Diabetes mellitus is a condition that can affect one’s life greatly in numerous ways: inability to eat whatever you want at the moment, a constant need to be aware of the glucose levels, health complications related to this issue, and many others.
For better blood sugar control, it’s essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle and follow the doctor’s recommendations, one of which is maintaining optimal body weight.
However, as people with diabetes cannot keep up with strict diets and strenuous exercising can sometimes be challenging for them, weight loss medications should be considered.
Ozempic – is a perfect product for blood sugar and weight management; it’s well-known in the medical sphere because people lose 10% or more of their body mass after starting to use it.
But is it safe to use Ozempic for those without diabetes? If so, who can prescribe it and how can you get Ozempic prescription? In today’s article, we are going to cover this topic.
Read: | FDA Prescribing information of: |
How Ozempic Helps You Lose Weight:
Ozempic – a well-known GLP-1 agonist with multiple mechanisms:
- It stimulates insulin release (only when the blood glucose is high) and suppresses glucagon release (a hormone that is responsible for increasing your plasma glucose)
- It influences stomach emptying and makes it less frequent, leading to appetite reduction.
- Ozempic also directly suppresses your appetite, probably by acting on the appetite centers in the brain.
- It diverts your food preferences (you don’t like calorie-rich and carbohydrate-rich foods anymore)
- Lastly, it also lowers your chances of getting a heart attack, stroke, or other heart diseases especially if you are a diabetic.
Strictly speaking, Ozempic can only be used for patients with type 2 diabetes to prevent blood sugar spikes and cardiovascular events.
Due to its abilities, Ozempic is often confused with Wegovy which can help people lose weight; however, it’s not meant for this purpose, as it’s a diabetes mellitus medication.
But why are people using Ozempic for weight loss? Because both Ozempic and Wegovy are actually the same drugs.
The manufacturer recommends using the lower dose (up to 1 or 2 mg) for the management of diabetes and the higher dose (2.4 mg) for weight loss.
Basically, the manufacturer has named the same drug two different names. Some people religiously follow the manufacturer’s recommendations while others use their common sense.
If you can use Samaglutide in high doses (Wegovy) for weight loss, you can use a lower dose (Ozempic) too.
Read: |
How Can You Get an Ozempic Prescription?
As a prescription medication, Ozempic must be recommended by a doctor. They define the dose, the durability of the treatment, and other important things to control blood sugar effectively.
Only doctors can tell a person to stop taking the prescribed Ozempic or change the amount of the injectable; otherwise, it may be potentially dangerous for a patient.
This product is not recommended for individuals with a personal or family history of thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, or diabetic retinopathy.
How Can You Get an Ozempic Prescription for Diabetes?
If you are a diabetic, you can get an Ozempic prescription very easily, provided:
- You are not achieving your glucose targets despite a low-calorie diet and regular exercise.
- You do not have any contraindications to using Ozempic such as:
- a personal history of medullary thyroid cancers or MEN-II syndromes or the presence of these conditions in the family members,
- advanced kidney or liver disease,
- Pancreatitis
- Pregnancy
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Diabetic retinopathy, and
- Allergy to Ozempic
In addition, you have to stop a DPP-IV (Sitagliptin, Vildagliptin, and Linagliptin), other GLP-1 agonists (Liraglutide, Dulaglutide, Albiglutide, and Exenatide), and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) before initiating Ozempic treatment.
Read: |
How Can You Get an Ozempic Prescription for Weight Loss?
Strictly speaking, you can not get an Ozempic Prescription solely for weight loss. If you have diabetes and want to get Ozempic for weight loss, it’s much easier for you.
Nowadays, Ozempic is only approved for high blood sugar prevention and is an option for a weight loss program.
However, doctors can sometimes prescribe it as an off-label method of body weight control.
After people start using it, they may expect to lose 10% or more of their body mass; of course, for non-diabetic patients, this medication must be prescribed in combination with a balanced diet, training program, and healthy alterations to their daily habits.
A nutritionist may be required to create a suitable dietary plan, so remember when taking Ozempic for weight loss.
You can get Wegovy (high-dose Ozempic) for weight loss if you are not a diabetic in the following circumstances:
- You are obese and your BMI is 30 kg/m² or more. You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in Kg by height in meters and again by height in meters [weight (kg) / (height in meters)².
- You can even get an Ozempic (Wegovy) prescription for weight loss if your BMI is 27 kg/m² and at least one weight-related medical condition.
Weight-related medical conditions are summarized in the table below:
Weight-Related Comorbidity | Diagnostic Criteria |
Type 2 diabetes |
|
Hypertension |
|
Dyslipidemia |
|
Obstructive sleep apnea | Sleep study showing ≥ 15 apneas or hypopneas per hour of sleep or respiratory disturbance index (RDI) ≥ 15 events per hour of sleep |
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) | Imaging or biopsy evidence of hepatic steatosis (fat accumulation in the liver) in the absence of other causes of liver disease |
Osteoarthritis |
|
Cardiovascular disease | Diagnosis of heart disease, stroke, or other vascular diseases |
You may also like to read: |
Who Can Prescribe Ozempic for Weight Management?
An Ozempic prescription is required to buy Ozempic online or offline, as it doesn’t belong to over-the-counter medications.
To get an off-label prescription, people should look for a reliable provider, such as doctors, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants.
However, some essential aspects must be considered during the consultation, such as drug interactions, limitations, and other features that potentially cause complications.
We recommend talking with a doctor about the insurance coverage for Ozempic. Some companies cover this medication only if its primary goal is to control an individual’s high and low blood sugar.
You may also like to read: |
How Quickly Can I Lose Weight with Ozempic?
The speed of Ozempic work varies from person to person; typically, such nuances as age, initial body mass, health peculiarities, lifestyle, and other essentials should be considered.
However, the dosage rules remain approximately the same: one-weekly injectable of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, or 2 mg should be selected according to a patient’s needs.
Typically, a minimal dosage is assigned for the first four weeks and gradually increased to achieve better results.
It’s important to be patient and wait for a few weeks because that’s how long is required to see the first Ozempic effects.
To ensure the predictions are created for your individual case, we highly recommend talking with a medical professional; they can tell you more according to your conditions and health history.
You may also like to read: |
The Bottom Line
Ozempic is a prescription medication meant to help people control high blood sugar; it only works for type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Its other ability is to help patients regulate their appetite and, as a result, assist in body mass management.
Even though its weight loss abilities are off-label, many doctors still prescribe Ozempic to their patients as an addition to lifestyle changes, diets, and exercise programs.
A prescription is required to buy semaglutide online, as it belongs to prescription drugs, meaning it’s impossible to purchase it over the counter in the local pharmacy or on the Internet.
You may also like to read: |