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After you stop taking Ozempic, you may experience changes in blood sugar, appetite, and weight gain.
Ozempic is intended for long-term use and should be used under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
People going off the drug are advised to enroll in a nutrition program.
Ozempic withdrawal involves changes in appetite and rising blood sugar levels. Consult your healthcare provider before stopping medication.
How Does Stopping the Medication Affect You?
“With the changes of active ingredient levels, you will likely feel the changes in your blood sugar as well, which can affect the way you feel about cravings and have effects on your overall appetite,” Amy Lee, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Lindora Clinic with 30 locations across Southern California, told Health.
According to Frances Lee, NP, a nurse practitioner at the weight loss center at Rush University Medical Group, patients experience changes when stopping these medications that can last from weeks to months.
The body’s physiological baseline function has to be kicked back in to perform the duties it used to do before taking the drug.
What Are the “Withdrawal” Side Effects?
When you go from being on Ozempic to not taking the drug, a few main side effects can occur.
Since Ozempic mimics the GLP-1 hormone released during digestion and delays gastric emptying (stomach emptying), you may notice you get hungry faster.1
“Without the medication, your gastric empty time will return to baseline, which results in food being metabolized quicker and can be a trigger for you to feel hungrier faster or even requiring more food volumes to reach satiety,” said Lee.
According to Lee, stopping Ozempic can cause any or all of the following:
Increased appetite and food cravings
Weight gain
Blood sugar increases
For patients with diabetes, reduced blood sugar control
Blood pressure increases
Changes in cholesterol
Mood changes related to weight regain
Why Can’t You Stop Taking Ozempic When You’ve Reached Your Goal Weight?
Whether you are taking Ozempic for type 2 diabetes or off-label for weight reduction, experts say you shouldn’t just stop.
“They (people who take Ozempics) feel that they can just take themselves off when they reach their goal weight, when in reality, that could relate to weight regain because the effects of appetite suppression go away with disruption of use,” Lee said.