Your Weekly GLP-1 Injection

THE INJECTION

Giving your dose

Watch us demonstrate the whole process, start to finish. A short walkthrough of everything below, before you touch a needle.

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Prefer written instructions? Click to view the seven steps

1. Wash your hands and set up Soap and warm water, 20 seconds, and dry them completely. Set out your vial, your syringe, both alcohol pads, and your sharps container within easy reach. Sit somewhere with good light where you will not be interrupted.
2. Clean the top of the vial Flip off the plastic cap if it is still on. Wipe the exposed rubber stopper firmly with an alcohol pad and let it air dry for a few seconds. Do not blow on it, and do not wipe it with a towel.
3. Draw up your dose
   1. Pull air into the syringe first. With the needle still in the air, pull the plunger back until the rubber tip reaches your dose. You are drawing in air, not medicine.
   2. Go straight into the stopper. Hold the vial upright on the table. Keep the needle perpendicular, a true 90 degrees, and push it through the center circle of the rubber top.
   3. Push the air in. Press the plunger down all the way. This replaces the volume you are about to remove, so the vial does not fight you.
   4. Turn it upside down and draw. Keeping the needle in, invert the vial so the liquid pools around the needle. Make sure the needle tip sits below the surface of the liquid, then pull the plunger back slowly and steadily until the rubber tip reaches your dose.
   5. Pull straight out. Lift the vial off the needle without twisting or tilting.
4. Get the air bubbles out Hold the syringe needle up and look for bubbles. If you see any, tap the barrel gently with a fingertip so they float to the top, then press the plunger just enough to push them out. 🫧 A NOTE ON BUBBLES A small bubble in a subcutaneous injection is not dangerous. It matters because it takes up room: air where medication should be means you get less than your prescribed dose. Getting the bubbles out is about accuracy, not safety.
5. Pick your spot and clean it Choose a site you did not use last week. Wipe it with your second alcohol pad in one direction, then let it dry completely.
6. Inject
   1. Keep your fingers off the plunger while the needle goes in, so you cannot push medication before the needle is seated.
   2. Go straight in at 90 degrees, all the way, in one quick motion. Do not tilt or angle it. These needles are short enough that they need the full depth to reach the fat.
   3. Push the plunger down at a slow, steady rate until it stops. You can release the pinch now if you would like.
   4. Count to five, then pull the needle straight back out at the same angle it went in.
7. Dispose of the syringe Use a heavy duty plastic container with a tight screw on lid. An empty laundry detergent or bleach bottle works. Label it clearly with a marker: SHARPS, DO NOT RECYCLE. Get a real one from your pharmacy when you can. Never use glass, a soda bottle, or anything a needle can poke through.

NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOUR DOSE

Your dose is a specific number of units written on your prescription label. If you are ever unsure about the number of units you are supposed to inject, contact us first, before injecting your medication.

MEASURING

Know your syringe

Insulin syringes are marked off in units. 100 units always equals 1 mL. Your dose is written in units, and you will count the lines on the barrel to measure it.

This is a 100 unit (1 mL) syringe. The number of units you have drawn is measured at the flat front edge of the black rubber tip, not at the end of the plunger rod. Your syringe may have more or fewer lines than the one shown, so check what one small line equals on your own syringe before you measure.

SITES

Where to inject

You have three usable areas. The abdomen is where most people inject themselves: it is easy to see, easy to reach, and has the most loose fat to pinch. The thigh is a good second choice. The back of the upper arm works well, but you cannot reach your own, so it needs a helper.

All three areas sit over soft fat rather than muscle or bone. Distances are approximate, so use your own hand as the ruler: two fingers side by side is roughly two inches.

AFTERWARD

If something goes wrong mid injection

Do not re-dose to make up for it. If you drew up the wrong amount, the needle came out early, you spilled some, or you simply are not sure the full dose went in, leave it, take your next dose on your usual day, and contact us. One exception: if your needle broke or bent with medicine still in the syringe before you injected, draw a fresh dose with a new syringe. The needle on your syringes is built in and cannot be swapped.

WHEN TO GET HELP

Reach out right away if

🚨 CALL 911 OR GO TO THE ER

• Trouble breathing, or swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat
• A spreading rash with dizziness or a racing heart
• Severe stomach pain that will not let up, especially if it wraps around to your back

For everything else, questions about side effects, timing, or how you are feeling on it, send us a message. There is no such thing as a question too small for a medication you are giving yourself.

This guide is patient education, not a prescription. Your own prescription label and the instructions from your care team take precedence over anything on this page. If the two conflict, follow your label and reach out through the Belle patient portal.