In short
- One medicine, one purpose. Semaglutide, licensed for weight management, not a diabetes medicine used off label.
- One injection a week. The dose is raised step by step over about four months.
- A realistic result. Average loss in the approval trial was about 15 percent of body weight over 68 weeks. Some lost far more, some very little.
- A long term treatment. Stopping usually means the weight returns, so the exit is planned before you start.
- Prescription only. It needs an examination in Dubai, not an online form.
Treatment Overview
What is Wegovy?
Wegovy is the brand name for semaglutide at weight management doses. Semaglutide copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. That hormone tells your brain you have eaten enough and slows how fast the stomach empties.
The practical effect is that hunger gets quieter. Most patients describe it as food no longer being on their mind all day.
It is licensed alongside a reduced calorie diet and more physical activity. It is not licensed instead of them, and it does not work well without them.
How is the dose built up?
The dose starts low on purpose. Starting high is what causes the nausea stories you have heard.
| Weeks | Dose once a week |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 0.25 mg |
| 5 to 8 | 0.5 mg |
| 9 to 12 | 1.0 mg |
| 13 to 16 | 1.7 mg |
| From week 17 | 2.4 mg, the usual maintenance dose |
Every step up is a decision, not an automatic date in the calendar. If a step causes real nausea, you stay where you are for another month or move back down.
Some patients do well and stay on 1.7 mg. The aim is the lowest dose that gets the result, not the highest dose you can survive.
How much weight do people actually lose?
In the STEP 1 trial, 1961 adults took either semaglutide 2.4 mg or a dummy injection for 68 weeks, both with the same lifestyle programme.
- Average weight loss was 15.3 kg on semaglutide against 2.6 kg on placebo.
- About 69 in 100 lost at least 10 percent of their body weight.
- About 50 in 100 lost at least 15 percent.
- A minority lost very little.
Those are trial averages, not a prediction for you. Dr. Felix will not tell you which of those groups you will land in, and any clinic that does is guessing.
What he will tell you is the checkpoint: if you have not lost about 5 percent of your weight after three months on a proper dose, the medicine is not working for you and the plan changes.
Wegovy, Ozempic or Mounjaro?
These get mixed up constantly, so here is the plain version.
| Name | Active ingredient | Licensed for |
|---|---|---|
| Wegovy | Semaglutide | Weight management |
| Ozempic | Semaglutide, lower doses | Type 2 diabetes |
| Mounjaro | Tirzepatide, acts on two hormones | Type 2 diabetes and weight, depending on the brand and country |
Same molecule in Wegovy and Ozempic, different licence and different doses. Wegovy is the one developed and approved for the reason most patients come here.
Semaglutide is also the only one of these with proven heart benefit in people who carry excess weight and already have cardiovascular disease but not diabetes. That matters for some patients and not for others, which is exactly the kind of thing a consultation is for.
Who Is a Good Candidate?
- Your body mass index is 30 or above, or 27 and above with a weight related condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea or fatty liver.
- You have given real diet and activity changes a fair run and the weight has not moved or has not stayed off.
- You are ready to keep eating and training changes going. The licence assumes the medicine works alongside them, not instead of them.
- You accept a slow build up over months and regular review rather than the fastest possible dose.
- You want one doctor who follows you, including through the part where you stop.
- You or a close relative have had medullary thyroid cancer, or you have multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. GLP-1 medicines are ruled out.
- You are pregnant, trying to conceive or breastfeeding.
- You have had pancreatitis, severe inflammatory bowel disease or gastroparesis. These need a separate discussion and are often a no.
- You want a quick fix for a holiday and have no interest in changing how you eat or train. The weight will come back.
- You are looking for a prescription without an examination, or for compounded semaglutide from an unregulated source.
What Happens During the Consultation
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1
Goals and history
What you want to change and why, what you have already tried, how your appetite behaves through the day, and whether any weight related condition is already diagnosed. Dr. Felix also asks about pregnancy plans and contraception, because this medicine is not used in pregnancy.
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2
Medical review
Examination, weight and body composition, blood pressure, and blood work where it is needed. Full review of everything else you take, including supplements, and of your personal and family history of thyroid cancer, pancreatitis and gallbladder disease.
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3
Suitability decision
A clear answer, including no. If Wegovy is not the right route, you hear what is, whether that is another medicine, a structured metabolic programme or a referral. You are not sold a prescription you should not have.
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4
Personal plan
Starting dose, the titration plan, a protein and training target to protect muscle, what to do if you feel sick, the number to call, and the review dates. You leave knowing exactly what the next twelve weeks look like.
Program Structure & Follow-Up
What does the follow up actually look like?
The first months are the ones that decide whether this works, so the contact is closest then.
- Every four to six weeks during titration. A short review before each dose step, in person or by phone, to check how you tolerated the last one.
- Every two to three months once you are stable. Weight, body composition, blood pressure, blood work at agreed points.
- Between appointments. You can reach the practice if something is wrong. You do not sit at home with vomiting for two weeks waiting for a slot. Continuous access is part of the membership programmes.
How do we protect your muscle?
This is the part most weight loss clinics skip, and it is the reason some people end up smaller but weaker.
When weight comes off fast, a meaningful share of it is muscle rather than fat. Across studies of GLP-1 medicines, close to a third of the weight lost came from muscle related measures.
Three things go into the plan from day one.
- A protein target for every day, set to your body weight, not a vague instruction to eat more protein.
- Resistance training at least twice a week. Walking is good for you and does not protect muscle.
- Body composition measured alongside the scale, so we can see what you are actually losing.
What happens when you stop?
Honestly: without a plan, most of the weight comes back. Across studies, people regain around 0.4 kg a month after stopping, and most are back near their starting weight within about two years.
That is not an argument for staying on it forever without thinking. It is an argument for deciding how you will stop before you start.
Obesity behaves like a long term condition, so the medicine is usually a long term treatment. When there is a good reason to come off it, the exit is planned: the training and eating structure has to already be in place, and you are followed through the months afterwards.
Benefits, Limits & Safety
What does it feel like, and what can go wrong?
Most side effects are digestive, they show up in the days after a dose increase, and they settle.
- Common. Nausea affects roughly a quarter to 40 in 100 patients. Around 10 to 20 in 100 get vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation. Burping and tiredness are common too.
- Uncommon but serious. Gallbladder problems, inflammation of the pancreas, bowel obstruction. Rare, and the link is not proven for all of them, but they are the reason you are reviewed rather than left alone.
What actually helps with the nausea?
- Smaller meals, more often. Stop at the first sign of being full.
- Eat slowly.
- Keep fat, grease and spice low in the days after your injection.
- Keep drinking. Dehydration makes everything worse.
- If a dose step is not tolerated, we delay it or step back. That is normal, not failure.
When should you call straight away?
- Severe stomach pain that goes through to your back, especially with vomiting.
- Vomiting that does not stop and stops you keeping fluids down.
- Pain under the right ribs, yellow skin or eyes.
- Any change in vision if you have diabetes.
Two things to tell other doctors
- Before an operation or a procedure with sedation. Tell the anaesthetist you take a GLP-1 medicine. It empties the stomach more slowly and they may want you to hold a dose.
- If you take diabetes medication. Insulin and some tablets may need to be reduced as your weight comes down, otherwise your sugar can drop too low.
Two things Dr. Felix will not do
- Compounded semaglutide. Cheaper copies mixed outside a regulated manufacturer have not been through the safety, quality and effectiveness review that the licensed product has, and harm has been reported. Not used here.
- Microdosing. Deliberately staying on a tiny dose because a coach online recommended it has not been studied, gives unpredictable results and invites dosing errors.
What the evidence shows
Average loss of about 15 percent of body weight over 68 weeks in the approval trial, alongside diet and activity change. Individual results vary widely and no number is promised to you.
How you are followed
Review every four to six weeks while the dose is climbing, then every two to three months. Weight, body composition, blood pressure and blood work, plus a direct line between appointments.
When it is not used
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. Caution or refusal with previous pancreatitis, severe inflammatory bowel disease or gastroparesis.
Cost & Program Investment
Cost depends on your dose and how long you stay on treatment, so a single number on a website would be misleading. You get the full figure in the consultation, before anything is prescribed, and there are no charges you have not been told about. What is included is the part that decides the outcome: the assessment, the titration plan, the reviews, the protein and training structure, and access between appointments through the membership programmes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally yes if your body mass index is 30 or above, or 27 and above with a weight related condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea, and lifestyle changes have not held. The decision also takes your history, your other medicines and your goals into account, which is why it is made in an examination and not on a form.
Same active ingredient, semaglutide. Ozempic is licensed for type 2 diabetes at lower doses. Wegovy is licensed for weight management and goes up to 2.4 mg weekly. Using a diabetes product for weight is an off label decision that a doctor has to justify. Wegovy is the version studied and approved for the purpose.
Appetite usually changes within the first few weeks, often before the scale does. Weight loss builds gradually as the dose climbs, and the meaningful assessment point is around three months on a proper dose. If you have not lost roughly 5 percent by then, the plan changes.
The needle is very short and fine and goes into the fat of the abdomen, thigh or upper arm. Most patients describe it as a pinch or nothing at all. You are shown how to do it and you do the first one under supervision.
If you remember within a few days you usually take it and carry on with your normal weekly day. If more time has passed you skip it and take the next one as planned. Do not double up. Message the practice if you are unsure, and if you have missed several weeks you may need to restart at a lower dose.
There is no absolute ban. Alcohol adds calories, can upset a stomach that is already sensitive on this medicine, and matters more if you have diabetes because of the risk of low blood sugar. Many patients find they want it less anyway.
Yes, at the start and at agreed points afterwards. It sets a baseline, picks up conditions that change the plan, and lets us see what is improving as the weight comes down. It is also how we spot anything that would make the medicine unsafe for you.
No. It is not used in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and it is stopped well before a planned pregnancy. If you could become pregnant, contraception is part of the conversation before you start.
Not here. Outside the licensed group the risks are not balanced by a benefit, and Dr. Felix will say no. If that is what you are looking for, this is the wrong practice.
It has been studied in large trials and is approved for this use. Digestive side effects are common and usually settle. Serious problems such as pancreatitis or gallbladder disease are uncommon. It is not used in pregnancy, or where there is a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. Safe means correctly selected and properly followed, which is the whole point of doing it with a doctor.
Appetite returns and, without something else in place, so does the weight. On average people regain around 0.4 kg a month after stopping. That is why the maintenance plan is agreed before you start rather than improvised at the end.
It depends on your dose and how long you stay on it, so a single figure would be misleading. You get the full cost in the consultation before anything is prescribed, because you should be able to decide with the real number in front of you.
Evidence
Where this information comes from
Every figure on this page is taken from the sources below. All of them are free to read, so you can check them yourself.
- Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity (STEP 1)
- Wegovy (semaglutide) injection: US prescribing information
- Wegovy: European public assessment report
- Semaglutide for managing overweight and obesity
- Obesity and overweight
This page is general medical information and does not replace a personal consultation. Trial results are averages across large groups, not a prediction for any one person.