Millions of people across the US are using GLP-1 medications to aid in their weight loss journeys, but before you join the crowd, a doctor wants you to know there’s one thing that ‘always’ happens to patients who take the drugs.
According to Rand, around 12 million people in the States currently use weight loss drugs to speed up their body transformations.
GLP-1s work as a quick and effective method, because they target the brain’s appetite portion of the brain, tricking it into feeling full for longer.
This means that people who once found it hard not to eat large quantities of food can’t stomach the same amount anymore – thus, putting them into a calorie deficit.
It’s a smart way to lose weight, but like with everything, side effects are commonly experienced.
However, when it comes to GLP-1 medications, a doctor says there’s a certain symptom that’s ‘100%’ seen in all of her cases and is guaranteed to happen.
Per Stanford, the most common side effects of GLP-1 medications are located in the gastro area, which is the stomach, intestines and bowels.
Because the medications slow how fast your digestive system empties to give you that fuller feeling, you can experience a range of side effects.
This often includes things like:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Acid reflux
But while you might think these are side effects that may or may not be experienced depending on the person, Janey Pratt, MD, a clinical professor of surgery at Stanford Medicine said there’s one on that list which is always going to happen.
“A hundred percent of patients who try these medications have nausea — 100%,” Pratt said. “Whether they end up vomiting and missing school or work just depends on the person. But side effects are very under-reported.”
The reason for this is that because the medications slow down how quickly your stomach empties, it correlates to feelings of fullness, bloating, and nausea.
It’s like if you ate something heavy which sits in your stomach for hours and hours, leaving you feeling yucky.
Per Skip Pack Pharmacy, it’s usually temporary, though.
Its website states: “Most people experience nausea within the first 48 hours after starting the medication or after each dose increase. The symptoms are typically mild to moderate and tend to decrease in frequency and severity once you’ve been on a stable dose for a while. Many people find that nausea is most bothersome in the morning or after going long periods without eating.”
