Duration of Semaglutide Therapy The recommended dosage of semaglutide medication must be increased to its effective level of 2.4 mg during the 16 to 20 weeks of the therapy to include its weight loss benefits and other advantages and to reduce the impact of common side effects like gastrointestinal disorders.
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 must be taken consistently to see long-term weight loss effects. As soon as someone stops taking the drug, their body fat and former appetite tend to return. Experts recommend working with a provider versed in obesity medicine to create a plan for improved lifestyle and long-term adherence to the drug.
Yes, you'll lose weight with semaglutide – until you stop taking it. Then, evidence shows you're likely to regain the weight: one year after discontinuing the use of semaglutide, there was significant weight regain among participants.
Possible Long-term Effects of Semaglutide
Semaglutide is the first drug approved for chronic weight management since 2014. Most of the well-known long-term effects happen in rare cases. In reference to the study, only about 10% of the 1,951 participants in a 68-week period experienced these long-term disorders.
Thus, our findings indicate that the substantial weight losses reported during 68 weeks' treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg in prior STEP trials6,7,9 can be maintained with continued semaglutide treatment up to at least 104 weeks.
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.
Semaglutide improves body composition by helping patients lose weight and reduce excess fat, including stubborn belly fat. It also increases the proportion of lean body mass. In general, the more weight you lose with semaglutide, the greater the improvements you'll see in your overall body composition across all areas.
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.
However, semaglutide is approved for weight loss under the name Wegovy. Ozempic has a smaller dose of semaglutide than Wegovy. It's important to note that if you start taking either of these drugs for weight loss, your body may get used to it, establishing a new normal. This can cause your weight to plateau.
Semaglutide should not be used with any over-the-counter medication. Semaglutide should not be used by individuals below the age of 18 years. Semaglutide should not be used by people who have a history of pancreatitis.
To this end, Ozempic and the other GLP-1 agonists are just like any other weight loss trick: they work as long as you use them. Once you stop, without the proper plan in place to keep the weight off, there is nothing keeping it from coming back.
A 2022 study found that most individuals gain weight back a year after stopping the medication.
Semaglutide improves postprandial glucose and lipid metabolism, and delays first-hour gastric emptying in subjects with obesity.
Move as Much as You Can
Regular exercise is vital for good health, with or without Semaglutide. But getting in more movement while on Semaglutide can help you achieve better results — and keep those results after you've lost the weight. The best way to get more movement in is to start walking more.
Semaglutide is usually started at 0.25 mg weekly and is increased by 0.25 mg every 4 weeks until the target dose is reached (as tolerated).
For the 1st 4 weeks the dose should be only 0.1ml or 10 units. The dose only if needed for more appetite suppression can be titrated to 0.2ml or 20 units for weeks 5-8. Stay with the same dose if losing weight with no side effects.
Additionally, abdominal visceral fat was reduced by 40.0% in the semaglutide 2.4 mg group and 22.2% in the semaglutide 1.7 mg group versus 6.9% in the placebo group.
More often than not, foods outlined above make it harder for semaglutide medications to control insulin release, making it well worth your time to limit your exposure to added sugar, fatty, greasy meals, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and excessive sodium.
A special diet for semaglutide doesn't exist. Instead, the same healthy eating guidelines apply, like prioritizing complex carbohydrates and lean proteins.
At 3 months, 175 patients achieved a mean (SD) weight loss of 6.7 (4.4) kg, equivalent to a mean (SD) weight loss of 5.9% (3.7%) (P < . 001 from baseline). At 6 months, 102 patients had a mean (SD) weight loss of 12.3 (6.6) kg, equivalent to a mean (SD) weight loss of 10.9% (5.8%) (P < . 001 from baseline) (Figure 2).
Semaglutide injection may increase the risk that you will develop tumors of the thyroid gland, including medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC; a type of thyroid cancer). Laboratory animals who were given semaglutide developed tumors, but it is not known if this medication increases the risk of tumors in humans.
Fully 86.4% of the semaglutide group lost 5% or more on baseline weight, compared with 31.5% for placebo. Semaglutide also was superior in the percentage of participants who lost ≥10% (69.1 vs 12.0%), ≥15% (50.5 vs 4.9%), and ≥20% of baseline weight (32.0 vs 1.7%).
That's why stopping Ozempic or other weight loss drugs should be an individual decision you should come to with the help of your healthcare provider. If your health provider agrees it's time to stop taking Ozempic, they will provide you with instructions for tapering off your dose.