Tirzepatide dosage chart
The schedule in milligrams, then the same schedule in units — because if
you're on compounded vials, milligrams aren't what you draw.
The schedule
Standard titration for tirzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro). Each step is held four
weeks before the next.
| When | Dose | What it's for |
|---|
| Weeks 1–4 | 2.5 mg | Starting dose. Tolerance only — not meant to be where you stay. |
| Weeks 5–8 | 5 mg | First dose intended to do the work. Many people stop here. |
| Weeks 9–12 | 7.5 mg | Only if 5 mg has stopped being enough. |
| Weeks 13–16 | 10 mg | A common landing place. |
| Weeks 17–20 | 12.5 mg | |
| Week 21+ | 15 mg | Maximum. There is no 17.5. |
Two things this chart won't tell you and a lot of pages imply. You don't have to reach
the end. The ladder exists so the dose can keep rising if it needs to, not because 15 mg
is the destination — plenty of people hold at 5 or 10 indefinitely. And the four weeks is
a floor, not a target. Moving up faster is what turns tolerable nausea into a bad
fortnight. Your prescriber sets the pace.
The same schedule, in units
Compounded tirzepatide is sold at a handful of concentrations. Find your vial's
mg/mL on the label, then read down that column.
Units to draw on a U-100 insulin syringe. Red means it won't fit in one
100-unit syringe.
| Dose | 5 mg/mL | 10 mg/mL | 20 mg/mL | 40 mg/mL |
|---|
| 2.5 mg | 50 | 25 | 12.5 | 6.25 |
| 5 mg | 100 | 50 | 25 | 12.5 |
| 7.5 mg | 150 ✗ | 75 | 37.5 | 18.75 |
| 10 mg | 200 ✗ | 100 | 50 | 25 |
| 12.5 mg | 250 ✗ | 125 ✗ | 62.5 | 31.25 |
| 15 mg | 300 ✗ | 150 ✗ | 75 | 37.5 |
Read the red column ends before you order. At 5 mg/mL you run out of barrel after
5 mg. At 10 mg/mL you run out after 10 mg. If you're titrating upward and your pharmacy
keeps sending 10 mg/mL, you will eventually be told to do two injections for one dose — or
you'll need a more concentrated vial. Worth asking about at the step before you
hit it.
Your vial
If yours isn't one of those four concentrations, or the pharmacy sent powder for you to
mix yourself:
Common setups:
Vials and pens are different problems
| Branded pen | Compounded vial |
|---|
| What you set | Nothing. One pen, one dose, one click. |
A volume, in units, that you work out. |
| Changing dose | A different pen arrives. |
Same vial, you draw further up the barrel. |
| Doses available | 2.5 / 5 / 7.5 / 10 / 12.5 / 15 only. |
Anything, including in-between doses if your prescriber wants one. |
| What goes wrong | Very little. |
Arithmetic, and U-40 syringes. |
That flexibility is the reason some prescribers use vials for people who don't tolerate a
full step up — a 6 mg or an 8.75 mg dose is impossible with pens and trivial with a vial.
It's also the reason the conversion has to be right.
Doses that aren't on the ladder
Because it comes up: at 20 mg/mL, the in-between doses land like this.
| Dose | Units at 20 mg/mL | Why anyone uses it |
|---|
| 3.75 mg | 18.75 | Half-step when 5 mg was too much too soon. |
| 6.25 mg | 31.25 | Same idea, one rung higher. |
| 8.75 mg | 43.75 | Holding pattern below 10 mg. |
| 11.25 mg | 56.25 | Rare. Usually a tolerance issue at 12.5. |
These are not on any manufacturer's label. They exist because vials make them
possible, and they only make sense if a prescriber put you there deliberately.