If you’ve been prescribed Saxenda injections for weight loss or are considering this type of treatment, you’re probably wondering how long one of those little pens will last.
You’ll be taking charge of your treatment yourself, self administering one injection every day, so it’s important to be aware of how many doses are in each pen.
Luckily, our team has tons of experience with weight management treatments like Saxenda, and we’ve worked out how long each pen will last you at every stage of your treatment.
Keep reading and we’ll answer frequently asked questions like how many pens you’ll need each month and how long you’ll use each one before it runs out.
How many days does a Saxenda pen last?
How long your Saxenda pen will last depends on what stage of treatment you’re at.
When you begin taking Saxenda you’ll take a lower dose of Liraglutide (the active ingredient in Saxenda) then you would later in your treatment.
Naturally, this means that one injection pen will last longer at the start of your treatment than it would when you’re taking a larger dose later on.
The dosage plan you will follow will be decided by your prescriber, but you’ll usually increase your dose week on week until you reach the highest possible daily dose of 3mg of Liraglutide a day by your 5th week.
You’ll usually go through the following dose schedule:
- Week 1 – 0.6mg a day
- Week 2 – 1.2mg a day
- Week 3 – 1.8mg a day
- Week 4 – 2.4mg
- Week 5 onwards – 3mg a day
So, with these numbers in mind, we can work out how long each pen would last if you followed their schedule.
Here’s a handy calendar we created to help you see how long each pen would last if you were following the standard dosage schedule.
It’s important to remember that you should stay on each dose for as long as your prescriber recommends for you, which may be slightly different to the standard dosage pattern.
Don’t increase or decrease your dose unless you have been advised to do so by a qualified healthcare professional.
How long will five Saxenda pens last?
As you can see in the calendar above, if you’re following the standard dosage schedule, your first five Saxenda pens will last for 44 days of treatment (about a month and a half).
When you hit the highest daily dose of Saxenda, each pen will last for six days, so five pens will last for 30 days.
How much Liraglutide is in each pen?
Each Saxenda pen is pre-filled with 3ml of solution and each millilitre of solution contains 6mg of Liraglutide.
This means that every pen contains a total of 18mg of Liraglutide.
Every Saxenda pen can provide doses of 0.6 – 3mg, which you’ll set each time you’ll take your injection.
You can see the remaining solution in the window on the side of the pen, giving you an indicator of how much is left and when you’ll need to prepare to switch to a new pen.
How many doses are in one Saxenda pen?
The number of doses in each Saxenda pen will depend on the dose you’re taking at the time.
For example, when you’re taking a dose of 0.6mg a day your pen will last for much longer than it would if you were taking 3mg a day.
With that in mind, we’ve done some maths and worked out how long each pen would last if you continued taking the same dose every day until your pen was empty:
- 0.6mg a day – 30 doses
- 1.2mg a day – 15 doses
- 1.8mg a day – 10 doses
- 2.4mg a day – 7.5 doses
- 3mg a day – 6 doses
Can I split my dose between pens?
You can split your dose of Liraglutide between two Saxenda pens, in fact, you will probably need to do this during your first month of treatment.
When you reach a 2.4mg daily dose, your pen will usually run out on the 4th day of treatment, but you’ll only have a 1.2mg dose left in your existing pen.
In this case, you can give yourself a 1.2mg dose out of your existing pen and another 1.2mg out of a new pen to make a total of a 2.4mg dose.
However, we would only recommend doing this if you can do so confidently or if you have been recommended to do so by your prescriber or a member of your healthcare team.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry with your medication, so if you’re unsure you should speak to your prescriber and ask them for more information before you take a dose of Liraglutide split between two pens.
How many pens will I need for a month of treatment?
Again, the number of pens you will need for a month of treatment will differ depending on what stage of treatment you’re at.
During the first month (28 days), you’ll usually need 3 pens to cover the slow increase of your dose.
In your second month you will need a further 4 pens, as your dosage is higher.
Depending on how many days are in each month to follow, you’ll normally need 4 – 5 pens to get you through the whole month.
As we mentioned earlier, 5 pens will give you 30 days of treatment when you’re taking 3mg of Liraglutide a day, so 5 pens will make up your usual monthly treatment.
Hopefully, you now know much more about how long your Saxenda pen will last than you did earlier and feel confident in gauging how many pens you will need for each month of your treatment.
Remember though, your prescriber will be there to help you at every step of your weight loss journey, so don’t be afraid to ask them for more information if you feel you need it — there’s never any harm in asking!
Want to read more about Saxenda?
Here are a few of our most popular guides about this medication, so you can learn what makes this treatment tick.
