• Two well-liked weight reduction medication have comparable uncomfortable side effects like diarrhea, nausea, and generally hair loss.
• Semaglutide, model identify Wegovy or Ozempic, could also be extra prone to trigger gastrointestinal points. 
• Tirzepatide, model identify Mounjaro, acts on a further hormone and will trigger milder, much less frequent signs. 

A brand new medicine awaiting FDA approval for weight reduction could have fewer and milder uncomfortable side effects than the at the moment trending drug semaglutide, in keeping with a weight-loss physician. 

Semaglutide, offered underneath the model names Ozempic and Wegovy, has made waves in recent times for inflicting dramatic weight-loss outcomes, however taking it comes with frequent gastrointestinal uncomfortable side effects. 

An analogous drug referred to as tirzepatide, at the moment offered as Mounjaro, can even trigger points like nausea and diarrhea, however to a lesser diploma stated Dr. Christopher McGowan, a board-certified doctor in inner medication, gastroenterology, and weight problems medication.

“The aspect impact profile is comparable, and primarily gastrointestinal,” McGowan informed Insider. “The signs are usually gentle to reasonable, and enhance over time.”

Whereas critical uncomfortable side effects are uncommon for each drugs, understanding the distinction will help individuals select which possibility could also be the very best match for them, he stated. 

Unintended effects of Ozempic embrace nausea, diarrhea, and constipation

Semaglutide is a sort of medicine referred to as a GLP-1 agonist, which suggests it really works by performing on an insulin-like hormone to manage urge for food and digestion, serving to to handle kind 2 diabetes in addition to supporting weight reduction.

It is sometimes administered by means of once-a-week injections, and sufferers on semaglutide are inclined to really feel full extra rapidly, stay full for longer after consuming, and have fewer cravings for meals excessive in energy, fats, and sugar. 

The draw back of semaglutide is that some sufferers could also be liable to gastrointestinal signs. In scientific trials of the medicine, contributors mostly reported nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, headache, and stomach ache. 

Individuals taking semaglutide have additionally informed Insider that the digestive uncomfortable side effects might be intense, inflicting issues like “overflow diarrhea.”

The vast majority of adversarial reactions to the drug are usually short-lived, and McGowan and different docs beforehand informed Insider that their greatest concern with semaglutide is whether or not sufferers have correct follow-up and help from medical specialists.

The medicine is taken into account to be secure for long-term use, though extra knowledge is required on the way it may work for various demographics over lengthy durations of time. 

Mounjaro could cause gastrointenstinal points like Ozempic, however uncomfortable side effects could also be much less frequent and milder

Tirzepatide can also be a once-weekly injection that works on the hormone GLP-1, but it surely has a further impact on one other hunger-related hormone referred to as GIP. Like semaglutide, it was initially designed to deal with kind 2 diabetes, however is at the moment within the strategy of FDA approval for weight reduction. 

Some proof suggests the mixed hormone results could result in higher weight reduction outcomes than than these taking semaglutide, though analysis evaluating the 2 medication head-to-head remains to be underway. 

Research of individuals on tirzepatide discovered comparable uncomfortable side effects as semaglutide — nonetheless, they had been much less frequent and fewer extreme. In scientific trials, 33% of sufferers on the best dose of tirzepatide reported nausea, in comparison with 44% of semaglutide sufferers. And 23% of tirzepatide sufferers reported diarrhea, in comparison with 31% on semaglutide. 

It might be that the “synergistic” impact of the drug’s twin motion on each GLP-1 and GIP could mitigate the gastrointestinal points, in keeping with McGowan. 

“It appears the general incidence of uncomfortable side effects is decrease, and whereas it is purely anecdotal, my sufferers who’ve transitioned from semaglutide to tirzepatide say it is significantly better tolerated,” he stated. 

Tirzepatide is a comparatively new medicine, and extra analysis can also be wanted on the potential long-term results.

“The protection profile is superb, however there are some unknowns, and we wish to comply with up with sufferers intently,” McGowan stated. 

Weight-loss drugs can generally trigger hair loss or muscle loss

Studies of sufferers on semaglutide or tirzepatide dropping their hair have turn out to be well-liked on social media and whereas each medication appear to have that aspect impact, it is uncommon and never associated to the drugs themselves, McGowan stated. 

“Any intervention that results in important and doubtlessly fast weight reduction can precipitate hair loss,” he stated. “The excellent news is that hair loss in these cases is sort of all the time momentary and is mostly as a result of a short pause in hair follicle development know as telogen effluvium.” 

If sufferers are consuming much less on medicine and do not get sufficient of essential vitamins or energy for power total, the danger of uncomfortable side effects like hair loss can improve. The identical lack of energy and vitamins can even trigger a lack of lean muscle mass together with physique fats in some sufferers on weight-loss drugs. 

“Basically, I like to recommend specializing in protein consumption when caloric consumption is low, and sustaining dietary steadiness. And at any time when potential, I like to recommend that sufferers work with a registered dietitian to make sure that they’re assembly their minimal vitamin objectives,” McGowan stated.