Ozempic is semaglutide, given as an injection once a week, and licensed for type 2 diabetes. The same active ingredient is also sold as Wegovy and as Rybelsus, a daily tablet. If your first week on Ozempic is also your first time using an injectable GLP-1 medicine, a short, factual record of that week can make your first review appointment considerably more useful, both for you and for your prescriber.

This is not a guide to what your first week should feel like. Experiences vary widely, and this article will not suggest a typical pattern. It is a guide to what is worth writing down, whatever actually happens, so that the details are not lost by the time your first review comes around.

Recording the injection itself

  • The exact date and time of your first injection
  • Which site you used
  • Any questions you had during the process, even ones you answered yourself by re-reading the instructions
  • Anything unexpected about the device or the process itself
  • How you felt immediately afterwards, even if that was simply relief that it was done

Having this written down means your second and third injections can be compared against a real record rather than a fading memory of the first. Many people find the first injection is the one they remember least clearly afterwards, precisely because there is so much else to take in at the same time.

Recording appetite, digestion, and general wellbeing

GLP-1 medicines, including semaglutide, can affect appetite, fullness, and digestion, so these are worth a daily note in the first week even if nothing feels unusual. A short line each day is enough:

  • What your appetite was like, and whether meals felt different from usual
  • Any nausea, digestive changes, or stomach discomfort, including timing and how it related to meals
  • Energy levels and sleep
  • Mood or anything else that felt notably different from a normal week
  • If you have diabetes and monitor your own blood sugar, the readings you take, recorded factually without trying to interpret them
  • Anything about your daily routine that changed because of how you felt, such as skipping activities or adjusting meal timing

It can help to keep this in one place, whether that is a notebook by your bed, a note on your phone, or a tracking app, so you are adding to it in the moment rather than trying to reconstruct the week from memory a few days later.

What this record is for

A first review appointment goes better with specifics than with a general impression. Write it fresh each day if you can; details fade faster than you expect, especially with something as new as a first week on a new medicine. Bring the record, or a photo of it, to your appointment, rather than trying to summarise a week of notes from memory in the room.

This is not a tool for deciding whether the medicine is working, whether to continue, or whether anything needs to change. Those are questions for your prescriber, informed by your record rather than answered by it. A detailed, honest record, including anything that felt difficult, is more useful to them than a tidy summary that leaves out the awkward parts.

When something needs attention sooner

Most first-week symptoms are the kind of thing to note and mention at review, but some are not. Seek prompt medical advice for severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, signs of a severe allergic reaction such as swelling of the face or throat or difficulty breathing, or symptoms of very low blood sugar if you have diabetes. Do not wait for a scheduled review if something feels seriously wrong; your written record will still be there and useful afterwards, but it should never be the reason you delay getting help.

One last thing worth recording in your first week: how the whole process felt to you overall, in your own words, on the last day of the week. A short reflection like this can be a useful anchor when you look back later, and it is often the kind of detail that gets lost once a routine sets in and the first week stops feeling new.