How to Take Ozempic

Key Takeaways

• Make sure to prepare your injection site ahead of time. Choose either your abdomen, thigh, or arm for the injection site. Avoid injecting Ozempic into any muscle (intramuscularly) or vein (intravenously). Use the various muscles as regions to try and pinpoint. 

• Ozempic is always injected under the skin (subcutaneously) on your stomach (abdomen), thigh, or upper arm. Do not use the same site for each injection. If you use the same region twice, try to avoid the exact injection site as it could turn red, tender, and sore.

• Always follow the instructions provided on your ozempic leaflet that’s provided with each pen. Check to ensure that the color of the liquid is clear and doesn’t have any signs of chunks or particles as part of the liquid (which would deem it potentially bad and unusable).

How to Take Ozempic

Follow these steps to properly take your Ozempic (semaglutide) injection:

1. Prepare Your Injection Site

Your injection site includes any fatty portion of your body on your arm (near your bicep), your thigh (near your quadricep) and your abdomen (usually around 2” from your belly button). You may want to swab the injection site with a small alcohol swab or clean it with soap and water to prepare the injection site.

2. Remove the Pen Cover and Clean the Pen

Remove the pen cover, take an alcohol swab, and gently clean the top of the pen. You’ll want to do this before adding the pen needle to the pen itself.

3. Add the Pen Needle

Take the pen needle and remove the paper tab on the bottom. Place the pen needle on top of the pen and turn it clockwise until the pen feels secure. If you overtighten the pen you may need to loosen it and then tighten it again.

There are two caps on your pen needle. First, remove the clear outer cap and place it aside. Second, remove the inner cap and discard that cap. You will no longer need that second cap.

4. Prime the Pen

The needle is only prime the first time that you use the pen. Turn the dose dial to the first dial on the pen. Hold the pen with the needle pointing upwards and press the plunger. You should see a small water droplet begin to show.

5. Turn the Dose Dial

Once you’ve primed the pen, turn to the dose dial to the proper dosage that you’ve been given by your physician or primary care doctor.

6. Prime Your Injection Site

Holding the pen to a 90-degree angle to the injection site. Push the pen all the way into the skin. Once all the way, begin to press down on the plunger. Hold and count to 6-seconds to ensure that all of the medication is injected into the injection site.

7. Return the Pen Cap

Take the clear outer cap once you’ve finished injecting. And place the cap on top of the needle. When it is firmly in place, rotate the cap counterclockwise until the needle is loose. Place the used needle into a sharps container. And then place the cap back onto the pen.

Once your sharps container is full you’ll want to find a safe place to dispose of your needles using this geographic search tool. Do not dispose of your needles in the regular trash recital that you would otherwise use on a weekly basis.

Tips to Help with Ozempic Side Effects

Here are some tips to manage the side effects.

1. Change Your Eating Patterns

Ozempic have common side effects such as nausea, headache, dizziness, and constipation. This usually affects 1 in every 10 patients. To reduce this, change up your eating patterns and ensure that you are only eating up to about “80%” of feeling “full.”

Smaller more frequent meals throughout the day can also help to reduce symptoms.

2. Change Up the Injection Times

If you are feeling nausea as a common side effect. And usually occurs the day after injection. Try to take the injection on Friday evenings, away from work hours so that you can better prepare for the side effects that could take place.

3. Use the Thigh for Avoiding The Gastrointestinal Side Effects

Injecting Ozemic into the thigh can cause the semaglutide to absorb more slowly. This can help to reduce the severity of some of the side effects. Specifically, it can help with some of the gastrointestinal side effects (or gas) that may come with the injection.

It may not entirely curb the nausea or dizziness side effects that occur the day after injection. However, it may be up to the user to determine what works best for them.