By The Shot Guide Editorial Team. Written plainly, reviewed against primary medical sources. How our medical review works, and why we name a reviewer only when we have one.

The Shot Guide is a warm, medically reviewed companion for life on a GLP-1 medication, the class that includes semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound). We exist to be the missing third thing. Clinical sites are accurate but cold, and the leaflet in your box does not sound like a person. Forums are warm and human but often wrong. We try to give you forum-level warmth with publisher-level medical review and citations to primary sources, so the night a symptom hits you can find out what is happening, how long it usually lasts, what helps, and when to actually worry, without anyone trying to sell you anything. This is general information, not medical advice.

The missing third thing

If you have a prescription and a symptom, you have probably noticed the gap already. You can read a clinical page that is technically correct and still walk away cold, no closer to knowing whether what you are feeling at 11pm is normal or a reason to call someone. Or you can scroll a forum where strangers are kind and relatable, and pick up a confident answer that turns out to be wrong, or worse, a dosing tip that no one qualified ever vetted.

We were built for the space in between. The goal is to sound like the most reassuring, most honest friend you have, the one who happens to read the actual studies. Warmth so it feels safe to ask. Real medical review and primary sources so the answer holds up. We would rather meet you mid-worry, name what is happening, and draw a clear line for when to get help than impress you with vocabulary.

What we do

We write one clear, plain-language page per question. Every page leads with a short answer you can read in thirty seconds, then explains why a symptom happens, how long it usually lasts, what most people safely try first, and the warning signs that mean stop self-managing and call someone.

Every safety or efficacy statement is tied to a primary source: an FDA label, a named clinical trial like STEP or SURMOUNT, a peer-reviewed review, or an academic medical center such as Cleveland Clinic or Mayo. We lead with class and generic names (GLP-1 receptor agonist, semaglutide, tirzepatide) and use brand names only where you would actually search for them. Where the evidence is genuinely thin, we say so plainly instead of inventing a number to sound certain. You can start with our side effects pillar or, if something feels serious right now, our when-to-get-help guide.

What we are not

We are not a seller, a manufacturer, a pharmacy, a telehealth service, or a law firm. We have no products, no affiliate links, and no sponsored content, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, or any manufacturer. We publish no dosing prescriptions and no self-administration steps. Nothing here is medical advice, and reading it does not create a clinician-patient relationship. For your own care, talk to a licensed clinician.

Who writes this

We publish as The Shot Guide Editorial Team. We hold ourselves to a simple, uncomfortable rule: we will not dress up our authority with things we do not have. We do not list named reviewers, credentials, or affiliations we cannot back up, and we would rather tell you exactly how a page was reviewed than imply a panel of experts that does not exist. When a page carries a medical review line, that line is real. When our review process is still maturing, we say that too. Our standards are written down so you can hold us to them, and you can read how the work actually gets done on the pages below.

How we hold ourselves accountable

These standards are written down and public, so you can check our work instead of taking our word for it:

If you think we have something wrong, that genuinely matters to us. Corrections are welcomed and documented under our editorial policy. Getting it right is the whole point, because the person reading this is usually worried, often a little ashamed, and quietly hoping someone will just tell them the truth gently. That is the person we are here for.

How we reviewed this: this page describes our own standards and is maintained by The Shot Guide Editorial Team. The medical claims that appear across the rest of the site are drawn from primary sources and held to the rules described in our editorial and review policy and sourcing standards. Where our review process is still maturing, we tell you that plainly rather than overstating it.

Every medical claim above is cited to a primary source such as an FDA label, the NIH, or a named clinical trial. See how we review and our sourcing & fact-check standards.