GLP-1 escalation timeline

GLP-1 dose escalation timeline

Pick your medication and start date — see your current step, the full titration ladder, and weeks remaining until your maintenance dose. Schedules match each medication's FDA prescribing information.

Medication

Semaglutide / Wegovy— weekly subcutaneous, 16-week titration to 2.4 mgTirzepatide / Zepbound— weekly subcutaneous, up to 24-week titration to 15 mgTirzepatide / Mounjaro— weekly subcutaneous, up to 24-week titration to 15 mgLiraglutide / Saxenda— daily subcutaneous, weekly titration to 3.0 mg

Start date

Week

titration step (week 1 of 4)

Current dose

0.25 mg/wk

Semaglutide / Wegovy

Weeks to maintenance

target: 2.4 mg/wk

Why titration? GLP-1 receptor agonists produce dose-dependent gastrointestinal side effects (nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting). Slow up-titration lets the receptor population adapt; jumping straight to the maintenance dose is documented in the trials to drive dropout. The schedules above are the FDA-approved protocols, not optimization. Many clinicians extend a step by 2–4 weeks for tolerability — that is a clinical decision, not what we model here.

Educational tool only — not medical advice. Your prescribing clinician's plan supersedes any timeline this calculator shows.

Sources