GLP-1 dosing, finally sized for you.
The standard doses were set in trials, not for your body. Whether you're on the full plan or exploring lower doses, this is exact math and honest evidence for semaglutide, tirzepatide, and retatrutide — written for women, true for everyone.
Find my dose ↓Pick your medication, tap a dose, and see exactly where to draw on a standard U-100 insulin syringe. The math uses your vial and your water — no guessing from someone else's screenshot.
Titration isn't a suggestion — side effects are worst at every dose increase, and the schedules exist to protect you. Here's your week-by-week view for either approach.
Trial results are averages from studies at full doses — not promises, and not microdose data.
| Medication | Status | How it works | Weekly dose | Avg. weight loss in trials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide Ozempic · Wegovy |
FDA-approved | GLP-1 receptor agonist — appetite, gastric emptying | 0.25 → 2.4 mg | ~15% at 68 wk (STEP-1) |
| Tirzepatide Mounjaro · Zepbound |
FDA-approved | Dual GIP + GLP-1 agonist | 2.5 → 15 mg | ~21–22.5% at 72 wk (SURMOUNT-1) |
| Retatrutide investigational |
NOT approved — Phase 3 done; FDA filing planned early 2027 | Triple GLP-1 + GIP + glucagon agonist | 1 → 12 mg (trials only) | ~28% at 80 wk (TRIUMPH-1) |
The things the standard dosing guides never mention because they weren't written with women in mind. Everything below comes from FDA labels and published trials.
Tirzepatide can make birth control pills less effective by slowing stomach emptying. The FDA label says: switch to a non-oral method (IUD, implant, ring, patch) or add a barrier method for 4 weeks after starting and 4 weeks after every dose increase.
Non-oral hormonal methods are not affected. Semaglutide's label carries no equivalent warning — this is specific to tirzepatide.
Source: Zepbound / Mounjaro FDA prescribing information
Stop semaglutide at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy — its half-life is so long the drug lingers that far. GLP-1s for weight management are not recommended during pregnancy, and animal data suggest possible fetal harm.
Microdosing does not change this. A smaller amount of a long-half-life drug is still the drug.
Source: semaglutide FDA prescribing information
In subgroup analyses of the major trials, women on average lost a greater percentage of body weight than men at the same doses — and reported GI side effects (nausea, vomiting) more often.
That's the actual case for starting low and titrating patiently: the label schedule is the ceiling of aggressiveness, not the floor.
Source: STEP / SURMOUNT trial subgroup analyses
Rapid weight loss takes lean mass and can affect bone density along with fat — a bigger long-term issue for women. The two defenses with real evidence behind them: adequate protein at every meal and resistance training through your entire time on the medication.
Slower loss at lower doses is gentler on lean mass — one of the few genuinely plausible arguments for conservative dosing.
Temporary hair shedding (telogen effluvium) is reported with rapid weight loss from any cause and appears in tirzepatide trial adverse-event reporting. Facial volume loss — the "Ozempic face" everyone screenshots — is a general feature of losing fat quickly, not a unique drug effect.
Both track with speed of loss more than the drug itself.
Severe abdominal pain (pancreatitis), gallbladder attacks, vision changes, or symptoms of low blood sugar if you take other glucose-lowering drugs. And GLP-1s are contraindicated with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN2.
Source: class labeling, all approved GLP-1s
Approved pens from a pharmacy are verified drug. Compounded semaglutide/tirzepatide quality varies by pharmacy. Gray-market "research" vials are unverified — independent testing routinely finds underfilled or misidentified product. Retatrutide has no legal retail source at all — anything sold as reta is unverified by definition.
Never copy someone else's units. Their vial and water are not yours. Ten units of her mix and ten units of your mix can be completely different doses. Thirty seconds with the calculator is the whole game.
Most GLP-1 dosing advice online is written by people selling you the vial. This site was formulated by doctors who aren't.
We watched the same scene repeat: women trading syringe screenshots in group chats, copying "units" without knowing concentrations, titrating on vibes, and asking strangers questions their prescriber should have answered. The medications are remarkable. The information layer around them is a mess.
HerMicrodose is our answer: the exact math, the FDA-label schedules, the women-specific warnings that get buried on page 40 of the prescribing information — and honest labels on everything that's anecdote, including microdosing itself. We sell nothing. We take nothing from vendors, clinics, or pharma. When there's no data, the site says "no data."
Talk to your own physician about anything you inject. That's not a legal line; it's the actual advice.