Wegovy® Questions

Wegovy™ Frequently asked Questions

These are questions most asked about Wegovy™ weight loss medication in UK.

What is Wegovy?

Wegovy™ UK (semaglutide) injection 2.4 mg is an injectable prescription medicine used for adults with obesity (BMI ≥30) or overweight (excess weight) (BMI ≥27) who also have weight-related medical problems to help them lose weight and keep the weight off.

Wegovy™ UK should be used with a reduced calorie meal plan and increased physical activity.

Wegovy™ UK contains semaglutide and should not be used with other semaglutide-containing products or other GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines.

• It is not known if Wegovy™ is safe and effective when taken with other prescription, over-the-counter, or herbal weight loss products.
• It is not known if Wegovy™ can be used safely in people with a history of pancreatitis.
• It is not known if Wegovy™ is safe and effective for use in children under 18 years of age.




Can you buy Wegovy? in the UK

Wegovy™ is not currently available to buy in the UK, it will be available very soon.




How Does Wegovy™ Work?

Wegovy™ UK works by mimicking a hormone that targets areas of the brain involved in regulating appetite and food intake. This can help you eat less, which can lead to WEIGHT LOSS.

How effective is wegovy?

In a 68-week medical study of 1,961 adults living with obesity or excess weight with a related medical problem:-

ADULTS LOST ON AVERAGE 35 pounds (16kg) or about 15% of their body weight!

while taking wegovy™

• People taking placebo lost an average of 6 lbs (or ~2.5% body weight)

• The average starting weight for both groups was ~232 lbs

Most importantly, while taking wegovy™, people not only lost weight, but also kept it off!

How do I take wegovy?

wegovy™ is the first and only prescription weight-management medicine taken once weekly. It’s taken on the same day each week, any time of day, with or without food.

wegovy™ is available in 5 doses ranging from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg, each of which is taken once a week for 4 weeks. Each dose comes in a different colour pen.

You should follow a 5-week dose escalation to reach the fully effective 2.4mg dose.

How much wegovy do I need?

Although Wegovy is not currently available in the UK,  we do have another weight loss option call Saxenda.



The wegovy starting dose is 0.25 mg subcutaneously, SC, on the same day each week for4 weeks.

You should increase the dose as indicated every 4 weeks until the full maintenance dose of 2.4 mg is reached.

By the start of the fifth month you should be on the maximum maintenance dose.



1-4 weeks ı 0.25 mg SC once a week, on the same day each week, for 4 weeks



5-8 weeks ı 0.5 mg SC once a week for 4 weeks

9-12 weeks ı 1.0 mg SC once weekly for 4 weeks

13-16 weeks ı 1.7 mg SC once weekly for 4 weeks



Week 17 onwards ı 2.4 mg SC once a week on the same day each week

               

What does the Wegovy pen look like



Each package contains one package leaflet and four wegovy® pens of the same strength.

Your pen is only to be used once. It comes with:

• one pre-set dose.

• a needle cover that hides the built-in needle before, during and after use.

• automatic dosing that starts when the needle cover is pressed against your skin. During dosing, a yellow bar will appear in the pen window. Do not lift the pen before the yellow bar has stopped moving. If you do, the automatic dosing will continue, but you may not receive your full dose. The needle cover will lock when the pen is removed from your skin. You cannot pause the injection and restart it later.

• People who are blind or have vision problems should not use wegovy® without help from a person trained to use wegovy®.

Where do I inject Wegovy?

Choose an injection site in one of the body areas indicated below. You can choose your upper arms, upper legs or stomach (keep a 5 cm distance from your belly button). You may inject in the same body area each week, but make sure it is not in the same spot as used the last time.

When administering wegovy, the pen should be pressed firmly against the skin until the yellow bar has stopped moving. The injection takes about 5–10 seconds.



What if I forget to take a dose of Wegovy?

If a dose is missed, it should be administered as soon as possible and within 5 days after the missed dose.
• If more than 5 days have passed, the missed dose should be skipped, and the next dose should be administered on the regularly scheduled day. In each case, patients can then resume their regular once weekly dosing schedule.
• If more doses are missed, reducing the starting dose for re-initiation should be considered. Please call us on 0161 491 1899 for advice.

What if I want to change the day I take wegovy?

The day of weekly administration can be changed if necessary as long as the time between two doses is at least 3 days (>72 hours). After selecting a new dosing day, once-weekly dosing should be continued.

What needles do I need for wegovy?

The wegovy pens come with the needle already attached. You should keep the pen cap on until you are ready to inject. Your pen will no longer be sterile if you store it without the cap, if you pull the pen capoff and put it on again, or if the pen cap is missing. This could lead to an infection.

Do I store wegovy in a fridge?

Store unused pens in the original carton until use to protect the medication from light.

Are there any side-effects from wegovy?

Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people

• headache

• feeling sick (nausea)

• being sick (vomiting)

• diarrhoea

• constipation

• stomach pain.

• feeling weak or tired – these usually go away over time.

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

• feeling dizzy

• upset stomach or indigestion

• burping

• gas (flatulence)

• bloating of the stomach

• inflamed stomach (‘gastritis’) – the signs include stomach ache, feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)

• reflux or heartburn – also called ‘gastrooesophageal reflux disease’

• gallstones

• hair loss

• injection site reactions

• low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) in patients with diabetes.

For a full list please download the patient information leaflet

Are there any contraindications?

• As there is limited therapeutic experience in patients 75 years of age or over, use in these patients is not recommended

• Anyone with liver or kidney disease should not take wegovy(semaglutide)

• Hypersensitivity to semaglutide or to any of the excipients listed in the patient information leaflet.

• This medicine is not recommended if you have a severe stomach or gut problem which results in delayed stomach emptying (called gastroparesis), or if you have an inflammatory bowel disease.

• Semaglutide should be used with caution in patients with thyroid disease.

• Upon initiation of semaglutide treatment in patients on warfarin or other coumarin derivatives more frequent monitoring of International Normalised Ratio (INR) is recommended.

• Severe heart failure or ever had a stroke

• Disease of the pancreas

• Pregnancy and breast-feeding:- This medicine should not be used during pregnancy, as it is not known if it may affect your unborn child. Therefore, it is recommended to use contraception while using this medicine. If you wish to become pregnant, you should stop using this medicine at least two months in advance. If you become or are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby when using this medicine, talk to your doctor straight away, as your treatment will need to be stopped. Do not use this medicine if you are breast-feeding, as it is unknown if it passes into breast milk.

Can wegovy help with other weight related conditions?

Adults taking wegovy™ experienced improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. Thus improving their overall cardiovascular health.

Patient Information Leaflet

Download a patient information leaflet here

What support will I be offered?

We will not only supply you with medication to control your appetite but offer you lots of vital support to help you reach your weight loss goal and live your best life.

So we’ve introduced 5 pillars to support you to be successful on your weight loss journey and to give you the best possible outcome. These pillars will help you change to adopting healthy habits that will enable lifelong success.

Most importantly we will introduce you to our lifestyle coach who will offer you weekly interactive group coaching sessions to inspire you and help you overcome any obstacles that are holding you back from achieving your goal.

This will all be offered at no extra charge!

Send us your email address, to team@webmedpharmacy.co.uk, to be notified when our new holistic weight management service will begin.

Wegovy™ is not currently available to buy in the UK, it will be available very soon.

In the meantime we do have an alternative weight loss treatment called Saxenda.