The anti-diabetic medication “Ozempic” (semaglutide) made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Patients taking blockbuster obesity drugs Ozempic or Wegovy will pack the pounds back on after they stop taking the medications.
Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, told "GMA" that rebound weight gain can be common after stopping semaglutide because the drug is no longer working in the body.
Semaglutide has become more and more popular as a weight loss aid, and many patients wonder what happens if you stop taking it. While it's possible to gain weight back after stopping Semaglutide or other GLP-1 agonists, it's not a guaranteed side effect.
Studies have shown that semaglutide injections like Ozempic are good for weight loss but experts warn once people stop taking the drugs, they regain most of the lost weight.
You start feeling those usual hunger pangs again, and consequently, you may start eating more to satisfy that hunger. An increase in your consumption can lead to the regaining of weight that was lost. A 2022 study found that most individuals gain weight back a year after stopping the medication.
A person can stay on Ozempic® so long as they are tolerating the medication and it is deemed appropriate by their treating provider. There is no specific time frame when someone should stop taking Ozempic as it is a medication that is intended for chronic (long-term) use.
What Should You Do If You Want to Stop Taking the Drug? If someone chooses to stop taking semaglutide, there's no need to gradually reduce their dose or cadence. Once a person stops regularly taking the medication, their body will naturally cycle through the remaining drug, Fitch said.
For people who are trying to lose weight, whether or not they need to, Ozempic will flush out of your body and you'll go back to where you were, Sadhu said. There's no withdrawal and you don't need to taper off the drug, although you may feel hungry again and regain the weight.
If you take Wegovy or Ozempic to lose weight, will you need to keep taking the drugs indefinitely? Yes. As with many chronic conditions, most people who use the drugs for diabetes or weight loss will need to keep taking them to keep benefiting from them.
Stopping Ozempic
Meanwhile, these are “not medications that our body becomes addicted to, there are no significant withdrawals and no significant major rebound effects,” emphasized Dr. Warriner. In her patients with diabetes, Warriner has also observed a return of increased appetite over time.
We know that Ozempic works to help your body regulate its food, sugar and fat metabolism, but there are other health benefits that were also discovered during the drug trials.
If you stop taking Ozempic, the weight you lost will likely return, fast. People who ceased use of semaglutide gained back, on average, a full two-thirds of the weight they had lost on the drug within one year, according to an August 2022 study, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Weight gain and fluctuations in weight can happen for a variety of reasons. Many people progressively gain weight as they age or make changes to their lifestyle. However, fast weight gain can be a sign of an underlying health condition, such as a problem with the thyroid, kidneys, or heart.
Similarly Gabel advises that if you're thinking about stopping Ozempic (and don't have a reason like pregnancy to stop cold turkey), try to taper off slowly to let the body adjust.
The most common side effect with Ozempic is nausea and occurs in about 15% to 20% of people. Others include vomiting (5% to 9%), diarrhea (8%), stomach-area pain (6% to 7%), and constipation (3% to 7%).
Activity that uses 1,500 to 2,000 calories per week is recommended for maintaining weight loss. Adults should try to get at least 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous level physical activity at least 3 to 4 times per week. Diet and exercise are vital strategies for losing and maintaining weight.
Ozempic and its sister medication, Wegovy — approved for weight loss for people who are obese or overweight with weight-related medical conditions — are considered long-term or lifelong treatments.
The maximum dose of Ozempic (1 mg) can take up to 5 weeks to fully flush out of your system, while the maximum dose of Wegovy (2.4 mg) can take up to 7 weeks.
(No member of the Kardashian family has publically said they use Ozempic.) Ozempic is the brand name for the medication semaglutide, which treats diabetes by balancing out hormones like insulin.
However, doctors have now issued a warning about “Ozempic face,” a possible side effect of using the drugs both as a weight-loss method and without the proper medical supervision, as users have shared their experiences with accelerated ageing.