You can use Wegovy (semaglutide) as long as you need for weight loss and weight management. You can continue taking Wegovy if you and your doctor determine that Wegovy is safe for you and you can tolerate its side effects.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Wegovy for weight management in people with obesity or people with overweight and at least one weight-related health condition. Doctors prescribe it to adults and children ages 12 years and older. They prescribe Wegovy, along with increased physical activity and a reduced calorie intake.
This article looks at how long you can take Wegovy for weight loss, what results you might have, and what happens if you stop using it.
Boxed warnings: Risk of thyroid cancer
Wegovy has a boxed warning about the possible risk of thyroid cancer. A boxed warning is the most serious warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It alerts doctors and patients about drug effects that may be dangerous.
Risk of thyroid cancer: In animal studies, rats given Wegovy had an increased risk of thyroid cancer. However, it isn’t known whether Wegovy increases the risk of thyroid cancer in humans.
If you have a history of a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma, your doctor won’t prescribe Wegovy. Also, if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, a rare genetic condition that can cause thyroid cancer, your doctor won’t prescribe Wegovy.
If you have additional questions about Wegovy and its boxed warning, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.
Show More
You inject Wegovy under the skin of your abdomen, upper arm, or thigh. You’ll take it once per week, on the same day of the week. You can take Wegovy at any time of day, with or without food.
Can I start Wegovy at 1.7 mg?
No. The recommended starting dose for Wegovy is 0.25 milligrams (mg). You’ll need to take 0.25 mg once per week for the first 4 weeks of treatment.
Starting at this dosage reduces the risk of side effects from Wegovy. If you tolerate the initial dose, your doctor may gradually increase the dosage as follows:
- Weeks 5 through 8: 0.5 mg
- Weeks 9 through 12: 1 mg
- Weeks 13 through 16: 1.7 mg
Wegovy’s maintenance dose
The typical maintenance (long-term) dose for Wegovy can be up to 2.4 mg. Your doctor will prescribe a maintenance regimen at the dose that helped you reach your goal weight. For some people, the maintenance dose may be 2.4 mg. For others, the maintenance dose may be 1.7 mg.
Your doctor will determine the best dosage for you after you hit your weight loss goal.
The information on what results to expect with Wegovy treatment is as follows.
First-month results
A 2021 study found that, on average, people lost more than 2% of their body weight in the first 4 weeks of using semaglutide. (Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Wegovy.) For example, if a person weighs 200 pounds (lb), a 2% reduction in body weight means they would lose 5 lb. For reference 1kilogram (kg) =2.205 lb.
Keep in mind that the amount of weight you lose with Wegovy and how fast you lose it varies from person to person.
Long-term results
A
At 104 weeks, 67.8% of participants using semaglutide had lost 5% of their body weight or more, and 44.2% had lost 10% or more. Researchers compared this data with 21.3% and 6.9% of participants, respectively, who used a placebo. A smaller percentage of participants using semaglutide had lost 15% to 25% of their weight or more at this point in the trial.
Semaglutide also reduced major cardiovascular events — including heart attack and worsening of heart failure — by 20% in people without diabetes who had cardiovascular disease, overweight, or obesity.
If you have questions about what results to expect with Wegovy, talk with your doctor.
How much weight can you lose with Wegovy?
In clinical trials, most people taking 1.7-mg and 2.4-mg doses of Wegovy had lost 5% to 15% of their body weight after 68 weeks of treatment.
In a small
Do you lose weight on a maintenance dose of Wegovy?
Yes, it’s possible to continue losing weight while on a maintenance dose of Wegovy.
The maintenance dose of Wegovy is up to 2.4 mg once per week. You can stay on your maintenance dose for several months as long as the drug is effective and you can tolerate its side effects. If you are unable to tolerate the side effects, your doctor may decrease your Wegovy dose to 1.7mg once per week.
Ways to increase weight loss with Wegovy
Here are five possible ways to increase weight loss while using Wegovy:
- Reduce your calorie intake: Reducing your calorie intake by
500 kilocaloriesTrusted Source per day may support weight loss. - Increase your physical activity: Aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week can help increase weight loss.
- Eat nutrient-dense foods: Nutrient-dense foods provide important vitamins and minerals and are lower in added sugars, saturated fats, and salt. Nutrient-dense foods help provide your body with the nutrients it needs without excess calories.
- Manage stress: Stress
can changeTrusted Source food intake and fat storage, potentially leading to weight gain. Finding healthy ways to manage stress may support weight loss. - Get quality sleep: Inadequate sleep
may increaseTrusted Source the risk of obesity and increase energy intake. Getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep may help with weight loss.
Reasons you may not lose weight with Wegovy
Possible reasons you may not be losing weight while using Wegovy include:
- Reaching a plateau: After an initial weight loss, a plateau may occur at roughly
60 weeksTrusted Source of treatment. - Needing to give it more time: Significant weight loss with Wegovy is gradual. It can take more than a year to lose almost 15% of your weight with the highest dosage.
- Taking other medications: Other medications, such as beta-blockers, some diabetes drugs, and antipsychotics, may cause weight gain.
If you’re using Wegovy and not losing weight, you can talk with your doctor about factors that could be preventing weight loss. In some cases, your doctor may suggest changing your Wegovy dosage or taking a different weight loss drug, such as tirzepatide (Zepbound).
Wegovy is a long-term treatment that you may use to maintain weight loss until you can manage its side effects. If you stop using Wegovy, you may regain the weight that you lost. If you had preexisting cardiovascular or metabolic conditions, these may also return.
A
If you want to stop using Wegovy, it is important to continue any other lifestyle changes you’ve made to support weight loss, such as eating a low calorie diet and increasing your physical activity. You can talk with your doctor about how to stop Wegovy safely while avoiding weight regain and preventing health conditions from returning.
Wegovy is a long-term treatment for weight loss that you may continue to use as long as you’re able to safely manage any side effects.
Your doctor will gradually increase your dosage until you reach a maintenance dose. This is the dose you’ll keep taking to sustain weight loss.
If you’d like to stop Wegovy, talk with your doctor about how to do so safely. To help prevent weight regain, it’s important to continue with any healthy lifestyle changes you’ve made.
Disclaimer: Medical News Today has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date. However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or another healthcare professional before taking any medication. The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses.
