Ozempic is one of three injectable semaglutide products approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes, along with Wegovy, authorized to treat obesity.
The GLP-1 drugs were created for those with diabetes, have a BMI over 30 and/or those with/at risk of cardiovascular disease with a BMI over 27.
While many have turned to Ozempic for cosmetic weight loss, it’s important to understand that the drugs are more effective for those who need to lose a significant amount of weight, such as obesity patients.
According to doctors, GLP-1 drugs do four things: increase insulin secretion, reduce glucagon secretion, slow the emptying of the stomach and reduce appetite (it doesn’t affect your metabolism, it just makes you feel full, so you eat less).
What the drug is really doing is helping people alter behaviors, and common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain and constipation.
Often times, those struggling with obesity will continue to eat despite feeling full, and being on Ozempic or a similar drug will make doing so uncomfortable and using it in the long term can train people to change their eating habits in a way that sticks.
Once someone stops the medication, any weight loss could come back if the person doesn’t maintain the eating habits that they developed while taking the product.
The demand for these medications has caused a shortage for those who rely on them for serious health problems.
There’s been a recent outburst of news in which people taking Ozempic now have ‘paralyzed’ stomachs, or gastroparesis.
This is a condition in which the patient experiences an extremely slow emptying of the stomach, or a complete stoppage.
Symptoms include frequent vomiting and nausea, which persisted even after the patients stopped taking Ozempic.
More of these cases are surfacing, due to the increased demand for semaglutides, however, the FDA still believes the benefits outweigh the risks.
