Sourced from Eli Lilly prescribing information
Six strengths, two very different phases. The first three are a fixed starting sequence. The last three are options your prescriber chooses between, and nobody is required to reach the top one.
Steps 1 to 3 (plain) are a fixed sequence with a minimum of 30 days at each. Steps 4 to 6 (highlighted) are prescriber-selected maintenance options, not a queue. Last reviewed 31 August 2026.
Foundayo steps are the six tablet strengths used in treatment: 0.8mg, 2.5mg, 5.5mg, 9mg, 14.5mg and 17.2mg. Steps 1 to 3 are taken as a fixed starting sequence, with a minimum of 30 days at each strength before moving up. Steps 4, 5 and 6 work differently: they are maintenance options a prescriber selects between based on how you respond, rather than a ladder everyone must climb to the end.
Most explanations present all six strengths as one continuous staircase, implying treatment means climbing steadily until you reach 17.2mg. That is not how the dosing is structured, and the misunderstanding causes real anxiety: people assume they are behind schedule, or that stopping at a middle strength means the treatment has failed them.
These three are taken in order, with a minimum of 30 days at each strength before moving to the next. The purpose is tolerability rather than effect. Gut side effects cluster around starting and around each increase, and holding at each strength for a month gives your body time to adapt before the next change.
After the starting sequence, these three are alternatives rather than a queue. A prescriber selects between them according to how you have responded, what side effects you are experiencing and what you are trying to achieve. Some people stay at Step 4 indefinitely. Some move to Step 5 and stop. Some never leave Step 3. All are legitimate outcomes.
There is no clinical requirement to reach the highest strength, and treating it as a target misreads how the dosing works. The aim is the lowest strength that gives you the result you need with side effects you can live with. If that is 5.5mg, treatment is working exactly as intended. Higher strengths generally bring more side effects alongside more effect, which is precisely the trade-off a prescriber weighs when selecting a maintenance step.
Pharmacy pricing is usually set per step, and higher strengths commonly cost more. Two practical consequences follow. First, a cheap Step 1 price tells you little about your ongoing cost, so budget for the step you expect to settle at. Second, discount offers are frequently weighted towards Step 1 to attract new patients: the Farmeci code is a clear example, giving 27% off a first order at Step 1 but 10% at any later step.
Our retail price list is built step by step for this reason, and the cheapest Foundayo guide explains what else to compare.
The six tablet strengths used in treatment: 0.8mg, 2.5mg, 5.5mg, 9mg, 14.5mg and 17.2mg. Steps 1 to 3 form a fixed starting sequence with a minimum of 30 days at each. Steps 4 to 6 are maintenance options a prescriber selects between.
Six.
No. It is one of several maintenance options, not a target. Many people remain on a lower step permanently, and the goal is the lowest effective strength for you.
A minimum of 30 days at each of the first three steps. Later steps are held or changed according to prescriber assessment rather than a fixed schedule.
Talk to your prescriber before restarting. Tolerance can fade during a gap, so they may ask you to restart lower rather than resume where you left off.
You can raise it, but the minimum intervals exist for tolerability and a prescriber will not shorten them on request alone. Moving faster generally means more nausea, not faster results.
Reviewed against primary sources. See our editorial policy for how we source and update content.
Source and scope. Dose strengths and escalation intervals are drawn from Eli Lilly’s official prescribing information for orforglipron, alongside the MHRA authorisation of 10 August 2026. This page is general information for UK adults, not personal medical advice, and cannot account for your history or other medicines. The Patient Information Leaflet supplied with your medicine, and your prescriber, are the authority for your treatment. Originally researched and written for Dayo by Medstack Ltd; if you find this text reproduced elsewhere without attribution, it was not written there first.