"Hydration is key to preventing or minimizing nausea, especially when starting semaglutide," Dr. Worley explains. "For more severe or refractory cases, people should contact their provider for guidance. Often times, a short-term antiemetic — or anti-vomit medication — may help during the initial few doses."
Take smaller meals, and avoid oily or fatty foods. Foods that are high in fat take a long time to digest. Because semaglutide slows down your digestion, eating large or high-fat meals can lead to symptoms like bloating and indigestion. Ensure that you take plenty of fluids.
Nausea and Vomiting
This is a result of the way in which the drug affects the digestive system. Semaglutide is a synthetic form of the hormone glucagon. This is normally secreted by the pancreas to regulate blood sugar.
Drink a LOT of Water
You know the importance of drinking enough water — it's vital for all your bodily processes. But it becomes even more important with Semaglutide, as staying hydrated can stave off nausea that some people experience on this medication. Try to get in a minimum of 80 ounces of water a day.
If you're new to Semaglutide therapy, the first thing you might notice is how tired you feel. This is common and should pass after about two weeks. Your body may need time to adjust to the medication, and fatigue can also be managed with exercise and diet.
Eat smaller, steady meals.
"Semaglutide also leads to a decrease in the rate of gastric emptying, and so we need to account for this, as well. Along with their decreased appetite, patients will typically need to eat smaller meals. With decreased gastric emptying, they should also chew their food very well."
Ozempic works by adjusting the way your body processes glucose (sugar). This can lead to slower digestion, which means food stays in your stomach longer as it's being broken down. As your stomach works on digesting, it produces additional gas, which can lead to that uncomfortable bloating feeling and stomach pain.
Ozempic is a prescription medication that treats type 2 diabetes. Eating certain foods helps your blood sugar remain in a healthy range and boosts your overall health. Protein-rich foods, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, support the benefits of Ozempic and may help you reach your health goals.
Since Ozempic causes delayed gastric emptying, high-fiber or high-fat foods may exacerbate your symptoms because these foods can also slow digestion. Try including soft, low-fiber foods on days your nausea is strong, like potatoes, fish, ground meat, tofu, or yogurt.
Nausea and vomiting are two known side effects of Ozempic (semaglutide). Many times, these side effects will go away over days or weeks. If nausea does not subside, there are a few adjustments you can make to help you feel better.
Your blood glucose (sugar) levels should start to fully decline within the first week after you start using Ozempic (semaglutide) at your regular maintenance dose. However, the full effect can take 8 weeks or longer, as this is a long-acting medication that is injected only once per week.
Every patient is different, with different body types and lifestyle habits. Generally speaking, it takes around 8-12 weeks of steady use for Semaglutide to begin working.
In fact, over 80 percent of people taking Ozempic have mild or no side effects at all.
The best places on your body to inject Ozempic® are the front of your thighs, the front of your waist (abdomen) or your upper arms. It is recommended that you rotate your injection site each time you inject. After 4 weeks, your dose should be increased to 0.5 mg once a week, unless otherwise informed by your doctor.
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.
Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) can cause side effects that some people are unable to tolerate. Following dosing guidelines can help manage these side effects. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are the most common semaglutide side effects. But they usually subside after a few weeks of using the medication.
Still, Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications will be most effective for weight loss and blood sugar control when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Generally, eating healthy foods and avoiding foods high in sugar, calories, and unhealthy fats while taking Ozempic helps.
It's used to lower blood glucose (sugar) levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes. The starting dose of Ozempic is 0.25 mg injected once weekly for 4 weeks. Then, your dose is moved up to 0.5 mg once weekly.
In the clinical trials for Ozempic, which is the same medication as Wegovy but given at a lower dose, 1 in 5 people reported nausea and 1 in 10 reported vomiting.
Everybody reacts differently to medication, and the weight loss you experience on Ozempic may differ from someone else's. It can also be due to other factors that help or hinder weight loss progress, such as your diet, activity levels, and other reasons we'll get into below.
Other medicines—Do not take other medicines during the time you are using semaglutide unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This especially includes nonprescription medicines such as aspirin, and medicines for appetite control, asthma, colds, cough, hay fever, or sinus problems.
Do not overeat and when you eat, take smaller meals: Once again, semaglutide slows down the digestive process. So, limiting the amount of food you take in any one single meal could prevent you from running into uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating and indigestion.
Official answer. There are no specific foods you must avoid when taking Ozempic (generic name: semaglutide). You should avoid regular consumption of foods high in fat, sugar and calories.
Check with your doctor right away if you have sudden and severe stomach pain, chills, constipation, nausea, vomiting, fever, or lightheadedness. Check with your doctor right away if you have gaseous stomach pain, indigestion, recurrent fever, severe nausea or vomiting, stomach fullness, or yellow eyes or skin.