The drugs also boast other long-term benefits, such as protection against cardiovascular disease.
What Are GLP-1 Drugs?
Only your healthcare team can decide which of these drugs, if any, will work best for you.
GLP-1 drugs have many benefits beyond weight loss.
How Much Weight Will I Lose?
The results of major clinical trials suggest how much weight the average user may expect to lose.
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But some people will not see these results.
Additional GLP-1 Benefits
GLP-1s have health benefits that extend beyond weight loss.
A small number of users may experience gastrointestinal effects so severe that they need to stop taking the medication.
These cosmeticside effectsarent unhealthy, and arent directly because of GLP-1s.
Instead, they are due to rapid significant weight loss.
Weight loss can make parts of your body look different.
While your belly may slim down, so might your buttocks and face.
In some people, weight loss can lead to looser or sagging skin.
Warnings
GLP-1 drugs are powerful medications that may not be appropriate for everybody.
GLP-1s may be risky for older adults.
The high price of GLP-1s has created a market for less-expensivecompounded versions of the drugs.
Many doctorsendorse and prescribe compounded GLP-1 weight loss drugs, but others warn explicitly against their use.
Alternatives to GLP-1 Drugs
GLP-1 agonists are not the only option for weight loss.
It may go without saying, but the old-fashioned way diet and exercise remains a preferred weight loss method.
Indeed many doctors require people to try diet and exercise alone before trying GLP-1s.
A combination of cardio exercises and strength training is often the bestexercise strategy for weight loss.
If you cannot access or afford newer GLP-1 medications, a generation ofolder weight loss drugsis still available.