How to inject your weekly GLP-1 dose from a vial

Your weekly dose, step by step, with pictures: check the vial, draw the units on your label, pick a spot, inject and throw the syringe away safely.

Your medicine comes in a vial that holds several weekly doses. Each week you draw your dose with a new insulin syringe, marked in units.

The steps are the same every week. If your care team showed you a different way, follow what they showed you.

1. Wash your hands. Use soap and water. Set out your vial, a new insulin syringe, two alcohol swabs and your sharps container.

2. Check the vial. The label should show your medicine and its strength, and its date should not have passed. The liquid should be clear, not cloudy, with nothing floating in it. If something looks wrong, do not use it and message your care team.

3. Clean the rubber top. The first time, flip off the plastic cap. Every time, wipe the rubber top with an alcohol swab and let it dry.

4. Draw your dose. Pull air into the syringe up to your dose and push it into the vial through the rubber top. Turn the vial upside down and slowly draw the number of units on your pharmacy label. Not sure of the number? Ask your care team before you inject.

5. Remove large air bubbles. Keep the needle in the vial and tap the syringe so the bubbles rise. Push them back into the vial, check that you still have your full dose, then pull the needle out.

6. Pick a spot. Your stomach, at least 2 inches from your belly button. The front of your thigh. Or the back of your upper arm, if someone else gives the shot. Skip skin that is sore, bruised, hard or scarred.

7. Clean the skin. Wipe the spot with a new alcohol swab and let it dry.

8. Inject. Put the needle under the skin the way your care team showed you. Push the plunger all the way down, count to 5, then pull the needle out. If you see a drop of blood, press gently with gauze. Do not rub.

9. Throw it away safely. Do not put the cap back on the needle. Drop the syringe straight into an FDA-cleared sharps container. No container yet? Use a heavy-duty plastic household container with a tight lid that needles cannot poke through.

10. Change spots next week. Log your dose in the neo app. Next week, pick a different spot. The same area is fine, just not the exact same place.

Storing your vial. Follow the storage on your pharmacy label. Most vials stay in the fridge. Never freeze a vial, and do not use one that has been frozen. Keep vials and syringes away from children.

When the sharps container is full. Close it when it is about three-quarters full and follow your local rules for getting rid of it. Do not put it in the recycling.

If you miss a dose. Message your care team before you take it. What to do depends on your medicine and how many days have passed.

Side effects. If something feels off, or the skin where you injected changes, log it in the app and message your care team. For severe symptoms, call 911.

The units on your label, a new syringe each time and a new spot each week.