Weight loss drugs like semaglutide are one of the fastest-growing medication types available today, but with that can come a lot of confusion about this tool. Is it safe? Is it effective? How do I tell if it’s right for me?
At Exhibit Medical Aesthetics, we educate our patients, empowering them to make knowledgeable decisions about their health and wellness. In this blog, we explore weight loss injections like semaglutide in Denville and share how to make the best decisions for your individual health goals.
What is semaglutide?
Semaglutide, a weight loss medication, mimics the GLP-1 hormone. Your digestive system naturally produces GLP-1 hormones, which tell your brain when you are full, stopping production of the hormone that makes you feel hungry.
By creating more of the GLP-1 hormone, semaglutide causes you to feel fuller for longer, which helps you to control portion sizes, make balanced choices, and limit snacking. These habits can all give you the “push” you need to lose weight.
Semaglutide vs. Tirzepatide
At Exhibit Medical Aesthetics, we offer both semaglutide and tirzepatide to help you lose weight. Semaglutide only mimics the GLP-1 hormone, but tirzepatide also mimics another hormone—the GIP hormone. This hormone slows down gastric emptying and regulates blood sugar levels, which both help you feel fuller for longer.
During your consultation, our providers will help you determine which medication or other weight loss plan could work for you. We will also discuss your health history, including medications you already take and other weight loss methods you’ve tried, to base your treatment on your individual health and wellness goals.
Compounded vs. Name-Brand
Semaglutide comes in a few different formulas, but the most important difference is the difference between name-brand and compounded semaglutide.
If you already started researching semaglutide, then you may have seen warnings about using compounded versions of the medication. While you should exercise caution when choosing which medications to use, you should also hear the details from a professional first.
The main difference between compounded semaglutide and name-brand semaglutide in Denville is where the producer of the medications acquires the ingredients to make the drug. During drug shortages, the FDA allows pharmacies to make their own versions of certain medications, as long as they follow a certain set of rules.
The Details of Compounded Semaglutide
The compounded formulas semaglutide do not act as “generic” versions of the name-brand medications and are therefore not FDA-approved. However, they are still regarded as safe and effective. However, The FDA has rules for compounding pharmacies to follow to ensure the medications they create are still safe for use even though they are not tested or studied by the FDA. These rules are:
- Use the same form of semaglutide in the FDA-approved medications (called semaglutide base).
- Purchase semaglutide base from FDA-registered facilities.
- Compound semaglutide in accordance with state and federal regulations for compounding.
- Dispense compounded semaglutide with a prescription from a licensed healthcare professional.
The main reason why compounded formulas are not “approved” by the FDA is because they may include other ingredients that do not follow the same standards.
While some producers add these ingredients to help with nutrition during treatment, the FDA has not tested how they interact with the semaglutide ingredients, making the risks and benefits less predictable.
Most concern surrounding compounded versions of semaglutide started because some compounding pharmacies did not follow the specific regulations set by the FDA. This led to improper practices like:
- Inappropriate ingredients used in the compounding formulas.
- Higher risks of potential contamination.
- Increased risk of unknown impurities in the compounded medications.
- Lower quality control.
- Higher likelihood of dosage errors.
For your treatment semaglutide in Denville, we offer both name-brand injections and compounded medication options.
We prefer name-brand first, and we try to get access to name-brand injections through your insurance, since more and more insurance companies now approve semaglutide and tirzepatide. However, if your insurance denies coverage for name-brand semaglutide, we try the compounded route.
If we need to prescribe compounded medication, we thoroughly vet the compounding pharmacies we use. We prioritize safety and efficacy first, so we verify where pharmacies receive their ingredients, what they include in their compounded recipes, and much, much more.
Healthy Habits
As another important aspect of the weight loss process, we help you create and maintain healthy habits. While we offer semaglutide in Denville to help stave off hunger and manage your eating habits, lifestyle choices still determine your weight loss results.
If you eat less, but your diet still includes fried food, saturated fats, and lots of added sugars, then you will not see noticeable results or maintain any results you do achieve once you stop semaglutide. You can start establishing some habits now to help your weight loss journey go smoothly.
Eat a Healthy, Balanced Diet
Diet makes up about 80% of weight loss. Exercise helps to increase calorie burn, but if the calories you take in equal or exceed the calories you burn, then your weight loss effort will not deliver the desired results.
On top of that, the type of food you consume matters, too. If your diet does not have the right balance of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and carbs, then you feel drained more easily, which can lead to extra snacking. Your diet should include mostly vegetables and proteins, with some fruits and grains. We also suggest limiting added sugars and saturated fats as much as possible.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise helps to increase your caloric burn in multiple ways. You should include 2 types of exercise in your regimen: cardio-based exercises and strength-based exercises.
Many patients beginning their weight loss journey think that 1 type of exercise does more than another, but balancing both helps you lose weight most effectively.
While using semaglutide in Denville, we encourage you to build muscle by doing strength-based exercises. Increased muscle mass increases your metabolism, so your body burns more calories, even at rest. Ending workouts with about 20 minutes of cardio will increase the average caloric burn of each workout. The most popular cardio workouts are running, biking, walking, and swimming.
Drink Plenty of Water
Staying hydrated also helps you lose weight more effectively. Since our bodies are made up of 60% water, we need it for basic bodily functions—but it does so many things to help with weight loss, too. Drinking more water can suppress your appetite, increase your metabolism, reduce your overall liquid calorie intake, keep up your energy during your workouts, and more. We suggest men drink about 15.5 cups per day and women drink about 11.5 cups per day.
The Semaglutide Process
The process looks a little different for every patient, since we focus on personalizing every semaglutide plan for your needs. However, our patients can expect treatment to follow these general steps when they receive semaglutide in Denville.
Consultation
Once you express an interest in medical weight loss to our team, we schedule a 20-minute phone call with our APN (Advanced Practice Nurse). She explains what tests you need to complete, answers any preliminary questions you have, and pre-screens you to see if you are a good candidate.
Once your provider has determined you are a good candidate, they will have labs drawn, and we’ll measure body composition, grip strength, blood pressure, and heart rate. Once all these tests have been completed, we’ll schedule a 60-minute follow-up appointment to go over your results. Based on this information, we discuss treatment and supplement recommendations.
Treatment
Once you and your provider decide you are a candidate for semaglutide in Denville, you can elect to participate in our 12-week initial weight loss program. This program includes either name brand or compounded medication depending on insurance, 3 monthly check-ins, 3 body composition analysis scans, and unlimited vitamin injections. Your provider may also suggest pairing your weight loss treatment with the SKINTYTE laser to help firm up loose skin that develops during treatment.
Results
After you finish with the initial 12-week program, you and your provider will discuss your progress and compare it to your goals. Based on your results, you may have the opportunity to participate in our 12-week maintenance program. This less-intense program has a lower price point than the initial 12-week weight loss program. If insurance allows, our APN can prescribe name-brand semaglutide rather than compounded medication.
Fall in Love With How You Look
Many people struggle with losing weight, but with semaglutide, you can finally stop struggling and start feeling confident in your body. Want to learn more about our program? Schedule a consultation with one of our expert providers.
Or, if you don’t feel ready to commit to a consultation just yet, you can use our complimentary treatment planning tool to submit your concerns and receive a personalized treatment recommendation. No matter what, our team wants to equip you with the tools and resources you need to make the best decisions for your health.
