Two things about GLP-1 doses are widely misunderstood. Not every strength is a dose you stay on, and there is no Australian conversion between these medicines. The registered product information sets out each medicine’s own schedule; it does not provide a way to translate one medicine’s dose into another’s. [1] [2] [3]
This page is general information, not dosing advice. Your dose, escalation timing and any change between medicines are decisions for your prescriber. Follow the consumer medicine information supplied with your medicine.
Mounjaro: three of the six strengths are not maintenance doses
The Australian Mounjaro Product Information states that the recommended maintenance doses are 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg. It also states that 2.5 mg, 7.5 mg and 12.5 mg are not maintenance doses. [1]
The same document describes a starting dose of 2.5 mg once weekly, followed after 4 weeks by 5 mg once weekly, with possible increases in 2.5 mg increments after a minimum of 4 weeks on the current dose. The maximum is 15 mg once weekly. [1]
Those are registered product-information statements, not a recommendation for what an individual should take. Your prescriber decides whether a change is appropriate.
Ozempic: the maximum registered weekly dose in Australia is 1 mg
The Australian Ozempic schedule starts at 0.25 mg once weekly, then allows an increase to 0.5 mg after 4 weeks and, after at least 4 weeks at 0.5 mg, an increase to 1 mg to further improve glycaemic control. The information explicitly says 0.25 mg is not a maintenance dose. [2]
There is no 2 mg once-weekly Ozempic dose registered in Australia. Overseas references to 2 mg do not change the Australian schedule. The 2 mg marking that appears on an Australian pen refers to how much semaglutide the pen contains, not a 2 mg weekly dose. [2]
Wegovy: maintenance steps now include 7.2 mg
The Australian Wegovy schedule runs through 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg and 1.7 mg over the first 16 weeks, then 2.4 mg as a maintenance dose. The current Product Information also includes a 7.2 mg once-weekly maintenance dose in a defined adult population, given as three separate 2.4 mg injections at least 5 cm apart after a minimum of 4 weeks on 2.4 mg. [3]
There is no 7.2 mg Wegovy pen registered in Australia. The Product Information describes three 2.4 mg injections, and says that if 2.4 mg is not tolerated, 1.7 mg can be used as maintenance with later re-escalation if tolerated. [3]
Why dose steps matter to prescription management
A dose change usually means a prescription for a particular strength has changed. The new prescription can have its own expiry date and repeat count while the old prescription remains in an SMS thread or paper record.
For Mounjaro, the TGA also advises people using oral contraception to switch to a non-oral method or add a barrier method for 4 weeks after starting and for 4 weeks after each dose increase. [4] This is a prescriber conversation, not a reason to change treatment from an app.
Record each prescribed dose change and the date it happened. That record helps answer which strength you are on, when the current prescription was written and when a relevant four-week window started.
Changed prescribed strength? Keep the new dose, date of change, prescription and repeats together.
MediRemind gives each prescribed medication record one place for the details you need to keep track of.
30-day trial, then a subscription · $4.99/month or $39.99/year · iPhone and Android
Changing from one GLP-1 medicine to another
There is no Australian-approved dose-conversion chart between Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. The Product Information for these medicines does not publish an equivalence between semaglutide and tirzepatide doses. A chart online that says one dose equals another is not an Australian prescribing instruction. [1] [2] [3]
The Mounjaro Product Information gives its starting dose without a different starting point for people previously taking another medicine. [1] The Wegovy Product Information says it should not be used in combination with other GLP-1 receptor agonist products. [3]
Bring the medicine and exact strength you take now, how long you have taken it and the date of your last injection to the prescriber conversation. Do not overlap or change medicines based on an internet chart.
Where MediRemind fits
MediRemind can keep the current prescribed strength, the date it changed, the injection day, prescription expiry and repeats together. It can help you bring a clear record to your prescriber or pharmacist.
It does not recommend dose increases, calculate equivalence or decide when to switch treatment. Those decisions stay with your prescriber.
Important medical information: this page does not replace your prescription, the current Consumer Medicine Information or advice from your prescriber or pharmacist. Do not start, stop, increase, decrease, combine or switch GLP-1 medicines based on this information. Australian Product Information, availability and advice may change; check the current information for your exact medicine and seek advice before making treatment decisions.