Wegovy is a once-weekly prescription drug more and more widespread for its effectiveness in weight reduction, however it comes with potential uncomfortable side effects.
What’s Wegovy?
Wegovy, permitted by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2021, is a weight-loss drug containing semaglutide, the identical lively ingredient as Ozempic.
It really works by decreasing urge for food, slowing digestion, and bettering blood sugar administration.
Obtainable in 5 doses, Wegovy is taken as soon as weekly, together with your physician progressively growing your dose.
What are the uncomfortable side effects of Wegovy?
Many individuals expertise gentle to reasonable uncomfortable side effects. The commonest are:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Abdomen ache
- Constipation
- Heartburn
- Fuel or bloating
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Runny nostril, sore throat, or congestion
Nausea is the commonest aspect impact and is one thing you ought to be ready to expertise, at the very least quickly.
Unwanted effects can begin as quickly as the primary dose and should happen at any time throughout remedy. Gastrointestinal uncomfortable side effects, corresponding to nausea, are extra frequent through the first 4 months.
Many of the uncomfortable side effects usually are not severe and have a tendency to fade as your physique adjusts to the medicine. Nonetheless, it’s essential to report any uncomfortable side effects to your healthcare supplier for correct administration.
What are the extra severe uncomfortable side effects?
Wegovy could trigger uncommon however severe uncomfortable side effects, corresponding to:
- Thyroid tumors, together with most cancers
- Pancreatitis
- Modifications in imaginative and prescient (e.g., blurred imaginative and prescient, worsening of diabetic retinopathy, and adjustments to the macula)
- Kidney issues
- Psychological adjustments or melancholy
- Critical allergic reactions
- Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar (particularly if taken with insulin)
Recognizing signs of low blood sugar, corresponding to dizziness, confusion, shakiness, and a quick heartbeat, is essential.
If you happen to expertise any severe uncomfortable side effects, cease taking Wegovy and search medical consideration instantly. Your healthcare supplier ought to talk about all potential uncomfortable side effects with you and handle any considerations.
Do most individuals expertise uncomfortable side effects?
Many individuals taking Wegovy expertise uncomfortable side effects, notably gastrointestinal points:
- About 44 % of these on a most dose report nausea
- 30 % expertise diarrhea
- 25 % expertise vomiting.
Total, 71.4 % of scientific trial individuals had some uncomfortable side effects, with round 10 % stopping the drug attributable to points like nausea.
How can I scale back the uncomfortable side effects of Wegovy?
To assist scale back frequent uncomfortable side effects, the producer recommends a number of methods:
- Emphasize bland, low-fat meals like crackers, toast, or rice.
- Embody water-rich meals in your food regimen, corresponding to soups and gelatin.
- Keep away from mendacity down instantly after consuming.
- Get contemporary air in the event you really feel nauseous.
- Decelerate your consuming tempo.
Many customers additionally counsel breaking meals into smaller parts all through the day.
If uncomfortable side effects proceed, report them to your supplier, who could regulate your dosage quickly.
Most uncomfortable side effects reduce inside every week, and in the event you cease taking Wegovy, they sometimes resolve inside 1 to 2 weeks, with the drug absolutely leaving your system in about 5 to 7 weeks.
How lengthy does it take for the uncomfortable side effects to cease?
The frequent uncomfortable side effects normally lower inside just a few days to every week.
If signs final past every week, report them to your healthcare practitioner, even when they appear minor.
Docs sometimes begin with a decrease dose and progressively enhance it to assist your physique acclimate and reduce uncomfortable side effects like nausea. If increased doses are tough to tolerate, your supplier would possibly quickly decrease the dose earlier than progressively growing it once more.
Most uncomfortable side effects cease inside every week or two after discontinuing Wegovy, with the medicine absolutely leaving your system in about 5 to 7 weeks.
Does Wegovy trigger temper swings?
Temper swings are a uncommon aspect impact of Wegovy and different semaglutide medication.
In accordance with the Mayo Clinic, Wegovy could trigger agitation, irritability, irregular behaviors, and even suicidal ideas and melancholy in some folks.
Though unusual, it’s very important to tell your physician instantly in the event you discover any adjustments in your temper or psychological state.
Does anybody acquire weight on Wegovy?
Whereas most individuals lose about 16 % of their physique weight after a yr on Wegovy, not everybody experiences weight reduction.
Trial knowledge from 2022 confirmed that over 20 % of individuals didn’t lose 5 % or extra of their physique weight on semaglutide medication like Wegovy.
A small quantity could even acquire weight, although that is uncommon and never listed as an opposed impact in scientific trials. Weight regain after stopping Wegovy, nonetheless, is frequent.
See extra in: Can Wegovy Assist You Lose Weight?
Does Wegovy trigger hair loss?
Wegovy itself doesn’t trigger hair loss, however 3 % of individuals in a single scientific trial reported hair loss whereas taking the drug.
This can be because of the physique’s stress response to fast weight reduction, much like what some folks expertise after bariatric (weight-loss) surgical procedure.
Since each Wegovy and weight reduction surgical procedures can result in fast weight reduction, hair loss can happen in a small variety of instances.
Is Wegovy linked to thyroid tumors or most cancers?
The FDA’s approval of Wegovy features a field warning concerning the danger of thyroid C-cell tumors.
Individuals with a private or household historical past of thyroid tumors, particularly medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or A number of Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome sort 2 (MEN 2), shouldn’t take Wegovy or different semaglutide drugs.
This concern stems from research in rodents, the place some developed thyroid tumors, together with most cancers, after being given the drug.
Nonetheless, this danger has not been confirmed in people, as no individuals in scientific trials developed these tumors. It’s important to concentrate on thyroid tumor signs and talk about your medical historical past together with your physician.
What are the signs of taking an excessive amount of Wegovy?
By no means take extra Wegovy than prescribed. If you happen to by chance do, contact your physician or name the Poison Assist line at 1-800-222-1222.
An overdose may cause extreme nausea, persistent vomiting, and dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Since Wegovy stays in your system for a very long time, you might want medical monitoring to make sure correct hydration and secure blood sugar ranges.
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