Understanding Wegovy for weight loss
You want to lose weight, but you’re finding it difficult to get started, or you find it hard to maintain progress over time. The weight loss drug Wegovy could provide the extra boost you need and is now available on the NHS. You’ll need to be part of an approved weight management programme, like the one offered by Oviva.
You may be eligible to take part if you have a BMI over 50 or certain co-morbidities and a BMI over 30.
Find out if you’re eligible
Key Takeaways
- Wegovy is a proven and effective medicine used to assist weight loss and weight maintenance.
- It’s available on the NHS for people who are eligible for a specialist weight management service, like Oviva.
- Wegovy works by suppressing your appetite, so you naturally eat less.
- The medicine should be combined with lifestyle changes and support from healthcare professionals.
What is Wegovy?
Wegovy is a brand name for semaglutide, an anti-obesity and diabetes medicine. When intended to treat diabetes, it’s distributed under brand names like Ozempic and Rybelsus. Wegovy is the primary brand name in the UK for weight loss. It’s used for long-term weight management and reduces your appetite and food intake.
How does it work?
Wegovy belongs to a class of GLP-1 weight loss medications. They work by replicating the effects of GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone released after eating. This replica also has a longer lasting effect than the naturally occurring version. The result of this mechanism is increased feelings of fullness and a reduced appetite. Naturally, this leads to you eating less food than you usually would.
Over time, when combined with sensible lifestyle changes, including improved nutrition and increased exercise, this can lead to significant weight loss and an improved ability to maintain that reduced weight.
How much weight can you lose on Wegovy?
Your total weight loss while using Wegovy will depend on a variety of factors, including your starting weight and your ability to exercise or increase movement.
Many people notice results in the first few weeks and it’s not uncommon for patients to lose 5-10% of their body weight in the first three months. A common weight loss rate is around two pounds per week, or around eight pounds per month.
A 2021 study (Davies et al.) compared a group of people given a 2.4 mg dose of semaglutide – Wegovy’s active ingredient – with a group of people given a placebo. Both received lifestyle support including counselling, calorie restrictions and increased exercise.
The group receiving medication achieved an average weight loss of 9.6% over 68 weeks, compared to a 3.4% average for the placebo group.
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How do you take Wegovy?
Wegovy is taken as an injection, which can be self-administered at home. Injections are taken once per week in the stomach, thigh or upper arm. You can inject Wegovy in the same body part each time, but you should avoid injecting into the exact same spot. You’ll also need to avoid injecting into bruised or tender skin.
Your dosage will start at 0.25 mg and gradually increase over a 16-week period until you reach the maintenance dose of 2.4 mg. This allows your body to slowly get used to the medicine and its effects.
How long do you take Wegovy for?
NHS-funded treatment with Wegovy is currently restricted to a maximum period of two years. This is based on guidance issued by the National Institute for Care and Excellence (NICE). One of the reasons for this maximum usage period is that the long-term effects and risks of using Wegovy are still being evaluated.
Within this maximum timeframe, you can take Wegovy for as long as it remains useful. Once you stop taking the medicine, you’ll need to carefully manage the other lifestyle factors, like nutrition and exercise, to ensure you maintain your target weight. This is why support from a weight management programme like Oviva is so helpful for long-term change.
Is Wegovy available on the NHS?
The medicine has been available via NHS prescription since 2023 and is approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). However, it can only be supplied through a specialist weight management programme recommended by NICE, like Oviva.
Currently, Wegovy is only prescribed to those with an established medical need to lose weight, such as a BMI over 50, or a BMI over 30 with other relevant health conditions, such as asthma, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea and heart disease. It is prescribed to people who meet this criteria, who have also previously tried unsuccessfully to lose weight through exercise and dieting.
How can I check if I’m eligible?
The basic medication eligibility criteria for a Wegovy prescription are as follows:
You’ll need to be at least 18 years old and have a BMI over 30 with relevant weight-related comorbidities that make you eligible for referral to a weight management programme. Examples of relevant weight-related comorbidities include type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, depression, gallbladder disease, chronic back pain, acid reflux, sleep apnoea and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
You can speak to your GP to see if you’re eligible, but the quickest way is to take our survey online.
Do I need to change my diet and exercise routine?
Wegovy should be prescribed in combination with lifestyle interventions. This is why Wegovy UK prescriptions are available through the NHS for people who are eligible for an approved weight management service like Oviva. This allows a more holistic approach to be taken.
While taking Wegovy, it’s important to make adjustments to nutrition and exercise too. That looks like eating healthy proteins and optimising fibre intake, as well as increasing activity levels and overall movement. If you’re physically able to, some form of strength training will help you achieve the best weight loss outcomes and prevent muscle mass loss.
This multifaceted approach of lifestyle interventions and Wegovy weight loss medication is why it’s crucial to have the help and support of healthcare practitioners.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends the use of Wegovy “within a specialist weight management service providing multidisciplinary management of obesity”.
With Oviva’s free mobile app, you can benefit from the multidisciplinary support of personal coaching, personalised plans, goal setting, nutrition tracking and more.
Are there any risks with Wegovy?
As with any medication, there are potential side effects when taking Wegovy. However, they’re usually mild and will typically improve over time. Your Wegovy dose will also increase gradually to minimise the chances of encountering side effects and to decrease the severity of any side effects you experience.
The most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhoea.
A much more rare side effect is pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas. If you develop severe pain in your abdomen or if you experience severe vomiting or diarrhoea, seek medical help.
Are there contraindications?
If you have certain conditions, symptoms or circumstances, the use of the weight loss injections Wegovy or semaglutide can be harmful or unnecessarily risky.
You should not take Wegovy or any form of semaglutide if:
- You have either a personal history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if anyone in your immediate family does
- You have multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2)
- You’re taking any other GLP-1 medication
It’s important to avoid breastfeeding while using Wegovy, as initial research suggests it may pass into breast milk. Likewise, you should not take the medicine while pregnant. If at all possible, you should cease using Wegovy two months before you plan to get pregnant. Speak to a doctor before using Wegovy if you experience suicidal ideation.
What should I do if I miss a dose?
In the event you miss a Wegovy dose, the appropriate course of action will depend on how long there is until your next scheduled injection. However, you should never take a double dose on the same day to make up for a missed one.
If you have more than 48 hours until your next scheduled dose, you can safely take your missed dose as soon as possible and then continue as normal for subsequent injections.
If your next scheduled injection is in less than 48 hours, however, you should simply skip your missed dose and then continue as normal from your next dose.
Patients who have missed their dose for more than two weeks in a row should speak to a doctor before continuing.
Getting the right support
Wegovy is a popular brand name for semaglutide, which is an anti-obesity medicine. It is used in conjunction with lifestyle interventions to help people lose weight and manage their weight in the long term.
For eligible patients, it’s available on the NHS but can only be supplied by a NICE-approved weight management programme, like Oviva. Our programme combines medication, personalised coaching, nutritional improvements and exercise.
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Browse learning resources
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