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All about GLP-1 Medication
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What are the side effects of GLP-1 medications?
As with any medication, side effects are something that we should take conservatives. GLP-1 medications are no exception some examples of GLP-1 medications include: Semaglutide, Liraglutide. The brand names of these are Wegovy®, Saxenda, Ozempic®, Rybelsus, Victoza, and many more!
The most common side effects of GLP-1 medications include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, dyspepsia, dizziness, abdominal distention, hypoglycemia in patients with type II diabetes. Certain patients should not take GLP-1 medications. These include patients with a history of pancreatitis, or a history of gallbladder disease. Patients who have a family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, a very rare form of thyroid cancer, should also not take GLP-1 medications. This was been shown in animal studies. However, this meant risk for this medication has not been shown in human trials.
The GLP-1 class of drugs is a generally safe category of medication. Most patients experience artifacts when they are starting medication. Often times these medication side effects go away with longer use of GLP-1s.
Medication adjustment
Most patients start at a lower dose of these medications called GLP-1's. The lowest dose for Semaglutide, also known as Wegovy® or Ozempic®, is 0.25 mg. This doses commonly gradually increased to 0.5 mg and then up to 1 mg 2 mg for sometimes 2.4 mg depending on the form of the medication. GLP-1 medications can cause weight loss at many doses. Some patients notice weight loss with GLP-1 medication starts at a lower dose such as 0.5 mg. Other patients notice that GLP-1 medications are required to be at higher dose before they notice weight loss. Some patients may even notice a small amount of weight gain at lower doses of medication. GLP-1 medications are unique and every patient will react differently on medication.
Our healthcare providers at mochi health will walk you through the process of choosing the right medication for you. Careful dose adjustment is often needed. GLP-1 medications do not taper at the same rates for every patient. Some patients may need dose adjustment at a faster pace than others, and other patients may need to slow down how quickly they increase the dose of the medication.
Types of GLP-1 medications
As mentioned previously there are many types of GLP-1 medications. Some are short acting formulas which need to be taken either as a pill form once or twice daily, others are short acting formulations which are ideally injectable, and lastly there are some forms of GLP-1 agonists which are long acting injectable only taken once weekly. The selection of medication depends on a conversation with you and your provider – mochi health who believes that you and your provider should had a long discussion about which medication is the right option for you.
How can you get insurance coverage?
Insurance coverage for GLP-1 medications is always a challenging topic. Our providers work with your insurance to try to get you prior authorizations completed if necessary for vacation coverage. With medication coverage with insurance the co-pay for your medication can come down to $25 per month. GLP-1 medications without insurance February. We use lab history medical history and information collected by our providers to submit to your insurance. We also have a proprietary process in place to ensure that our prior authorizations are more likely to go through.
As every insurance is different we use a different approach with your specific plan. We take personal preference and blood sugar control effectiveness as well as the expected weight loss into account when selecting a medication.
The good news is that most insurances will now accept these medications.
What are ways to deal with the side effects of GLP-1?
If you are experiencing side effects with Yahoo and medications, please reach out to your provider. There's many tips that we have for patients to decrease the number of nausea and vomiting symptoms that they are having per day.
A good tip for all patients on GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic® or Wegovy® is to eat small meals. This is because the medication works to decrease the rate that your stomach empties, so patients often feel very full early on.
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