Ozempic (semaglutide) is an injectable medication used to balance blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. It comes in a prefilled pen that you inject once a week, with or without food.
Like many medications, it can cause some side effects. These are usually mild and will go away as your body adjusts. But you should talk to your doctor if you have side effects that don’t go away.
1. Talk to your doctor
Getting pregnant after ozempic is a complicated decision that you and your doctor must make together. You should stop taking ozempic at least 2 months before trying to get pregnant, and you may want to find a safer medicine that’s safe for pregnancy.
Ozempic works by stimulating your body to release more insulin, which helps control your blood sugar levels. It also causes your body to make more pancreatic juice, which can lead to problems like pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
The most common side effects of ozempic are mild gas and nausea. These symptoms usually go away after your body adjusts to the drug.
Your doctor can suggest over-the-counter medicines to help reduce these symptoms.
If you take Ozempic with certain medications, such as insulin or sulfonylureas, your blood sugar could go too low, which can be life-threatening. Your doctor will adjust your medication and monitor your blood sugar levels while you’re taking Ozempic to keep this from happening.
2. Stop taking the medication
Ozempic is a medication used to manage diabetes and is part of a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 agonists). It can help control blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin production and lowering glucagon secretion from the liver.
It can also lower appetite and increase feelings of fullness. It does this by interacting with areas of the brain that determine how you feel hungry.
But it’s not safe to take ozempic during pregnancy, and women taking it should use adequate contraception to prevent pregnancy. In animal studies, high doses of ozempic during pregnancy increased the risk of fetal malformations and decreased fetal weight.
It’s best to stop taking ozempic when you get pregnant, but it’s not always easy to do. Some people experience nausea and vomiting when they stop taking the drug, but these side effects should go away with time.
3. Get pregnant
Ozempic is a prescription medicine that stimulates a special type of receptor in the stomach and small intestine to help control blood sugar levels. It also reduces hunger and may help you lose weight.
It’s a safe and effective way to control PCOS, but it’s important to use it carefully. It can lead to serious side effects, including low birth weight or a fetus with certain health problems.
This medicine is injected into the skin (subcutaneously) under your scalp, usually once per week with or without food. Be sure to use it exactly as your doctor tells you.
Getting pregnant while taking ozempic isn’t recommended, but it’s possible for some people to conceive. It’s best to talk with your doctor about the risks, and be sure to take contraceptives and stop taking ozempic two months before you plan to become pregnant.
4. Start taking the medication again
It’s not recommended to get pregnant while you’re taking Ozempic or a similar medication. Generally, women should come off medications like Ozempic and Wegovy two months before trying to conceive.
The reason for this is that many of these drugs, including semaglutide (brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) have not been studied in human pregnancies. That’s because animal studies can reveal a drug’s harm to the fetus, but they don’t always predict how it will affect humans.
People who are using Ozempic or Wegovy to treat diabetes should make sure they’re using a safe form of contraception. They should also take extra care to follow a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet, exercise and weight loss.
Ozempic works by slowing your body’s digestion of food, which helps keep your blood sugar levels low and healthy. It can help you manage your type 2 diabetes and prevent serious complications such as heart disease and stroke.