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Home » Uncategorized » How Do Ozempic and Wegovy Lead To Weight Loss? – TODAY

Weight loss is an important health goal for Sabrazsia Gardner, so she began researching Wegovy, the anti-obesity drug that contains the same medication as Ozempic.

Gardner, 33, says she wanted to stop the snacking and binge eating that contributed to her obesity, and eat less. But diets didnt work and she didnt want to go the weight-loss surgery route.

After talking about her options with her doctor during her annual physical, she received a prescription for Wegovy. Now seven weeks into the treatment, Gardner says she has "very little appetite" and is losing weight.

I dont think about food the same I dont think about snacking and Im fuller longer, Gardner, an esthetician who lives in Chandler, Arizona, tells TODAY.com.

I dont even have hunger cravings. I eat because Im supposed to. You eat to live, not live to eat.

Gardner could once eat 10 chicken wings in a sitting, but barely ate three when she recently treated herself. She got a stomachache afterwards, one of the side effects shes experienced on the drug. Since starting Wegovy, Gardner has also had fatigue, diarrhea and really prominent nausea for which she takes another medication.

Gardner says she sometimes doesnt feel hungry all day and is no longer drawn to chips or chocolate foods she used to crave and snack on. Shes lost about 10 pounds so far.

Wegovy contains semaglutide, the same medication found in Ozempic, the Type 2 diabetes treatment that comes with a celebrated side effect: weight loss.

Wegovy is approved for weight loss by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, while Ozempic is not, though many people are using it off-label for that purpose. Each medication is self-injected by patients once a week.

The only difference between the two drugs is the design of the injector pen and the doses, says Dr. Louis Aronne, an obesity medicine physician and director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

Wegovy comes in five different dose strengths, while Ozempic has four.

The maximum dose is 2 milligrams for Ozempic and 2.4 milligrams for Wegovy, according to Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant that makes both drugs. The company says they are not interchangeable.

Semaglutide is a synthetic version of a hormone known as GLP-1, which the body releases into the intestine when people eat food, says Aronne, who is a scientific adviser for Novo Nordisk.

When the medication hits GLP-1 receptors in different parts of the brain, that triggers a reaction, stimulating nerves that mimic the effect of eating food people have reduced appetite, and when they do eat, they feel full sooner, he notes.

That hormone gets absorbed into the bloodstream, goes to the brain and tells the brain youve eaten food. So people basically feel like theyve already eaten when they take it, Aronne tells TODAY.com.

Its kind of like if I gave you Thanksgiving dinner and then I asked you to eat another dinner. Youll say, I cant possibly eat it. I just ate a whole dinner.

Another way the medication works is that it slows down stomach emptying, which slows down the absorption of calories and may contribute to the feeling of fullness, Aronne says.

People who took Wegovy for 16 months in the largest placebo-controlled trial lost an average of 12% of their body weight compared to those who received a placebo, according to the FDA.

A typical anecdote Aronne hears from a patient is: I went to the same restaurant I always go to, I ordered the same dinner I always order, but when I ate half of it, I just couldnt continue. I felt so full, so bloated that I could not eat anymore.

People with binge eating problems or who obsessively think about food tell him, I have so much time in the day now because Im not thinking about my next meal all the time.

Some people also lose cravings. Looking at a bag of Doritos was kind of like looking at a pair of socks, Shea Murray, who used Ozempic, previously told TODAY.

People have to keep taking semaglutide for the drug to keep working otherwise, they will regain two-thirds of their prior weight loss, studies have shown. Its not a short-term cosmetic fix for someone who wants to lose 10 pounds to look good in a swimsuit, but a long-term treatment for people who have health problems related to obesity, doctors say.

The most common side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and constipation, according to Novo Nordisk.

Some patients told NBC News the side effects were so severe they stopped taking the drugs or questioned whether they could stay on them long-term.

In clinical trials, almost 7% of patients treated with Wegovy permanently stopped taking it because of adverse reactions, or more than twice the number of people who received a placebo, Novo Nordisk reported.

The nausea, which was the most common side effect that led patients to stop treatment, may be caused by the slowing down of the emptying of the stomach or by acid reflux, Aronne says. People respond in different ways to the medication, so they must start with the lowest dose and work their way up to higher doses slowly, he adds.

Possible serious side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy include pancreatitis, gallbladder problems and kidney problems, among other issues, according to the manufacturer.

Both drugs also carry the warning that semaglutide causes thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents, though its unknown whether that can happen in humans.

Dr. Robert Lustig, a neuroendocrinologist and professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, previously told TODAY.com he has major, major concerns about people potentially taking Wegovy for years or for life. Hes not against the drug, but calls it a Band-Aid thats not fixing the root of the problem of obesity.

Dr. Zhaoping Li, professor of medicine and chief of the division of clinical nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles, says more long-term data is needed about Wegovy.

But other doctors previously told TODAY.com they were comfortable prescribing it for the long-term. Aronne calls this the golden age of treating obesity as more medications that work and are safe become available, he says.

Sabrazsia Gardner, the woman who started taking Wegovy in January, says shed like to stay on it for as long as she can and hopes to lose 120 pounds.

The nausea I can live with. Its annoying, but its OK. If its making me healthier, I think Ill be OK, she says.

A. Pawlowski is a TODAY health reporter focusing on health news and features. Previously, she was a writer, producer and editor at CNN.

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How Do Ozempic and Wegovy Lead To Weight Loss? - TODAY

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Home » Uncategorized » How Do Ozempic and Wegovy Lead To Weight Loss? – TODAY