{"id":619218,"date":"2026-10-03T07:18:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T07:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/619218\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T07:18:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T07:18:26","slug":"weight-loss-continues-after-switching-from-a-glp-1-shot-to-a-pill-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/619218\/","title":{"rendered":"Weight Loss Continues After Switching From a GLP-1 Shot to a Pill, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doctors Aren\u2019t Shocked by the Findings<\/p>\n

The Wegovy pill has been popular since its launch, but the public largely seems to view injectable forms of the medication as better, says Jamie Alan, PharmD, PhD<\/a>, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University in East Lansing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oral form does work; it\u2019s just a little bit less effective than the injectable,\u201d says Mir Ali, MD<\/a>, the medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.<\/p>\n

Dr. Siegel agrees, but he adds that switching GLP-1s<\/a> from an injectable to an oral does not guarantee weight loss. \u201cOngoing weight loss will depend on persistent lifestyle changes<\/a> and probably the dose of the oral semaglutide,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Siegel also points out that people eventually plateau on GLP-1 medications for weight management, whatever the form. \u201cWith semaglutide, the plateau is usually 10 to 15 percent [weight loss], if diet and activity are optimal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

During a maintenance phase<\/a>, he adds, a GLP-1 medication will continue to \u201ckeep appetite down and satiety up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Study Has Limitations<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s results haven\u2019t yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, which means the findings can\u2019t be considered conclusive.<\/p>\n

Gitanjali Srivastava, MD<\/a>, an obesity medicine physician and a professor at Vanderbilt Health in Nashville, Tennessee, calls the results \u201cencouraging,\u201d with a few caveats. \u201cThis should be read as early, hypothesis-generating data,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is real-world evidence from a single telehealth platform, sponsored by the manufacturer, and it only looked at patients who stayed on the pill for three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

That study design naturally selects people who were doing well on the pill and tolerating it, Dr. Srivastava says. Plus, she says, \u201cThere\u2019s no comparison group, and three months is short in obesity care, where we think in years,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Earlier research that followed people for a year after switching from an injectable GLP-1 (either semaglutide or tirzepatide) to the oral GLP-1 pill Foundayo (orforglipron) found that subjects regained 2 to 11 lb within a year.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/p>\n

But doctors say there is value in the latest data. \u201cMore data is good, and now people have more evidence that switching from the injection to the pill will support weight loss,\u201d Dr. Alan says.<\/p>\n

Oral GLP-1s May Be a Better Fit for Certain Groups, According to Doctors<\/p>\n

A GLP-1 pill may be helpful for people who can remember to take medication daily, Siegel says. Beyond that, \u201cit should be good for either initial weight reduction or maintenance,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It can also provide another option for people who are nervous about taking a shot, have a history of injection site reactions, or who have potential issues with being able to refrigerate their medication, Alan says.<\/p>\n

Affordability may be a factor, too. \u201cIf the cost is lower for oral medication, it may allow more access,\u201d Siegel says.<\/p>\n

Overall, \u201cThe oral form is a viable option for many people,\u201d Dr. Ali says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doctors Aren\u2019t Shocked by the Findings The Wegovy pill has been popular since its launch, but the public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-619218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}