Saxenda (Liraglutide) is an injectable medicine that should be taken once a day.
Liraglutide was developed to mimic a natural hormone that we produce after eating but to last longer.
Liraglutide, therefore, has a half-life of 13 hours.
Because of this, it’s important to take Saxenda every day for it to be effective.
Because the maximum dose of Saxenda (3.0mg daily) would be too much to start on, you must embark on something called a titration period.
This is to help your body get used to the medication gradually to avoid any severe side effects.
The titration period for Saxenda lasts for four weeks.
On your first day, you should inject the lowest dose possible – 0.6mg.
You should have seven doses of 0.6mg in total before moving to the next dose of 1.2mg and so on.
You should always increase your dose on the same day of the week.
For example, let’s say you start taking Saxenda on a Monday, you would then increase your dosage each following Monday until you reach the therapeutic dose.
During week four, you might find that you have some solution left in your Saxenda pen, this should amount to half the dose that you need for one day.
On that day, you should inject the remaining solution from your current pen, then inject 1.8mg from a new pen to make the dose up to 2.4mg, you can then carry on as normal.
If you’re taking liraglutide at its maximum dosage for weight loss, a Saxenda pen should last you six days.
We’ve put together this handy Saxenda Dosage Guide for you to take a look at:
As long as you can tolerate any side effects, it’s recommended that you continue taking Liraglutide for 12 weeks once you’ve reached the 3.0mg dose.
This is to give your body a chance to get used to the medication and for you to see if it has any effect on your weight.
Most people should lose at least 5% of their body weight within 12 weeks of taking Liraglutide for weight loss.
Because of this, if you haven’t reached this goal at week 12, you may want to consider other weight loss remedies.
Saxenda should be taken at around the same time every day, we recommend building your injection into your daily routine.
This way, you’ll be less likely to forget a dose of Liraglutide.
If you miss a dose of Liraglutide by accident, you can take it if it’s been less than 12 hours since your usual injection time.
If more than 12 hours have passed, you should skip the missed dose and take the next one as normal.
