Starting a new treatment can be a lot of things: exciting, encouraging, even overwhelming. With this treatment, you’ll be keeping track of things such as weekly injections, potential dose changes, and checkups.
That’s why we’ve mapped out your first 6 weeks with Ozempic at Felix. At a starting dose of 0.25 mg per week, your first Ozempic pen should cover at least 6 weekly doses.
Let’s take a look at what you can expect:
Here’s an overview of other important information you need to know for the first 6 weeks:
Key Details
First-time using Ozempic
You'll begin with a smaller dose of 0.25 mg per week, which may gradually increase, depending on your body's response and side effects. Your practitioner's aim is to find the lowest effective dose, with a maximum of 2.4 mg.
Changes to your dosage
Dose increases happen every 4 weeks, if needed. It’s important that you do not increase your dose at a faster rate than what is outlined in your medication dosing schedule and treatment guide, or what your practitioner has advised. This is because the medication was designed to be increased at a specific rate for your safety and in order to minimize side effects. This also allows your body time to adjust to the medication. Learn more about Ozempic dosing here.
Your first pen: number of doses
Your first Ozempic pen should cover you for 6 weekly doses if you start at 0.25mg and increase to 0.5mg after 4 weeks.
Weekly Tips
Week 1: Your first dose
- Check out the video and blog on how to use the pen.
- Remember, you only need to clear the pen needle the first time you use a new pen. You won’t need to do this again with each dose from the same pen.
- The needle is small and you may not feel it. Listen for the click to know you’ve received your dose.
Week 2: Your second dose
- Remember, if your side effects are more than mild, please talk to your Felix healthcare practitioner.
- Severe, significant or persistent side effects require immediate in-person care.
- Learn more about the main side effects here.
Week 3: Your third dose
- Remember, you can reach out to your healthcare practitioner with questions at any time.
Week 4: Your fourth dose
- Your dose will remain at 0.25mg this week — do not titrate up until week 5
Week 5: Your fifth dose
- You can increase your dose to 0.5mg, if needed. Not all patients will need to increase their dose. The goal is to find the lowest effective dose for you — read more about what you should consider when increasing your Ozempic dose
- Please contact your healthcare practitioner in the chat if you are considering not increasing your dose. They can go over what you’re experiencing and decide on the right doses for you. If you decide not to increase your dose, please contact our support team at hello@felixforyou.ca for extra needle tips and to change your prescription.
- Remember this how to use the pen video talks about how to change doses as well.
Week 6: Your sixth dose
- It is important to keep this medication at a stable temperature when it arrives, so make sure someone is available to sign for your package when it’s due to arrive.
- Your next pen should be on its way to you. Keep using your original pen as directed by your practitioner.
Continuing onward
- Keep an eye out for your renewal checkup notification between weeks 10 to 13 of your treatment.
- Once you’ve reached the dose that is working well for you (i.e. achieved steady-state), we’ll see you for checkups every 3-6 months.
- If you did not need to increase your dose to 0.5mg, your initial pen will last you 8 weeks instead of 6.
Remember, your response to medication can change. You can chat with your Felix practitioner at any time.
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