Stopping your GLP-1: taper or stop all at once?
There is no single official taper schedule on the GLP-1 medicine labels. Stopping is a doctor-led choice, and the honest answer is it depends on you. Build a food-and-movement plan before you come off.
You have been on a GLP-1 medicine like semaglutide (Wegovy or Ozempic), tirzepatide (Mounjaro or Zepbound), or liraglutide (Saxenda). Now you wonder how to stop. Should you taper the dose down slowly? Or can you just stop? The honest answer: it depends, and your doctor leads this choice. This article explains what the labels say and what doctors actually do.
The labels do not give a taper schedule
Here is the surprise. The FDA medicine labels for Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Saxenda do NOT list a step-down taper schedule for stopping. They tell you how to step the dose UP when you start. They tell you what to do if you miss one dose. But they do not tell you how to come off. Stopping is left to your doctor. The labels also name times you must stop for safety, like a planned pregnancy. For Wegovy, the label says to stop at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy because the medicine stays in the body a long time. So the choice of taper-or-stop is a doctor-led, person-by-person call, not a label rule.
Taper down vs stop all at once
You must always taper a GLP-1 slowly, or you will get sick.
it dependsIt depends, explained simply. There is no rule that says you must taper. The medicine labels do not require it. A 2026 American Family Physician review says doctors propose tapering given the absence of robust evidence or guidelines, and that the decision to discontinue must be individualized. Some people taper to give appetite and habits time to adjust. Others stop at once for safety reasons like pregnancy, surgery, or bad side effects. The honest position: evidence on taper-versus-abrupt is limited. Your doctor picks what fits your body and your life. You do not decide this alone.
Have a maintenance plan ready BEFORE you taper
The bottom line
There is no official taper schedule on the GLP-1 medicine labels. Stopping is a doctor-led choice, and the evidence on taper-versus-abrupt is limited. Some doctors step the dose down, some stretch the interval, some stop at once. Build your food, movement, and tracking habits BEFORE you come off, and never stop or taper without your doctor.