What Is It Like to Take Ozempic for Diabetes?
Key takeaways:
Ozempic (semaglutide) is an injectable medication that treats Type 2 diabetes in adults.
People taking Ozempic report weight loss as a positive side effect.
Others say it takes time to get over unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Ozempic (semaglutide) is an injectable medication that’s approved to treat Type 2 diabetes and is sometimes prescribed off label to help people without diabetes lose weight. It’s also prescribed for weight loss at a higher dose under a different brand name — Wegovy. As a result, many are seeking Ozempic in hopes of dropping pounds. That’s making it harder to find in pharmacies, even for those who have a doctor’s prescription to treat their diabetes.
Those who use Ozempic report varied experiences. Some note weight loss and better blood sugar control, but also side effects such as digestive discomfort and nausea.
Here are the stories of three Ozempic users who took it for diabetes.
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Ozempic helped her lose her cravings
Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in December 2022, Marshay Wilson-Madry did not want to add another pill to her daily regimen.
“I live with MS [multiple sclerosis], and I take a lot of pills,” she says.
Her doctor prescribed one injection of Ozempic each week. Marshay’s mother also has diabetes, so she was familiar with the medication.
“From seeing what it did for my mom, I definitely was interested in trying it,” Marshay says. “She lost a lot of weight. And it got her A1C [average blood glucose levels over 3 months] under control pretty quickly.”
Her doctor also connected her with a nutritionist to help her learn proper eating habits.
Marshay, a 36-year-old small business owner from Columbus, Ohio, was excited but apprehensive about administering the injection herself. However, she quickly overcame her fears.
“The needle is so small. If you do it slowly, you barely even feel it happen,” she says. “It might bubble up under your skin a little bit, but it goes away pretty quickly.”
She did experience side effects.
“In the beginning, it was mostly the digestive stuff, like being nauseous,” she says. “I had to adjust the way I ate because the medicine slows down your digestive process. It doesn’t leave your system as quickly. So, eating excessively sugary stuff or fatty stuff — it takes longer to go through your system, and makes you nauseous. Some people throw up. Some people, it comes out the other end.”
Marshay, a mother to a 10-year-old daughter, consulted her family members. One cousin, who had gastric sleeve surgery, said the surgery had similar effects, in that it reduced your capacity to eat certain things.
“Ozempic kind of stops you from doing bad things,” Marshay says in reference to making food choices that worsen side effects. “But if you do bad things, it forces you to feel those consequences. I definitely made some adjustments, like not eating fast food, adjusting my portions, and throwing vegetables in and on everything.”
Marshay also lost cravings. She used to crave french fries, but now rarely stops to grab some.
“It is not completely gone, but it’s definitely greatly diminished, because I don’t feel driven to have certain stuff,” she says.
Marshay tried various weight loss efforts in the past, and her weight went up and down. It peaked at more than 350 during the pandemic, but had dropped to about 325 when she started Ozempic. She’s now under 290. Her A1C has dropped from 9.4 to near 6.0, and her blood sugar level dropped into the 130s.
“The Ozempic makes me think in advance and plan to not eat things that will potentially make me not feel good,” she says.
Her dosage has gone from 0.25 mg to 1 mg over a 5-month period. This is typical as you’re starting Ozempic and finding the right dose for you. Even with the increase, the nausea has remained under control.
“I haven’t experienced anything that was negative,” she says. “The side effects, like the nausea and things of that nature, it was more temporary, and it went away eventually for me. Overall, I think that I’m definitely better off for starting on this medication.”
High insulin levels ‘like running on a hamster wheel’
Fran Forbes discovered her diabetes during pregnancy. Her gestational diabetes test was so high, she was sent right to a specialist. The mother-to-be controlled the gestational diabetes with medication until her son was born. But it popped up again when she became pregnant with her second son.
This time, it didn’t go away. She was stuck with Type 2 diabetes.
She went from taking a fast-acting insulin called NovoLog (insulin aspart) at mealtimes while pregnant to the oral medication metformin to manage her diabetes long term.
Fran, who is 38 and from Orlando, Florida, says she found it impossible to lose weight after her second pregnancy, despite working out five times a week and eating healthy.
“I was stuck at 250 no matter what I did,” she says. “And my doctor was like, ‘Well, you’re lazy. You’re not working out enough.’ And I took that to heart. I started working out, and I made an Instagram account where I legitimately put all my workouts on there. I brought him a food log showing that I was eating 1,500 clean calories [per day]. I was keeping it to 60 grams of carbs. I was eating a lot of protein and counting my macros, and he’s telling me that I’m not working out enough and I’m lazy again.”
She changed doctors and started seeing an endocrinologist.
“He found my insulin levels were high,” she says. “That was what my problem was. When your insulin levels are so high, it’s like running on a hamster wheel. You’re getting nowhere.”
Her doctor prescribed Ozempic. Within 3 months, her insulin levels were much lower, and she’d lost 15 lbs. After 11 months, she’s lost 30 lbs.
“I’ve actually lost 9 inches around my waist,” she says. “My workout hasn’t changed. I work out and eat healthy.”
She currently injects a 2 mg dose of Ozempic once a week. She’s had a few side effects as she’s gradually increased her dose from a starting dose of 0.25 mg weekly. For example, she’s gotten a little sick from greasy foods like pizza or small amounts of alcohol.
“At 1 mg, I did get what they call ‘sulfur burps,’” she says. “You get these burps from the depth of your soul.”
She says food doesn’t taste as good to her.
“I don't really think that’s a bad side effect,” she says. “Sometimes, when you do have insulin resistance and you [have diabetes], you actually crave the sweets a little bit more than the average person. If I get it and I taste it and I don’t like it, those cravings go away.”
A couple times over the past 11 months, she’s had trouble obtaining Ozempic because of scarcity, with many people taking it for weight loss. She switched to Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for a short time in December because she couldn’t get an increased dose of Ozempic.
She says the switch led to a rapid heartbeat.
“I ended up with sinus tachycardia,” she says. “I’m noticing in the Mounjaro groups I’ve been in on Facebook, a lot more people are talking about that being a side effect for them.”
But one good thing came out of that experience. While switching back to Ozempic, Fran delayed taking it for a month to let Mounjaro clear her system. During that time, she did not gain weight or crave sweets.
“I know that’s a big concern on these medicines, that the minute you stop taking it, you’re going to gain it all back,” she says. “That didn’t happen.”
A daily protein shake helped her get over Ozempic nausea
Whitney Gaines had a different experience with Ozempic, but she was able to overcome the side effects and get good results.
Whitney had been taking metformin to treat her diabetes, which started 12 years ago as gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her second child. She’d take 1,000 mg in the morning and 1,000 mg at night.
“Even if I held a super steady diet, sometimes the metformin didn’t keep my sugar at a steady level,” she says. “So, I asked my doctor about trying something else.”
Her doctor recommended Ozempic but worried it would not be available because so many people now want it for weight loss.
“I found a pharmacy, and they said they would have it every month for me,” says Whitney, who is 42 and lives in Jamestown, Indiana, a small town about half an hour outside Indianapolis.
She started taking Ozempic in the late summer of 2022.
“Within 2 weeks, I no longer took metformin, and my blood sugars were perfect,” she says. “In the morning, my blood sugar is between 70 and 85. If I eat, 2 hours later, my blood sugar is under 100.”
For Whitney, keeping her blood sugar levels steady caused her weight to drop, too.
“I don’t overeat, because I don’t have taste and smell. I lost those in COVID,” she says. “So, eating is not something I enjoy. But because my sugars were kind of crazy, my body didn’t know when it would get more food, and it kind of held on to it.”
But with her blood sugars in line, she dropped from 287 lbs to 171 lbs.
“I lost 85 lbs the first 5½ to 6 months,” she says. “I went from morbidly obese — or whatever the highest is — to a BMI in the 25 range now.”
She owns a glitter and craft supply business and suddenly found herself with much more energy. She worked with her provider to stop taking medication to control her blood pressure and her pulse. She also ditched medication for her arthritis because she can manage it better after the weight loss.
Even though Ozempic has benefitted her in many ways, she almost stopped taking it.
“In the very beginning, I was feeling nauseous, and I told my doctor I was not sure this medicine was going to work for me,” she says. “And they were like, ‘You need more protein. Drink a protein shake every day.’”
So she started drinking a protein shake for lunch, and the nausea went away.
Whitney started Ozempic with a dosage of 0.5 mg once weekly in August 2022, which is higher than the typical starting dosage. This may have contributed to some of the nausea she experienced in the beginning. She is now at 1 mg once weekly. She hopes to reduce her dosage to a low maintenance level.
“If I don't take the Ozempic every 7 days, I do see a change in my blood sugars,” she says. “So, going off the Ozempic is not a good option for me.”
What does the pharmacist say?
Alyssa Billingsley, PharmD
Director, Pharmacy Content
Ozempic is a once-weekly injection for adults living with Type 2 diabetes. It can be a good treatment option if you need help managing your weight. And if you have Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, Ozempic can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. You may be prescribed Ozempic alone or with other diabetes medications such as metformin or insulin.
Ozempic helps lower your blood glucose levels in a few different ways. After you eat, it signals your pancreas to release insulin and slows glucose production in the liver. It also prevents food from leaving your stomach as quickly, making you feel full.
Ozempic also acts on areas of the brain that help regulate your appetite and fullness. And you may notice that your food cravings or preferences are different with Ozempic, too. These effects can result in weight loss for some people.
You’ll typically start with a low dosage — 0.25 mg once weekly. This helps your body adjust to Ozempic and lessen side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Small tweaks to your diet can also help make these side effects more manageable. Every 4 weeks, your dose may be increased until you reach the right dose for you.
Ozempic is a medication that you’ll typically need to take long term. If you’re interested in getting started on treatment, you can discuss the potential benefits and risks of Ozempic with your healthcare provider.
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