How Does Semaglutide Work?
Introduction
Obesity is a chronic health condition that compromises your overall health and increases your risk of life-threatening events like heart attacks and strokes. In recent years, evolving scientific insights into the biological factors that influence body composition have shifted the medical community’s view of weight loss beyond burning calories and dieting.
Doctors now treat obesity as a health condition rather than merely the product of lifestyle or diet. By employing a holistic approach and using weight loss medications like semaglutide alongside enhanced nutrition and exercise, doctors can help patients lose more weight and keep it off.
Learning about how semaglutide affects the body, the timeline of its effects, and its potential side effects can help you decide if the medication is right for you. This knowledge will also help you talk about injections with an experienced weight loss doctor to determine your optimal course of treatment.
What is Semaglutide and How Does it Affect the Body?
Treating obesity is critical because even moderate weight loss can significantly impact your health. One of the most common weight loss medications, semaglutide, simulates the effects of naturally produced hormones to manage appetite.
Semaglutide is most commonly available to patients under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic. While an oral tablet may soon be available on the market, patients usually take semaglutide via a self-injection to the thigh, abdomen, or upper arm. The medication is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist.
The injection simulates the effects of GLP-1, a digestive hormone that influences hunger. Semaglutide engages the areas of the brain that control appetite and cravings. By depressing them, it reduces how much food you consume, thereby minimizing your caloric intake. Consuming fewer calories causes your body to burn fat for energy, which results in weight loss.
Semaglutide also slows gastric emptying to make you feel full for longer. This sense of satiety depresses appetite to help reduce caloric intake.
A recent study of Wegovy, a form of semaglutide, found the medication reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events by 20% for obese adults.
How Quickly Do You Lose Weight on Semaglutide?
Your rate of weight loss will depend on the calorie deficit you create. Semaglutide suppresses appetite to reduce how many calories you take in. Exercise increases the number of calories you burn. The wider the gap, the faster the weight loss.
Your starting weight will also influence how quickly you lose weight. In general, results emerge once the medication begins reducing your appetite. Many patients see observable weight loss within their first month on the drug.
Participating in a medically managed weight loss program will enable you to maximize the benefits of Wegovy. Your doctor will monitor your progress and adjust your dosing as needed while offering supportive counseling to prevent your weight loss from plateauing as your body adjusts to the injections.
Side Effects of Semaglutide Injections
All medications carry a possibility of side effects. Your biochemistry and medical history will influence whether you develop side effects, as well as their severity. Doctors mitigate the risk of side effects by starting patients on low doses of semaglutide and gradually increasing them over several weeks.
Many patients also report that when side effects do occur, they often fade over time. The most common effects of semaglutide include:
Acid reflux
Constipation
Diarrhea
Flatulence and belching
Gastritis and indigestion
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Stomach discomfort or pain
Swollen belly and bloating
Semaglutide can also cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. This condition can lead to fatigue, lightheadedness, and dizziness. It's important to monitor yourself for all side effects and talk to your doctor if they persist or worsen. They may alter your dose or prescribe an alternative weight loss medication if the side effects are severe.
More serious but less common side effects include:
Elevated heart rate
Pancreatitis, which often causes pain in the upper abdomen, fever, nausea, and vomiting
Gallbladder inflammation or gallstones, which can cause severe and sudden pain in the right upper abdomen, pain between the shoulder blades, nausea, and vomiting
Who Should and Should Not Take Wegovy for Weight Loss?
Doctors prescribe semaglutide to patients with body mass indexes (BMI) over 30 or over 27 when an accompanying weight-related condition such as hypertension is present. Researchers have studied the medication extensively using clinical trials and consider it safe and effective for patients that meet this diagnostic criteria.
Individuals with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 or a family history of medullary thyroid cancer should not take semaglutide. The medication is also not recommended for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to become pregnant.
Other conditions that may contraindicate semaglutide include:
Chronic kidney or liver disease
Diabetic retinopathy
Pancreatitis
Stomach or intestinal conditions
Type 1 diabetes
A history of depression or suicidal thoughts
The best way to assess your eligibility for semaglutide is by meeting with an experienced weight loss doctor and discussing your complete medical history. They will evaluate you to rule out conditions that can make semaglutide unsafe or hinder its effectiveness.
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August 21, 2023
Written By
Jake Peter
Fact-checked By
Dr. Avidon Appel
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