Missed a GLP-1 dose? What each label says

If you miss a weekly dose, each FDA label gives a time limit for taking it late: within 4 days (96 hours) for Mounjaro and Zepbound, within 5 days for Ozempic injection, and for Wegovy injection only if your next dose is more than 2 days away. Past that limit, all four labels say to skip the missed dose and take the next one on your usual day; none of them tells you to double up. Follow your prescriber, and ask them or your pharmacist when you’re unsure.

When you do inject again, it’s the dose your prescriber gave you. If you draw it from a vial, the tirzepatide units calculator or the semaglutide units calculator turns that dose into units on your syringe.

The rules, label by label

Sources: the Mounjaro label (section 2.1), Zepbound label (section 2.3), Ozempic label (section 2.1) and Wegovy label (section 2.4 and Medication Guide), checked October 16, 2026. In every case you then go back to your regular weekly day.

Mounjaro and Zepbound

Both are tirzepatide, and their Medication Guides give the same rule. Mounjaro’s says: “If you miss a dose of Mounjaro, take the missed dose as soon as possible within 4 days (96 hours) after the missed dose. If more than 4 days have passed, skip the missed dose and take your next dose on the regularly scheduled day. Do not take 2 doses of Mounjaro within 3 days of each other.” Zepbound’s says the same, with “3 days (72 hours)” in the last line. You may change your injection day as long as doses stay at least 3 days (72 hours) apart (Mounjaro label, Zepbound label).

Ozempic injection

The Ozempic Medication Guide says: “If you miss a dose of Ozempic, take the missed dose as soon as possible within 5 days after the missed dose. If more than 5 days have passed, skip the missed dose and take your next dose on the regularly scheduled day.” You may change your day as long as “your last dose was given 2 or more days before”; the prescribing information puts it as “at least 2 days (>48 hours)” between two doses (Ozempic label).

Ozempic tablets are a separate, once-daily product with a different rule: “If a dose is missed, skip the missed dose and take the next dose the following day” (Rybelsus and Ozempic tablets label, section 2.1). The 5-day window applies only to the weekly injection.

Wegovy injection

Wegovy counts from your next scheduled dose, not the missed one: “If you miss a dose of Wegovy and the next scheduled dose is more than 2 days away (48 hours), take the missed dose as soon as possible. If you miss a dose of Wegovy and the next scheduled dose is less than 2 days away (48 hours), do not administer the dose. Take your next dose on the regularly scheduled day.”

It’s also the only one of the four labels with a rule for several missed doses: “If 2 or more consecutive doses of Wegovy injection are missed, reinitiate dosage escalation at a lower dosage to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal adverse reactions.” The Medication Guide tells you to “contact your healthcare provider to talk about how to restart your treatment.” Your prescriber chooses the restart dose (Wegovy label, section 2.4). Wegovy tablets, a separate daily product, have their own rule: skip the missed tablet and take the next one the following day.

Missed several doses in a row

The current Mounjaro, Zepbound and Ozempic labels give only the single missed-dose rule above; none has separate instructions for two or more missed doses in a row. If you’ve missed more than one dose of any of these medicines, ask your prescriber how to restart before your next injection.

Why the windows differ

The labels don’t say why the windows differ, so read this as context, not a rule. Two label facts line up with the numbers:

• The window plus the minimum gap makes a week. Tirzepatide: 4 days late plus a 3-day minimum gap is 7 days. Ozempic: 5 plus 2 is 7. A late dose taken inside the window always leaves at least the label’s minimum gap before your usual day.
• The half-lives differ. The Mounjaro label gives tirzepatide’s half-life as about 5 days, “enabling once-weekly dosing”; Zepbound’s says about 5 to 6 days. The Ozempic and Wegovy labels give semaglutide’s as about 1 week, and say it stays in the blood for about 5 weeks (Ozempic) or 5 to 7 weeks (Wegovy) after the last dose (section 12.3 of each label).

Ozempic and Wegovy word their rules differently, but in an ordinary week they land in almost the same place: 5 days after your missed day is 2 days before your next one.

The rules on a calendar

An example of how the wording reads, not a plan. Your usual day is Sunday, and you missed it:

• You notice on Wednesday (3 days late): inside every label’s window, and Wegovy’s next dose is 4 days away. The labels say take it as soon as possible, then go back to Sunday.
• You notice on Friday (5 days late): more than 4 days have passed, so Mounjaro and Zepbound say skip it. For Ozempic and Wegovy, Friday is right on the edge of the window; ask your pharmacist rather than guess.
• You notice on Saturday (6 days late): past every window. Skip it and inject on Sunday.

Changing your day follows the minimum gap. Moving from Sunday to Tuesday leaves 2 days: right at the minimum for Ozempic and Wegovy (Ozempic’s prescribing information says more than 48 hours), and short of the 3 days Mounjaro and Zepbound require. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber before you change it.

Compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide

Compounded products have no FDA label, so none of these windows officially applies to them, and your prescriber’s instructions do. The FDA says compounded drugs “are not FDA approved,” so the agency “does not review compounded drugs for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are marketed.” It tells patients to contact the compounder with questions about the instructions for use or the label, and notes that some compounded semaglutide is a salt form, a different active ingredient from the approved drugs (FDA; FDA Q&A).

When you restart, measure carefully: the FDA has received adverse event reports, some needing hospital care, that may be linked to patients measuring the wrong amount of compounded semaglutide (FDA).

Common mistakes

• Taking two doses close together to catch up. Mounjaro and Zepbound say not within 3 days of each other; Ozempic and Wegovy need at least 2 days between doses.
• Borrowing another medicine’s window. Ozempic’s 5 days isn’t Mounjaro’s 4.
• Counting from the wrong day. Mounjaro, Zepbound and Ozempic count forward from the missed dose; Wegovy counts back from the next one.
• Restarting on your own after several missed doses, at your old dose, without asking your prescriber.

Questions people ask