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When weight loss is a prominent goal, you can devote a lot of time and energy focusing on it, but sometimes medication comes around that makes the whole process a lot easier. If you want to achieve weight loss without exerting too much effort for very little results, Wegovy could be right for you. Wegovy is a weight loss medication that brings about significant weight loss for everyone who uses it. If it turns out to be right for you, your body will be changed significantly before you even know it.
Now a drug that brings about miraculous weight loss results may sound amazing, but you will need to pay attention to any drawbacks as well as the positives. Wegovy can come with one or a few of several side effects, and when they come on, nausea is likely to be one of the most prominent ones. But while this drug can come with some nausea, how severe it is and how long it lasts can depend on a few factors. If you are interested in taking Wegovy, but need to know just how long the nausea will last if you experience it, keep reading for some answers.
What Is Wegovyy?
Wegovy is a weekly injectable medication that helps people lose weight. You’ve likely heard of Ozempic, and Wegvoy works in a similar way, except it is prescribed specifically for people who need to lose weight rather than for people with diabetes. Its brand name is Wegvoy, but the name of the active ingredient is semaglutide. Semaglutide is a drug that lowers blood sugar, blood pressure, and also causes significant weight loss. It is best when used in combination with proper diet and exercise, and will make pounds drop rapidly.
Wegovy is usually prescribed after a doctor’s visit. You need to fit into a few categories to qualify, and once you qualify, your doctor will teach you how to use it. Wegovy is a once-weekly injection that you administer yourself. It comes in a pen with a set amount, and you can use it until it runs out. Wegovy needs to be injected under the skin. The stomach is the first best spot for it, and after that, the best spot is the arm, and then the upper thigh. The injection site also needs to be switched out every so often so you don’t end up irritating any one injection spot over time.
How Does Wegovy Work?
Wegovy is a GLP-1 agonist medication, and it works by imitating GLP-1, a substance that exists in the body. GLP-1 sends messages to the pancreas that control blood sugar levels, and affects other bodily functions. It lowers blood sugar, blood pressure, and will lower your appetite, one of the biggest reasons it causes weight loss. Wegovy suppresses your appetite by making you feel satiated for a lot longer than normal. You will feel full more often and not tempted to eat as much, and will drop weight very quickly.
Wegovy also works best when combined with an improved diet and exercise. It will significantly reduce your appetite, keeping you from wanting to eat as much in the first place, but maintaining a proper diet on Wegovy can still take some effort on your part. You will need to make sure that you are getting your calories through healthy foods, and make sure that you get enough of them. Wegovy could make you feel tempted to eat less than you need to sustain yourself, and you need to monitor your diet to prevent that.
Who Qualifies to Take Wegovy?
People who qualify for Wegovy are people who need to lose a significant amount of weight. It is prescribed to adults and children over 12 who have a really high BMI or weight related illnesses. If you are someone who is at risk of experiencing weight related illnesses like heart disease, stroke, or hypertension, you will likely qualify for Wegovy. To be prescribed Wegovy, you will need to meet the minimum weight requirements. Anyone over 12 years old who meets this criteria can get a Wegovy prescription for weight loss.
Who Shouldn’t Take Wegovy?
Wegovy isn’t a good option for some people. There are different reasons that certain people are good candidates for it while other people aren’t. If you are allergic to any of the ingredients on the list, you should not take Wegovy. You also shouldn’t take Wegovy if your family happens to have a family history of a specific type of cancer. The cancer is called medullary thyroid carcinoma, and will not react well when combined with Ozempic. You should also not take Wegovy if you have a history of endocrine conditions like Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type II.
You should also avoid taking Wegovy if you are pregnant, or if you are breastfeeding. You should tell your doctor if you currently have issues with your kidneys or pancreas, have a history of type II diabetes, and also if you struggle with depression or suicidal thoughts. Your doctor can help you figure out if you can still take Wegovy safely despite some of these symptoms or if you should avoid it entirely.
Wegovy Side Effects
Wegovy can cause multiple side effects, and the primary ones deal with the gut. Some of the issues you can experience when taking Wegovy are nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and vomiting. These symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can last for different periods of time for each person. And one of the most bothersome symptoms that has the potential to be the most prominent is nausea. But what are the other symptoms you can experience when taking Wegovy?
People who take Wegovy can experience low blood sugar because of the drug’s tendency to lower your blood sugar. It helps prevent diseases like diabetes and hypertension for people with high blood sugar and high blood pressure, but when you don’t have those issues, your blood pressure or blood sugar can get dangerously low if you don’t pay close attention to them. And when you have low blood pressure, those symptoms can include dizziness, sweating, drowsiness, trouble breathing, dizziness, and rapid heart beat. These symptoms can be remedied by eating foods that will raise your blood sugar and making sure to keep your levels normal.
Since Wegovy targets the pancreas to prompt it to produce more insulin, there is a rare chance that you could experience complications with your pancreas. In past studies, a handful of participants experienced pancreatitis, so it is considered a risk of Wegovy and other GLP-1 agonists. Pancreatitis is a disease with the potential to be deadly, so if you experience any of the side effects, you need to stop taking Wegovy and rush to your doctor. The side effects you have to look out for are severe nausea, vomiting, and severe stomach pain that radiates from your stomach to your back.
How Long Does the Nausea Last?
The amount of time your nausea lasts on Wegovy depends on a few factors. On one hand, it isn’t a guarantee that you will experience nausea, but many people do, and you might too. Nausea can come on once you start taking Wegovy, and it can last for a few weeks at least. For many people, the nausea comes on in the first few weeks of taking Wegovy, and after that it is likely to go away. Another time that nausea can be an issue is when you are upping your dose and your body has to get used to it.
Some of the nausea you can experience when taking Wegovy is nausea that you can have some control over. Wegovy will significantly limit your appetite, and if you overeat, you can potentially feel nauseous since you have taken in more food than your body wants to. This type of nausea can be limited by paying attention to your body and eating only when you need to. You can even try eating several smaller meals throughout the day instead of a single big meal. When you don’t overwhelm your stomach, you won’t be as likely to experience nausea after meals.
How To Deal With Nausea?
Since nausea can sometimes be an issue when someone takes Wegovy, you will need to work to remedy it yourself at times. Sometimes when you are nauseous, you mainly want to lay down and wait for the feeling to pass, but that isn’t always an option, and sometimes laying down doesn't exactly help either. There are things you can do to remedy nausea from time to time that will provide you with some temporary relief.
One thing you can do to remedy nausea is eat bland foods. Even if your nausea didn’t happen as a result of food, foods that are really flavorful or spicy won’t help. They can make nausea worse, as your stomach can best handle blander foods when it isn’t doing well. Eating bland foods will help you get the nutrients you need without bringing on a worse reaction or causing vomiting.
Something else you can do to reduce nausea is to avoid physical activity after eating. If you’re the type to take a walk or get right back to whatever you were doing before right after a meal, you will need to change that habit. When you’re dealing with nausea, activity right after a meal can only intensify it, or maybe bring it on in the first place. Make sure to sit and relax for a few minutes after every meal, and let the way you feel guide you into getting more or less rest as needed.
Another solution to nausea is to eat and drink slowly. Aside from causing nausea when you eat too much, Wegovy can also bring it on when you eat too fast. If your nausea is particularly a problem after a meal, and you don’t think the issue is what you’re eating, try eating a bit slower. Before taking this drug, the speed at which you ate was probably never an issue, but if other potential solutions aren’t working, this just might be the problem.
