GLP-1 Storage Rules: Refrigeration, Room Temperature, and Expiration

How you store these medications directly affects whether they work. This guide covers every current form of Wegovy, Zepbound, and Foundayo — and what to do when something goes wrong. If anything here differs from the instructions in your package, follow your package and call your pharmacist.

Two Rules That Apply to Everything

1. Never freeze an injectable. If your Wegovy or Zepbound has been frozen — even once, even if it thawed and looks fine — do not use it. Discard and replace.[1][2]
2. Keep it in the box or bottle it came in. All of these medicines can be damaged by light or moisture.[3]

Wegovy Injection

Single-dose pens and syringes (one device per weekly dose):

Where	Temperature	How long
Refrigerator (preferred)	36–46°F (2–8°C)	Until the printed expiration date
Out of the refrigerator	46–86°F (8–30°C)	Up to 28 days, cap still on

• Keep each pen in its carton until the moment you inject — the carton is the light protection.
• Don't push pens against the fridge's back wall or cooling element, where they can freeze without you noticing. The middle shelf or a door shelf is better.
• One use per pen — discard after your injection even if liquid remains.[1]

The multi-dose FlexTouch pen (4 weekly doses in one pen): refrigerate until first use; after your first injection it may stay in the fridge or at room temperature (59–86°F) — but discard 56 days after first use, even if medicine remains. Write the first-use date on your calendar. Take the needle off right after each injection (never store the pen with a needle attached), use a new needle every time, and recap the pen between uses.[1]

Zepbound Injection

Single-dose pens and vials:

Where	Temperature	How long
Refrigerator (preferred)	36–46°F (2–8°C)	Until the printed expiration date
Out of the refrigerator	Not above 86°F (30°C)	Up to 21 days total, then discard

The 21 days are cumulative — separate stretches out of the fridge add together. A vial that spends 10 days out, goes back in, then spends 11 more days out has used its full 21 and must be discarded.[2]

Note the mismatch with Wegovy: Zepbound's out-of-fridge limit (21 days) is shorter than Wegovy's (28 days). If you've switched between the two medicines, don't assume the rule you learned before still applies.

Multi-dose vial and KwikPen (4 weekly doses per device): refrigerated, they last until the expiration date; unopened at room temperature (up to 86°F), 30 days. Once you take your first dose, discard after whichever comes first — 30 total days at room temperature, 30 days after first use, or 4 doses — even if medicine is still visible. The KwikPen guide covers this in detail.

Before every Zepbound injection, look at the liquid: clear, colorless to slightly yellow. Cloudy, discolored, or particle-filled means call your pharmacy. Vial users: drawing up requires a new syringe and needle every time — see the vial injection guide.

Wegovy Tablets and Foundayo Tablets

Neither pill needs refrigeration — but their vulnerabilities differ:

	Wegovy tablets	Foundayo tablets
Temperature	68–77°F; brief 59–86°F excursions OK	68–77°F; brief 59–86°F excursions OK
Main enemy	Moisture — store dry	Light — light-sensitive tablets
Container	Original bottle until use	Original bottle and carton; recap after each opening; keep the desiccant packet in
How taken	Swallowed whole, empty stomach, morning	Swallowed whole (never break, crush, or chew), with or without food

Practical rules for both:

• Don't move tablets into a weekly pill organizer, baggie, or different bottle — the original container is part of the protection, and unlabeled medication is a problem when traveling.[4]
• Skip the bathroom cabinet — showers create heat and humidity. A bedroom drawer or kitchen cabinet away from the stove, sink, and dishwasher is better.
• A tablet that looks discolored, split, cracked, spotted, or sticky may have been stored improperly — don't take it; call your pharmacist.

Traveling With Your Medicine

Flying: always pack medication in your carry-on, never checked luggage — cargo holds can freeze, and checked bags get lost. Keep everything in original labeled containers, which protects the medicine, identifies it to security, and lets a pharmacy abroad match it if you need a refill. Needles and syringes are allowed on U.S. flights with the labeled medication that requires them; for international trips, also carry a clinician's letter. Bring enough for the whole trip plus extra for delays, and keep a written medication list accessible.[4]

Keeping injectables cool: use an insulated cooler or hard-shell case that also protects against breakage. In heat, add a gel or evaporative cooling pack with the medicine in the middle of the pack — not pressed against the cold source. In cold weather the risk flips: carry the medicine close to your body to prevent freezing.[5]

Never leave medicine in a parked car — interiors quickly exceed 86°F (30°C), the labeled maximum for every product here.

The clock keeps running: travel days out of the fridge count toward the 28-day (Wegovy single-dose) or 21-day (Zepbound single-dose) totals. Write the out-of-fridge date on the carton. Crossing time zones? Keep your usual day of the week at whatever local time works; Zepbound's day can shift as long as 72+ hours separate doses. More travel specifics: traveling with Wegovy or Zepbound.

What to Do If Something Goes Wrong

What happened	What to do
Left out of the fridge overnight (or days)	Count total days out. Within the limit (28 days Wegovy single-dose; 21 days Zepbound single-dose) and never above 86°F? Still usable — write the date on the carton
It froze, or sat against the cooling element	Don't use it. Discard and call your pharmacy
Power outage	Keep the fridge shut. Stayed cold: fine. Warmed: switch to counting room-temperature days, if it stayed ≤86°F and within the limit
Left in a hot car or direct sun	Don't use it. Call your pharmacist
Liquid is cloudy, colored, or has particles	Don't inject it. Call your pharmacy
Water spilled on the pill bottle / cap left off	Call your pharmacist — Wegovy tablets must stay dry; Foundayo's cap must be recapped each time
Threw away the Foundayo desiccant	Call your pharmacist for guidance — the drying packet controls moisture
Tablet looks cracked, spotted, or sticky	Don't take it — possible improper storage. Call your pharmacist

Disposal and Home Safety

Used pens, syringes, and needles go into a sharps container immediately — never household trash or recycling, and never recap, bend, or cut needles. Your pharmacist can point you to an FDA-cleared container and local drop-off rules, which vary by state.

Keep everything out of sight and reach of children. Foundayo's bottle has a child-resistant closure, but child-resistant is not childproof — it still needs to live where a child can't reach it.[3]

Quick Reference Card

Product	Fridge	Out of fridge — max	Never
Wegovy single-dose pen/syringe	36–46°F	28 days at 46–86°F, cap on	Freeze, or use if frozen
Wegovy FlexTouch pen (4 doses)	36–46°F before first use	56 days after 1st use, 59–86°F	Store with needle attached
Zepbound single-dose pen/vial	36–46°F	21 days total, up to 86°F	Freeze, or use if frozen
Zepbound multi-dose vial / KwikPen	36–46°F	30 days after first use, or 4 doses — whichever first	Keep past the 4th dose
Wegovy tablets	Not needed	Room temp 68–77°F; keep dry, original bottle	Move to a pill organizer
Foundayo tablets	Not needed	Room temp 68–77°F; bottle + carton	Remove the desiccant packet

When in doubt, call your pharmacist before using or tossing medicine you're unsure about. A wasted pen is a smaller problem than a dose that doesn't work.