Dose escalation chart

What the Dose escalation chart does

The dose escalation chart is a visual reference that shows the week-by-week titration schedule for seven medications: Mounjaro and Ozempic (tirzepatide and semaglutide for type 2 diabetes), Wegovy and Zepbound (for chronic weight management), compounded semaglutide, compounded tirzepatide, and the estradiol transdermal patch used in hormone therapy. You pick a medication and the tool draws a timeline of each dose tier, the weeks it typically spans, and a short note on what that step is for.

It answers one question: on a standard schedule, how does someone move from a starting dose to the maximum dose over time, and how many weeks does each step usually last? The code marks five of the seven entries as FDA-label schedules -- the four branded drugs plus the estradiol patch, whose titration is described as symptom-guided. Only the two compounded GLP-1 options are flagged as not FDA-approved, with a note that dosing varies by pharmacy program. It is a fixed lookup table built into the page, not a calculator or a personalized plan.

Alongside the timeline, the tool lists the maximum dose, one line of escalation guidance, and a few monitoring notes for each medication. You can print the chart or save it as a PDF to keep for your records or bring to a prescriber appointment, and each medication links out to its source (the manufacturer site, an FDA drug-shortage page, or a menopause-society hormone-therapy page).

How to read your result

Read the timeline as a typical, tolerability-driven ramp, not a prescription. The GLP-1 medications start low on purpose: the tool labels the first tier of every branded GLP-1 as an initiation or tolerability step, and for Mounjaro (2.5 mg) and Ozempic (0.25 mg) it adds that this first step is 'not for glycemic control.' Each later step is shown as an option to escalate only if the earlier dose is tolerated and the goal is not yet met, which is why the tool notes that many people stabilize at a middle dose rather than the maximum.

Treat the week numbers as minimum intervals, not deadlines. For Mounjaro and Ozempic the tool's guidance is a minimum of four weeks at each dose before stepping up; Wegovy follows a fixed four-week titration; and Mounjaro's note adds that slower titration (eight or more weeks between steps) reduces nausea and GI side effects. The estradiol patch schedule runs in 12-week blocks and is symptom-guided, and the tool states plainly that higher doses are not always more effective.

If you pick compounded semaglutide or compounded tirzepatide, the tool shows an amber note that compounded medications are not FDA-approved and that dosing varies by pharmacy program. Use those charts as a rough sense of how reputable programs mirror the branded label, not as a fixed rule. The next step for any of these is the same: take the printed chart to a licensed prescriber who can set your actual doses and intervals.

What the result is based on

Every number on the page comes from a fixed schedule table in the site's code (src/lib/dose-schedules.ts). There is no model, algorithm, dataset, or personalization: selecting a medication looks up a stored list of dose tiers, week ranges, and notes and draws them on a timeline. The code header describes the schedules as sourced from FDA-approved label titration and marks five of the seven entries (the four branded drugs plus the estradiol patch) as FDA-label; the two compounded GLP-1 entries are marked not FDA-approved, and their notes say dosing varies by pharmacy program.

The doses and intervals you see are exactly those stored per medication -- for example Mounjaro and Zepbound run 2.5 mg to 15 mg in 2.5 mg steps at four-week intervals, Ozempic runs 0.25 mg to 2 mg, Wegovy 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg, and the estradiol patch 0.025 mg/day to 0.1 mg/day across 12-week blocks. The maximum dose, the one-line escalation guidance, the monitoring notes, and the outbound source link shown for each medication are all read directly from the same table.

The compounded entries carry a hardcoded warning that compounded medications are not FDA-approved and dosing varies by pharmacy program, and the whole tool ends with a fixed note that actual escalation must be guided by a licensed prescriber and that users should not self-adjust dosing.

What it cannot tell you

• It shows one standard schedule per medication and cannot personalize. It does not take your age, weight, BMI, A1C, current dose, kidney or liver status, other medications, or side-effect history into account -- none of those are inputs. The only input is which of the seven medications you select.
• The week ranges are typical minimum intervals, not your timeline. The tool itself notes that slower titration is often used to reduce nausea, so a real schedule set by a prescriber can be longer or can pause at any step.
• It does not tell you a target or 'right' dose. Several charts note that many people stabilize at a middle dose (for example Ozempic at 1 mg, or the 5, 10, or 15 mg maintenance options for Zepbound), and the estradiol schedule is symptom-guided, so the maximum shown is a ceiling, not a goal.
• For compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide the dosing is not FDA-mandated and varies by pharmacy program; the tool shows a representative schedule and flags that maximum doses and titration differ between programs.
• It covers only these seven medications and the single formulation listed for each -- for example the estradiol transdermal patch, not oral estradiol, gels, or sprays, and the two GLP-1 injectables per use case, not oral versions or other agents.
• It is not medical advice, does not diagnose or treat, and does not account for drug interactions, contraindications, or eligibility beyond the brief monitoring notes shown. It cannot replace a prescriber's judgment.