Semaglutide is an innovative new medication used for weight management and blood sugar control. It is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist that regulates appetite and food intake. Semaglutide helps people feel fuller faster so they eat less and lose weight. It also helps lower blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.
When taken regularly, semaglutide can have profound benefits:
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover all aspects of semaglutide treatment at Hormone Care Center in Fargo to help you decide if it is right for you.
Semaglutide curbs appetite by acting on receptors in the brain that regulate food intake. It sends signals that you are full and satisfied, leading to reduced hunger and calorie consumption.
Research shows that semaglutide can help people:
Over weeks and months, this translates to losing a significant amount of weight for many patients. Studies show people may lose upwards of 15% of their body weight on semaglutide.
Besides weight loss, semaglutide provides other meaningful health benefits:
By lowering blood sugar and insulin levels, semaglutide can help manage type 2 diabetes. It may allow some people to reduce oral medications or insulin.
Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels and nerves leading to vision loss, kidney disease, and amputations. Getting blood sugar under control reduces these risks.
Semaglutide also improves key markers of heart health like LDL cholesterol and blood pressure. This likely contributes to reduced risk of stroke and heart attack.
Semaglutide may be an option if you:
Hormone Care Centerians carefully screen each patient to determine if semaglutide treatment aligns with your health goals.
Prior to starting semaglutide, your Hormone Care Center provider will order lab tests and perform a medical evaluation to diagnose any underlying conditions.
This involves assessing:
Blood tests help identify deficiencies in key hormones like testosterone, thyroid, or growth hormone that may contribute to weight gain. Optimizing these levels facilitates weight loss.
Labs provide insights into cholesterol, blood sugar, kidney and liver function. Getting these metrics into the healthy range also promotes weight loss.
We evaluate diet, exercise, sleep, and stress to offer customized lifestyle recommendations tailored to your needs. Small improvements in these areas combine with semaglutide for optimal results.
The semaglutide protocol at Hormone Care Center involves:
Our clinicians will perform a history and physical exam and order blood tests to identify any underlying causes of obesity or high blood sugar. We also evaluate your motivation and readiness to lose weight.
Semaglutide is administered once weekly by subcutaneous injection. The dose is titrated up over 5-7 weeks based on your tolerance. Most patients remain on the maintenance dose long term.
Patients follow up every 4 weeks initially to monitor weight loss progress, medication tolerance, blood sugar changes, and overall health improvements. We may tweak the dosage based on your response. These visits eventually shift to every 3 months for long term management. Lab tests help us make data-driven decisions.
Our clinical team provides dietary information, fitness guidance, sleep hygiene tips, and stress management advice tailored to your needs. Small lifestyle tweaks combined with semaglutide lead to better outcomes.
Within 12-16 weeks of starting treatment, most patients experience:
However, results vary based on the dose, duration of treatment, medication compliance, and willingness to improve lifestyle habits.
Combining semaglutide with healthy nutrition, activity, restorative sleep, and stress management leads to better, longer lasting results. Our clinical team supports patients in making sustainable changes.
When used under medical supervision, semaglutide is generally well tolerated with mild side effects including:
Rarely, semaglutide can cause:
Hormone Care Centerians monitor patients closely and adjust dosing at the first signs of side effects. Reporting symptoms promptly allows us to maintain safety and efficacy.
Hormone Care Center provides individualized, concierge-level treatment guided by frequent patient interactions, lab testing and dose adjustments as needed over months to years.
We partner with you to ensure semaglutide is working optimally along with diet, activity, and other lifestyle measures to accomplish your health goals and sustain improvements long term.
Our expertise includes:
Results vary but many patients lose 10-15% of body weight over 3-6 months. Diet and lifestyle changes enhance weight loss.
Most patients take semaglutide long term since weight loss reversing after stopping. Maintenance treatment sustains results.
Many insurances cover some portion of semaglutide. Out of pocket costs may range $500-1500 monthly without coverage.
Yes, research shows semaglutide is safe for years with close medical monitoring. However, lifelong treatment is often required.
Yes, your Hormone Care Center provider will ensure any other prescribed drugs you take are compatible with semaglutide.
We hope this guide provided helpful information about semaglutide for weight loss and blood sugar control. Our passionate clinicians have helped numerous patients achieve profound health improvements via personalized treatment plans including semaglutide, optimized nutrition, physical activity, rest, and stress reduction. We welcome you to join our wellness community. Please reach out today to take the first step!
