Many patients are changing how often they take their weight loss medications, and a new study suggests they may still see results even with less frequent doses. After starting medications like GLP-1 receptor agonists, often referred to as weight loss pens, and achieving their desired weight loss, some individuals have begun spacing out injections instead of taking them weekly.
And it appears to be working, according to Mitch Biermann, an obesity and internal medicine specialist at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. “Around the third person who told me they were taking the injection every two or three weeks and still maintaining their weight, I started recommending this practice to other patients,” he said.
Dr. Biermann designed a study to test this approach. The results, published in February in the medical journal Obesity, showed that after 36 weeks, most patients who spaced out their GLP-1 injections were able to maintain their weight loss and preserve health benefits like reduced blood pressure and improved blood sugar control. This finding is particularly relevant as these medications can be costly and aren’t always covered by insurance, and the long-term effects are still being studied.
Only four patients regained weight after making the change, and they quickly resumed weekly injections, the report indicated. The study involved 34 patients, a relatively homogenous group primarily composed of white individuals with private health insurance.
The research offers a potentially appealing alternative for patients hesitant to commit to lifelong weekly injections of an expensive medication with still-unknown long-term effects. Previous studies consistently show that people who stop using GLP-1s regain the lost weight—and often more quickly than if they hadn’t used the medications in the first place, with metabolic benefits also disappearing.
Yet, experts caution that the study’s results should be interpreted carefully. They emphasize that patients didn’t stop the medication altogether—they simply reduced the frequency of doses, maintaining their usual dosage (this is not microdosing, which involves taking doses lower than recommended).
the reduction in frequency only occurred after patients reached their desired weight loss and hit a plateau.
The study lacked a control group for comparison and wasn’t a randomized trial—considered the gold standard in medical research, according to Fatima C. Stanford, an obesity specialist and associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A key consideration is that participants volunteered to be part of the study. “Individuals who agree to reduce the frequency of treatment may already be more disciplined, more confident in their habits, or metabolically more responsive,” she noted.
Dr. Stanford also observed that about 12% of participants who tried spacing out doses ultimately returned to weekly injections after regaining weight. Even so, the study helps to “reframe the conversation,” she said. “Chronic treatment doesn’t necessarily mean maximum weekly dosing forever.” Individualizing doses may be more effective, she added.
Scott McMillin, 65, is a patient of Dr. Biermann and spends 30 minutes on the elliptical five days a week. He has struggled with excess weight for years. After starting weekly injections of Wegovy in late 2023, he lost nine pounds and was able to normalize his blood pressure and cholesterol. But when he tried to stop the medication completely, he quickly regained four and a half pounds.
He then resumed weekly injections, lost the regained weight, and in July, accepted Dr. Biermann’s suggestion to space out applications to once every two weeks. Since then, he’s been able to maintain his weight and health benefits. He now eats two meals a day, without repeating dishes or snacking between meals.
“For me, it made no difference taking the injection every week or every two weeks. I thought: less is better,” he said.
Most of the patients whose medical records were analyzed in the study had already significantly reduced their body weight—the average body mass index (BMI) fell from 30, the threshold for obesity, to 25.2, considered the overweight range.
Seventeen patients took the standard dose of the medication every two weeks; six applied it every ten or 14 days; and seven spaced it out even further, with the longest interval reaching six weeks.
With less frequent dosing, most participants continued to lose weight modestly or maintained a stable weight; only five experienced slight weight gain. After 36 weeks, the average BMI of the group fell to 24.6—within the normal range. The weight loss came from fat, not muscle mass, the study also registered. Patients maintained improvements in indicators like pre-diabetes, triglycerides, HDL (“solid” cholesterol), and blood pressure.
When Dr. Biermann, who serves as an investigator in clinical trials of GLP-1 agents for both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, presented the preliminary results at the Obesity Society’s Obesity Week conference in Atlanta on March 4, 2026, the room was packed with physicians standing in the back to listen.
He said he wasn’t surprised. While patients face various barriers to using GLP-1s—including cost and access—many are also discouraged by the prospect of weekly treatment indefinitely. Only 6% of Americans report using these medications, although about 51% of adults in the United States meet the criteria for indication.
“The main question patients ask me about this medication is: ‘Will I need to take it every week forever?’” Biermann said.
