Here’s What Happens When You Go Off Ozempic
The popular diabetes drug Ozempic, which regulates blood sugar, has proven strikingly effective for weight loss—just ask Elon Musk. But as more people take the medication, we’re learning that it might not be a miracle treatment after all, thanks to side effects like GI issues and ”Ozempic face.”
Given these unpalatable side effects and people not being able to access the drug because of its popularity, many are wondering: What exactly happens when you stop taking Ozempic?
What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic?
Quitting any prescription drug can be tricky. Just as with starting a new medication, stopping one causes a sudden shift in the body. New reporting in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal suggest that ceasing Ozempic can be especially hard on the body, leading to rapid weight gain and other jarring disruptions.
The impacts are so profound that one physician, Andrew Kraftson, M.D., described being “overwhelmed” by patients who wondered where to get their next semaglutide dose and how to cope without the medication, the Times reported. “When people cannot get it,” Kraftson said, “it’s a big S.O.S.”
Generally, doctors advise not swearing off semaglutide without first talking to a physician. As with the cessation of other medications, gradually tapering down, rather than going cold turkey, as well as supplementing with other meds can help curb unwanted effects, Alexandra Sowa, M.D., an obesity medicine physician in New York, told the Journal.
Here’s what we know about the major effects that can occur when you go off Ozempic.
What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic?
You may have blood sugar spikes
Ozempic stimulates the release of insulin and lowers blood sugar. When you abruptly stop using it, the amount of glucose in your body can spike, especially if you have diabetes. Some may end up in the ER due to sheer exhaustion from the blood sugar spikes and crashes.
These spikes can cause patients with diabetes to experience “blurry vision, fatigue, and excessive thirst and urination,” Robert Gabbay, chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association, told the Times.
OZEMPIC
Your lost weight will probably pile back on
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.
“Some people don’t have an awareness that this might have to be a medication that will be lifelong,” Sowa told the paper.
Your cravings will come back
Semaglutide delays stomach emptying, causing you to feel full more quickly and stay satiated for longer. But once off the drug, even if you stick to a strict diet and fitness regimen, your previous appetite will come back. The piles of French fries that once seemed irresistible may well look that way again.
“Most likely, you’re going to end up eating what you were before and maybe more because the body has been in something like a starvation mode and it’s trying to catch up,” Gregory Dodell, M.D., an endocrinologist in New York City, told the Journal. “It’s not a matter of willpower and self-control.”
Side effects will disappear
Ozempic’s unsavory side effects—which include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea—will halt when you stop taking the med. People who didn’t even know they were having relatively mild side effects (like headaches and upset stomach) realize what Ozempic was doing to them once they quit, Kraftson said. In those cases, saying goodbye to Ozepmic can be a huge relief.
HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS
