6 Month GLP-1 Plan: A Realistic Mounjaro Timeline (October 2026)

01 · The plan

What a six-month GLP-1 plan looks like and what it costs

If you step up after 4 weeks on each dose, your first four pens (2.5mg to 10mg) cost £959.96 at standard prices, before discounts. A new customer's first order is £40 less with code FIRST40, and an automatic £25 reorder discount applies to every future order (code DOSE25). The Mounjaro pen is available in all six strengths, and all six doses are in stock.

Your first 2.5mg pen is £129.99 on a first order (standard price £169.99). Switching to us at 15mg from another provider? Your first order is £289.99. Your prescriber chooses the dose with you, so the six-month total depends on your dose path.

The table is an example pattern, not a promise: the dose steps up after at least 4 weeks on each dose, depending on how you respond. Your prescriber may slow a step if side effects are troublesome, and responses differ widely. Our Mounjaro-specific six month plan goes deeper on the Mounjaro schedule, and our guide to the three month GLP-1 plan covers the first half in detail.

02 · Value

What the price includes and how supply works

The price shown is the price paid: the consultation is free, there are no hidden fees and there is no subscription. Mounjaro comes through official LillyDirect supply, direct from Eli Lilly's UK distribution, as genuine KwikPens. Delivery is free next-day tracked in temperature-controlled, discreet packaging, with same-day dispatch when you order by 3pm. Saturday delivery is £14.99. Ongoing monthly reviews, dose-titration and follow-up assessments by the prescribing team are part of the service, and repeat orders re-check suitability, so nothing ships automatically.

If you want to see how supply across a longer course works, our page on six-month GLP-1 supply explains it, and the six-month supply bundle page covers bundled options. Payment is by Visa, Mastercard, Klarna or pay-monthly options.

03 · Ordering

How to start in three steps

Starting takes three steps, beginning with a free online consultation.

• Free online consultation. Complete a short health questionnaire, with no charge and no obligation. Start your free consultation.
• Prescriber review. A GPhC-registered prescriber reviews your answers. Payment is taken when you place the order; if the prescriber decides the treatment is not suitable, the order is refunded automatically in full.
• Dispensing and delivery. Our registered pharmacy dispenses your pen, and free next-day tracked delivery follows. Needles, a sharps bin and injection guidance come with every order.

Check any pharmacy you consider on the GPhC register: ours is registration 9012878. Anyone offering to supply a prescription medicine without a consultation or prescription is not operating legitimately.

04 · Month-by-month timeline

A month-by-month timeline for six months

A six-month plan moves through the dose ladder rather than staying still, so each month feels different. That means the early months are about dose-finding, and later months may be on a steadier dose.

Month 1 (2.5mg). This is an adjustment phase. Some people notice appetite change and early loss in week one; others feel little until a higher dose. Both are normal. Losses are usually modest.

Month 2 (5mg). Most measurable progress builds from 5mg onward, month by month. In SURMOUNT-1, people on 5mg lost on average 15% of body weight over 72 weeks, which gives a sense of where this dose can lead over a long course, not by the end of month two.²

Month 3 (7.5mg). A sensible three-month expectation on a standard titration is mid single digits as a percentage of body weight, with wide individual variation. Slower early progress does not predict failure, because the dose you respond to may still be ahead of you.

Month 4 (10mg). If your dose has stepped up this far, your prescriber reviews your response at the monthly review. If you have lost less than 5% of your starting weight after 6 months on the highest dose you can tolerate, your prescriber will discuss whether continuing or stopping is right for you.

Months 5 and 6. The rest of a six-month plan is spent on the dose set with your prescriber. Progress is judged by trend over weeks, not single weigh-ins.

Think in months, not days. The same timeline is explored from a results angle in our guide to GLP-1 six month results, and the first month is covered in Mounjaro before and after at one month.

05 · First weeks and month one

The first weeks: what is normal in month one

The first month on 2.5mg is about adjustment, not dramatic results, and experiences differ widely. Some people notice a change in appetite and early loss in week one. Others feel almost nothing until a higher dose. Both patterns are normal, and neither tells you how the six months will go.

Early loss includes water weight, so the trend over several weeks matters more than any single weigh-in. If the scale drops quickly in week one and then pauses, that is not a failure; if it barely moves for four weeks, that is not a failure either. The question people often ask is whether a very large loss in one month, such as seven kilograms, is realistic. Weight loss on Mounjaro is gradual by design, and the starting weeks are an adjustment phase with usually modest losses, so planning around a very large first-month figure sets you up for disappointment.

The commonest early effects are mild nausea, altered appetite and tiredness in the first days after each injection. These usually settle. They are listed in the patient information leaflet, which you should read in full before your first injection.¹³ If symptoms are severe, persistent or new, speak to your prescriber, and you can report any suspected side effect through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.¹⁹

What can you do in month one that helps the following five months? Treat it as practice. Learn the injection routine using the guidance that comes with the pen, notice which day of the week suits you, and begin eating in a way that fits a reduced appetite. The treatment works alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, not instead of them.

Tracking can help you see trends rather than reacting to single readings. Our free companion app, GLPTrackr (iOS and Android), is built for tracking a GLP-1 journey. Using it, or a simple notebook, lets you review doses, symptoms and weight with your prescriber at the monthly review.

Finally, resist comparing your week three with someone else's. Social media posts rarely say which dose, how long or how many weeks someone has been on treatment. Your own trend over the six months is the only comparison that matters. If you want to see what the first four weeks can involve, read our piece on Mounjaro before and after at one month.

06 · Realistic six-month results

How much weight can you realistically lose in six months?

Nobody can give you an honest single number for six months, because trials measured results at 72 weeks, not 26. At three months, a sensible expectation on a standard titration is mid single digits as a percentage of body weight, with wide individual variation. At 72 weeks, SURMOUNT-1 reported average losses of 15% on 5mg, 19.5% on 10mg and 20.9% on 15mg, compared with 3.1% with lifestyle changes alone.² Six months lies between those points, and average weight loss built month by month in the trial rather than arriving early.

To translate percentages: for someone starting at 100 kg, 15% is about 15 kg and 20.9% is about 21 kg. Those are 72-week trial averages, so they are not a six-month forecast. They show the scale of what long-term treatment can achieve alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Individual results vary, and trial averages do not predict your own result.

Other trial figures help set expectations about the range. At 72 weeks, 85% of participants on 5mg, 89% on 10mg and 91% on 15mg had lost at least 5% of their body weight. Half of participants on 10mg and 57% on 15mg lost at least 20%. These show that most people responded, but they were measured over a much longer period than six months and at doses you may or may not reach.

Why the six-month point can feel underwhelming. Slower early progress does not predict failure: the dose that works for you may still be ahead.

Why it is still worth judging. Under 5% lost after 6 months on the highest dose you can tolerate leads to a conversation about continuing, adjusting or stopping.

If you are looking for a number to put in a calendar, use trend language instead: steady progress over months, with allowance for pauses. Our page on Mounjaro six month results looks at this from the results side, and the guide to what a GLP-1 plan is explains the structure underneath.

07 · Dose ladder and mechanism

Why the dose ladder shapes your six months

Mounjaro is the brand name for tirzepatide, a once-weekly injectable prescription medicine made by Eli Lilly, licensed in the UK for weight management in adults and for type 2 diabetes.¹ It comes as a pre-filled multi-dose pen (KwikPen) in six strengths: 2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg, 10mg, 12.5mg and 15mg.

The reason for climbing gradually comes from how it works. Tirzepatide activates two natural gut-hormone receptors at once, GIP and GLP-1. Together these help regulate appetite, slow how quickly the stomach empties and improve the way the body responds to insulin. In practice, most people feel fuller sooner and less hungry between meals, which supports a reduced-calorie diet. This dual action distinguishes it from single-action GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic).²

Mounjaro slows stomach emptying, which can reduce how well oral contraceptive pills are absorbed. The SmPC advises switching to a non-oral method, or adding a barrier method (such as condoms), for 4 weeks after starting Mounjaro and for 4 weeks after each dose increase.¹ Tirzepatide also has a half-life of about five days, so after a final dose it takes roughly 4–5 weeks to clear the system. There is no way to speed this up, and nothing needs doing while it clears. That matters for planning: if you stop at the end of month six, the medicine will still be present for several weeks.

How does the six-month plan use all of this? The dose steps up after at least 4 weeks on each dose, up to a maximum of 15mg weekly, depending on how you respond and tolerate it, and your prescriber guides the pace. A plateau or side effects can change that plan, and your prescriber will adjust it.

Wegovy follows a different ladder: pens of 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, 1.7mg and 2.4mg once weekly, stepping up after at least four weeks and reaching the 2.4mg maintenance dose from week 17. You can read about the Wegovy pen if you are comparing, and our weight loss treatments overview sets out the options side by side.

08 · Plateaus and pauses

Plateaus: what to do when progress stalls

Plateaus of a few weeks are normal, and they are one of the commonest worries in a six-month plan. Weight loss on Mounjaro is not linear, and the body adapts to a lower weight. A pause at month three or four does not mean the treatment has stopped working.

Within the licence, the sensible responses to a plateau are, in roughly this order:

• Review food intake honestly. Portions drift back up over time, often without anyone noticing. A few days of careful tracking, in the GLPTrackr app or a notebook, usually shows what has changed.
• Protect protein and activity. Keep your protein intake and your physical activity going, because the treatment works alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.
• Check the basics. Sleep and alcohol both affect progress and are easy to overlook.
• Talk to your prescriber. If you are not yet at maximum dose, ask whether a step-up is appropriate. Your prescriber reviews your response at the monthly review.

A plateau is not a reason to double doses or add unlicensed products: that is unsafe and outside the licence. If you are frustrated, the right move is to contact the prescribing team, not to experiment.

Timing matters when interpreting a plateau. If you have just stepped up a dose, side effects tend to appear in the first days and settle as your body adapts, and weight can wobble. Judge progress by trend over several weeks, not by a single weigh-in. Water weight also moves around, particularly early on.

If you have lost less than 5% of your starting weight after 6 months on the highest dose you can tolerate, your prescriber will discuss whether continuing or stopping is right for you. That is a conversation, not an automatic verdict, and it can include whether side effects have limited the dose you could reach.

For a longer view of what happens after six months, see six-month GLP-1 results and the Mounjaro six month plan.

09 · Health beyond the scales

Health changes beyond the number on the scale

Weight is only one outcome of a six-month plan, and prescribers talk about weight management as health management rather than appearance. In trials, weight loss on tirzepatide came with average improvements in waist size, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood-sugar measures, and most participants with prediabetes returned to normal blood-sugar levels.² These are trial-average secondary outcomes, not promises, and they were measured over the long trial period rather than at six months.

Why does this matter for a six-month plan? First, it gives you more than one way to judge progress. If the scale pauses but your waist measurement, energy or blood-pressure readings improve, that is useful information to bring to your review. Second, it explains why the prescriber asks about your medical history and current medicines at the start and keeps checking suitability on repeat orders.

Eligibility reflects this too. Mounjaro is licensed for weight management in adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI between 27 and 30 with at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.¹ It must be used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. A prescriber assesses your BMI, medical history and current medicines before deciding whether it is suitable.

Practical ways to track broader change over six months include:

• Measuring your waist at the same point, on the same day, each month.
• Recording blood pressure if you already monitor it, and sharing it at reviews.
• Noting energy, sleep and how clothes fit, which often change before the scale does.
• Keeping any blood tests your GP or prescriber arranges, so you can compare before and after.

One honest caution: none of this is a reason to expect specific lab results at the six-month mark. The data are averages from trials, and your own measures may move more, less or not at all. If you take insulin or sulfonylureas, tell your prescriber, because doses may need adjusting to avoid low blood sugar. Do not change them yourself.

For a fuller explanation of how a plan fits together, see what a GLP-1 plan is.

10 · NHS versus private

NHS or private: which route for a six-month plan?

Mounjaro is available on the NHS, but access is being phased in over several years. NICE recommends it for adults with a BMI of at least 35 plus at least one weight-related condition, and the NHS primary-care rollout began in June 2025 with the highest-need groups first, initially BMI 40+ with four or more qualifying conditions.⁴⁶ Full rollout is expected to take years, which is why many people who meet the licensed criteria choose regulated private treatment rather than waiting.

How should you decide? Start by asking whether you are in an NHS priority group. If you are, speak to your GP, because NHS prescribing comes with its own monitoring and support pathway. If you are not, or you do not want to wait, a private route is a regulated option so long as the pharmacy is on the GPhC register and a prescriber reviews you.

Private treatment has a different eligibility basis. The licence covers a wider range than the NHS priority groups: BMI of 30 or above, or between 27 and 30 with at least one weight-related condition. That difference explains why people who do not qualify on the NHS may still be suitable for a licensed prescription. A prescriber decides on suitability from your health questionnaire, medical history and medicines, not from BMI alone.

On our service, the consultation is free and carries no obligation. It is reviewed by a GPhC-registered prescriber, not a scoring script, and unsuitable orders are refunded automatically in full. After you start, ongoing monthly reviews, dose-titration and follow-up assessments are carried out by the prescribing team, with side-effect support.

What about Wegovy? NHS access to Wegovy runs through specialist weight-management services, so ask your GP about it. If you are still choosing between the two, our all weight loss treatments page sets them side by side.

The practical point for a six-month plan is that the NHS route runs on its own timelines, which are hard to predict locally. If you want to begin now, a private plan lets you start with the free consultation, and you can still talk to your GP about NHS options in parallel. Whichever route you take, tell every clinician involved about all your medicines, so that doses and advice stay consistent.

11 · Costs, supply and storage

Planning costs, supply and storage across six months

Costs across six months depend on your dose path, so plan around your first four pens and then your maintenance dose. The first four pens (2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg and 10mg) total £959.96 at standard prices if you step up after 4 weeks on each dose. A new customer's first order is £40 less with code FIRST40, and every later order is £25 less (code DOSE25). If you want to look further ahead, a first year costs £2,711.88 if you stay on 5mg after your 2.5mg starting pen, up to £3,599.88 if you step up through every dose to 15mg, again before discounts.

Supply is steady across the plan: all six doses are in stock, and each repeat order re-checks suitability, with no auto-shipping, so nothing arrives unless you have asked for it. Payment is by Visa, Mastercard, Klarna or pay-monthly options, with no subscription. If you are wondering about buying more than one month at a time, see six-month GLP-1 supply.

Storage. Keep unopened pens in the fridge until first use; they keep until the printed expiry date. Once in use, a KwikPen can be kept out of the fridge at a temperature not above 30°C for up to 30 days after first use, and must then be thrown away. Do not use a pen that has been above 30°C or frozen. For any question about an unopened pen left out of the fridge, check the patient information leaflet and contact the pharmacy rather than guessing.¹³ Follow the pen's instructions for each injection, and use the sharps bin supplied.

Finally, buy only from a pharmacy listed on the GPhC register. Our registration number is 9012878. A genuine KwikPen comes from a supply chain you can check: ours is official LillyDirect supply, direct from Eli Lilly's UK distribution. Shipping is free next-day tracked in discreet, temperature-controlled packaging.

Ready to see where you would start? You can start your free consultation and a prescriber will review it.

12 · Serious side effects

Serious side effects: when to get help straight away

Serious side effects are uncommon but need urgent attention. Seek immediate medical help for: severe, persistent stomach pain that may spread to your back, with or without vomiting (possible pancreatitis); pain in the upper right abdomen, fever or yellowing of skin/eyes (possible gallbladder problems); or signs of a severe allergic reaction such as swelling of the face or throat and difficulty breathing. If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea alongside Mounjaro, watch for low blood sugar (shakiness, sweating, confusion) — your prescriber may need to adjust those medicines.¹