GLP-1 receptor agonists have a powerful effect on your A1C levels.
They bring down A1C levels quickly in people with type 2 diabetes, and help keep them in the target range.
Different GLP-1 drugs vary in their ability to lower A1C levels.
For example, studies have shown that semaglutide (Ozempic) improves participants’ A1C levels, bringing them into the “healthy” range within around 30 weeks or less.
Some GLP-1s, like Ozempic (semaglutide), tirzepatide (Mounjaro), and dulaglutide (Trulicity), are usually taken weekly. Others, like liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza), are typically administered daily.
In contrast, people usually need to take metformin, one of the most common oral medications for type 2 diabetes, once or twice a day.
Exenatide (Byetta) is the only GLP-1 that needs to be administered twice a day.
Because GLP-1 receptor agonists decrease appetite, they often result in significant weight loss, even if you’re taking them mainly to manage your blood sugar.
It can have a major effect on some people.
One meta-analysis of overweight and obese people without diabetes showed that semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic) resulted in weight loss of up to 16% of body weight. For a person who weighs 200 pounds, that’s 32 pounds.
People with type 2 diabetes sometimes use them in combination with other drugs or insulin to offset the chance of weight gain that can be associated with those drugs.
Taking GLP-1 drugs is also linked with a reduced risk of major cardiovascular events, like heart attack and stroke, and may have protective effects on your kidneys.
GLP-1 RAs are very effective at lowering blood sugar levels, both after meals and during periods of fasting.
Unlike some medications for type 2 diabetes, they’re unlikely to cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Mildly low blood sugar levels are common in people with diabetes, but when levels get severe, it can lead to serious complications and can even be life threatening.
There’s still a low risk of hypoglycemia if you take GLP-1s, which increases if you use them with insulin. It’s also a potential side effect of taking more than the prescribed dose.
If you’re concerned, consider asking your doctor about how to treat and prevent hypoglycemia while you’re taking a GLP-1.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs or just GLP-1s) are a group of drugs used to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar. Doctors also prescribe them to help people without type 2 diabetes lose weight.
They’re very effective at lowering blood sugar levels by mimicking the actions of a naturally occurring hormone in your body called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
GLP-1s help to manage blood sugar in three main ways.
- They slow stomach emptying, preventing blood sugar from spiking after a meal.
They help your body make more insulin, which is released after a meal when your blood sugar level rises.
- They slow the release of sugar from the liver.
All GLP-1 drugs may lead to weight loss, but those prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes, like Ozempic (semaglutide), Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Trulicity (dulaglutide), and Victoza (liraglutide), are primarily for helping manage blood sugar levels.
That said, they will likely help you lose weight if you’re overweight or have obesity because they help you feel more full.
Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) seem to be some of the most effective for weight loss, but more research is needed.
Some people without diabetes may get a GLP-1 prescription specifically to help them lose weight. Doctors prescribe different GLP-1 drugs for this purpose — mainly Wegovy (semaglutide), Saxenda (liraglutide), or Zepbound (terzipatide).
The short answer is that the amount you could lose is individual to you. Consider speaking with your doctor for a personalized recommendation.
People with type 2 diabetes have lost significant amounts of body weight after taking Ozempic (semaglutide) and other GLP-1s over longer periods of weeks or months.
One study found people with type 2 diabetes who took 0.5 milligrams (mg) of semaglutide weekly for 40 weeks lost about 10 pounds (4.6 kg), while those who took twice as much (1 mg) weekly lost about 14 pounds (6.5 kg).
Other studies have found similar results, but vary depending on the specific drug used, participants, dosages, timeframe, and other factors.
It’s likely unless you also make lasting lifestyle changes. Most people regain weight after stopping GLP-1 medications like Ozempic (semaglutide).
One study found that a year after stopping semaglutide, people had regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost.
The positive changes they had seen in cardiometabolic risk factors like blood pressure, blood lipids, HbA1c, and C-reactive protein had similarly reversed.
Experts suggest this is because metabolic adaptation occurs while patients are losing weight, and this can contribute to weight gain once they stop using the medication.
Since you may regain weight if you stop GLP-1s, it’s important to make sustainable changes in your lifestyle as well — especially developing healthy eating habits and getting enough physical activity.
GLP-1 medications can sometimes cause digestive side effects, such as feelings of early fullness, lower appetite, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Many of these side effects lessen over time.
Researchers have also reported cases of thyroid C-cell cancer in rodents treated with GLP-1 drugs. This type of cancer is rare in humans, so the overall risk is considered low. But if you have a family history of medullary thyroid tumors, make sure your doctor is aware of it.
Another potential downside of taking GLP-1s is the cost of treatment. The price of GLP-1 RAs tends to be high compared with other medications for treating type 2 diabetes.
TIPS FOR MANAGING THE SIDE EFFECTS OF GLP-1s
- TIP 1Eat more frequent, smaller meals.
- TIP 2Go easy on high fat and high fiber foods.
- TIP 3Drink lots of fluids.