Guide to Ozempic for Weight Loss

What Is Ozempic Used For?

Ozempic is an injectable medication approved to help with blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes patients. It belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, which mimic the GLP-1 hormone naturally found in your body and lower blood sugar levels after meals [4].

Ozempic is generally prescribed as a pre-filled pen injection that patients use once weekly. As a diabetes medication, Ozempic is considered a long-acting option since it can work longer in your body compared to other drugs in its class that need to be administered once or twice a day. Semaglutide, the generic form of Ozempic, is also available as an oral tablet under the brand name Rybelsus.

How Does Ozempic Help You Lose Weight?

While GLP-1 agonists such as Ozempic are designed to help control your blood sugar, studies have found that individuals taking them tend to start losing weight. The key hormone GLP-1 can help your pancreas release insulin and block a hormone that causes your liver to release sugar. However, the most significant factor for taking Ozempic for weight loss is its third function: curbing your appetite.

Ozempic can signal to our bodies that we feel fuller than we really are, prompting the stomach to empty slower – a process known as gastric emptying. In addition to gastric emptying, taking an Ozempic injection for weight loss can help you feel fuller for longer and play a direct role in how your appetite is regulated [5].

Once approved, Ozempic and its weight loss capabilities may play a key role in helping manage obesity. Obesity is a severe and chronic condition, often leading to further health complications down the road, such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. As of 2018, nearly half (42%) of all adults in the US alone are living with obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) over 30 kg/m2 [6]. Most individuals who live with obesity are undiagnosed, and less than 3% are prescribed medication to help them manage their condition [7].

A once-weekly Ozempic injection for weight loss, combined with a healthy diet and exercise, could help individuals worldwide reach their weight management goals.

How Long Does It Take to Lose Weight Using Ozempic?

Since results vary in individuals taking any medications it is impossible to gauge the resulting weight-loss when using Ozempic. Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss trial[8] tested for semaglutide which is the active ingredient shared by Ozempic and Wegovy – the latter being formulated for weight-loss in non-diabetics. Therefore, it is unclear whether the results in their trial are attributable to Ozempic or Wegovy.

Consequently, most weight-loss results attributable to Ozempic that we see in the media and on social media are largely anecdotal, unofficial, and highly dependent on individual physiology and circumstance. While Wegovy is likely a safer choice for weight-loss for non-diabetics, if the patient prefers Ozempic and their physician prescribes its use, appreciable weight-loss could take several months to appear. Alternatively, some patients may not experience any weight-loss, as they may not be able to tolerate full doses due to side effects.