Ozempic dosing schedule: the dose chart from the FDA label

Ozempic is once-weekly semaglutide for adults with type 2 diabetes, first approved by FDA on Dec 5, 2017 (FDA, Oct 19, 2026). Its label escalates more slowly and more conditionally than Wegovy’s: after the first two steps, each increase depends on blood-sugar control. This is a reference; talk to your prescriber before changing a dose.

The weeks are earliest possible starts. Unlike Wegovy, Ozempic has no fixed calendar to the top dose, and the label lists all three higher doses as maintenance options: “The recommended maintenance dosage is 0.5 mg, 1 mg, or 2 mg, injected subcutaneously once weekly, based on glycemic control.” The maximum recommended dose is 2 mg once weekly (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026).

Which label version this page quotes

We quote the Ozempic prescribing information on DailyMed, SPL version 20, published Jun 10, 2026 (DailyMed, Jun 10, 2026). It reflects the labeling supplement FDA approved on Jun 1, 2026.

Drugs@FDA lists a later labeling supplement, S-044, approved Aug 27, 2026 (FDA, Oct 19, 2026). We read its approval letter: it revises labeling “to remove the Quick Guide from the product carton” for the 2 mg/3 mL, 4 mg/3 mL and 8 mg/3 mL pens (FDA, Aug 27, 2026). The letter describes only that carton change, so we have no indication that the dosing, missed-dose or storage text quoted here changed. As of Oct 19, 2026, DailyMed still showed version 20 as the newest.

Week-by-week ladder and modeled levels

The ladder below assumes each optional increase happens at the earliest point the label allows. Plug in your own start date and hold times with the semaglutide titration calculator.

• Weekly dose (published steps)
• Modeled amount (mg-eq)
• Stable window

The chart’s modeled amount comes from our one-compartment model with a 7-day half-life, matching the label’s “elimination half-life of approximately 1 week” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026). With weekly dosing, half of each dose remains when the next is due, and the weekly accumulation ratio is 2.0. It is a relative amount, not a plasma concentration. Compare schedules side by side in the semaglutide plotter.

The 4-week minimum per step sits close to the label’s 4 to 5 weeks to steady state. In our model, 4 weeks at one dose (4 half-lives) reaches 1 − 0.5⁴, about 94%, of that dose’s steady-state amount.

The CKD indication: a fixed 1 mg target

Ozempic is also approved for adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. For that use, the label sets one maintenance dose rather than a range: “Increase the dosage to the maintenance dosage, 1 mg once weekly, after at least 4 weeks on the 0.5 mg dosage” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026).

Ozempic pens and the doses each delivers

Each Ozempic pen holds 3 mL and gives a fixed set of doses. The label lists three pens (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026):

The starter pen carton includes 1 pen and 6 needles. The first pen therefore covers the full 4-week 0.25 mg phase plus the first 2 weeks of 0.5 mg. The label also lists single-dose prefilled syringes of 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg per 0.5 mL. An Ozempic pen “must never be shared between patients, even if the needle is changed” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026).

Compounded semaglutide is not FDA approved and is not interchangeable with Ozempic.

Missed doses: the 5-day rule

The Ozempic label uses a 5-day window (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026):

• Within 5 days of the missed dose: “administer OZEMPIC as soon as possible within 5 days after the missed dose.”
• More than 5 days: “skip the missed dose and administer the next dose on the regularly scheduled day.”

Example: your dose day is Sunday. You remember on Wednesday, 3 days late, so you take it Wednesday and return to Sunday. If you remember the following Saturday, 6 days late, you skip it and take the next dose on Sunday.

The Wegovy label uses a different 2-day rule, and adds a restart instruction after 2 or more consecutive missed doses (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). Do not mix the two. See the Wegovy dosing schedule for that label.

Changing your dosing day

The label lets you move the weekly day “as long as the time between two doses is at least 2 days (>48 hours)” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026). Injections go into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm.

Storage: before and after first use

A 2 mg/3 mL pen used at 0.5 mg weekly finishes in 4 weeks, well inside 56 days. Track your pen’s 56-day clock with the semaglutide storage calculator.

Side effects at each maintenance dose

Higher doses bring more gastrointestinal effects. In the label’s two placebo-controlled trials, nausea was reported by 15.8% on 0.5 mg, 20.3% on 1 mg and 6.1% on placebo; vomiting by 5%, 9.2% and 2.3%; diarrhea by 8.5%, 8.8% and 1.9%. Any gastrointestinal adverse reaction: 32.7%, 36.4% and 15.3% (Novo Nordisk, Jun 1, 2026).

Related schedules

The Ozempic 2 mg protocol page shows this ladder with modeled levels at each step. For pricing by pen, see the Ozempic savings card guide, and for the molecule overview, the semaglutide hub.