How to take the Wegovy pill: fasting, water and other medicines

The daily steps

The UK label recommends fasting for at least eight hours before the tablet. Swallow the tablet whole with up to 120 mL of water. Then wait at least 30 minutes before you eat, drink or take another oral medicine. Do not crush, chew or split the tablet.

Many people take the tablet as soon as they wake, since the overnight fast already counts. Have coffee, tea and breakfast after the wait. On busy mornings, set an alarm or note the time. Guessing how long you waited makes problems harder to sort out later.

When mornings are complicated

Shift work, religious fasting, early starts and several time-sensitive medicines all make a standard morning routine harder. What matters is meeting the instructions for taking the tablet. Copying someone else's breakfast time will not help. Ask a pharmacist to plan the order around your day.

Do not move the time of another prescribed medicine without advice, especially one with its own fasting or monitoring rules. If you make a mistake when taking the tablet, do not take a second Wegovy tablet to make up for it. A second dose cannot safely fix doubt about how much of the first you absorbed.

A routine which prevents double doses

Use one clear way to record each dose: a dated checklist, a medicine app or the day printed on the blister. A reminder tells you a dose is due. A reminder does not prove you took the dose. Tick the dose off after you take it, and make sure anyone who helps with your medicines uses the same system.

If you cannot remember whether you took a tablet, ask for advice before taking another. Store spare packs apart from the pack in use, so you do not mistake an old strength for the new one. When you collect a repeat prescription, read the strength before you start the pack.

Plan ahead for swallowing problems and sickness

Tell your pharmacist if you find whole tablets hard to swallow. Changing the tablet may alter how the medicine behaves, so never adapt it at home. A different formulation or treatment may suit you better.

If you vomit after a dose, nobody knows how much you absorbed. Seeing the tablet, or not seeing it, gives no reliable answer. Do not take another dose automatically. Ask your prescriber or pharmacist what to do. If vomiting continues or you cannot keep fluids down, get medical advice promptly, whatever happened to the dose.

Keep the leaflet from your current pack to hand, even if you have used the medicine before. The leaflet gives product-specific instructions and tells you where to get advice. If the pack looks different, check the medicine name and strength with the pharmacy. Do not rely on tablet colour to identify the medicine.

Questions for your appointment

Ask for a written daily order if you also take levothyroxine, supplements or other morning tablets. Check what to do after a shorter overnight fast, after vomiting following a dose, or when you are unsure whether you took the tablet.