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GLP‑1 medicines,
explained for the UK

Start with your health, not a brand name. What your BMI means, who can get these medicines on the NHS, the risks, and where medicines like Wegovy and Mounjaro fit.

Do I have obesity?Can I get it on the NHS?Is it for me?Side effects
We don't sell medicines Every fact has a source No links to sellers

Where are you starting from?

Pick the one closest to you. We'll take you through just the guides you need, in order, and each one tells you what to read next.

Or read all nine guides

From understanding GLP‑1s to living with one, in four stages. Each guide ends with a link to the next.

Stage 1Understand

Guide 1 · UnderstandWeight and healthDo I have obesity? What BMI and waist numbers mean, including NICE's lower thresholds for some ethnic groups.
Guide 2 · UnderstandWhat GLP‑1s doHow they act on your gut, brain and appetite.

Stage 2Decide

Guide 3 · DecideYour optionsFood, activity, other medicines, GLP‑1s and surgery, side by side.
Guide 4 · DecideShould I consider a GLP‑1?Who they may suit, and when not to.
Guide 5 · DecideSide effects and risksCommon and serious effects, and when to get help.

Stage 3Do it safely

Guide 6 · Do it safelyGetting a prescription in the UKNHS or private: who qualifies in each nation, who may prescribe, the brands, and fakes.
Guide 7 · Do it safelyChoosing a pharmacy, clinic or programmeOnline pharmacies, clinics and programmes: what they offer, how they charge, what to check.

Stage 4Live with it

Guide 8 · Live with itLife on a GLP‑1Food and protein, injecting, travel, Ramadan and fasting.
Guide 9 · Live with itStopping and the long termWhat happens after, and the cost over the years.

Free tools

Check your numbers, see if a GLP‑1 could be an option, work out the cost and get ready for your appointment. No sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your device.

BMI and waist-to-heightSee where you sit against NICE's thresholds, including those for some ethnic groups
Could it be an option for me?A 1-minute check against the UK licence and NHS rules
Cost calculatorThe 6- and 12-month total for a medicine and dose
Before you see a GPQuestions to take along to your appointment

Prices in the UK

All brandsComing soon

Official list prices for a month at the starting dose and the top dose, and what an NHS prescription costs. Checked 12 Oct 2026.

Before you go further. These are prescription-only medicines. On the NHS, who can get them depends on the medicine and where you live; privately, a healthcare professional must consult you before prescribing.1 They have real risks: read Side effects and risks first. A lower price doesn't make a medicine right for you.
By medicine
MedicineTypeFormStarting dose / monthTop dose / month
TirzepatideWeekly injection 1
Mounjaro KwikPenEli Lilly · licensed for type 2 diabetes and weight managementBrandPenStarting dose£1332.5 mg · list price since 1 Sep 2025, excl. VAT2Top dose£33015 mg (12.5 mg the same) · same source2
SemaglutideWeekly injection 2
Wegovy FlexTouchNovo Nordisk · licensed for weight management and heart protectionBrandPenStarting dose£73.250.25 mg · list price published Mar 2023, excl. VAT3Top dose£175.802.4 mg · Mar 2023; no newer official figure found3
Wegovy 7.2 mg penNovo Nordisk · single-dose pen for the highest dose, approved Apr 202613BrandPenStarting doseNot a starting doseTop doseNot published
TabletsDaily tablet 2
Wegovy tabletsNovo Nordisk · semaglutide · licensed for weight management, approved Jun 202610BrandTabletStarting doseNot publishedTop doseNot published
FoundayoEli Lilly · orforglipron · licensed for weight management and type 2 diabetes, approved Aug 20269BrandTabletStarting doseNot publishedTop doseNot published
NHSWhat you pay on an NHS prescription
England: £9.90 per item, and one pen is one item. A prepayment certificate caps it at £32.05 for 3 months or £114.50 for 12 months.4 Free with a medical exemption certificate, which covers diabetes treated with medicines.5
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: free.6,7,8 Who qualifies for these medicines on the NHS differs between the four nations. Who qualifies where →
List prices are what the maker charges for one pen (4 weekly doses, about a month), before VAT, as published by NICE. They are not what you pay. On the NHS you pay the prescription charge or nothing, and the NHS pays its own confidential discounted price. Private pharmacies and clinics set their own prices. "Not published" means we found no official UK list price. Grouped by medicine. Not sorted by price, and not a recommendation. We don't list sellers or private prices. Diabetes-only brands such as Ozempic, Rybelsus and Trulicity are not listed here yet. Your prescriber sets the medicine and the dose. Sources 2–10, 13.

Latest updates

What's changed in the UK, newest first.

All updatesComing soon

Common questions

Short answers, each with its source.

Can I get Mounjaro or Wegovy on the NHS?
It depends on your health and where you live. In England, GPs prescribe Mounjaro in stages, starting with people who have a BMI of 40 or more and at least 4 weight-related conditions. Wegovy for weight is only given through specialist weight services, for up to 2 years.2,3 Scotland accepted Mounjaro for restricted use from a BMI of 30 with a weight-related condition. Wales offers it to some priority groups. In Northern Ireland, a phased start was planned in 2025.21,22,23 More in Getting a prescription in the UK.
Is Ozempic licensed for weight loss in the UK?
No. In the UK, Ozempic and Rybelsus are licensed for type 2 diabetes only. Wegovy contains the same medicine, semaglutide, and is the brand licensed for weight management.1 Mounjaro is licensed for both.24
Is a GLP‑1 right for me?
Only a prescriber who knows your health history can say. For weight, the UK licence covers adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 to under 30 with a weight-related health problem, alongside changes to food and activity.24 The MHRA says they are not for losing weight for cosmetic reasons.1 Read Should I consider a GLP‑1? and Side effects and risks before you see your GP.
What are the side effects?
The most common are nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, constipation and stomach pain, mostly when starting or raising the dose. Less common but serious: inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), gallbladder problems, and kidney injury from dehydration. The US label also carries a thyroid tumour warning, and the medicine should not be used in pregnancy.18 You can report side effects to the MHRA's Yellow Card scheme.25 More in Side effects and risks.
What's the difference between Mounjaro and Wegovy?
Mounjaro is tirzepatide, which acts on two gut hormones (GLP‑1 and GIP). Wegovy is semaglutide, which acts on one. In a head-to-head trial in adults with obesity, paid for by Lilly, average weight loss was larger on tirzepatide. Results varied a lot between people, and stomach side effects were common on both.16
Is it safe to buy weight-loss injections online?
Only from a registered pharmacy, with a prescription, after a proper consultation. Since February 2025, online prescribers must check your weight, height or BMI themselves before prescribing a weight-loss medicine.20 Check a pharmacy's registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council, or the PSNI in Northern Ireland. Never buy from beauty salons or social media.1 A fake Mounjaro pen has been supplied through a UK online pharmacy.14
What happens when you stop taking it?
Weight usually comes back. A year after stopping semaglutide, trial participants had regained about two-thirds of the weight they had lost.17
What BMI counts as obesity in the UK?
NICE counts a BMI of 30 or more as obesity, and 25 to 29.9 as overweight. For people from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds, it uses lower thresholds: overweight from 23, obesity from 27.5.19 These numbers mark health risk. They don't decide whether you need medicine. More in Weight and health.

All questions

Explainers and quick answers

Longer articles on costs, rules, side effects and daily life, plus short answers to single questions.

Blog20 in-depth articlesQuestions20 short answers

The monthly UK update

New approvals, NHS access changes, list-price changes and safety alerts. Once a month, nothing else.

An independent guide: no drug-company money, no clinic commissions, no affiliate links.

Sources (25)
  1. MHRA. GLP-1 medicines for weight loss and diabetes: what you need to know. GOV.UK, updated 5 February 2026. Link
  2. NICE. Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity. Technology appraisal TA1026, 23 December 2024. Section 2.3 (list prices "for a 4-week supply… £133.00 for 2.5 mg, £180.00 for 5 mg, £255.00 for 7.5 mg and 10 mg, £330.00 for 12.5 mg and 15 mg", excluding VAT; NHS discount confidential) and "What this means in practice" (phased groups in England). Link
  3. NICE. Semaglutide for managing overweight and obesity. Technology appraisal TA875, 8 March 2023. Recommendation 1.1 (specialist services, maximum 2 years) and section 2.3 (list prices per pen of 4 doses, excluding VAT: £73.25 for 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg; £124.53 for 1.7 mg; £175.80 for 2.4 mg). Link
  4. NHS Business Services Authority. NHS prescription prepayment certificate (PPC): £9.90 per item in England; £32.05 for 3 months, £114.50 for 12 months. Checked 12 October 2026. Link
  5. NHS Business Services Authority. Medical exemption certificates ("diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone"). Checked 12 October 2026. Link
  6. NHS inform (Scotland). Prescriptions ("Prescriptions in Scotland are free"). Checked 12 October 2026. Link
  7. Welsh Government. Free prescriptions. Checked 12 October 2026. Link
  8. nidirect (Northern Ireland). Help with health costs ("All prescriptions dispensed in Northern Ireland are free of charge for everyone"). Checked 12 October 2026. Link
  9. MHRA. UK first in Europe to authorise orforglipron for weight management and type 2 diabetes. GOV.UK, 10 August 2026. Link
  10. MHRA. First GLP-1 tablet for weight loss approved in the UK. GOV.UK, 11 June 2026. Link
  11. MHRA. Semaglutide (Wegovy) approved to treat form of liver disease. GOV.UK, 3 July 2026. Link
  12. NICE. Semaglutide for reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in people with cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity. Technology appraisal TA1152, 7 May 2026. Link
  13. MHRA. Single-dose 7.2mg semaglutide (Wegovy) pen approved to treat adult patients with obesity. GOV.UK, 14 April 2026. Link
  14. MHRA. Drug Safety Update: falsified Mounjaro (tirzepatide) KwikPen 15mg pre-filled pens. 24 February 2026. Link
  15. MHRA. MHRA updates guidance for GLP-1 prescribers and patients. GOV.UK, 29 January 2026. Link
  16. Aronne LJ et al. Tirzepatide as compared with semaglutide for the treatment of obesity (SURMOUNT-5). NEJM, 2025;393:26–36. Funded by Eli Lilly. DOI
  17. Wilding JPH et al. Weight regain and cardiometabolic effects after withdrawal of semaglutide: the STEP 1 trial extension. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2022;24(8):1553–1564. DOI
  18. Novo Nordisk. Wegovy (semaglutide) US prescribing information, revised June 2026. (US label.) PDF
  19. NICE. Overweight and obesity management. NICE guideline NG246, updated 8 January 2026. Recommendations 1.9.10 and 1.9.11. Link
  20. General Pharmaceutical Council. Online pharmacies to strengthen safeguards to prevent unsafe supply of medicines. 4 February 2025. Link
  21. Scottish Medicines Consortium. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for obesity, SMC2653: accepted for restricted use. Link
  22. Welsh Government. People waiting for time-sensitive surgery to get weight-loss drugs on the NHS. 23 October 2025. Link
  23. Northern Ireland Formulary (Health and Social Care). Tirzepatide patient information leaflet ("not currently available through the Health Service in Northern Ireland for the treatment of obesity… It will be introduced as a phased approach"). April 2025.
  24. Eli Lilly. Mounjaro KwikPen, UK summary of product characteristics (SmPC), section 4.1; Novo Nordisk, Wegovy 2.4 mg FlexTouch UK SmPC, section 4.1. Electronic Medicines Compendium. Mounjaro · Wegovy
  25. MHRA. Yellow Card scheme. Link