How to Compare Injectable Weight Loss Drugs
You may have heard the buzz about injectable medicines that many people are now using to help them lose weight and wondered if one of them could be right for you. Reaching and sticking to a healthy weight can be hard, but it does come with many health benefits. It can lower your chances of diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, sleep apnea, and many other health conditions.
While diet and exercise alone may get you there, these weight loss drugs can be a new lease on life for people who have diabetes or obesity. But you also may have lots of questions including whether they really work and how. You might also wonder how these medications – including Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, – compare to each other and why you might choose one over another.
These drugs do have a lot of similarities but also important differences. For example, all of them include a class of drug that’s known as a GLP-1 agonist. An agonist is a drug that works by acting like a substance that your body naturally has. GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide 1, which is a hormone your small intestine makes. When blood sugar goes up, GLP-1 encourages your body to make more insulin to lower blood sugar. These drugs do the same thing.
How do GLP-1 agonists help with weight loss?
They may make you feel less hungry by keeping any food you eat in your GI tract for longer. This makes it take longer for you to feel hungry again after a meal, so it’s easier to eat less. They may also send signals to your brain that tell it that you’re feeling full.
Of course, like any drug, these medicines do have downsides. They can come with side effects, including nausea. They’re costly and may not be covered by health insurance. You may need to take them indefinitely to maintain your weight unless you make other lifestyle changes. And because they’re relatively new, it’s not yet clear how they will affect your health over many years.
Ozempic vs. Wegovy dosage
Ozempic and Wegovy are really the same drug, but you will take them in different doses. You take Wegovy as an injection in your belly, thigh, or upper arm once a week at the same time. You’ll start with a lower dose and work your way up to 2.4 c. Ozempic is prescribed for diabetes but off label it is prescribed for weight loss.
There’s more data on Wegovy for weight loss, but Wegovy also comes with a longer list of common side effects given the higher dose.
Other differences in Ozempic and Wegovy
Wegovy is approved for weight loss, but only if you are above a certain weight. Ozempic isn’t approved for weight loss, but doctors sometimes use it off-label for this purpose. The main difference between the two is the dose, since they are the same drug (semaglutide) and you take them in the same way.
Health insurance coverage can differ between Ozempic and Wegovy.
This will depend on whether you’re taking them for an approved use or not. To take Ozempic for weight loss, you will likely have to pay for it out-of-pocket unless your doctor lists your diagnosis as diabetes. To take Wegovy for weight loss, you will need to be above a certain weight or have another weight-related health condition. At about $1,000 per month, either of these drugs can be costly if you have to pay for them yourself.
Mounjaro vs. Ozempic
Mounjaro and Ozempic are different drugs, although they work in a similar way. Mounjaro is a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist. Ozempic acts only on GLP-1. They’re both approved to lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes in combination with a healthy diet and exercise.
While both Mounjaro and Ozempic are really diabetes drugs, they also can help you lose weight.
Reference Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound: What’s the Difference?
Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on July 21, 2024
Written by Kendall K. Morgan for WebMD
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-184168/mounjaro-subcutaneous/details