The TGA approved Wegovy for the treatment of obesity and overweight. The drug guarantees high efficacy and helps to achieve excellent results if you follow the treatment plan and the instructions clearly. The active ingredient of Wegovy is semaglutide, and the drug should be administered under the skin with a special pen. The injection must be done once a week. It is caused by the Wegovy half-life, which is 165-184 hours (approximately 7 days).
During this time, the drug’s active substance is in the blood at a sufficient concentration to ensure the desired result. Semaglutide refers to the agonists of the hormone GLP-1, which affects the parts of the brain responsible for appetite and eating.
The study found that the average weight loss from Wegovy was 6.2% of the starting weight compared to the placebo group. The drug is suitable for long-term therapy and can also be used to treat overweight complications such as arterial hypertension or high cholesterol.
How long for Wegovy take to get out of the system, and what does it depend on?
Wegovy is recommended to take once a week on the same day to ensure the necessary blood concentration of the active ingredient. It can take several weeks for the treatment to begin before the blood concentration is sufficient to suppress appetite.
During the half-life of Wegovy, semaglutide helps to maintain a sense of satiety and reduces appetite. But this concentration must be maintained by constant injections of the drug. As the dosage increases, the feeling of satiety lasts longer, and you can get by with less food. Recall that the dosage is increased every four weeks until a therapeutic dosage of 2.4 mg is achieved, which can be maintained until the desired result is achieved.
Does the half-life increase depending on the dosage? Yes, for a dosage of 0.5 mg or 1 mg, it is 7 days; that is, the therapeutic dosage may increase. Thus, complete elimination of the drug from the body can be expected 5-7 weeks after the last injection. Individual characteristics of the patient can also influence the active substance’s removal rate.
How to get Wegovy out of your system: how the drug is excreted
If you decide to stop taking the drug, for its complete elimination from the body, you stop the injections and wait a few weeks. Consult your doctor on the best way. Even though the instructions for the medication do not specify the need for a gradual reduction of the dose for the withdrawal of the drug, it is better to discuss this issue with a specialist.
The removal of semaglutide involves the kidneys and intestines. 2/3 of this substance is excreted with urine and 1/3 through the intestines. Kidney failure may negatively affect the removal of Wegovy.
In rare cases, special medical procedures may be required to remove semaglutide from the body. These are cases of overdose when a person develops, for example, such a dangerous condition as hypoglycemia. You should immediately seek help from a specialist who, depending on your condition, can prescribe several procedures to remove semaglutide and eliminate the effects of the overdose quickly.
Your doctor will advise you on how to behave after stopping the drug if you want to speed up the withdrawal time. However, the presence of a residual amount of semaglutide in the blood usually does not cause problems.
Conclusion
For Wegovy treatment to be effective, you must ensure sufficient concentration of the active substance in the blood. Regular injections of the drug can achieve this aim. Their frequency depends on the half-life of the semaglutide, which is 1 week. From the moment of the last injection to the moment of the complete elimination of the active substance from the body can take 5-7 weeks. The excretion rate is influenced to some extent by individual characteristics and health conditions, particularly kidney diseases.
