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.
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.
If you take Wegovy or Ozempic to lose weight, will you need to keep taking the drugs indefinitely? Yes. As with many chronic conditions, most people who use the drugs for diabetes or weight loss will need to keep taking them to keep benefiting from them.
You start feeling those usual hunger pangs again, and consequently, you may start eating more to satisfy that hunger. An increase in your consumption can lead to the regaining of weight that was lost. A 2022 study found that most individuals gain weight back a year after stopping the medication.
Stopping Ozempic
Meanwhile, these are “not medications that our body becomes addicted to, there are no significant withdrawals and no significant major rebound effects,” emphasized Dr. Warriner. In her patients with diabetes, Warriner has also observed a return of increased appetite over time.
Ozempic and its sister medication, Wegovy — approved for weight loss for people who are obese or overweight with weight-related medical conditions — are considered long-term or lifelong treatments.
The most common side effect with Ozempic is nausea and occurs in about 15% to 20% of people. Others include vomiting (5% to 9%), diarrhea (8%), stomach-area pain (6% to 7%), and constipation (3% to 7%).
It's normal to eventually hit a point where your weight loss slows down, especially if you're not working on keeping or building up your muscle mass. Losing muscle along with fat slows your metabolism and can slow down your weight loss. Once your body adjusts, your weight loss journey should pick up again.
Ozempic can cause nausea and vomiting if taken after eating foods high in fat or sugar. It is recommended that you take Ozempic before meals, rather than after, to minimise any potential side effects from eating high-fat or high-sugar foods.
After first use, Ozempic can be left unrefrigerated at room temperature (59°F to 86°F) for up to 56 days. The pen should be disposed of after 56 days, even if there is medicine remaining in the pen. If left unrefrigerated before first use, you should contact your pharmacist or healthcare provider.
(No member of the Kardashian family has publically said they use Ozempic.) Ozempic is the brand name for the medication semaglutide, which treats diabetes by balancing out hormones like insulin.
But these symptoms do not occur due to increased skin aging caused by Ozempic, rather as a result of fat loss in the face. Think of losing facial volume as going from a grape to a raisin: With less volume to “fill out” your face, you may be left with wrinkles and drooping skin.
For people with type 2 diabetes who take Ozempic to manage their blood sugar, halting treatment may cause blood sugar to rebound to around pre-medication levels, says Beverly Tchang, MD, an endocrinologist and an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.
Ozempic has become famous for its weight loss potential, with people losing as much as 7% of their body weight on 1 mg Ozempic within a year or so of taking the medication. And, follow-up studies show they continue losing weight two years after starting the medication.
On average, a user can lose about 3 to 5% of their body weight after using Ozempic for a month regularly. This equates to about 4 to 6 pounds on average. Using a higher potency of the drug may result in more weight loss, but it isn't recommended that you start taking it right away.
There's no withdrawal and you don't need to taper off the drug, although you may feel hungry again and regain the weight. But if you're taking the drug to manage Type 2 diabetes, the consequences could be life-threatening.
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.