Semaglutide for Medical Weight Loss – What You Need to Know

When used as part of a medical weight loss program that consists of a calorie-deficient diet and regular exercise, weekly semaglutide injections are proven to be incredibly effective at supporting substantial weight loss to reduce the risks of developing serious weight-related health conditions. The use of semaglutide injections as part of a medical weight loss program allows patients to lose 15% to 20% of their initial body weight within one year, making it much more effective than provided studies using only placebo medication in its place. The most effective weight loss programs require patients to be able to maintain a restrictive diet and regimented exercise schedule that can prove difficult to stick to, making the addition of semaglutide that much more worth it as part of its function is to aid in suppressing appetite to make maintaining the diet much easier.

As with all medications, semaglutide can come with some side effects, most of which affect the digestive tract, making it more difficult to digest some foods over others or leading to increased nausea when ingesting some types of foods. Some foods that are known for being tougher to digest while taking semaglutide include foods that are high in fat or sugar, often including fried foods or fast food. Since the medical weight loss program will also require patients to maintain a calorie-deficient diet, it is recommended to avoid any high-calorie foods. It is also recommended to avoid the consumption of alcohol during treatment to avoid increasing the risk of side effects.

The majority of health insurance companies will not be able to offer coverage for semaglutide but you can check your specific insurance for coverage for “obesity care”. While it is always recommended that you double-check with your health insurance provider to see if they offer coverage for any treatment that you are planning to undergo, it is also important to check with the clinic from which you will be receiving the treatment to make sure that they are able to accept your insurance. Additionally, double-check with the clinic to see if they are able to offer any promotional deals or discounts for long-term treatments.

One of the ways in which semaglutide medication supports weight loss is by suppressing appetites, which helps patients to maintain a calorie-deficient diet for the entire time they are undergoing treatment. It can take several weeks before the effects of a medical weight loss program can start to be noticeable, but appetite suppression has been reported as noticeable within a week or two but may become more prevalent as the dosage of the medication is substantially increased throughout the following weeks.

Most patients will be able to start noticing some weight loss within the first few weeks of starting treatment, but substantial results likely won’t occur until around 8 weeks in. This timeline does vary a bit from person to person as it depends on how quickly they are able to increase the dosage in the weekly injections as some patients are more sensitive to the medication than others and require a slower increase. As well, the rate at which a patient loses weight on semaglutide depends on the individual in how much they weigh to being with, and how well they are able to commit to the other aspects of their medical weight loss program.

Most patients will be able to see very positive results of substantial weight loss within 12 weeks of starting treatment. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 107 Edinburgh S. Drive, Suite 215 Cary, NC 27511. We serve clients from Cary NC, Raleigh NC, Durham NC, Chapel Hill NC, Apex NC, Pittsboro NC, and Garner NC.