Ozempic is a commonly used medication for diabetes as well as for weight loss. They target diabetes without causing low blood sugar and promote healthful diet change. This medication is an incretin medication that promotes the secretion of the hormone GLP1. Incretin hormones promote insulin release only when the blood sugar is high and suppress appetite. They suppress appetite by slowing how fast food moves through the gut making people taking the medication feel full faster and on less food. This helps them eat less without feeling like they are starving. These medications also work on brain receptors to decrease food fixation. Oftentimes people eat when they are not hungry – because they are bored, happy, sad, because it is time to eat, they are celebrating. These medications help decrease that “mental” hunger that is not truly physical.
The most common side effect of Ozempic is nausea. Typically this side effect improves or resolves within a few weeks of taking the medication. To prevent severe nausea, the medication should be started at a low dose and increased as the patient tolerates it. Due to the dynamic nature of Ozempic dosing, it can be confusing for both doctors and patients.
The Ozempic dosing chart can be confusing and many people struggle to use it correctly. When the Ozempic dosing chart is understood, it can be prescribed easily and safely.
The rule for the Ozempic dosing chart is to start low and increase slowly. This allows the body to acclimate to Ozempic and reduces side effects.
The initial dose of Ozempic is 0.25mg subcutaneously weekly. This dose should be continued for four weeks.
If the patient is tolerating Ozempic well without severe nausea or other side effects, they can be increased to Ozempic 0.5mg subcutaneously weekly.
In two to four weeks, if the patient continues to tolerate the medication well they can be increased to Ozempic 1mg subcutaneously weekly.
If they continue to tolerate it well, in two to four weeks they can be increased to the max dose of Ozempic 2mg subcutaneously weekly.
If at any point a patient is unable to tolerate a dose increase, Ozempic can be decreased to the previous dose that was well-tolerated.
If a patient reaches their A1c and/or weight loss goals before reaching the max dose of Ozempic, the Ozempic dose does not have to continue to be increased.
The other confusing part about Ozempic dosing is that there are three different pens of Ozempic. Each pen delivers specific doses. The pen with red labeling is the initial dose pen. The red pen contains 0.25mg and 0.5mg doses. The next pen is for 1mg. The 1mg pen is green and only contains the 1mg dose of Ozempic. The highest dose pen is the yellow pen which contains the 2mg dose of Ozempic. The 2mg pen has a higher concentration of Ozempic so patients using Ozempic 2mg are injecting less fluid per milligram of Ozempic.
It is important to know which pen is being prescribed for patients to get the correct dosing. If the incorrect pen is prescribed it can be confusing for the patient, because they will not be able to dial the pen to the dose they need.