--- title: "New Study Contradicts Patients Regaining Weight If They Stop Taking Ozempic" description: "The news about semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, keeps getting more and more surprising." date: "2024-01-26" modified: "2024-01-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/study-contradicts-weight-stop-ozempic-semaglutide" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "ozempic" - "semaglutide" - "wegovy" - "Weight Loss" --- # New Study Contradicts Patients Regaining Weight If They Stop Taking Ozempic ![The news about semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, keeps getting more and more surprising.]() *\Image: Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty / Futurism\* The emerging consensus about semaglutide, the active ingredient in the buzzy drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, had been that there was a crucial catch: if patients stopped taking it, they'd soon [regain the weight](), locking them into an expensive and lifelong pharmaceutical habit. But interestingly, new data now contradicts those findings, at least for some patients. As a [new survey]() from the health software company Epic Systems indicates, two thirds of patients who used semaglutide injections correctly were able to keep off the weight they'd lost for as long as a year after discontinuing their prescriptions — which flies in the face of reports from people who regained the weight after getting off the drug. The results didn't hold across the board. Of the more than 20,000 people surveyed by the firm's research arm, nearly 18 percent said they regained all the weight they'd lost — but still, 56 percent said that they kept the weight off, and more than half of *those* respondents said they continued to lose weight in the year after stopping their injections. In other words, a great range of outcomes are possible, depending on the specific person — results that once again add to the growing and sometimes contradictory canon of studies and anecdotes regarding semaglutide as it continues to grow ever more popular, controversial, and difficult to obtain. Part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists that mimic the stomach enzyme that makes us feel full, the actual functioning of semaglutide is still [something of an open question]() in the medical community because, [like antidepressants](), nobody's entirely sure how it works. What studies have shown, however, is that these drugs [can provide]() significant [health benefits]() that aren't just limited to weight loss. On the flip side, research has also indicated that semaglutide carries the risk of some [serious side effects](), which can include everything from [nausea and diarrhea]() to [stomach paralysis]() and, in some rare cases, [renal failure]() and [pancreatitis](). Between the [hype surrounding these drugs]() and the sober studies about some of their scarier-sounding side effects are the increasing number of personal stories doctors and journalists have begun compiling about them. From [*The Messenger*'s report]() about a woman who regained all the weight she lost on Wegovy and more to [*NBC*'s interviews]() with the family of a man who died by suicide on Ozempic and now wants to get suicidal ideation included on the drug's warning label, media reports about semaglutide have been quite the mixed bag. It's hard to imagine how people considering taking semaglutide or any other [related GLP-1 agonist]() manage to sift through the noise and decide whether to take the drug for themselves, especially with the [memeification of Ozempic]() bestowing it with an almost mystical quality in the minds of people with [weight on the brain](). Big picture? Once agin, it seems that all these studies and stories reinforce a nuanced view: different peoples' bodies respond in different ways to this drug — just like pretty much everything else we ingest or inject. **More on semaglutide:** [*Knockoff Ozempic Pharmacy Went Out of Business After an Executive's Suicide*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()