Quick overview of what we’ll cover in this blog post:
- What titration means
- Why Ozempic® prescriptions are titrated
- What to expect with your Ozempic® titration schedule
- What to do if you’d like to adjust your schedule
It’s fair to assume that titrating with Ozempic® is the same as titrating with Wegovy®. After all, they’re both semaglutide-based medications developed by Novo Nordisk.
But titration is where the differences between these two medications start to reveal themselves. And that’s to assume that you were familiar with titration to begin.
If you’re new to titration and self-administered injections, it can sometimes feel intimidating to hear that you’ll be responsible for ramping up your own weekly doses. The reality, though, is much less scary than that: with dedicated support from your AgelessRx team, combined with Novo Nordisk’s easy-to-use design, titrating with Ozempic® could become the simplest part of your routine.
First, what’s titration?
Titration is the process of slowly adjusting the dosage for a medication until the ideal balance is achieved – the maximum possible benefits with minimum side effects.
The idea is to give the body enough time and exposure so it can adjust to the medication on its own. This can involve reducing a dose, but more often than not, titration involves starting a patient on a smaller dose, then slowly increasing the dose over the coming weeks or months until they reach the target dose.
The latter is the case for Ozempic®. But don’t worry, the burden of managing your own doses isn’t set entirely on you. In fact, Novo Nordisk has made it exceedingly simple to keep up with your Ozempic® doses month after month.
Titrating with Ozempic®
When it comes to self-injectable medications, most users are forced to grapple with purchasing needles and syringes themselves.
Novo Nordisk designed Ozempic® to be delivered via a user-friendly injection pen that comes with everything you’ll need right in the package. Any needles you’ll need will be included, and you won’t have to draw up solutions or go through a pre-med tutorial on how to properly administer an injection.
That’s because Ozempic® pens contain all of your monthly doses inside them already, with a dose counter for you to dial in your weekly dose, and a discrete needle point and plunger that makes the injection all but painless.
For example, if your current weekly prescription is 0.5mg, then you’ll usually receive a 2mg Ozempic® pen for the month. All you’ll have to do is turn the counter to 0.5mg, select a fatty area on your body, and go for it!
Here’s a snapshot of what your typical Ozempic® titration plan might look like:
- Start with a single dose of 0.25mg once a week for the first month.
- Increase to 0.5mg once a week for the second month.
- Then 1mg each week for the third month.
- Finally, settle on 2mg each week for the fourth month onwards.
As mentioned above, this is set by the manufacturers of Ozempic® after years of careful research, so this will most likely be the schedule you follow as well, no matter where you got your prescription.
How do I start titrating?
To follow your Ozempic® titration schedule, all you have to do is open the package and take as prescribed – your prescriber and pharmacy will always provide the correct dosage for that month (they made it easy for us too!).
In keeping with the whole user-friendly theme, Novo Nordisk also thought to color code their pens, so remembering which dose you’re on is as simple as matching the color of your pen to the chart below:
- Month 1, 0.25mg – Red
- Month 2, 0.5mg – Red
- Month 3, 1mg – Blue/Green
- Month 4, 2mg – Yellow
You can always remind yourself of where you are in your titration schedule by reading the prescribing information that came with your shipment or logging in to your AgelessRx portal.
What if normal titration isn’t working for me?
Even with protocols as carefully coordinated as Ozempic®, the fact remains that everyone has a unique experience with any medication.
You may find that the target dose of 2mg each week is a bit too much for you to tolerate. Alternatively, you could also find that your current dose doesn’t quite produce the results you were hoping for.
Our team of experts is always ready to work with you to find your goldilocks dose, or the dose that’s just right for you. But we can only do so within the boundaries that Novo Nordisk has set.
If you find that an earlier dose, like 1mg, makes you feel the best and produces the best outcomes, then we can work to hold your titration at this dose until you feel ready to move up.
However, we won’t be able to recommend any doses higher than the maximum set by Novo Nordisk. Higher doses have not been shown either to be safe or to produce better outcomes. To this end, doubling up on doses or taking more than prescribed is strongly discouraged.
Should you find that the outcomes aren’t what you were expecting, we encourage you to take Ozempic® with a reduced-calorie meal plan and at least 150 minutes of exercise per week: Ozempic® is indicated as an addition to healthy diet and exercise, and the best outcomes are achieved in addition to these, not despite them. Consider also how long you’ve been taking Ozempic®: if it’s only been a few weeks, just keep at it for another few weeks!
If you’ve tried all of the above and still aren’t getting your desired results, or if you want to better understand your titration, just talk to us! Our experts are happy to answer your questions, so you have the safest and most rewarding outcomes.
Learn more about Ozempic® and find out if it’s right for you.
Note: The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Unless otherwise noted, all information as presented here is sourced from Ozempic.com.