How to take a GLP-1 shot, step by step.

Before you start: what you are actually injecting

There are two kinds of GLP-1 products people in Nigeria use, and the technique is slightly different for each:

• Branded pens — Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide), Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide). The pen has the medicine inside; you attach a needle, dial or select the dose, and press.
• Compounded or pharmacy-prepared vials — semaglutide or tirzepatide drawn up with an insulin-type syringe. The dose is measured in units on the syringe, and the "units" differ between pharmacies depending on the concentration. Never guess units from an online chart. Use the number your clinician wrote down for your vial.

Whatever you use, it is the same medicine class, given the same way: a weekly injection into the fatty layer just under the skin.

Where to inject

Pick one of three areas:

1. Belly (abdomen) — the most common. Stay at least 5 cm (about two finger-widths) away from the navel, and avoid stretch marks, scars, moles or anywhere bruised.
2. Front of the thigh — the middle third, outer part.
3. Back of the upper arm — easier if someone else is injecting you.

All three work the same. The belly tends to be the least painful for most people because the skin is softer and there is a little more fat to pinch.

Rotate. Use a different spot each week — for example, left belly, right belly, left thigh, right thigh — and at least 2–3 cm away from the last spot in that area. Injecting the same place repeatedly can cause hard lumps (lipohypertrophy) that absorb the medicine unevenly.

Step by step: pens (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound)

1. Wash your hands. Take the pen out of the fridge 15–30 minutes before so it is not ice-cold (a cold injection stings more).
2. Check it. Right name, right strength, not expired, liquid clear and colourless (semaglutide and tirzepatide should be clear). If it is cloudy or has particles, do not use it.
3. Attach a new needle (Ozempic, Mounjaro KwikPen). Mounjaro single-dose pens and Wegovy pens have the needle built in — skip this step.
4. Prime if your pen needs it. Ozempic and KwikPens need a "flow check" with a new needle: dial the flow-check symbol and press until a drop appears. Built-in-needle pens do not.
5. Select your dose exactly as prescribed.
6. Clean the skin with an alcohol swab and let it dry (wet alcohol under the needle stings).
7. Inject. Hold the pen straight (90°) against the skin. Press the button and keep the needle in for at least 6 seconds after the counter reaches 0 on Ozempic, or keep holding the button for 5 seconds on a Mounjaro KwikPen, or hold a single-dose pen in place until you hear the second click and the grey plunger has fully appeared (about 10 seconds). Pulling out early is the number-one reason people under-dose.
8. Remove the needle (if detachable) and drop it in a sharps container or a thick plastic bottle with a lid. Put the cap back on the pen.

A tiny drop of blood or a small red bump at the site is normal. Press with a clean tissue for a few seconds — do not rub.

Step by step: vials and syringes (compounded semaglutide/tirzepatide)

1. Wash your hands. Wipe the vial's rubber top with an alcohol swab.
2. Use a new insulin syringe each time (usually 0.3 mL or 0.5 mL, with a 29–31 G needle).
3. Pull air into the syringe equal to your dose in units, push it into the vial, turn the vial upside down, and draw your dose. Flick out air bubbles and push gently until the plunger sits exactly on your unit mark.
4. Clean the skin, pinch a fold of skin on the belly or thigh, and insert the needle fully at 90° (or 45° if you are very slim).
5. Push the plunger down slowly and steadily, hold for 5 seconds, then withdraw.
6. Dispose of the syringe safely. Never re-use or share needles.

If your vial needs mixing (lyophilised powder plus bacteriostatic water), your clinic should do that for you or show you exactly how. Mixing errors are the most common cause of wrong doses with compounded products.

When to take it — and what to do if you miss a dose

• Pick a day and keep it. Sunday night and Monday morning are popular because any mild nausea lands at the start of the week when meals are more predictable.
• Any time of day, with or without food.
• Missed dose, semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy): take it as soon as you remember if it has been 5 days or less. If more than 5 days have passed, skip it and take the next one on your usual day.
• Missed dose, tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound): take it within 4 days (96 hours). Beyond that, skip and resume on your usual day.
• Never take two doses within 48 hours (semaglutide) or 72 hours (tirzepatide) to "catch up".
• If you miss two or more weeks in a row, talk to your clinician before restarting. You may need to go back to a lower dose to avoid heavy nausea.

How your dose goes up

Both medicines are started low to let your stomach adapt, then increased in steps:

The step-up is a clinical decision, not a calendar: if you are still nauseous, losing weight well, or your clinician wants to hold a dose for longer, you stay where you are. Going up too fast is the main reason people quit in month two. At The Baddie Lab, every dose change happens after a check-in, and clients already on a program who titrate up mid-month only pay the difference per remaining shot.

Storing your medicine in Lagos

Heat is the enemy of these medicines, and NEPA is the enemy of your fridge.

• Unopened pens and vials: fridge at 2–8 °C. Not the freezer — if it freezes, throw it away. Not the fridge door, which swings warm every time it opens; keep it in the main compartment, away from the back wall.
• Ozempic after first use: up to 56 days at room temperature below 30 °C, or back in the fridge. Keep the cap on and away from sunlight.
• Mounjaro single-dose pen: can be kept out of the fridge for up to 21 days below 30 °C. Mounjaro KwikPen (4 doses): 30 days below 30 °C after first use.
• Compounded vials: follow the pharmacy label exactly — most are refrigerated at all times once mixed and discarded after 28 days.
• Power cuts: a closed fridge stays cold for roughly 4 hours. For longer outages, move the medicine into a cooler bag with ice packs (not touching the ice directly). An inverter-backed fridge or a small medical cool box solves this permanently if you are on a 3-month program.
• Travelling: carry it in your hand luggage in an insulated pouch with a cold pack. Never check it into the hold.

A pen that has been left in a hot car, or a vial that went cloudy, is not worth the risk. Replace it.

Safety checklist

• One new needle or syringe per injection; dispose in a sharps bin or a sealed hard plastic bottle, never in regular waste.
• Do not share pens, even with a new needle — blood can travel back into the cartridge.
• Expect mild nausea, fullness, burping or constipation in the first weeks; see our guide to managing GLP-1 side effects.
• Stop and seek care for severe or persistent stomach pain (especially radiating to the back), repeated vomiting that stops you drinking fluids, yellowing of the eyes, or signs of an allergic reaction (face or throat swelling, trouble breathing).
• Tell every doctor you see that you are on a GLP-1, especially before surgery or any procedure needing sedation — these medicines slow stomach emptying, and anaesthetists need to know.

How we do it at The Baddie Lab

Our GLP-1 programs are run from our clinic in Lekki Phase 1. Every program starts with a consultation; weekly shots are given in-clinic by our team, with your dose reviewed before each step up. Clients who would rather inject at home are taught properly with their own pen before they leave. Current prices, including VAT, are on our Services & Pricing page, and our GLP-1 weight loss page explains the difference between the tirzepatide and semaglutide programs.