{"id":630285,"date":"2024-11-04T16:17:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T21:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=630285"},"modified":"2025-02-19T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T20:46:53","slug":"wegovy-after-weight-loss-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/wegovy-after-weight-loss-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it safe to take Wegovy after bariatric surgery?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until recently, there weren\u2019t many medical treatments that could safely provide dramatic weight loss results for people with obesity, especially if you didn\u2019t want or couldn\u2019t qualify for bariatric surgery. \u201cEven after trying bariatric surgery, some people don\u2019t lose the weight they hoped to or gain some or all of it back after several years,\u201d says <\/span>J. Omatseye Jr., MD<\/span><\/a>, aesthetic and regenerative medicine provider at Signature Rejuvenation MD in Florida. However, the introduction of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists like <\/span>Wegovy<\/span><\/a> (semaglutide) has changed that landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n

Made with the same active ingredient as <\/span>Ozempic<\/span><\/a>, semaglutide, Wegovy is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for weight management in adults and adolescents 12 years and older with obesity and adults who are overweight with a weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. And, it was recently FDA approved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack, and stroke in adults with cardiovascular disease and obesity or overweight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wegovy<\/span><\/a> is emerging as a potentially effective way for people to continue to manage their weight post-surgery. Here\u2019s what to know about taking Wegovy after gastric bypass or gastric sleeve surgery, including who may want to use it and how well it works for <\/span>continued weight loss<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you take Wegovy after gastric bypass surgery?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Gastric bypass surgery, sometimes also called <\/span>Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery<\/span><\/a>, is a bariatric procedure where a surgeon sections off a small portion of your stomach and connects it to a part of your small intestine called the jejunum. This reduces the amount of food your stomach can hold and <\/span>allows the food to bypass a large part of your small intestine<\/span><\/a>, absorbing fewer calories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This <\/span>leads to substantial weight loss<\/span><\/a>; most people who receive gastric bypass surgery will lose 50% to 80% of their excess weight in the first 12 to 18 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>Christine Ren-Fielding, MD<\/span><\/a>, director of NYU\u2019s Langone Weight Management Program and the chief of the Division of Bariatric Surgery, gastric bypass surgery is the \u201cgold standard\u201d of bariatric operations for weight loss. It helps people lose weight and keep it off for the longest period of time and is highly effective at <\/span>putting Type 2 diabetes and other health conditions into remission<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, nothing is 100% effective or can guarantee weight loss forever, Dr. Ren-Fielding adds, because of the number of factors that contribute to obesity, like your physiology, hunger cues, genetics, sensitivity to sugar, and even your emotional response to food. In other words, obesity is a complex disease\u2014and it often requires a complex approach, such as combining surgery with medication, like Wegovy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGastric bypass is effective in increasing fullness and decreasing hunger,\u201d Dr. Ren-Fielding says, \u201cbut people who have it will typically regain about 10% to 20% of what they lost\u2014and 10 years after gastric bypass surgery, about 20% to 30% of people have regained most or all of the weight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Wegovy is added to the equation, people who had gastric bypass may be able to lose some of that regained weight. For example, a study published in 2022 found that <\/span>most post-surgical people taking semaglutide for six months experienced some amount of weight loss<\/span><\/a>. Of the participants, 85% lost at least 5% of their excess body weight, 45% lost at least 10%, and 5% lost 15% or more. In this study, there was no meaningful difference in the amount of weight lost based on the type of bariatric surgery that had been performed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Ren-Fielding says prescribing Wegovy to post-surgical patients is as safe as it is for everyone else. The <\/span>starting dosage of 0.25 milligrams<\/span><\/a> is the same, and people can slowly increase their dose over time without experiencing any abnormal side effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you take Wegovy after gastric sleeve surgery?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Gastric sleeve surgery is a type of bariatric surgery that shrinks the size of your stomach, reducing how much food you can eat. Bariatric surgeons make the stomach smaller by removing a large part of it and leaving behind a \u201ctube-shaped\u201d structure, <\/span>like a sleeve<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people who get gastric sleeve surgery <\/span>will lose about 60% to 70% of their excess body weight<\/span><\/a> in the first 12 to 18 months after surgery. However, while gastric sleeve surgery has similar outcomes to bypass surgery and is typically successful in causing weight loss and improving other health outcomes, there\u2019s a substantial chance of weight regain. <\/span>Some studies suggest<\/span><\/a> that as many as 75% of people will regain some of their original weight lost about six years after surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like with gastric bypass surgery, this is where Wegovy can potentially play a role. According to Dr. Omatseye, Wegovy is safe for most people after gastric sleeve surgery and can help them continue to lose weight. He points to <\/span>a recent study of people who had undergone bariatric surgery<\/span><\/a> about eight years ago and had regained more than 40% of the initial weight they lost. In that study, the people taking semaglutide were more likely to lose weight than the people taking liraglutide. And, in contrast to some other study results, the people who had undergone gastric sleeve surgery\u2014as opposed to other types of bariatric surgery\u2014were even more likely to see significant weight loss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike with gastric bypass surgery, people taking Wegovy after gastric sleeve surgery can start at the normal lowest dose of 0.25 milligrams,\u201d says Dr. Omatseye. They can then gradually increase their dose as needed until they\u2019ve found the lowest effective dose that\u2019s right for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wegovy vs. bariatric surgery: Which is better?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The question of which intervention is better, Wegovy or bariatric surgery, doesn\u2019t have a straightforward answer. Dr. Omatseye says multiple studies show that bariatric surgery results in greater weight loss than medication, but surgery isn\u2019t without risks (and some people <\/span>can <\/span><\/i>lose substantial amounts of weight on semaglutide).<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Ren-Fielding agrees, explaining that there are pros and cons to both options and, in order to figure out which intervention is better for you, you need to work with your healthcare provider to answer a few key questions, including:<\/span><\/p>\n