When a Provider Holds or Slows a Dose
A responsible provider doesn't march everyone up the chart on a calendar. There are good reasons to sit at a dose longer than four weeks, and none of them mean the medication is failing.
- Side effects. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and reflux tend to flare right after an increase. The label's own answer to that is delaying the escalation by four weeks. Our guide to GLP-1 side effects covers what's expected and what's worth a phone call.
- You're already doing well. If you're losing steadily at 1 mg and feeling good, there's nothing to fix.
- You've stopped eating enough. When appetite drops so far that protein and basic nutrition fall off, a higher dose digs the hole deeper. Holding while you rebuild how you eat is the smarter move.
- The rest of the picture. Bloodwork, blood pressure, and body composition all feed the decision. Weight that won't move sometimes has a driver sitting underneath the appetite, which is why we look at thyroid and adrenal function and broader hormone balance instead of just raising the number. Our post on why weight loss stalls walks through the usual suspects.
Holding is the system working. The people who do well on this medication a year later almost always have a provider who stayed involved past the first prescription.
Where Compounded Semaglutide Stands
A quick note, since a lot of people reading a units chart are on a compounded version. The FDA has proposed permanently excluding semaglutide from large-scale 503B compounding, and the public comment window on that proposal closed on July 30, 2026. Supply and legality move faster than a blog post, so check the current status before you build plans around it: what the 503B proposal means if you are on a compounded GLP-1.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the standard semaglutide dosing schedule?
Once weekly, on the same day each week, starting at 0.25 mg for four weeks, then 0.5 mg, then 1 mg, then 1.7 mg, four weeks at each. From week 17 the maintenance dose is 2.4 mg or 1.7 mg. The label says it can be taken at any time of day, with or without meals, and that the time of day and the injection site can be changed without adjusting the dose.
What happens if I miss a dose of semaglutide?
The prescribing information gives a rule based on timing. If your next scheduled dose is more than two days (48 hours) away, take the missed dose as soon as possible. If the next dose is less than two days away, skip the missed one and don't double up. Miss two or more in a row and the label allows either resuming on schedule or restarting the escalation ladder, which is a call for your provider rather than a coin flip.
What if I cannot tolerate a dose increase?
Tell your provider before you tough it out. The label's instruction is to delay the escalation by four weeks, which usually means dropping back to the dose you handled well and trying again later. One exception is worth repeating: the label says to discontinue the medication if a patient cannot tolerate 1.7 mg once weekly. Grinding through severe nausea or vomiting to reach a bigger number helps nobody.
Why is the 0.25 mg starter dose not doing anything?
Because it isn't supposed to. Its job is letting your gut adjust, and the label's dosing table calls it an initiation dosage, separate from the maintenance doses of 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg. Seeing very little in the first month says nothing about how you'll respond once the dose climbs.
How many units is 0.25 mg of semaglutide?
It depends entirely on your vial. At 2.5 mg/mL it's 10 units on a U-100 insulin syringe. At 5 mg/mL the same 0.25 mg dose is 5 units, and at 10 mg/mL it's 2.5 units. Read the concentration off your own label and run the formula above rather than trusting any single number, including that one.
How is a compounded vial different from the pen?
The drug climbs the same ladder, but the measuring is on you. A prefilled pen delivers one labeled dose, so there's no arithmetic. A vial and an insulin syringe put the conversion in your hands, which is why the concentration on the label matters more than anything else printed on it. Brand names muddy this further, and our breakdown of the four brand names sorts out which product is which.
Do I have to reach 2.4 mg?
No. The label lists 1.7 mg as a maintenance dosage alongside 2.4 mg, so there's an approved place to stop short. The dose that keeps you consistent and healthy for a year beats the biggest number on the chart.
How Semaglutide Dosing Works at Med Matrix
The ladder from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg is a framework. Where you land on it should come from your labs, your body composition, and how you actually feel, decided with a provider who keeps adjusting instead of mailing you a vial and going quiet.
That's what our process is built to do, in five steps:
- Free Discovery Call. A patient coordinator hears what you're dealing with and what you've already tried.
- 80+ Biomarker Test & Full Body Scan. Run before any prescription, so we know your metabolic and hormone baseline going in.
- Medical Team Reviews Everything. Your labs, history, and questionnaires get read together, not skimmed in a five-minute video visit.
- 60-Minute Provider Consultation. A full hour on the results and the plan, including whether semaglutide fits and where your dosing should start.
- Ongoing Support & Progress. Doses get adjusted against your labs and your body composition at every step of the chart.
Same approach across semaglutide weight loss and weight loss treatment generally.
If you're starting out, stuck at a dose, or tired of being managed by an app, Start Feeling Like Yourself Again with a plan built around your labs instead of a generic schedule.