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Comment by deafpolygon | Hacker News Reader

Generally speaking, is Ozempic safe?

This class of drugs has been around for 20 years. It’s a very typical overnight success story.

Whether it is safe for you is not answerable by randoms on the internet, but the class of drugs (GLP1 Receptor Agonists) are VERY well researched (like other commenters have pointed out).

If the wealth of anecdotal experience isn't enough for you, read the published research and trials.

For the reasons the FDA and EMA approved it, for diabetes, yes.

The FDA has approved this class of drugs for weight loss as well. Wegovy is the version that was FDA approved for weight loss, it's the same drug as Ozempic but at a different dose.

Source: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-appr...

For what it's worth, it's also one of the only classes of weight loss drugs the FAA has felt was safe enough to approve for pilots to use. (The only other one being metformin, which has a much more modest effect.) They tend to be very picky about the safety profile of drugs that are used by aviators.

This is a big deal for folks in aviation, because until now there has been no other options available other than lifestyle modification - which is always preferable when it works, but statistically has an abysmal success rate.

> it's the same drug as Ozempic but at a different dose.

Yea.. it's just a 5x higher dose.

The maximum Ozempic dose is 2.0 mg. The maximum Wegovy dose is 2.4 mg.

The difference is not as dramatic as you're making it sound. And again, both are FDA approved within this dosing schedule.

0.5mg is the standard maintenance dose of Ozempic. You _can_ get higher doses _if_ your provider decides you need temporary additional blood sugar control.

2.4mg is the standard maintenance dose of Wegovy.

It actually is that dramatic. The brands are approved for different purposes and control different diseases. The doses are designed as such. This is the _entire_ point of Wegovy even existing.

Rybelsus: "Am I a joke to you?"

I mean the question is rather what's the alternative. Diabetes - even well managed - already shortens your expected lifespan considerably by more than ten years.

So the safety profile has a different baseline risk.

If you're morbidly obese, and don't yet have diabetes, it's still so likely that you will develop it, and a host of other issues, that it's probably still better to lose weight with ozempic. Morbidly obese people also have an extremely shortened lifespan.

If you're only a little overweight and you're trying to get a lean physique. That's where you should really think if taking a risk is worth it.

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