Your GLP-1 monitoring schedule

Overview

Monitoring is what makes GLP-1 treatment in kidney disease safe. The schedule is fixed and any gaps are flagged automatically to the clinical team.

Why it's done and who it helps

• Weekly home weight, logged in your monitoring record.
• Six-weekly consultant clinical review.
• Kidney bloods including creatinine at intervals set by your CKD stage.
• Formal outcome review at 26 weeks.

Why weekly weighing

A single reading is noise; a weekly series shows trend, plateau and, importantly, unintended rapid loss or fluid gain.

What triggers a flag

Missed weekly weights, rapid loss, a rising creatinine, a due six-month review, or the approaching two-year semaglutide cap.

What happens at 26 weeks

We compare weight change against the 5% threshold, review kidney trajectory and side effects, and decide to continue, adjust, or stop.

Preparing for your appointment

What if I forget to weigh?

The system flags a missed week and the clinic will follow up.

Do I need blood tests in between?

Often yes, especially at CKD stage 3b and beyond.

When to contact your care team

Contact the clinic promptly if you have any of the following:

• Vomiting or diarrhoea lasting more than 24 hours, or you cannot keep fluids down
• Passing much less urine than usual, or new swelling of the legs or face
• Severe pain in the upper abdomen that spreads to your back, with or without vomiting
• A weight change of more than 2 kg in a week that is not explained by fluid
• A missed weekly weight, a missed dose, or any hospital admission

If you are seriously unwell, contact NHS 111 or your renal unit directly rather than waiting for your next review.

Your care at KidneyWeight Clinic

Every dose change, weekly weight and kidney blood test is recorded in your clinical monitoring record, reviewed by Professor Mohammed Mahdi Althaf at six-weekly intervals and formally reassessed at 26 weeks. Booking and your initial payment are handled by professoralthaf.co.uk, medication supply by Healist Pharmacy, and follow-up appointment payments by Carebit.

References

• NICE TA1026: tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity
• NICE TA875: semaglutide for managing overweight and obesity
• NICE CG189: obesity identification, assessment and management
• NHS: weight-loss medicines

This article is general patient information reviewed by a consultant nephrologist. It is not individual medical advice; treatment decisions are made at a face-to-face consultation.