When Does Ozempic Stop Working?

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Ozempic and Wegovy have revolutionized weight loss by enabling people to shed about 15% of their body weight—an extraordinary achievement particularly when we consider that previous weight loss medications typically yielded a mere 5% reduction.

But how long can you rely on Ozempic or Wegovy for your weight loss journey? While they have been approved for long-term use, do they eventually lose their effectiveness?

The answer, according to the research, is a resounding yes and it’ll only help you lose weight for about a year.

A 1-year rebound

STEP 3 study

To truly grasp the underlying reasons, let’s take a look at the STEP 3 trial. This study put people on Wegovy for 68 weeks.

They were also put on a rigorous dietary and exercise regimen:

1. Their diet involved carefully controlling their calorie intake, ranging from 1200 to 1800 kcal per day, based on their weight.
2. As for exercise, they started with 100 minutes per week, before gradually escalating to 200 minutes per week. Let’s take a look at the progress of these patients’ weight loss.

The initial 30 or 40 weeks showcases an impressive decrease in body weight. But as we move from week 40 to 56, the weight loss drastically starts to slow down.

By week 56, the scales start to move in the other direction, as the average person experiences a gradual weight regain.

This concerning trend persists, with patients slowly gaining weight until the end of the study at week 68, with no sign of stopping.

It seems that despite their continued use of Wegovy and steadfast adherence to the dietary and exercise regimen, weight loss on these drugs doesn’t seem to continue past the one-year mark.

STEP 5 study

To get a better understanding, let us take a look at the STEP 5 trial. This study put patients on Wegovy for 2 years. Let’s examine the weight loss trajectories of these patients.

Once again, we’re seeing drastic weight loss in the first 30 to 40 weeks. And again, the weight loss starts to slow down from week 44 and this time, continues to week 68.

However, after week 68, the dreaded weight regain begins again. Patients slowly but steadily regain the weight they had lost, with this trend continuing until week 104, with no sign of slowing down or stopping.

Even though there has been no change in dose with patients taking the maximum dose of Wegovy, this weight regain is still occuring.

Rebound after stopping

But what happens if we just stop taking Wegovy? Would we see a rebound as well?

STEP 4 study

Let us direct our attention to the STEP 4 trial. Within this study, participants were administered Wegovy for a duration of 20 weeks. At that point, the trial took a divergent path.

Some individuals were given Wegovy, while others were given a placebo to imitate the discontinuation of the drug.

When we take a look at the weight loss trajectory, it’s pretty self-explanatory. During the initial 20-week phase, weight loss progresses in accordance with expectations.

However, once the switch occurs, the recipients of the placebo encounter an immediate resurgence in weight.

This weight regain persists all the way to week 68, with no sign of slowing down or stopping. By week 68, those who discontinued Wegovy had regained about 65% of the weight they had lost in the first 20 weeks, and I have no doubt this regain would continue past 68 weeks.

Summary

So it appears that Ozempic and Wegovy only provide temporary assistance in weight loss, as discontinuing their use will lead to weight regain.

This means you may need to take these medications forever to sustain their benefits. But the problem is that these drugs don’t work forever.

In fact they only seem to work for about a year, after which people start to slowly regain weight anyways. This leaves you in a challenging predicament.

On one hand, you have to continue taking Wegovy to preserve the weight loss achieved over the past year, despite its diminishing effectiveness and the gradual weight regain.

On the other hand, if you decide to stop taking it, you’re highly likely to experience a rapid regain of the majority of the weight you had lost the previous year.

Should you be worried?

What should we take away from all of this? Well, it sheds light on the limitations of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

There’s no question that they’ve demonstrated impressive weight loss results, far surpassing the strength of previous weight loss medications, and I genuinely believe that they will revolutionize the weight loss landscape.

However, I have come across numerous articles suggesting that these drugs will render dieting obsolete. This is insanity.

These drugs still operate on the principle of reducing food intake. Ozempic and Wegovy work by slowing down the digestive system and inducing feelings of fullness, effectively reducing the amount of food one can consume.

However, here’s the crucial point: it’s ultimately the dietary changes that bring about the weight loss, not the drugs themselves.

The drugs may have helped induce a dietary change, and facilitated the reduction in food intake, but diet remains a vital factor in the weight loss process associated with these drugs.

Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with using Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss. However, relying too heavily on these medications as the sole solution will likely end up leading to disappointment in the long run.

Learn more about

• What Forms of Semaglutide are Available?
• Ozempic vs Rybelsus vs Saxenda vs Victoza for Weight Loss
• What to Expect With Wegovy
• Other weight loss supplements

See also

• 
  Comparing Weight Loss Drugs in 2024
  Ozempic and Mounjaro are highly effective at treating obesity, however there are many other approved and off-label options that also work.
• 
  Bupropion vs Contrave vs Naltrexone
  Contrave is a synergistic combination of buproprion and naltrexone, which can be replicated to some degree using the generics individually.
• 
  New Obesity Drugs in 2024
  New obesity drugs target more than just GLP-1 and do much more than suppress appetite for a more nuanced approach to weight loss.
• 
  Mounjaro: Who Loses the Most Weight?
  White or Asian younger women who use metformin and have lower sugar and lipid levels tend to experience more weight loss with Mounjaro.
• 
  How does Oforglipron compare?
  Orforglipron, Semaglutide, and Danuglipron are oral GLP-1 agonists that are all similar enough that cost may end up being the winning factor.