How To Manage Side Effects Of Semaglutide

We’re going to talk about how to manage side effects of Semaglutide. The most common side effects of Semaglutide are headache, fatigue, dizziness, bowel symptoms so you can have abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea and nausea. You might have some vomiting. Then we want to talk about some injection site irritation that you might have. And then also I want to discuss what happens if you miss a shot.

So let’s start with headache, fatigue and dizziness and how to manage side effects of Semaglutide. So those are all kind of related to the whole going on in the head thing. So a lot of times if you think about it yes Semaglutide was originally approved for diabetics. So it might be a lower blood sugar that you’re having issues with. But then also if you’re doing it the right way and you’re decreasing your calories, it’s your body adjusting to that. So that might be causing some of those things. So if you’re getting it often definitely talk to your provider because we want to make sure that it’s not related to a low blood sugar. And just remember not every medication is for everybody. So it might be something that you’re eating, you’re not eating, or maybe it is the fact that you’re not getting as many calories or nutritional value of foods and stuff. So that could be really important. But if you’re getting it a lot and it’s often talk to your provider, it’s very, very important to make sure that you’re communicating to your provider so that we’re making sure that you’re doing things the right way. So having a headache, fatigue and dizziness is not necessarily a normal thing that you’re going to have as a side effect from Semaglutide, but it is something that can happen. So you want to make sure that you’re talking to your provider.

So some people might have an injection site reaction from injecting Semaglutide. Remember it needs to be in the fat. So that needs to be in your abdomen, in the back of your arm, or even your thighs or your love handles. But if you have a reaction at the site, talk to your provider. So if you happen to have a Semaglutide that’s pink, it has B12 in it. Actually, in my clinic I’ve had people react to the B12. Sometimes it might have l-carotene in it, which can also cause a reaction to the site. So make sure you’re cleaning your hands while you’re cleaning the site well. But if you don’t, if you’re not sure, just ask. Make sure you talk to your provider because there might be something in there that you’re having your reaction to. And we don’t want that to happen because it’s uncomfortable. And that’s something that you don’t want, you know, you don’t want scarring or redness or anything like that, but make sure that you’re asking for help if it starts getting warm, red and sensitive to the touch. And I’m talking like just barely touching it. That sensitive. Seek immediate attention because that could be an infection. And we want to make sure that we’re hitting that one, stopping it very, very quickly.

So we have had some instances in the clinic where people are not eating, and your body will get to the point. You can usually do about 500 calories to 1000 calories for maybe 30 days, but everybody’s body is a little bit different. But when you’re doing that, you are actually going to start causing damage. But the important thing is you’re going to stop losing the weight. The weight is going to stop coming off because your body goes into a state of starvation. Now, eventually if you do that for so long, then yes, you’re going to become very unhealthy and start losing weight again. But we don’t want that. The whole goal of Semaglutide is to stay on it, but then learn how to eat the right way. So you need to make sure you’re getting your protein. You’re getting your complex carbs. We don’t want you in keto because keto can also cause some of the symptoms that we’ve already talked about. So you want to make sure that you’re eating about 75% of what you eat is protein. 25% of what you eat is complex carbs. We have talked about what these are in the past videos, so you might want to go back and look at those videos. But protein and complex carbs are very, very important. If you’re not eating, then you need to drop down your dose. That is, you know, not eating is not good. We have to eat. Our bodies need it. Our brains need it. We need it to function properly. So it’s important to eat. So one of the things I wanted to touch on is Semaglutide is not a magic shot. It’s not a magic pill. It’s not going to just make the weight drop off. So it’s very important that you are eating what you need to eat and also think you’ve got to watch your calories. You have to watch your protein. You have to watch your complex carb. Do not eat those simple carbs. We need you to be eating properly. That’s what Semaglutide is going to do. It’s going to decrease your appetite. It’s going to decrease your cravings. The stomach’s going to shrink so you can’t eat as much. Get rid of your insulin resistance. But if you’re only taking Semaglutide and you’re not changing your habits, it’s not going to work, people. It is not going to work at all. You need to change your habits.

Now let’s talk about the big one to manage side effects of Semaglutide. This is the one that almost everybody is going to have one of these or another at one point or another when you’re on Semaglutide. So abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. Constipation is the big one. You have to make sure that you are taking care of it. You’re monitoring it. So what you have to do, you have to prevent the constipation. So I like Metamucil gummies, but any kind of fiber works great. Make sure you’re following the label and taking what it says. But anytime you take fiber, if you’re not drinking enough water, that’s going to cause constipation. So you have to be very careful there. We have a rule at our clinic if you don’t go day one, you’re taking miralax. You’re taking something like that, adding in some prunes or something to get you going. If you don’t go day two, you’re calling us because when you don’t go day two, day three, now you’re really starting to get into those problems. If people have bowel issues before starting, I really want to try and get that regulated in the very beginning. Diarrhea is almost always related to what you ate. So when you go with something for so long, say fatty greasy foods, if you go so long without having those, and then all of a sudden you add those back into your diet or you say, oh man, I really want some chicken tenders. You can cause yourself to get diarrhea or you haven’t gone. You haven’t. You’ve had that constipation, you haven’t gone for several days. You’re taking miralax and fiber, all the things to get yourself moving. Now you’re going to give yourself diarrhea. So three things are really important. Your fiber, miralax which is a laxative, and then probiotics. You don’t have to have the probiotics if you’re somebody that goes on a normal daily basis. But you know what? Probiotics doesn’t hurt anybody. So it’s actually a good thing to have. So you really want to make sure that you’re watching that constipation, watching your diet so you don’t cause diarrhea, abdominal pain usually is probably related to one of those other two constipation or diarrhea. But if you’re getting abdominal pain, maybe because you’re not eating enough or maybe all of a sudden, you know, two days before you start, you’re starting to get hungry. You’re not used to that anymore, but it is very serious. People end up in the hospital because they’re not moving their bowels. So it’s really important that you’re really monitoring that and talking to your provider. If you’re not going, then you have vomiting. Vomiting again, typically for me is when I either overeat or when I eat the wrong things again. Now, if you’re somebody that’s getting vomiting or nausea day 1 or 2 after your shot, then it’s related to the shot. Don’t go up on your dose if you’re getting that nausea and vomiting. Actually, if it’s still continues after you do 2 or 3 shots, drop down a dose. You don’t want to live like that. It’s not comfortable. So something that we can provide you and prescribe you is Zofran. So if you have any of this nausea stuff that’s going on, we can get you the Zofran, which is going to help you battle out that nausea so that you’re more comfortable and you feel better. So you need again communicate with your provider. But I cannot tell you enough how important it is to make sure that your bowels are moving on a daily basis. Even if you’re somebody that doesn’t go on a daily basis, you have to correct that. You have to make sure that you’re going every day. That will put you in the hospital, that will get you enemas, that will make you uncomfortable. So it’s really, really important to make sure that you’re watching all of these and talking to your provider.

Now, if you missed your weekly shot, let’s talk about that because there’s a big issue with the nausea and the vomiting if you miss the shots. So you want to be very careful. Follow exactly what they’re telling you. If you don’t know the units between ML or how much you’re supposed to be giving, make sure you’re calling your provider and you’re asking, I went on vacation, forgot my mine in the fridge so I couldn’t take it with me. So I was without for two weeks. So when I came back, I actually dropped down to that lowest dose. So I did the lowest dose one week. Next week I did the next dose, and then I worked myself back up to the top dose. You have to be very careful, because if the only thing you’re going to do is make yourself vomit and nauseous, but the big risk is causing gastroparesis, that is shutting down your gastric system. So you are going to make it so that your stomach screeches to a halt will not pass nothing through. So everything you take in, you’re going to vomit back up. Problems with that is you get severe dehydration, then you’re going to get worse nausea. You get to where you can’t even take in a sip of water because you shut your system down. So don’t play doctor, don’t play nurse practitioner or even nurse. If you don’t know what you should do, call and ask because it is no joke to cause gastroparesis and shut down your system. That will put you in the hospital and that will get you some IVs. So it’s really important to make sure if you miss that, you’re calling somebody and you’re asking, don’t self-prescribe yourself. That is what’s causing the problems and causing the issues. You need to follow instructions and follow instructions exactly. If you have any questions, you can reach out to your doctor, your nurse practitioner, your PA, anybody, but make sure you’re asking those questions.

So we talked about nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, headache, fatigue, dizziness, vomiting, missing your shot and what to do if you have a reaction at the injection site as well as how to manage side effects of Semaglutide. But I hope all of you understand this is actually a really safe medication and it’s really, really effective. Change your lifestyle, change your habits, and listen to what you’re being told. But if you do have any problems whatsoever or you’re not sure, call who prescribed it for you. It is really, really important to make sure that you’re doing what you’re told and you’re asking questions. And we’re here. We’re always here for all of our patients. Any time. Just give us a call. 330-952-0391