What is Semaglutide?
Semaglutide is the generic name for a medication that belongs to the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist family of drugs. Most prescription weight loss medications belong to this family of medications.
Originally, semaglutide injections were designed as an effective method to help treat people living with type 2 diabetes. Surprisingly, once these medications gained popularity and started becoming more commonly used, it was discovered that patients could use semaglutide for weight loss as well.
How Do You Take Semaglutide Injections?
Semaglutide injections are meant to be used subcutaneously, which is the technical way of saying ‘injected under the skin’.
There are three basic areas that are most frequently recommended to use the semaglutide injections:
- On your abdomen (stomach)
- On your upper thighs
- On your upper arms
It’s also a good idea to switch your injection sites around each week, so you can avoid irritating the same area with too many consecutive injections.
What are the Benefits of Semaglutide?
This really depends on what you’re using semaglutide injections for. If you’re using it as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, semaglutide helps trigger insulin release within your brain, which in turn, helps lower/control your blood sugar levels.
On the other hand, for people that are using semaglutide injections for weight loss, these treatments help reduce food cravings, sometimes called ‘food noise’.
As well as reducing the frequency and intensity of food cravings, semaglutide helps your body feel full faster while eating meals, stay full longer, and in general, reduce your appetite. There are even some studies that are starting to show that semaglutide may have anti-inflammatory effects as well!
Semaglutide was first introduced and patented in 2016, and FDA-approved as a type 2 diabetes treatment in 2017. It wasn’t until 2021 that semaglutide was approved as a treatment for obesity!
How Long Before Semaglutide Starts Working?
This question is a double-edged sword, because technically semaglutide injections start working within two weeks of being injected into your body.
However, this doesn’t mean that you’re going to see instantaneous results. It can take months for the semaglutide to really start to impact your habits, and in turn, for you to start seeing significant weight loss benefits.
This is normal and to be expected! Weight loss is meant to be a long-term process. Losing weight too quickly isn’t healthy for your body, and it can even cause damage to your organs. That’s why eating healthy and getting regular exercise is so important as part of your overall weight loss treatment plan.
Always keep your semaglutide injections in the refrigerator to maintain their efficacy (effectiveness), but NEVER put them in the freezer!
What are the Side Effects of Semaglutide?
Before we dive into the potential side effects of semaglutide injections, we should note here that for some people, they may experience semaglutide side effects for the first couple of months, but once their body gets used to the injections, these may subside.
With that said, the most common side effects of semaglutide include:
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Bloating or gas
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stomach cramping or pain
If you start to notice these or any other more severe side effects of taking semaglutide, you should stop taking your weekly injections and contact your doctor immediately to seek medical attention and discuss your options.
NEVER take more than one semaglutide injection per week. This won’t speed up your weight loss journey, it will only increase your risk of experiencing negative side effects!
How Much Does it Cost?
The cost of semaglutide injections can vary pretty widely, depending on where you’re getting the medication from, your dosage, and whether you have any coverage for these types of medications through your personal medical insurance.
According to the National Library of Medicine, the average yearly cost for semaglutide is approximately $2,544 USD per year, which amounts to around $215 per month. If you’d like to explore Elite Health Center NYC’s Semaglutide Program, you can explore how we can help you keep the cost of your semaglutide injections as affordable as possible.
Semaglutide: Before and After
As with all kinds of weight loss treatments and programs, each person’s experience and outcome is going to look a bit different from one another. While one person may shed a substantial amount of weight over the course of their first year, another may only just be beginning to see major changes.
It’s also important to remember that to get the best possible results out of your semaglutide injections, you should also be maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet, as well as getting regular exercise.
Using these healthy habits alongside semaglutide injections can expedite and amplify the results that you would get by using semaglutide by itself, without other lifestyle inventions.
Semaglutide: Commonly Asked Questions
What’s the difference between semaglutide vs tirzepatide?
Both tirzepatide vs semaglutide are commonly used as treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, but they aren’t the same thing.
While both of these medications belong to the GLP-1 family of medications, tirzepatide also belongs to the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) family of drugs.
Can I get semaglutide for weight loss?
Yes, you can get semaglutide injections for weight loss, but first, you’ll need to get checked out by a healthcare expert to make sure semaglutide is the right treatment option for you.
With Elite Health Center NYC, you can just complete an intake form, and get started today booking a 1-on-1 with one of our weight loss experts. Plus, Elite Health can provide you with overnight shipping on any medication purchases!
Are there any drawbacks to using semaglutide for weight loss?
One drawback that many people don’t think about when they’re starting these types of treatments is that there is no such thing as a magical cure for obesity. Weight loss is a long-term process that can’t be rushed.
So, if you’re hoping to be able to drop 20%+ of your body weight in a few months, it’s not going to happen. At least, not in a healthy way.
Another drawback to treatments like semaglutide injections for weight loss is the ongoing cost. Due to the fact that these are a long-term treatment, you need to be prepared to pay for semaglutide injections indefinitely; otherwise, you may regain some or all of the weight that you lost during your treatment cycle.
Thankfully, Elite Health Center NYC’s Semaglutide Program makes it affordable and easy to budget exactly what your semaglutide injections will cost you each year.
