Semaglutide for Weight Loss: How It Works

Key Takeaways

Semaglutide stimulates the pancreas to secrete more insulin in response to high blood sugar levels. It also delays gastric emptying and slows the movement of food, increasing feelings of fullness and decreasing appetite.
Semaglutide is helpful in managing blood sugar but can also cause weight loss by making you feel full longer and reducing caloric intake.
Semaglutide products are administered subcutaneously (under the skin) in your thigh, abdomen, or upper arm. Administer this medicine once a week on the same day every week.

Semaglutide is an injectable drug that was approved to treat diabetes in 2017. However, in 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also approved semaglutide for long-term weight management under the brand name Wegovy.

Please continue reading to find out the key elements of using this obesity medicine, including how semaglutide can help you lose weight, how much weight you can expect to lose on this medicine, whether the weight lost will come back after stopping semaglutide, and the side effects and risks of taking semaglutide for weight loss.

What is semaglutide used to treat?

Semaglutide belongs to a group of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 receptor agonists) or incretin mimetics.

The brand name drug Ozempic (which contains the active ingredient semaglutide) is used, along with a healthy lifestyle consisting of diet and exercise, to control blood sugar levels in adults with type-2 diabetes. Read our blog on Ozempic for weight loss.

This medication helps to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, and death in people with type-2 diabetes by regulating blood sugar levels.

The brand name drug Wegovy (which also contains the active ingredient semaglutide) is used, along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, and increased physical activity, to promote weight loss in overweight or obese adults and children 12 years of age and older as long as they meet certain criteria. Learn more about Wegovy’s uses and side effects.

Evidence suggests that semaglutide may have a role in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. However, it is not FDA-approved for this purpose and is prescribed off-label.

What does semaglutide do to your body?

Semaglutide stimulates the pancreas to secrete more insulin in response to high blood sugar levels and lower levels of a hormone called glucagon. Insulin is a hormone that helps to move glucose from the blood into other tissues in the body to be used for energy.

Semaglutide also delays gastric emptying and slows the movement of food from the stomach to the intestines. This increases feelings of fullness and can lead to decreased appetite and weight loss. Learn more about how prescription weight loss medications work.

What body mass index (BMI) qualifies for semaglutide?

To be eligible to receive Wegovy (semaglutide) for weight loss, you should have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m² or higher or a BMI of 27 kg/m² or higher and a weight-related condition or chronic disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

Wegovy (semaglutide) is approved to be used in children 12 years or older with BMI at 95^th percentile or greater standardized for age and sex.

What is the dose of semaglutide for weight loss?

The recommended maintenance dose of Wegovy for obesity management is once weekly semaglutide 2.4 milligrams (mg) injected under the skin.

To reduce gastrointestinal side effects, your doctor will start you on lower doses, starting with 0.25 mg, and gradually increase the dose over a period of 16-20 weeks to a maintenance dose of 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg once a week.

You can inject semaglutide under the skin of your thigh, abdomen, or upper arm. Administer this medicine once a week on the same day every week.

You can inject semaglutide at any time of the day without regard to meals.

How much body weight will I lose in a month on semaglutide?

Based on the results of placebo-controlled trials, the FDA says you can expect to lose around 12% of your baseline weight if you don’t have diabetes and around 6% of your total body weight if you have diabetes after taking semaglutide for 68 weeks.

The drug’s manufacturer says you can expect to lose 15% of your starting body weight (approximately 35 lbs if your starting weight is 232 lbs).

Each individual’s response to anti-obesity medications such as semaglutide can be different.

Your ability to achieve weight loss or the side effects you experience on weight loss medications may be different from someone you know.

Also, some of the weight loss achieved may be regained when you stop taking an obesity medicine such as semaglutide, which works by suppressing appetite.

If you have severe obesity, talk to your healthcare provider about other treatment options, such as bariatric surgery.

What is the dark side of semaglutide for chronic weight management?

Semaglutide is an FDA-approved obesity treatment.

It can help in weight reduction and is used to treat obesity in conjunction with lifestyle interventions such as a reduced-calorie diet and exercise program. However, treating obesity with semaglutide carries some risks and safety concerns, namely:

Adverse effects of drug treatment with semaglutide injection include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, burping, and heartburn.
Semaglutide may have drug interactions with other medications, increasing the risk of adverse events.
People who take semaglutide are at an increased risk of medullary thyroid carcinoma (thyroid cancer), acute pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), acute kidney injury, increased heart rate, diabetic retinopathy complications, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

What precautions should I take on semaglutide?

Before starting treatment, tell your doctor if you have ever had an allergic reaction to semaglutide, other weight loss medications, or any other drugs.

Give your doctor and pharmacist a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements, and herbal products. Do not start any new drug treatment without checking with your healthcare providers. This will help avoid potentially dangerous drug interactions.

Tell your doctor if you have a history of pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, kidney disease, or diabetic retinopathy.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Call your doctor if you develop any unusual changes in mood and behavior or have thoughts of harming yourself while taking semaglutide.

Be aware that the drug shortage of Wegovy and Ozempic since 2022 creates opportunities for criminal organizations to sell counterfeit drug products. Purchasing Ozempic or Wegovy from illegitimate sources can cause serious health complications, not to mention a lot of these criminal organizations can steal your money with non-delivery schemes, meaning they will never deliver the drug product after payment is received.

How much does semaglutide cost for weight loss?

A month’s supply of Wegovy (the semaglutide formulation approved for weight loss) can cost $1,400 without insurance coverage. A free BuzzRx Wegovy discount coupon can result in significant savings on this obesity medicine. Learn more about the cost of weight loss injections.

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