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.
Ozempic is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1) agonist. It helps the body release more insulin after eating. And it stops the liver from making more sugar. Ozempic also slows how fast the stomach empties, and this can make you feel fuller longer and lower your appetite.
Ozempic nausea relief
According to the makers of Ozempic, people who experience nausea while taking Ozempic should avoid foods that are sweet, greasy, or fried and follow these tips at mealtime to reduce nausea: Eat slowly. Eat smaller meals.
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.
Patients trying to lose weight with either drug should work with a dietitian for a guided meal plan, but in general, they should aim to eat 1,200 to 1,800 calories a day depending on their initial weight, Rubin says.
You may need a higher dosage of Ozempic
The same holds true for Ozempic's weight loss results. People taking higher doses of Ozempic tend to lose more weight. In the landmark study we cited above, people lost 7% of their body weight, on average, within a year and a half of taking 1mg of semaglutide.
Your dosage might be off
After the initial 4 weeks, you can begin increasing the dosage — be sure to talk to your prescriber about this as you may not have increased your dose and that could be wreaking havoc with your weight loss efforts.
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.
Ozempic is also used off-label for weight loss. In particular, it can help reduce the amount of belly fat. This is because Ozempic works by making you feel fuller for longer, which can help you resist overeating by controlling cravings and hunger.
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%).
Some key points for using Ozempic for to lose weight:
Higher doses do not provide additional body weight reduction benefits but may increase side effects. It can take 3-4 months to achieve the maximum weight loss at a stable dose. Weight loss may continue for up to 2 years on Ozempic based on studies.
Pancreatitis
It is a rare, but serious, side effect of Ozempic. If you experience severe, persistent stomach pain, stop using Ozempic and call your healthcare provider immediately. The pain may radiate to your back, and you may or may not experience vomiting as well.
Ozempic works, in part, by blocking the brain's hunger signals, suppressing appetite; it also causes the stomach to empty more slowly, leading people to feel full for longer.
However, the full effect can take 8 weeks or longer, as this is a long-acting medication that is injected only once per week. You will start with lower doses for the first 4 weeks of treatment to help lower side effects, but this is not an effective dose to lower blood sugar over the long-term.
People eat less when they take Ozempic because semaglutide slows the digestion, keeping food in the stomach longer and increasing feelings of fullness, and because it triggers changes in the brain that decrease hunger and blunt the feelings of satisfaction that can accompany eating, the FDA notes.
It's used to lower blood glucose (sugar) levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes. The starting dose of Ozempic is 0.25 mg injected once weekly for 4 weeks. Then, your dose is moved up to 0.5 mg once weekly.
It works by helping your body make more insulin and slowing the rate of digestion. While this can result in improved blood sugar levels and weight loss, it can also cause gastrointestinal (GI) side effects, such as nausea. Nausea is the most common side effect of Ozempic.
However, Ozempic and alcohol lower your blood sugar. So, drinking alcohol during your Ozempic treatment may cause severe hypoglycemia. So, with alcohol either raising or lowering our blood sugar levels, Ozempic will not work as well as usual if alcohol is consumed at a higher-than-moderate level.
But unless it's being used long term for serious health problems, the once-a-week injection might lead to weight gain in the long term. Although Ozempic is specifically for those with Type 2 diabetes, it is commonly prescribed off-label to help those who deal with obesity lose weight.
Studies have similarly shown weight rebound in people who stop taking Ozempic. She said it's tied to how the drugs work. They mimic a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when a person is full.
Reports suggest many Ozempic users only lose an average of 3-5 pounds in the first month of treatment. That's by using the recommended starting dose of Ozempic (0.25 mg), following a diet that only provides 500 to 1000 calories each day, and exercising three times a week.
Studies have shown that semaglutide injections like Ozempic are good for weight loss but experts warn once people stop taking the drugs, they regain most of the lost weight.
Ozempic isn't approved for weight loss. But because of how it works, some people taking Ozempic lose weight as a side effect. If you don't have diabetes, taking Ozempic for weight loss is considered an off-label use. Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Ozempic, is approved to help people manage their weight.