Ozempic is a once-weekly injection that can be used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It’s injected under the skin into fatty tissue in your stomach, thigh or upper arm.
You can use the same injection site each time you inject, but it’s best to rotate areas every week. This will help avoid inflammation and infection of the area.
Choose Your Injection Site
Choosing the right injection site is important to the effectiveness of Ozempic. It’s a once-weekly medication that should be injected under the skin (subcutaneously) into parts of your body with some fatty tissue, such as the stomach, upper arms and thighs.
Your doctor or pharmacist can recommend which injection sites work best for you. But don’t choose an area that is tender, bruised or red.
After choosing a spot, use an alcohol swab to clean the skin at the injection site and let it dry completely before injecting. It is important to change the site of each injection – at least 1 cm or half an inch away from the last one.
Before each injection, prime the needle. This removes air from the needle and helps make sure you get the correct dose of insulin.
Prepare Your Pen
Before you inject, make sure your pen is properly primed. This means you have removed air bubbles from the needle to ensure it is working correctly and will give you a full dose.
Afterward, check your pen to see how much insulin it has left. If there isn’t enough medicine to cover a full dose, you should use a new pen.
You also need to attach a new needle to the pen for each injection. To do this, remove the paper tab and screw a fresh needle on.
Place the pen in a sharps disposal container after you finish using it. This is a special container you can buy or find at a drugstore or medical supply store.
You can also put your ozempic needle in a sharps clipper for safe disposal. The sharps clipper is designed to keep your needle from becoming contaminated with blood or other potentially harmful substances. It can also be used to dispose of a needle from a pen that’s empty.
Select Your Dose
Before you begin injecting ozempic, use the dose selector to find the correct dose. Turn the selector until you see a flow check symbol that looks like a droplet of medication.
After the flow check is complete, push down on the injection button to dispense a small amount of medication. This test will tell you if the pen is working properly and if the dosage you have selected is enough to get the desired results.
Once you have injected the correct dose of Ozempic, wait six seconds before removing the needle from your skin. This is to make sure that all of the medication is absorbed.
When you’re finished with the injection, place the needle in an FDA-approved sharps disposal container. You can also throw it away in the trash, but do not flush it down the toilet.
Inject Your Dose
Ozempic is a prescription medicine used to treat people with type 2 diabetes. It also can help people lose weight if it is used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise.
The medication is typically injected under the skin, using a pen needle. It works by increasing a patient’s feeling of fullness and reducing appetite.
When choosing an injection site, aim for a thick, fatty area that’s away from blood vessels and muscles. A spot on your abdomen, thigh or upper arm is ideal.
Before injecting, clean your injection site with a 60-70% alcohol-based swab. This will prevent the medication from being absorbed by the skin and reduce swelling or bruising at the injection site.
Once you have an injection site, turn the dose selector dial clockwise until it lines up with the mg amount on the dose counter. Depress the plunger button on the back of the pen until it clicks, and then leave the needle in your skin for six seconds to ensure that you get the correct dose.