> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hi-doctor.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Liraglutide

> How liraglutide (Saxenda) works for weight management, the SCALE trial results, the weekly dose build-up, and its side effects.

Liraglutide is a medicine given as an injection under the skin once a day. Like semaglutide, it copies the natural gut hormone GLP-1, which tells the brain you have had enough to eat, so hunger and food cravings go down. In the EU it is sold as **Saxenda** and used together with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity.

<Info>
  **Active ingredient** liraglutide  ·  **Dosages** 0.6–3 mg/day  ·  **Authorised in the EU** since 23 March 2015
</Info>

## What it is

Liraglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist given as a daily subcutaneous injection. It was one of the first in its class approved in Europe for weight management in adults with obesity, or overweight with a weight-related comorbidity.

Compared with weekly GLP-1s, its daily dosing can be useful when flexibility of adjustment matters, or when a semaglutide hasn't been tolerated. The doctor weighs this up in your consultation — two GLP-1 agonists are never combined.

## How it works

Like other GLP-1 analogues, liraglutide mimics a natural gut hormone: it increases the feeling of fullness and reduces hunger and food cravings. Being shorter-acting than weekly GLP-1s, its dose is adjusted day by day.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Copies one gut hormone">
    It copies the gut hormone GLP-1, which increases the feeling of fullness and reduces hunger and food cravings.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Raises fullness, lowers hunger">
    The effect is on appetite signalling, not on fat absorption or metabolism directly.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Short-acting, so taken daily">
    Unlike weekly GLP-1s, liraglutide needs a once-daily injection to keep its effect steady.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## A gradual, week-by-week build-up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Week 1">
    0.6 mg daily starting dose.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Following weeks">
    Step up through 1.2, 1.8 and 2.4 mg as tolerated.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Maintenance">
    3 mg daily when appropriate.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ongoing">
    Follow-up through your account chat.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the studies reported

Results come from the **SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes** trial ([NCT01272219](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01272219)), published in the *New England Journal of Medicine*, 2015;373(1):11-22, and the EMA public assessment report for Saxenda (EMA/143005/2015).

<Note>
  Everyone in the trial also received lifestyle counselling, people with type 2 diabetes were excluded, and the primary result covers 56 weeks only.
</Note>

## What has been reported

<Accordion title="Side effects, with placebo comparison">
  | Effect                           | Liraglutide 3.0 mg | Placebo |
  | -------------------------------- | ------------------ | ------- |
  | Nausea                           | 40.2%              | 14.7%   |
  | Diarrhoea                        | 20.9%              | 9.3%    |
  | Constipation                     | 20.0%              | 8.7%    |
  | Vomiting                         | 16.3%              | 4.1%    |
  | Serious adverse events (overall) | 6.2%               | 5.0%    |
</Accordion>

**Gallstone problems.** Acute gallstone events were reported by 2.3% on liraglutide 3.0 mg versus 0.9% on placebo across the EMA weight-management trial pool, mainly gallstones themselves (1.5% versus 0.5%).

**Acute pancreatitis.** Independently confirmed in 7 people (0.2%) on liraglutide 3.0 mg versus 1 person (under 0.1%) on placebo across the same EMA trial pool.

<Warning>
  Nausea and diarrhoea are very common; severe stomach pain can signal pancreatitis and should not be ignored.
</Warning>

## Who it is for

Adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more plus a weight-related illness — the doctor confirms eligibility from your questionnaire.

## How Hi-Doctor handles it

An EU-licensed doctor reviews your case and, if eligible, issues an electronic prescription valid at any EU pharmacy under Directive 2011/24/EU. See [pricing](/essentials/pricing) for the consultation fee; the medicine itself is paid separately at a pharmacy. For the eligibility checks that apply, see [safety](/essentials/safety), and for another GLP-1 option see [semaglutide](/library/medicines/semaglutide).

## Start a consultation

<Card title="Weight-loss consultation" icon="stethoscope" href="https://hi-doctor.ai/consultation/weight-loss/1">
  Answer the weight-loss questionnaire and a registered doctor reviews it.
  They decide whether treatment is appropriate, which one, and at what dose —
  and declining is a normal outcome. See [what it costs](/essentials/pricing)
  and [how the review works](/essentials/how-it-works).
</Card>

<Warning>
  This page is reference information, not medical advice and not a prescription.
  Whether a medicine is appropriate for you is decided by a registered doctor
  after reviewing your consultation.
</Warning>