Your GLP-1 plan: dose, storage, and when to reach out

A quick reference for the questions that come up most often after your visit: what your prescription means, how to measure your dose, how to store your medication, and when to reach out. Keep this page handy alongside your prescription label.

Before you open your package

Before you toss the box, bottle, or any packaging, make sure you've found your dosing instructions and checked that everything listed inside is there.

Your dosing instructions are printed on your medication's packaging (the box, bottle, or vial label). Please keep the box, bottle, and any packaging until you've confirmed your dose and verified you received all the supplies listed inside. You can also view and verify your dosing anytime in your Belle patient portal. If you're starting a new vial, confirm its concentration and unit dose match your current prescription before you begin.

Your medication and dose

Your prescription label lists the full name of your medication, its concentration, and your dose. The concentration (how much medication is in each milliliter of liquid) determines how many vials you receive in a shipment. The number of vials may change from shipment to shipment if the pharmacy is out of a specific vial size. This does not change your dose.

Your dose is written on your prescription label as a number of units. Inject that number of units under the skin once a week, on the same day each week.

Reading your syringe

You will use a 100-unit (1 mL) syringe.

Each numbered line = 10 units
Each short line = 5 units

Your syringe may have smaller marks between these. Always count from the numbered lines.

Pull the plunger back until the flat front edge of the rubber tip reaches the unit line for your dose.

Units tell you where to fill the syringe.
Milligrams (mg) tell you how much medication you are taking.

Your label shows both. You only need the units to measure your dose.

If you are ever unsure how many units to inject, contact us before injecting.

Your dosing plan

When your medication arrives, follow the instructions on your prescription label, including any scheduled increases in units.

If you are feeling well and having success at your current dose, you do not need to increase it. Staying at a dose that works is a normal part of treatment.

If you have questions about your plan, message us through your Belle patient portal.

Storage and delivery

Refrigerate promptly once your medication arrives.
Protect from light by keeping it in its original packaging.
Do not freeze. Store it toward the back of a middle shelf, away from the back wall of the refrigerator.

If the ice packs in your shipment have melted, that is expected and does not mean anything happened to your medication. The insulated packaging is designed to protect it even after the ice has melted. If you would like to double check, message us and we will confirm your shipment stayed within the pharmacy's safe temperature range. It almost always does.

What is a BUD?

BUD stands for beyond-use date. It is the pharmacy's use-by deadline for your medication when stored properly. You will find it on your vial label. Do not use your medication after this date.

You may have heard of the 28-day puncture rule, a common manufacturer guideline for multi-dose vials that recommends discarding a vial 28 days after first use.

Compounding pharmacies often extend this timeframe after performing their own safety and stability testing for specific medications. When you receive a multi-month supply in a single vial, the pharmacy has verified it remains safe and effective for the entire treatment period. Your vial's BUD, not the 28-day rule, is the date to follow.

When to reach out

Nausea, constipation, or other side effects are lingering or getting in the way of eating or daily life.

Severe belly pain that does not go away: stop the medication and seek care now.

Repeated vomiting, inability to keep fluids down, or very little urine: get same-day care.

Trouble breathing, or swelling of your lips, tongue, or throat. Stop the medication.

Do not wait for a portal reply for urgent symptoms.

Your next steps

Your care team will let you know when your next check-in is due. You can view upcoming check-ins and message us anytime in your patient portal.

Text us: 877-359-1724 | Call us: 888-541-6003

Your Weekly GLP-1 Injection

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.