Missed your weekly injection? Take a breath: the official product information has rules for exactly this situation, and you have several days to catch up. The window just isn’t the same for both treatments: 5 days for Wegovy®, 4 days for Mounjaro®. Here are the precise rules, what you should never do — and how to avoid needing them again.
The Wegovy® rule: catch up within 5 days
The Summary of Product Characteristics approved by the European Medicines Agency is clear: if a dose of Wegovy® is missed, it should be administered as soon as possible within 5 days after the scheduled day.
- Up to 5 days late (inclusive) → inject as soon as you remember, then return to your regular day the following week.
- Beyond 5 days → do not catch up: skip the missed dose and simply take your next injection on the regularly scheduled day.
Good to know: Ozempic®, which contains the same molecule (semaglutide), follows the same 5-day rule.
The Mounjaro® rule: catch up within 4 days
For tirzepatide, the window is slightly shorter: a missed dose should be administered as soon as possible within 4 days (96 hours) of the scheduled date.
- Up to 4 days late (inclusive) → inject as soon as possible, then resume your normal schedule.
- Beyond 4 days → skip the missed dose and wait for your next scheduled injection.
Why these windows exist: these treatments are long-acting (a full week between doses), and their level in the body declines gradually. A few days’ delay does not undo the weeks that came before.
The golden rule: never two doses to “make up”
Whatever the situation, never double a dose to make up for a missed one, and always keep at least 3 days (72 hours) between two injections. After a late catch-up, if your regular day comes too soon, push the next dose back by a day or two — our day-change guide covers the rule. Taking too much mainly increases digestive side effects (nausea, vomiting), with no benefit at all.
If in doubt about what to do, a quick call to your pharmacist usually settles it.
Two missed doses in a row: talk to your doctor
One missed dose is no big deal. Two consecutive missed doses are different: the level of medication in your body has dropped noticeably, and going straight back to your usual dose can bring back the digestive side effects you had at the start. Your prescriber may then decide to restart at a lower dose. Don’t decide alone: this is exactly the kind of question your doctor settles in thirty seconds.
What if forgetting becomes a habit?
The real solution isn’t memorising catch-up rules, it’s not forgetting in the first place. A few habits that work:
- Anchor the injection to a fixed ritual: same day, same time (Sunday morning with breakfast, for example).
- A reminder on the day — and ideally an automatic follow-up the next day if the dose hasn’t been logged.
- Log every injection: knowing for certain when your last dose happened solves half the problem (“did I take it… Tuesday? Wednesday?”).
The Doza app is built around exactly these three habits: a reminder on your injection day, a follow-up the next day if nothing has been logged, and a journal that keeps the exact date of every dose. And on your iPhone home screen, the widget shows the countdown in days — “Dose due today” — with no false urgency about the exact time.
FAQ — your questions about missed injections
I forgot my Wegovy yesterday. What should I do?
Inject as soon as possible: you are well within the 5-day window set by the product information. Then return to your usual day the following week.
I’m 6 days late on my Wegovy injection. Should I catch up?
No. Beyond 5 days, the product information says to skip the missed dose and simply take the next injection on the scheduled day, at your usual dose.
Can I double the dose after missing one?
Never. Doubling the dose speeds nothing up and sharply increases the risk of digestive side effects. If in doubt, ask your pharmacist.
I missed two injections in a row. Do I just resume as normal?
Talk to your doctor first: after two missed doses, they may prefer restarting at a lower dose to limit the return of digestive side effects. That is a medical decision, not a rule to apply on your own.
Sources: Wegovy® SmPC — EMA (“if a dose is missed, it should be administered as soon as possible within 5 days”) · Mounjaro® SmPC — EMA (4-day / 96-hour window). This article is general information: when in doubt, your doctor or pharmacist remains the right person to ask.