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GLP-1 Titration Planner

Lay out the standard dose-escalation schedule for a GLP-1 medication, pick a start date, and get a dated week-by-week plan plus an escalation chart. Covers approved drugs (semaglutide, tirzepatide, liraglutide) and investigational ones (retatrutide, CagriSema) shown for reference.

ⓘ This planner reflects the standard labeled titration schedules for education. It is not medical advice and does not personalize for your situation — your prescriber's actual instructions always take precedence, and they may titrate faster, slower, or to a different dose. Investigational drugs are shown for reference only and are not approved.
1 · Choose a medication
Brand / indication
Target (stop-at) dose
Start date
2 · Your escalation schedule
PhaseDoseWeeksDatesNotes
Compound profiles
Semaglutide Tirzepatide Liraglutide Retatrutide CagriSema All metabolic peptides →
Related guides & tools
Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide → Best Peptides for Fat Loss → GLP-1 Drug Interactions → Cost Calculator → Reconstitution Calculator → Interaction Checker →
How to read this: Approved schedules come from the FDA prescribing information; the "ramp" dose at the start is a tolerability step, not a therapeutic dose. Most labels allow holding a dose longer (or stepping back down) if side effects are significant — escalation is "as tolerated," and a prescriber individualizes it. The target-dose selector lets you stop at any valid step, since maintenance need not be the maximum. Investigational schedules (retatrutide, CagriSema) reflect trial regimens and are not approved for use. Always follow the instructions that come with your prescription.

How this tool works · sources read September 30, 2026 · Grey Peptides Editorial Board

How the planner builds a schedule

The planner takes three inputs: the product, the dose you intend to stop at, and a start date. It lays out the label's dose steps in order, gives each step the number of weeks the label requires before the next one, and turns the weeks into calendar dates. For the weekly injections that is at least four weeks per step; Saxenda and Victoza, which are taken daily, move up after one week. (FDA's drug shortage database lists Saxenda as to be discontinued, available until January 2027; read October 5, 2026.) The chart plots the same steps as a staircase. Nothing else is calculated: the planner does not adjust for side effects, blood sugar, weight or anything else a prescriber would weigh, and the dates it prints are the earliest a label would allow, not a target.

The stop-at selector exists because the top step is not the goal for everyone. Ozempic's maintenance dose can be 0.5, 1 or 2 mg; tirzepatide's can be 5, 10 or 15 mg, and each increase of 2.5 mg is made only after at least four weeks on the current dose.1,2

Why the labels climb slowly

The starting dose of every GLP-1 in the planner is a tolerability step, not a treatment dose. The labels say why: the escalation schedule exists to reduce gastrointestinal side effects. In Ozempic's trials, most reports of nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea occurred during dose escalation;1 Mounjaro's and Zepbound's labels say the same and add that these events decreased over time.2,3 Jumping steps compresses exactly the period in which side effects cluster.

The escalation weeks matter for another reason with tirzepatide. Because it slows stomach emptying, its labels advise anyone using oral contraceptives to switch to a non-oral method, or add a barrier method, for 4 weeks after starting and for 4 weeks after each dose increase.2,3 A planner that shows each increase as a date also shows each of those windows.

If a dose is missed

Missed-dose rules differ by product, and they are one of the things people most often get wrong. The labels say:

ProductMissed one doseMissed several
OzempicTake it within 5 days; after 5 days, skip it and take the next dose on schedule1Not specified beyond the 5-day rule
Wegovy injectionIf the next dose is more than 2 days away, take it now; if less than 2 days away, skip it4After 2 or more consecutive missed doses, restart escalation at a lower dose4
Mounjaro, ZepboundTake it within 4 days (96 hours); after that, skip it and take the next dose on schedule2,3Not specified beyond the 4-day rule
Saxenda, VictozaSkip it and take the next scheduled daily dose; never double up5,6After more than 3 days without a dose, restart at 0.6 mg daily and escalate again5,6

The weekly labels also allow the injection day to be changed, as long as doses stay far enough apart: at least 2 days for Ozempic and at least 3 days (72 hours) for Mounjaro and Zepbound.1,2 The restart rules exist for the same reason as the slow climb: returning at a high dose after a gap brings back the gastrointestinal effects the escalation was designed to avoid.

The tablets the planner does not draw

The planner covers the weekly and daily injections. Two oral options follow schedules of their own. Wegovy tablets start at 1.5 mg daily for days 1 to 30, then 4 mg for days 31 to 60 and 9 mg for days 61 to 90, reaching 25 mg from day 91; a missed tablet is simply skipped, and the label allows switching from the 2.4 mg injection to 25 mg tablets one week after the last injection.4 Foundayo (orforglipron) starts at 0.8 mg once daily and moves to 2.5 mg and then 5.5 mg, each after at least 30 days, with optional further steps to 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg; its label allows no more than one tablet a day.7

The investigational schedules

Retatrutide and CagriSema appear in the planner for reference, drawn from their trial protocols. Neither is approved, and a trial's escalation is a research design, not a dosing instruction. In retatrutide's phase 2 obesity trial, for example, groups started at 2 or 4 mg before climbing, and the lower starting dose partly reduced gastrointestinal side effects.8 Our retatrutide hub tracks where its approval stands.

Mistakes a schedule cannot prevent

  • Treating the starting dose as the treatment dose. The first four weeks of semaglutide (0.25 mg) or tirzepatide (2.5 mg) are for tolerability, not effect.1,2
  • Escalating faster than four weeks. The labels set a minimum, not a suggestion, and side effects cluster in the escalation weeks.
  • Doubling up after a missed dose, or restarting at the old dose after a long gap, when the label says to restart lower.
  • Carrying a pen dose to a vial. Pens are set in milligrams. Compounded vials are measured in syringe units, and FDA has documented patients drawing 5 to 20 times their intended semaglutide dose after confusing units, millilitres and milligrams.9 Our reconstitution calculator and syringe units guide do the conversion.

For how people came to be using compounded GLP-1s, what the rules now allow and what the trials show about stopping, see the GLP-1 transition hub.

Sources

  1. Novo Nordisk. OZEMPIC (semaglutide) injection, US prescribing information: initiate at 0.25 mg once weekly for 4 weeks; maintenance 0.5, 1 or 2 mg; missed dose within 5 days, otherwise skip; day change allowed if doses are at least 2 days apart; most nausea, vomiting and diarrhea occurred during dose escalation. DailyMed version of June 10, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  2. Eli Lilly and Company. MOUNJARO (tirzepatide) injection, US prescribing information: start at 2.5 mg once weekly for 4 weeks; increase in 2.5 mg steps after at least 4 weeks; missed dose within 4 days (96 hours), otherwise skip; day change allowed if doses are at least 3 days apart; oral contraceptive advice for 4 weeks after initiation and after each dose escalation. DailyMed version of September 2, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  3. Eli Lilly and Company. ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) injection, US prescribing information: missed dose within 4 days (96 hours), otherwise skip; most nausea, vomiting and diarrhea occurred during dose escalation and decreased over time; oral contraceptive advice for 4 weeks after initiation and after each dose escalation. DailyMed version of September 2, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  4. Novo Nordisk. WEGOVY (semaglutide) injection and tablets, US prescribing information: injection missed-dose rules (more or less than 2 days to the next dose; after 2 or more consecutive missed doses reinitiate escalation at a lower dosage); tablets 1.5 mg (days 1-30), 4 mg (31-60), 9 mg (61-90), 25 mg (day 91 onward); a missed tablet is skipped; switching from 2.4 mg injection to 25 mg tablets one week after the last injection. DailyMed version of June 30, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  5. Novo Nordisk. SAXENDA (liraglutide) injection, US prescribing information: resume with the next scheduled dose after a missed dose; if more than 3 days have elapsed since the last dose, reinitiate at 0.6 mg daily and follow the escalation schedule. DailyMed version of June 15, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  6. Novo Nordisk. VICTOZA (liraglutide) injection, US prescribing information: resume with the next scheduled dose after a missed dose; if more than 3 days have elapsed since the last dose, reinitiate at 0.6 mg once daily. DailyMed version of November 17, 2025, read September 30, 2026.
  7. Eli Lilly and Company. FOUNDAYO (orforglipron) tablets, US prescribing information: starting dosage 0.8 mg once daily; 2.5 mg after at least 30 days; 5.5 mg after at least 30 days on 2.5 mg; optional 9, 14.5 or 17.2 mg; no more than one tablet per day. DailyMed version of August 13, 2026, read September 30, 2026.
  8. Jastreboff, A. M. et al. (2023). Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity - A Phase 2 Trial. New England Journal of Medicine, 389(6), 514-526. PMID: 37366315 · doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2301972
  9. US Food and Drug Administration (2024). FDA alerts health care providers, compounders and patients of dosing errors associated with compounded injectable semaglutide products. July 26, 2024. FDA

This explainer describes how the tool works and what its numbers rest on. It is not medical advice and does not recommend any dose or product.