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There isn’t a benefit to losing weight during pregnancy, so your doctor likely won’t recommend taking this drug during pregnancy. They will likely recommend that you stop taking Wegovy at least 2 months before becoming pregnant. Although rare, it’s possible for Wegovy to cause depression or increase your risk of suicidal thoughts. If you already have depression or a mood condition, taking Wegovy may make your condition worse. In this case, your doctor may recommend monitoring your mood more often while you’re taking Wegovy.
Open discussions between providers and patients are needed
Gallbladder problems were a side effect more commonly seen in children than in adults treated with this drug. But if you have symptoms that are ongoing or bother you, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. Keep reading to learn about the common, mild, and serious side effects that Wegovy can cause. For a general overview of the drug, including details about its uses, see this article.
Federal spending on weight-loss drugs surges
Pancreatitis (swelling of the pancreas) may occur while you are using this medicine. Check with your doctor right away if you have sudden and severe stomach pain, chills, constipation, nausea, vomiting, fever, or lightheadedness. Ask your healthcare professional how you should dispose of any medicine you do not use.
How long does it take for side effects of Wegovy to go away?
Meanwhile, employers and health insurance plans are attempting to slow runaway spending on these drugs. And insurers have imposed requirements such as prior authorization or step therapy, which mandates that people try less expensive drugs first. In some cases, employers and insurers are denying coverage altogether.
Serious side effects of Wegovy
It doesn’t hurt, there’s no itching, but you can run your hands through your hair and you have a handful of hair. It can be really disconcerting to see that,” said Dr. Susan Massick, a dermatologist at Ohio State University, who has seen patients who have lost hair following weight loss surgery. Telogen effluvium hair loss usually starts about 3 months after weight loss begins, lasts for several months, and reverses over 6 to 12 months once your weight loss is stabilized, although the timeline can vary. Nutritional deficiencies, low protein or caloric intake and a sudden change in eating habits can worsen the possibility of hair shedding due to rapid weight loss with these medications.

A boxed warning is the most serious warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It alerts doctors and patients about drug effects that may be dangerous. Some side effects of semaglutide may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine.
Side Effects for Wegovy
Can Fiber Help with Ozempic, Wegovy Side Effects? - Health.com
Can Fiber Help with Ozempic, Wegovy Side Effects?.
Posted: Thu, 14 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
She's taking the drug every other week instead of the weekly shot her doctor prescribed. Sharma also recommends monitoring appetite and weight regained for those who willingly stop the drugs. “If you stop and you regain five pounds, maybe that’s when you’ve got to jump back in.” Restarting the medication after time off does require working your way up from the smallest dose again, he says. Treatment with a GLP-1 agonist requires starting with the smallest dose and gradually increasing the dosage over a few months. And, although physicians consider these drugs a lifelong treatment, there’s no biological harm in suddenly stopping. The American Society of Anesthesiologists called in June for patients to stop taking the GLP-1 RA medications before elective operations, over the potential risk it could lead to complications.
The most common side effects of semaglutide
Patients like Price are struggling to afford a blockbuster class of weight-loss medications called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonists. They were initially used to treat diabetes, but drugmakers have since won approval to market these drugs for weight loss and heart disease. More potential uses – and lucrative pharmaceutical company sales – are on the horizon as researchers study new ways to use these drugs. A late-stage study this month reported that the diabetes and weight loss drug tirzepatide also may help treat sleep apnea for people with obesity. In clinical trials in adults, 1.4% of WEGOVY-treated patients and 1.0% of patients receiving placebo experienced injection site reactions (including injection site pruritus, erythema, inflammation, induration, and irritation). In these clinical trials, 6.8% of patients treated with 2.4 mg WEGOVY and 3.2% of patients treated with placebo permanently discontinued treatment as a result of adverse reactions.
Greater proportions of patients treated with WEGOVY achieved ≥5% reduction in baseline BMI than those treated with placebo as shown in Table 13. No dose adjustment of WEGOVY is recommended for patients with renal impairment. In a study in patients with renal impairment, including end-stage renal disease, no clinically relevant change in semaglutide pharmacokinetics was observed [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY]. Adverse reactions with WEGOVY treatment in pediatric patients aged 12 years and older were generally similar to those reported in adults. Pediatric patients aged 12 years and older treated with WEGOVY had greater incidences of cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, hypotension, rash, and urticaria compared to adults treated with WEGOVY [see ADVERSE REACTIONS]. There have been postmarketing reports of acute kidney injury and worsening of chronic renal failure, which have in some cases required hemodialysis, in patients treated with semaglutide.
These drugs (which include Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, and others) belong to a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). One of the most common reasons that people stop taking their medications is that their weight plateaus, Sharma says, leading them to think that the drugs no longer work. He says that each person will respond to a dose in a different way, and that the dosage might need to be increased to lose more weight. For people who have to stop taking GLP-1 agonists for the foreseeable future, continued dietary changes, exercise and mental-health counselling — which should already be in place while on the medication — are a must, Stanford says.
In an embryofetal development study in pregnant cynomolgus monkeys, subcutaneous doses of 0.015, 0.075, and 0.15 mg/kg twice weekly (0.4-, 2-, and 6-fold the MRHD) were administered throughout organogenesis, from Gestation Day 16 to 50. Advise patients that substantial or rapid weight loss can increase the risk of gallbladder disease, but that gallbladder disease may also occur in the absence of substantial or rapid weight loss. Instruct patients to contact their healthcare provider for appropriate clinical follow-up if gallbladder disease is suspected [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]. In a trial of adult patients with type 2 diabetes and BMI greater than or equal to 27 kg/m2, diabetic retinopathy was reported by 4.0% of WEGOVY-treated patients and 2.7% placebo-treated patients.
In its current form, the drug is meant for chronic weight management, as opposed to quickly shedding weight and then ceasing medication. “The recent popularity of this type of drug has caused a shortage in supply, which is making it more difficult to obtain a prescription,” registered dietitian Jordan Hill, shared with Healthline. “I have many patients who come in and they’ve been on these drugs for years with me, and they say, ‘I’m so worried about ileus.’ And I say, ‘Well, did you get ileus?
These medications work by simulating a hormone secreted in the gut that slows digestion, makes you feel more full, and increases feelings of satiety in the brain. Last year, the FDA said it had identified a possible signal of intestinal obstructions linked to the medication in reports to its FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, or FAERS. Ozempic's label was updated to acknowledge reports of the condition, which doctors call ileus. If semaglutide makes you dizzy, you should limit your alcoholic beverages in order to not heighten your symptoms.
The time course of change in BMI with WEGOVY and placebo from baseline through week 68 is depicted in Figure 10. The cumulative frequency distribution of change in BMI is shown in Figure 11. Because of the potential for fetal harm, discontinue WEGOVY in patients at least 2 months before they plan to become pregnant to account for the long half-life of semaglutide [see Pregnancy]. Human relevance of thyroid C-cell tumors in rats is unknown and could not be determined by clinical studies or nonclinical studies [see BOX WARNING and WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].