Health
By Alex Mitchell
Published
Jan. 25, 2024, 3:21 p.m. ET
Is it over for Ozempic?
A new study indicates that, in certain cases, around one in five patients struggle to maintain the weight they lost with the aid of the medication.
A report released by Epic Research discovered that individuals using diabetes medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, which gained popularity as a weight-loss aid, found that 17.7% regained all of their weight, or even more, after discontinuing the treatment.
The research, involving 20,274 patients observed a year after stopping the medication, revealed that each person had shed at least 5 pounds while using drugs such as the semaglutide Ozempic.
Similarly, 18.7% experienced a similar weight regain from liraglutide injections like Saxenda.
Former Wegovy user Artemis Bayandor, 41, told The Messenger, “The weight started coming back like never before.”
Since initially losing 15 pounds before halting the treatment, she reached her heaviest weight at 246 pounds and experienced an extremely intense appetite, contrary to the medications’ appetite suppressant effects.
“I was insatiable. And I’ve never been that way. I was so hungry. It was crazy the way it felt,” she added.
“It was awful, it’s still awful.”
However, the research shows that a majority of users who stopped treatment with semaglutide or liraglutide for a year were able to sustain the weight loss achieved during the treatment period.
Additionally, 56.2% of patients managed to maintain the same weight as when they stopped or continued to lose weight.
The research also revealed that of the 17,733 individuals who lost at least 5 pounds on liraglutide before discontinuation, 55.7% either maintained the same weight or continued to shed pounds.
Unrelated research has also suggested that Ozempic may serve as a liver cancer preventive for certain diabetes patients.
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