Looking for anyone’s experience taking ozempic. Pros and cons? Tips or advice?
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I do not have personal experience, but looked into it a couple of months ago. Reviews were all over the map. Some were very satisfied with it and felt it was the best way to lose weight. On the other hand, some others complained of bad side effects, in particular in the first two months. The side effects, for some, were so bad that they appeared to incapacitate them. Nausea and gastric problems were the biggest issues.
In the end, I feel it is one of those drugs whose effect can vary widely with different people: you can’t go into it blind.
Here is a site with interesting reviews of all ilk:
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No experience, but would love if you would share your thoughts and experiences as you make your decision. It will surely help someone else.
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I started another GLP-1 inhibitor (trulicity) for about three days. On the third day when I started to throw up from nausea, I just felt it wasn’t worth it.
I’ve been taking metformin for years, but the best T2 drug I’ve used was an SGLT-2 inhibitor that kept me under 225. I had to discontinue it due to high creatinine.
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I have no experience with this or any other GLP-1 inhibitor so I may shoot myself in the foot here from lack of knowledge. I’ll note the obvious here, though, that this is not typically a T1 medication. To quote from Medscape:
" Mechanism of Action
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist Incretins, such as Ozempic, (1) enhance glucose-dependent insulin secretion by pancreatic beta-cells, (2) slows gastric emptying, and (3) suppresses inappropriately elevated glucagon secretion"
The first action is irrelevant for longterm T1’s (though could be helpful for LADA who continue to produce their own insulin). The second action also seems designed for T2 and not T1 - as a T1 I feel that the quicker my stomach empties the easier it is to dose insulin to cover it. That leaves only the third action as being relevant for T1’s and which sounds similar to metformin - but without the benefits that metformin is reported to have. So if I were to try a medication to lessen glucagon secretion metformin would certainly be my first choice.
#3 is why i am trying it. Dawn phenomenon and liver dumping after meals. I have tried metformin several times but after about 3 months i feel like i can barely drag myself around. I am currently on the autopump and take a half dose if invokana(started 4 years ago) invokana helps me quite a bit.( I initially started taking when insulin resistance became a problem for me and when i was going through peri menopause It literally saved my life, i was unable to control bgs prior to invo despite eating low carb etc. I am seeing less horomone related issues now. )
As you all know invo comes with annoying side effect of yeast infection and i am looking to replace with ozempic and hopefully loose a few pounds to help with my resistance. Because of the peri menopause and extra insulin to control bgs my weight is up about 10 in the last 8 years. I am my own guinea pig and will experiment with alternative treatments. It may not do what i want it to accomplish but i will not know unless i give it a try.
I will share my experience with you all, whatever that may be.
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Here’s an update on my experience so far on ozempic.
I am on week 6. First 4 doses were .25 now i am taking the full therapeutic dose.
Pros
Lost 6 lbs so far
Not overeating and less hungry
Stable bgs rarely over 150
Feeling good, more energy (probably due to near normal bgs most of the time)
Feel full and satified after small healthy meal
Cons
A little nauseous on day 2-3 after injection
Punished(vomiting)if i overeat high fat foods, i have found red meat and too much cheese triggers this
A few times i had sulfur burbs but took a probiotic and it seemed to go away. Sulfur burbs also followed poor food choices.
I had a stomach virus when I first started this med, i feel it may have made virus more intense because of the delayed gastric emptying
Overall i give it a thumbs up at this point. I feel like i am making better food choices and have more control over portions. It’s weird but seems to give me needed willpower.
I tried stop my 1/2 dose of invokana but bgs went up that day. So i am taking both.
I am on the 670g medtronic autopump so i get plenty of feedback. Since starting ozempic i have cut another 10 units per day. I am in range on average about 80% of the time. No increase in lows with the exception of the 2 times I vomited, this was due to still having active insulin in my body when i threw up the food i had bolused. I handled it by sipping sprite.
To summarize my type 2 med journey, prior to invokana my control was difficult, I averaged 60 units of insulin per day with an A1C over 9. 4 years ago i started invokana this lead to an A1C that was under 8 and reduced daily insulin to 45 units per day. Bgs better but still had unexplainable highs( i blame it on liver dumping and dawn phenomenon)
One year in auto pump and my A1C is 5.6. Still had Dawn phenomenon, 6 weeks ago added ozempic and i am at 34 units of daily insulin. I am at my old daily insulin needs from 10 years ago, prior to my troubles with insulin resistance.
Sorry that was long winded but wanted to share my off label use of type 2 meds. Not everyone needs them but i feel they truly saved me when nothing else was working.
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Well thank you, that is a nice write-up with the unvarnished truth of what it is like being on the medication for you, and a nice result. Glad that it is helping with your insulin resistance.
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Thanks for sharing! That’s very interesting and it sounds quite positive from an A1C standpoint. I hope the side effects manage to stay bearable and that you have continued success. 
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I found this very interesting as I am currently considering Ozempic (with my physician’s approval) and wondered about the side effects. Seeing your benefits makes me want to give it a try. Knowing that it reduced the amount of daily insulin use was a plus for me. I’m currently using 200 and that’s high!
Thank You…
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You’re welcome. So far i am liking my results and side effects have been minimal. I am happy about the reduction in insulin needs. The reason I started trying additional medications is because when insulin resistance became a major problem for me, my endo just kept throwing more and more insulin at me. Which in turn causes weight gain and increases resistance! I quit going to this person. I luckily have a friend who is a physician who also has a son with type 1 so he has a different perspective. He has been guiding me through my experimenting with alternative treatments.
I would love to hear if this helps you too. Btw the study i am duplicating uses the combo of invokana and ozempic. It’s preliminary findings are showing best results with the combo. Invokana has also been helpful for me too. Good luck!
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I know that every overweight woman in our area is begging the doctors for it as apparently it’s pretty helpful for weight loss and there’s a big debate raging in the community if it’s appropriate to be prescribing it to non diabetics or not
That’s all I know about it
Victoza is also prescribed as saxenda. Saxenda has been approved for chronic weight management. Victoza is similar to ozempic but is a daily injection. Probably all the meds in this drug class will seek approval for weight management. Like anything people and doctors have to weigh the benefit/risk to see if it will improve health.
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I’m not sure I am posting this in the appropriate spot; feel free to move this comment to a more relevant (type 1) spot. (Sorry to confuse things – just found this more recent, more relevant posting-- reposting here)
I have been researching the glp-1 receptor agonists and am thinking about making the argument to my PCP (who oversees my type 1) to give one of the drugs a try. Wondering if any type 1s have tried any of these? Any thoughts on my questions:
- any effect on dawn phenomenon? (I am hoping that the glucagon inhibition could be seen here!) (my FOTF phenomenon has morphed into a 4:30am blood sugar rise, which is no fun (I am MDI))
- did you see any improvement in your time in range?
- was it a hassle to get your insurance company to pay?
- any recommendations on a specific drug to try to get started on?
Also noting that I am not seeking to lose weight and wondering if there is a steady state (non-weight-loss) that you settle into on these medications.
Thank you so much! Jessica
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Interesting. I have tried Invokana two separate times, each for a few months. It helped a lot in terms of lowering BG’s and weight. However, I went into DKA both times even when the second time I was really monitoring my hydration. Not sure why, and I can’t say it was the Invokana, but it was during it both times. My Doctor is hesitant to let me try it again, as I seem to struggle to stay hydrated, even though I use electrolytes and am always drinking something (albeit diet pop, mostly, but always herbal tea in the evenings, water with electrolytes first thing, then usually diet pop during day).
Does Ozempic come with any warnings of DKA? That is my main concern. What about eyes?
As mentioned elsewhere, everyone’s experience is different. I have type 2 (and moderately fatty liver, among other things). I’ve been on Trulicity for over 6 months and metformin on and off for years (recently reduced to 1500 from 2000 per day) with zero side effects. My A1C is down from 9.8 to 5.3(!), my spikes rarely go over 250 and don’t last long, I’m ‘in range’ over 90% of the time, AND I’ve lost 27 pounds. For me Trulicity has been all good news.
NB: I’m a 6’1”, 238 lb lummox with a cast iron stomach, so likely I’m just naturally immune to the ‘nausea’ side-effects.
YMMV, just my $.03, etc.
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I’ll ask my Endo about Trulicity too.
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