What to Expect With Saxenda Injections - Health News of the Week

 

What to Expect With Saxenda Injections - Health News of the Week

What to Expect With Saxenda Injections -
Health News of the Week

Saxenda is one of the few drugs approved by the FDA specifically for treating obesity, but how effective is it really? and what should you know before taking it?

Here Dr. Brian Yeung discusses Saxenda:

Hi! I'm Dr. Brian Yeung, a naturopathic doctor 

in Toronto, and I manage weight loss patients

who have used and are currently using 

Saxenda, and from all their experiences  

I'm here today to shed some light on what 

you might expect it if you try it yourself.

Saxenda, also known as liraglutide, was actually 

originally a medication for diabetes called  

Victoza. It works in this way by mimicking the 

effects of a hormone called glucagon-like peptide  

1 or GLP-1. This hormone stimulates the release of insulin and therefore helps diabetics with poor insulin control. For diabetes, liraglutide isn't used often first, since they're much more effective and well-researched medications for diabetes on the market already. However, researchers also found that GLP-1 makes us feel full, so an incredibly intelligent marketing team rebranded  Saxenda, an appetite suppressant for weight loss. 

They come in reusable pre-filled syringes, you  

attach a little needle on the tip and select the 

dose to inject, then you hold the injection against  

your skin for 6 seconds, before removing and 

discarding the needle and putting away the syringe.  

Doses start low and increase slowly, especially 

if you've just started Saxenda.

Side effects.

There are quite a lot of potential side effects. 

In practice, the most common I've seen is feeling nauseous all the time, followed by gastrointestinal disturbances like diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramping,  

vomiting, heartburn, and so on. Some people also get a headache or feel dizzy. It tends to go away once you've used Saxenda for a while, but I've seen people continue to experience these symptoms or even get worse over time. You'll need a full health 

screening before you start taking Saxenda since  

there are also a lot of potentially rarer but more 

severe side effects like damage to the liver or  

pancreas, gallstones, kidney failure, an increase 

in thyroid cancers, heart irregularities, and  

depression or suicidal thoughts. Yeah there's a lot. 

Is it effective?

The way Saxenda works for weight loss is 

primarily by suppressing your appetite.

In terms of preventing overeating, 

Saxenda can be quite effective.

Some of my patients tell me it's working really well to suppress their appetite and stop cravings, but I find that these particular patients seem to be the ones getting the worst or most persistent nausea. So I'm never too sure how much of it is the nausea stopping them from eating or the actual medication. In the same vein, I'll 

occasionally notice patients complaining about  

other side effects that stop them from eating 

too much in general, for example, complaining about  

migraine headaches that reduce their appetite. 

Of course, there are many patients that do feel fine,  

but the number of patients who have these side 

effects make me wonder if part of how this drug  

works are by making you feel too crappy to eat. 

Unfortunately, the appetite-controlling effect  

of Saxenda seems to wear off over time, with some 

patients reporting no more effects on appetite  

as quickly as within a month of continual usage. 

So I would say that Saxenda tends to be most  

effective when you first use it and decreases 

in efficacy, as you continue to use it for longer.  

Should you do it?

Saxenda is best used if you have a hard time controlling hunger and tend to overeat and snack too often. I always recommend 

developing good dietary and lifestyle habits  

as they tend to produce more permanent results 

if implemented properly, however, Saxenda can help  

those with very strict diets or act as a good 

tool temporarily while trying to implement more  

permanent solutions. It might also be very helpful 

to people who are pre-diabetic or diabetic, and are  

not currently on any medications since Saxenda, 

or liraglutide is also an anti-diabetic medication.  

In fact, the doses used in both weight 

loss and diabetes are very similar.  

That being said there are a few things to keep in mind before you use Saxenda. Firstly, it requires a prescription and you'll need to see your doctor about it to see if it's even safe for you to use.  

Secondly, you'll obviously have to be comfortable 

at giving yourself an injection every day,  

and thirdly Saxenda is quite expensive if paid 

entirely out of pocket, around $1000 - $2000  

per month depending on the dose. Overall, I 

find Saxenda is a good way to make weight loss protocols easier to follow. If you do decide to use it, I recommend following a more strict weight loss diet since the reduced appetite makes it much easier to follow such diets. But it's important  

to remember that the drug should not replace the 

development of good dietary and lifestyle habits.  

I've had patients stop taking the medication 

only to gain all the weight they lost right  

back because they relied on Saxenda too much it 

became a crutch, and they were unable to control  

their feeding habits once they stopped taking it. 

Let me know in the comments down below if you  

have any other questions about Saxenda, or if you 

have any experiences yourself you'd like to share,  

and if you found this video helpful 

please leave me alike! As before,  

I'm Dr. Brian Yeung, bringing you weight loss info 

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