A follow-up visit for a GLP-1 medicine is often short. Ten or fifteen minutes, and a good part of that goes to your doctor asking how the last few weeks went. If you answer from memory, you will probably forget the Tuesday you felt sick all day or the week you injected a day late. This GLP-1 appointment checklist helps you walk in with the facts already written down, so the time goes to decisions instead of guesswork.
It works for weekly injections (semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide) and daily ones (liraglutide), with or without an app. Further down, we show how Vistadose handles each step.
Why preparation matters at a GLP-1 follow-up visit
Your doctor or nurse uses these visits to decide on the next step of your treatment. They base that on what you tell them: how regular your doses were, which side effects you had, and what changed in your weight or lab results.
General advice from MedlinePlus on making the most of a doctor visit says the same thing: write down your questions, keep a record of symptoms and medicines, and bring it with you. Australia's Better Health Channel guide to preparing for a medical appointment adds a simple tip: bring something to take notes on.
The GLP-1 appointment checklist
1. Your dose history
Write down every dose since the last visit: the date, the time, the dose and the injection site. Then mark the exceptions:
- Missed doses. Which week, and what you did about it.
- Moved doses. For example, "took it Monday instead of Sunday because of travel."
- Doses outside the plan. Anything that did not match what was prescribed.
Missed doses have rules that depend on the medicine and on how late you are. The NHS page on semaglutide and the NHS page on tirzepatide each explain what to do. If you are unsure, ask your pharmacist or doctor. At the visit, just report what happened: a missed dose may explain why side effects came back.
2. Side effects and their pattern
"I had some nausea" is less useful than "nausea on day 1 and 2 after each dose, mild, gone by day 3." Pattern is what helps your doctor. For each side effect, note:
- what it was (nausea, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, tiredness, injection site reactions)
- how strong it was, on a simple scale
- which day after the dose it started and how long it lasted
- anything that made it better or worse, such as large meals
The MedlinePlus semaglutide drug information lists the common stomach-related side effects and also says to keep all appointments with your doctor. If you want a template for this, our article on keeping a GLP-1 side effect diary goes into more detail.
3. Weight, measurements and labs
Bring numbers, not impressions: your weight on fixed days, waist if you track it, and recent lab results (whatever your doctor ordered), each with its date. A tidy GLP-1 weight log with weekly entries is easier to read than scattered numbers on different scales.
4. Your questions
Write them down as they come up between visits, not in the waiting room. Good questions to ask your doctor about GLP-1 treatment are specific:
- "My side effects got worse after the last dose step. Is that expected, and what should I try?"
- "My weight has been stable for three weeks. Is that expected at this dose?"
- "What should I do if I'm traveling on my injection day?"
- "When is my next blood test?"
Put the most important one first, in case time runs short.
5. Pen supply and refills
Know how many doses remain in your current pen and how many spare pens you have. If you need a new prescription, this is the moment to sort it out.
Copy-ready checklist
GLP-1 FOLLOW-UP: BRING OR PREPARE
[ ] Doses since last visit: date, dose, site
[ ] Missed, moved or extra doses, with dates
[ ] Side effects: what, how strong, which day after the dose, how long
[ ] Weight (and waist) with dates
[ ] Recent lab results with dates
[ ] Other medicines and supplements
[ ] My questions, most important first
[ ] Doses left in current pen + spare pens
[ ] Prescription or refill needed? (yes / no)
[ ] Something to write the answers onHow Vistadose helps you prepare
Vistadose is a GLP-1 tracker for iPhone and Android. You log doses, side effects and weight in a few taps, and the app turns them into a report for your visit. It does not calculate or suggest doses.
A visit on the calendar, with a reminder
Add your doctor visit with a date and a note such as "bring pen box," and turn on a reminder for the evening before. It tells you the report is ready and how many questions you collected.
A step-by-step appointment checklist
The Report tab opens with "Get ready for your visit," a short checklist built into the app:
- Period. By default, the time since your last visit.
- Fill the gaps. The app shows doses that were not logged and days without a weight, so you can add them before the report is made.
- Questions for the doctor. Your open questions, plus suggested questions based on your data. You choose which ones to add.
- Check what's included. See which sections go in, including any notes you marked "For my doctor."
A doctor report PDF in one place
The PDF covers up to 90 days. It includes a summary, your doses and plan with how many were taken, skipped or not logged, side effects with the highest level reached, measurements, charts with dose changes marked, and a section on how complete the data is. A second page lists every day of the period, with dose days in bold and the injection site next to each dose. Days without entries say "no entry," so nothing is hidden.
If you made a report before, the new one includes "Compared with the last report": doses, side effects and weight for this period next to the last one. That makes changes easy to spot in a few seconds.
Your open questions are printed at the end under "Questions for the appointment." You can share or print the PDF, save it to Files, or use "Show on screen," which shows the report in large text so you can hand your phone to your doctor. With Vistadose Plus, the report can also be made in a second language, for example the language your doctor reads.
After the visit
After the visit, the app asks what your doctor said. You can write down an answer for each question and update your plan if the dose or injection day changed. Questions you asked move to "Asked," so the next report only prints the open ones. And if you add your pen in Treatment, a refill reminder arrives a few days before it runs out.
Private by design
No account, no ads. Your entries are encrypted on your phone, and the report is made there too: nothing is uploaded. The dose log, reminders, charts, the doctor report and encrypted backup to a file are free.
If you also want a cleaner record of where you inject, see our guide to a GLP-1 injection site log.
Read more about the app at Vistadose or download Vistadose for iPhone or Android.
FAQ
What should I bring to a GLP-1 follow-up appointment? Your dose history with missed or moved doses, side effects and when they happen, weight and lab results with dates, your questions, and a count of pens left.
Does Vistadose tell me what dose to take? No. The app records what you log and shows it back to you. Decisions about your dose belong to you and your doctor.
Do I need an account to make the doctor report? No. The report is created on your phone and is only shared when you choose to.
Can my doctor see what changed since my last visit? Yes, if you made a report last time. The new report has a "Compared with the last report" section with doses, side effects and weight for both periods.
Vistadose is not a medical device and does not replace advice from your doctor.
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