Unapproved: Doctor advises against Ozempic for weight loss

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — While Ozempic rises in popularity, experts say the drug is not designed or approved for weight loss.

“If (people are) taking an unapproved medication for something, I don’t recommend it,” Dr. Mary Dagen, a bariatric physician at Corewell Health, said. “It’s not the exception and it also it may not be as effective… I think if someone wants to get the best outcome for a medication, they should get the appropriate medication.”

A national study from the University of Michigan released in May revealed a 594% increase from 2020 to 2023 in the monthly number of teens and young adults using medications like Wegovy and Ozempic.

In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic for treatment of Type 2 diabetes, which is what it was designed for. It’s a weekly injection that helps lower blood sugar by spurring the pancreas to make more insulin.

The FDA has approved Wegovy for weight loss. It’s a higher-dose version of the same drug in Ozempic with the same active ingredient. Dagen said Wegovy essentially makes the brain think less about eating.

“It takes all the food noise out of there, which is kind of freeing because the disease of obesity really creates a lot of food noise,” she said. “Generally people don’t feel hungry, they don’t have food cravings.”

It also slows down how food gets digested, she said. And when we eat, it makes us feel more full even with smaller amounts of food.

Dagen recommended that Wegovy patients eat in smaller portions and avoid food with higher amounts of grease, fat and sugar.

“If we eat past that new full point, we can feel sick, nauseous or throw up,” she warned.

Wegovy is available to those 12 and up. If you have a BMI between 27 and 30, you’ll need to have one weight-related health condition to get the drug, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If your body mass index is 30, there are no condition-related restrictions, she said.

One drawback: Dagen said studies have shown when people go off Wegovy or Ozempic, they often gain back what they lost.

“As the body loses weight, this disease metabolically adapts and changes to promote itself to regain weight,” she said. “I tell patients this is one of the only diseases we know of that actually defends itself and fights back.”

That’s why doctors emphasize that in the end, medication is only one piece of the puzzle to losing weight.

“If a patient is looking to be on any medication to treat obesity, it is absolutely essential to pair that with lifestyle changes such as food changes, exercise changes,” she said.

Dagen also warns against buying off-brand versions of weight loss drugs because they may not be safe or effective.

“I do think it’s important for people to seek health care within the health system or within their prescribing provider,” she said.

“We have to remember obesity is related to many other things,” she continued. “If someone’s not monitoring this closely, I think there’s a significant risk of harm.”

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