The Wegovy Pill Dosage Chart: Every Step From 1.5 mg to 25 mg

Wegovy pill dosage chart: the four steps

The FDA label's summary says to raise the dose every 30 days. Its table gives each step 30 days, so the earliest you reach 25 mg is day 91.

That 25 mg tablet is the recommended maintenance dose, meaning the dose you stay on long term. The lower strengths are steps on the way up.

Wegovy is semaglutide, a GLP-1 drug. It copies a gut hormone that slows digestion and quiets appetite. Starting low gives your stomach time to get used to it.

• A step doesn't agree with you: the label says to 'consider delaying dosage escalation.' You stay on your current dose longer before moving up.
• 25 mg doesn't agree with you: the label says to consider switching to the Wegovy injection.
• One tablet a day: the label says never to take more than one tablet per day.

Looking for the weekly pen's ladder, or the 7.2 mg HD pen? Those live in our Wegovy dosage guide.

How to take the Wegovy pill each morning

This pill is fussier than most morning tablets. Your gut absorbs only a small share of each dose, so the label wraps a short routine around it.

• In the morning, on an empty stomach: take one tablet before anything else.
• Up to 4 ounces of water: that is half a cup, about 120 mL. The Medication Guide says not to take it with any other liquid.
• Swallow it whole: the label says don't split, crush, chew or dissolve it.
• Wait at least 30 minutes: after that, you can eat, drink or take other oral medicines.

Coffee, tea and juice count as drinks. They wait until the 30 minutes are up, just like breakfast.

The label's own data show why the routine matters. Absorption was higher with a small amount of water than with a full glass. It was also higher when people waited longer before eating.

That finding is not a new rule. The instruction stays at least 30 minutes, and the label sets no longer wait.

Thyroid pills, oral HRT, calcium and iron

In your 40s and 50s, the morning pill box can be crowded. The 30-minute wait applies to every other oral medicine you take.

Thyroid pills need the most attention. Levothyroxine is the usual thyroid hormone pill.

In a study with the semaglutide tablet, the body's exposure to thyroid hormone from levothyroxine rose by 33%.

The label advises monitoring the effects of oral medicines taken with Wegovy. It asks for closer lab checks on drugs where a small change in blood level matters.

Many thyroid pills are also meant for an empty stomach first thing in the morning. The Wegovy label doesn't say which goes first, so your prescriber sets that order.

The label doesn't name oral estradiol, calcium or iron. Its 30-minute wait covers other oral medicines, so those come after the wait too.

Birth control pills are a different story. The label lists the hormones in a common birth control pill among drugs whose levels did not change in a meaningful way. Foundayo is different: its label advises a backup birth control method for a few weeks after starting and after each dose increase. See Foundayo dosage.

Missed a Wegovy pill? Skip it

The rule is short. If you miss a dose, skip it and take your next tablet the following day.

Don't take two to catch up. The label caps you at one tablet a day.

Missed several days in a row? The label sets no rule for that case, so the restart plan is your prescriber's call.

Other GLP-1 drugs have different rules, so don't borrow theirs.

• Wegovy pen: take a missed shot if your next one is more than 2 days away. If you miss 2 or more doses in a row, the label says to restart the ladder at a lower dose.
• Foundayo pill: take a missed dose as soon as possible. If you miss 7 or more days in a row, its label says to restart at a lower dose. See Foundayo dosage.

What the Wegovy pill doses cost

The price climbs with the first two steps, then stops climbing. NovoCare Pharmacy, Novo Nordisk's own pharmacy, sells each strength as a 30-tablet bottle.

These are self-pay prices as of October 2026, meaning what you pay in cash without insurance. Delivery is free.

• 1.5 mg, days 1–30: about $150 a bottle
• 4 mg, days 31–60: about $200 a bottle
• 9 mg and 25 mg, from day 61: about $300 a bottle

The 4 mg price rose to about $200 after August 31, 2026. Older pages may still show about $150.

NovoCare calls these prices a limited-time offer. Novo says it can change or cancel the program at any time.

Pill or pen: which costs less at each step?

We set the pill against the weekly pen bought from NovoCare, month by month.

• Month 1: pill about $150 · Pen about $200 for new patients, or about $350 without the intro offer
• Month 2: pill about $200 · Pen about $200 with the intro offer, or about $350
• Month 3 onward: pill about $300 · Pen about $350 · The 7.2 mg HD pen, used only after 2.4 mg, about $400

So the pill never costs more than the pen at NovoCare. In month two they tie, if you get the pen's intro price.

That intro offer covers two fills for new patients, through December 31, 2026. After it, the pen is about $350 a month.

A year on the pill

• Following the label's steps: one bottle at about $150, one at about $200, then ten at about $300. That is about $3,350 for 12 bottles.
• Staying at 1.5 mg all year: about $1,800. The label doesn't treat 1.5 mg as a dose to stay on, so this is a floor, not a plan.
• The pen, for comparison: a year takes 13 boxes of 28 days. That is about $4,250 with the two intro fills, or about $4,550 without.

With insurance, Medicare, Costco or telehealth

Commercial insurance means a plan from your job or one you buy yourself. If it covers the pill, the Wegovy savings card can bring any dose down to as little as $25.

Novo pays at most $100 per one-month fill, so a high copay can leave you paying more. A copay is your share of the bill at the pharmacy.

One month means one 30-tablet bottle. On a three-month fill, Novo's cap rises to $300.

If your plan doesn't cover the pill, the same offer gets you the self-pay price at a local pharmacy. It excludes anyone whose drug coverage comes from a federal or state program, Medicare included. Plan details are in Wegovy and insurance.

On Medicare Part D, the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge charges $50 for a one-month supply if you qualify. It covers the Wegovy pill or pen, Foundayo and the Zepbound KwikPen.

Your prescriber may need a prior authorization, an approval requested before the first fill. It stays valid for refills and dose changes through December 31, 2027.

BMI, or body mass index, compares your weight with your height. Medicare lists three ways to qualify:

• BMI 35 or higher.
• BMI 30 or higher with a type of heart failure called HFpEF, where the heart pumps normally but stiffens, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or chronic kidney disease at stage 3a or higher.
• BMI 27 or higher with prediabetes, a past heart attack or stroke, or blocked arteries in the legs or arms that cause symptoms.

The Bridge excludes people with type 2 diabetes, moderate-to-severe sleep apnea or fatty liver disease. Their Part D plan may cover a GLP-1 for those conditions instead. Extra Help, the Medicare program that cuts drug costs for people with low income, does not lower the $50.

Costco Member Value Pricing lists the pill at about $300 at 9 mg and 25 mg. That matches NovoCare, but you need a Costco membership.

Ro prescribes the pill at the same prices as NovoCare. Its membership comes on top, at about $150 a month after a $39 first month.

Paying a year upfront brings Ro's membership down to about $75 a month. Ro also sells multi-month pill plans that it says save up to $600 a year, without publishing their prices.

Switching between the Wegovy pen and the pill

The label does describe a switch, but only between the two top doses.

• Pen to pill: one week after stopping the 2.4 mg shot, start the 25 mg tablet once a day.
• Pill to pen: the day after stopping the 25 mg tablet, start the 2.4 mg shot once a week.

For any other dose, such as 1.7 mg or the 7.2 mg HD pen, the label gives no switching rule. Your prescriber builds that plan.

Don't read the switch as a milligram match. The label says only about 1% to 2% of a swallowed tablet reaches the bloodstream.

That is why the pill needs much bigger numbers than a weekly shot. That figure belongs to the Wegovy tablet, and older figures quoted for Rybelsus are lower.

For the bigger picture on routine and price, see GLP-1 pill vs injection and Wegovy pill vs pen. Every semaglutide schedule sits side by side in semaglutide dosage.

Can you stay on a lower Wegovy pill dose?

The label names one maintenance dose for the pill: 25 mg once a day. So 9 mg is a step on the way, not a place to stop.

Staying on 1.5 mg, 4 mg or 9 mg long term is off-label, meaning outside the label's directions. A prescriber can still choose it for you.

Hims sells a Wegovy pill microdose plan that starts at 1.5 mg and stops at 4 mg. Hims itself calls it off-label and says lower doses are unstudied for weight loss and may work less well.

That plan starts at about $150 a month for the medicine, plus the Hims membership.

A lower dose does cost less at NovoCare. Just keep in mind that the trial results below come from 25 mg.

Wegovy pill side effects as the dose climbs

The label has no side-effect table for each pill step. It says the common side effects on the 25 mg tablet were similar in type and rate to the Wegovy injection.

For the injection, stomach problems lead the list: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation and stomach pain.

In OASIS 4, the main pill trial, stomach side effects affected 74% of people on the pill. On placebo, a dummy pill, the figure was 42%.

• Stopped for any side effect: 6.9% on the 25 mg pill, against 5.9% on placebo.
• Stopped for stomach side effects: 3.4%, against 2% on placebo.
• Severe stomach side effects: 2%, against none on placebo.
• Dysesthesia: 5% on the pill, against none on placebo. It means unusual skin feelings, such as tingling.

The slow climb is there to soften these effects. If a step feels rough, the label's answer is to wait longer before the next one. For what helps day to day, see Wegovy side effects.

Signs that need a call right away

The FDA Medication Guide for Wegovy lists these:

• Neck changes: a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing or shortness of breath.
• Severe stomach pain that won't go away, with or without vomiting. It may spread to your back. Stop Wegovy and call, since it can signal pancreatitis, an inflamed pancreas.
• Gallbladder signs: pain in your upper stomach, fever, yellow skin or eyes, or clay-colored stools.
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea that doesn't go away: losing that much fluid can harm your kidneys.
• A serious allergic reaction: swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing, severe rash or itching, fainting or a very fast heartbeat. Stop Wegovy and get medical help.
• Changes in your vision, which the guide lists for people with type 2 diabetes.
• A racing or pounding heart that lasts several minutes.
• Surgery or sedation coming up: tell the care team you take Wegovy, because of a rare risk of breathing in stomach contents under anesthesia.

Wegovy pill form, and how it differs from the Ozempic pill

The FDA approved the Wegovy pill on December 22, 2025. It was the first GLP-1 pill approved for weight management.

• Strengths: 1.5 mg, 4 mg, 9 mg and 25 mg. The first three are round, and the 25 mg tablet is oval.
• Look: white to light yellow, stamped with the dose on one side and 'novo' on the other.
• Packaging: bottles of 30 tablets, one month at one tablet a day.
• Storage: room temperature, 68 to 77°F. Keep the tablets in the original bottle, in a dry place away from moisture.

The Ozempic pill is a separate product. It is the diabetes tablet once sold as Rybelsus, renamed in the US and sold since May 4, 2026.

It comes in 1.5 mg, 4 mg and 9 mg, the same numbers as the first three Wegovy steps. But it is approved for type 2 diabetes, not weight management.

Your prescription names one brand, and that is the one you take. The Wegovy label also says not to use it with other semaglutide products. The diabetes ladder is in Ozempic dosage.

Foundayo is the other weight-loss pill. It is orforglipron, made by Eli Lilly, and its label lets you take it at any time of day, with or without food.

How much weight people lost on the 25 mg oral Wegovy dose

OASIS 4 tested the 25 mg pill against placebo in 307 adults without diabetes. It ran 64 weeks, and everyone also got diet and activity support.

On average, the pill group lost 13.6% of their body weight. The placebo group lost 2.2%.

That figure counts everyone who joined the trial, including people who stopped taking the pill. Researchers call this the treatment-policy analysis.

You may see about 17% quoted elsewhere, against about 3% on placebo. That comes from a second analysis that assumes everyone kept taking the pill.

Both are group averages, not a forecast for any one person.

Who the Wegovy pill is for, and who shouldn't take it

The label approves the pill for two uses in adults.

• Weight: to reduce excess weight and keep it off long term, in adults with obesity, or overweight plus at least one weight-related health problem.
• Heart: to lower the risk of heart attack, stroke or heart-related death in adults with heart disease and obesity or overweight.

The pill carries a boxed warning, the FDA's strongest label alert. Semaglutide caused thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents, and whether that applies to people is unknown.

The label says not to take it if any of these apply:

• Medullary thyroid cancer, or MTC, in you or anyone in your family. It is a rare type of thyroid cancer.
• MEN 2, an inherited condition of the hormone glands linked to that cancer.
• A serious allergic reaction to semaglutide or any ingredient in the tablet.

Stop the pill once you know you're pregnant. If you're planning a pregnancy, the label says to stop at least 2 months before, because semaglutide stays in the body a long time.

Breastfeeding is not recommended while you take the tablets.

One label finding matters for women in midlife. In the injection's heart trial, hip and pelvic fractures were more common in women on Wegovy than on placebo.

The label has one schedule for every adult, with no separate plan by menopause stage. Results by menopause stage you may have read about come from injection trials, and they don't carry over to the tablet.