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I lost 15 pounds taking Semaglutide. I wasn’t actively trying to lose weight and was actually happy at my current weight (which was 150) but I wanted to be able to speak about the medication to our clients firsthand, so I started taking it. I am fairly active. By that I mean, I might play tennis 1-2 times a week, and I walk the dog regularly. I am also not a terrible eater. By that I mean, I like sweets, but I also like fish, so I eat okay. I’m also 55 years old, so losing weight is hard for me without drastically changing my diet and workouts. Within 2 weeks of taking the Semglutide, I was pleasantly surprised to begin losing weight without changing a thing. I took 0.25 mg for 2 weeks, then jumped up to 0.5 mg from week 3 on.
My biggest side effect was nausea, which still wasn’t that big. It wasn’t the kind of nausea that lasted all day, or I would not have been able to stick with it. It was more like waves of nausea that lasted 15-30 seconds, maybe once a day, sometimes more. This lasted the whole time I was on the medication. When I went up in dose the nausea got a little worse for a weekend, but I was still able to function and play a little tennis, etc. I never moved up from 0.5 mg. This was my “sweet spot” and I continued to lose weight on this dose.
The second side effect was that I was rarely hungry. This med suppresses your hunger hormone called Ghrelin which is produced primarily in the stomach. When your stomach is empty it releases Ghrelin to send a signal to your brain that you’re hungry. Mine was so suppressed that I literally had to make myself eat sometimes because I knew my body needed nutrition. Food was actually not appealing for several months. But it does not affect everyone this way, including my husband.
A happy surprise is that my hot flashes STOPPED while I was on this med. Totally stopped. And now that I’m off it the hot flashes have returned. As much as I LOVED having no hot flashes, I missed food more. I also lost my taste for wine while I was on this med. This alone is a huge weight reducer.
I began taking Semaglutide in mid February and stopped at the end of May. I was on it for 3 ½ months and lost 15 lbs. I probably had lost all of my weight in 2 months, March and April, averaging about 8 pounds a month. I started hearing people say, “you’re skinny enough”. I stayed on it in May because I was going on vacation to Grand Cayman at the end of the month and wanted to look my best. I dropped down to 0.25 mg of Semaglutide before I left for vacay for 2 reasons. I was hoping SOME of my appetite would return (especially since I was just on the higher dose) AND I didn’t want hot flashes on vacay. The hot flashes did stay away but so did my appetite, even on the lower dose. I wasn’t even hungry for all that delicious seafood! That was a big bummer. But I did feel good in the bikini.
The goal was always to discontinue the med when I returned. I’ve been off of Semaglutide now for 2 ½ months and have maintained my weight, but I’m also working at it. Intermittent fasting seems to work for me at this time in my life so that’s what I’m doing mostly. I realized that I don’t need as much wine as I thought I did, lol. Semaglutide helped me get rid of a daily habit I had formed, coming home and pouring a glass every night. My appetite is also not as great as it used to be, I’ve kind of reset my appetite thermostat. I used to look for large portions, now I look for the smallest.
Although I felt good at 150, I have to say that I feel very good at this weight. My lowest weight was 135 and today I weighed in at 139 and literally just returned from 5 days in West Palm Beach. Not bad! As long as I stay between 135 and 140, I’m happy and that’s the new goal! And as I get comfortable in my new lifestyle, I plan to stop looking at the scale so often. That will come.
Update 10/17 – STILL 135 this morning!