Weeks
6 pages in this section, most recently updated September 4, 2026.
- 01
Your first injection: what it is actually like
Where the needle goes, what each device does, how long the shot takes, what you feel in the first three days, and the six things to have sorted before you open the box. Pens and compounded vials covered separately.
Updated September 4, 2026
- 02
Weeks 1 to 4: the initiation dose
What the labels say the first four weeks are for, what is happening to the drug level in your blood, which side effects show up and when according to the label tables, and why the scale is the wrong instrument this month.
Updated September 4, 2026
- 03
Weeks 5 to 8: the first step up
What changes at the first dose increase, why side effects often come back for a few days, what the label lets a prescriber do if a step is not tolerated, and what the trials measured at this point.
Updated September 4, 2026
- 04
Weeks 9 to 12: the second step and the first real numbers
The third label step, what tends to settle and what does not, the labs and follow-up a prescriber may want by now, the first trial time points with meaningful separation, and how to think about a plateau that is not a plateau.
Updated September 4, 2026
- 05
When weight change typically starts: the STEP 1 and SURMOUNT-1 curves
What the two pivotal trials measured and when, how early the treatment curves separated from placebo, what the 68 and 72 week totals were, how many people reached 5, 10 and 15 percent, and why none of that is a forecast for one person.
Updated September 4, 2026
- 06
Plan your first 12 weeks
Use the week-by-week planner: pick a start date and the label schedule your prescriber is following, get a dated calendar of every injection, every step up and the steady-state points, with what the label and the trials say about each week, then export it.
Updated September 4, 2026