Ozempic for weight loss, also known generically as semglutide or it’s other brand name, Wegovy (when I say Ozempic from this point on, I’m also referring to Wegovy and semaglutide).
So many people are asking questions about this medication! How do you take the medication, how often do you take it and are there any side effects? How much weight can you expect to lose? As a practicing pharmacist, I will attempt to answer these questions by assessing a study on Ozempic!
I just tried BBQ egg rolls from a Mediterranean restaurant and let me tell you, they are delicious! The one I had was full of delicious steak! Definitely will be getting some again!
Anyways, I’m should be talking about Ozempic, not egg rolls! Egg rolls is also known as semaglutide… wait, hold on! I mean, Ozempic is known as semaglutide and can aid in weight loss.
I would never encourage any to take additional medications as they can also be associated with side effects. Though, if you need to be on medications or they can help you become healthier, then I believe it’s fine.
By talking about Ozempic, I’m not encouraging anyone to use it. I only want you to be able to make an informed decision before going to see your own health care professional to discuss if it’s an appropriate option for you!
This article will be give you VERY IMPORTNAT information you need to decide if Ozempic is an appropriate choice for you!
Before diving into this, as I mentioned before, Ozempic, Wegovy and semaglutide are all the same drug. Wegovy was a rebranded Ozempic released to market to individuals for weight loss. Semaglutide is the main ingredient (also known as the “active ingredient”) in Ozempic and Wegovy that aids in weight loss.
Also, for my fellow health care professionals, this will not be a journal club. I’m not going to be diving very deep into details a that would overwhelm a patient. So calm down.
If you don’t know what a journal club is, it’s when you present an article and then get grilled by a bunch of people who know more than you.
Ozempic For Weight Loss – Discussion By a Pharmacist
1. Ozempic How Does It Work For Weight Loss?
Ozempic for weight loss, how exactly does it work? Does it just burn all the fat away? Not exactly, it doesn’t directly burn the fat away.
There are a few mechanism by witch Ozempic works. It is a selective glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist! There you go, that’s how it works. All clear now, right! Haha, just kidding, I’ll explain more.
Ozempic activates GLP-1 receptors located in different areas of your body.
GLP-1 is a hormone that your body releases in your intestines when food goes from your stomach to your intestines during digestion.
GLP-1 slows gastric emptying. This means that the food you eat, is digested slower than usual. This makes it so you don’t get hungry as fast.
Secondly, there are GLP-1 receptors located in your brain as well that are associated with appetite. When the receptors are activated, your appetite is decreased!
GLP-1 acts on your pancreas as well, but that mechanism isn’t associated with weight loss, so I won’t touch on that at this time.
2. Ozempic How To Use
Ozempic is giant suppository that you have to use insert every hour. I’m just kidding! It’s an injection that you have to inject weekly. You have to slowly increase your dose weekly. Here’s the schedule for Ozempic dosing:
- Weeks 1 – 4: 0.25 mg weekly
- Weeks 5 – 8: 0.5 mg weekly
- Weeks 9 – 12: 1 mg weekly
- Weeks 13 – 16: 1.7 mg weekly
- Week 17 and beyond: 2.4 mg weekly
2.4 mg is the maximum dose of Ozempic for weight loss.
If an individual isn’t able to tolerate 2.4 mg weekly dosing, it is reasonable to use 1.7 mg weekly.
3. Ozempic By Itself Is Recommended For Weight Loss
Ozempic for weight loss by itself? False, you will still have to attempt to live a healthy life style. It’s recommended that you exercise and attempt to eat healthy as well.
You need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. A caloric deficit is when you are eating less calories than your body needs. As you can tell from the mechanism of Ozempic, it will get you to consume less food.
4. What Are Some Side Effects Of Ozempic?
There can be some major side effects potentially associated with Ozempic. Here is a list of them (this is NOT all inclusive. Please discuss with your health care provider for further side effects to worry about):
- Possible short term kidney injury
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Gallbladder disease
- Gastrointestinal side effects: Abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
- Increased chance of thyroid cancer – was only seen when studied on rats. Has not been confirmed in humans.
- Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
It’s not guaranteed you’ll experience these, but there is a chance. Just some risks to keep in mind.
5. Ozempic Clinical Trial – STEP 3 Trial
There was study published in 2021 called, Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity (STEP 3 trial), that assessed how much weight reduction would be in participants using Ozempic against a placebo (placebo means no drug).
There is also a STEP 5 trial which goes over a longer set of data, I’ll be discussing that study next time!
I. Study Characteristics
This was a randomized double-blind clinical trial. What this means is, participants were randomly assigned to receive either Ozempic 2.4 mg weekly or the placebo. Double blind, meaning, neither the investigators nor the participants knew which group they were in. This was to keep bias out of conclusion.
Participants were chosen from 41 different treatments sites across the United States of America.
The study included 611 adults WITHOUT DIABETES who were considered overweight or obese. 495 (81%) of the participants were women. Here are some mean (average) characteristics of participants:
- Age 46
- Weight: 105.7 kg
- BMI: 38
407 participants in the Ozempic group and 204 in the placebo group.
The study was conducted over a period of 68 weeks.
The dose of Ozempic started at 0.25 mg and was increased every 4 weeks. The image below is how they went about that:
A large calorie restriction was only for the first 8 week though, participants could only consume 1000-1200 calories/day.
After the 8 weeks the calories were upped to 1200-1800 calories/day.
These calories were all weight based. If you are interested on how they calculated that, please reach out.
As for exercises, participants were required to exercise at least 100 minutes a week dispersed over 4-5 days.
This was increased by 25 minutes every 4 weeks, until they reached 200 minutes a week.
Participants had “intensive behavioral therapy” throughout the 68 week. This included 30 counseling sessions.
II. Ozempic For Weight Loss Results
The two primary results the investigators were looking for were, the percentage change of body weight in each group and the loss of 5% or more of baseline weight by week 68.
Below are results in a chart format so they are easier to read:
|
Co-Primary Outcomes |
||
|
Ozempic Group |
Placebo Group |
|
|
% Change In Weight |
-16% | -5.7% |
| At least a 5% loss in body weight from baseline | 56.6% |
46.7% |
As you can see, the Ozempic group lost an average of 16% of their weight from baseline, where as the placebo group lost around an average of 5.7%.
To give context to that in numbers, if someone started off weighing 100 kg (220 pounds), by the end of the 68 weeks they would have lost 16 kg (35.2 pounds) if they were receiving Ozempic.
If they were in the placebo group, they would have lost roughly 5.7 kg (12.5 pounds) by the end of the 68 weeks.
These are fantastic results for the Ozempic group. Of course, as you can see, it was coupled with a VERY strict calorie restriction and a decent amount of exercise.
It wasn’t just, inject Ozempic and then proceed to eat a bunch food. Though, Ozempic will help curb your appetite as we discussed earlier.
III. Ozempic For Weight Loss Side Effects
Ozempic side effects, there were side effects. How safe is Ozempic for weight loss?
Most drugs are associated with side effects, unfortunately. Participants in the Ozempic group were more likely to experience side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; 82.8% as opposed to 63.2% in the placebo group. Per the study, most participants were able to recover from these side effects and continue with Ozempic.
The more serious side effect that was see in the Ozempic group was the formation of gallstones. 20 participants on the Ozempic group experienced this. Only 3 participants in the Ozempic group experienced gallstones.
So, for the most part, it should be pretty safe.
IV. Discussion
So as you can see, Ozempic definitely helps with weight loss. It lead to 10.3% greater weight loss compared to the placebo group.
Now, this was done along with a calorie restriction and behavioral therapy. The study could not conclude if either of those lead to a greater weight loss when combined with Ozempic.
Though, I will add, a caloric deficit is a must for weight loss in my experience. I’ve never used Ozempic, but I always had to eat less calories than my body requires to lose fat. I’ve lost 50 pounds…twice, so I know a thing or two about losing weight.
Also, there should have been more men in the study. That way, we can comfortably apply these results to men and women.
Ozempic for weight loss, so as you can see, it’s definitely effective! Now you can go to your own healthy care provider and further discuss if it might be an appropriate choice for you!
Disclaimer: I’m not your doctor. Please consult your doctor, nutritionist or any health care professional before making any changes in your own lifestyle. These blogs are just me sharing my knowledge for you reading entertainment purpose only. None of this is medical advice.
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Resources
- Lexicomp Online™ [Internet]. Hudson (OH): Lexicomp. c1978 – . Lexidrugs online: semglutide; [cited 2024 March 10]
- Wadden, Thomas A et al. “Effect of Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo as an Adjunct to Intensive Behavioral Therapy on Body Weight in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: The STEP 3 Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA vol. 325,14 (2021): 1403-1413. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1831. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777025
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