GLP-1 medications, like Ozempic and Mounjaro, help many people lower their A1C levels, but there are also risks to consider.<\/p>\n
Jesus Mendez is offering advice to those with type 2 diabetes and are thinking of starting a GLP-1 medication.<\/p>\n
“I decided to take Ozempic and that actually really helped with my weight and type 2 diabetes,” Mendez said.<\/p>\n
Mendez was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2020.<\/p>\n
“Some of the signs, early on, were having a difficult time with my day to day tasks. At work, I would get tired really quickly,” Mendez said. “I was at my biggest 345 pounds.”<\/p>\n
When doctors first recommended a GLP-1, he wasn’t sure.<\/p>\n
“At first I was hesitant. I did not want to take it because of the fear of the side effects,” Mendez said.<\/p>\n
But he decided to give it a try. Since then, his A1C dropped from 8 percent to 5.3 percent, and he lost more than 150 pounds.<\/p>\n
“It really did help with stabilizing my appetite and it helped with my blood sugar spikes,” Mendez said.<\/p>\n
He’s been able to maintain his weight by tracking his calories and staying active.<\/p>\n
“I had to track what I did for exercise, my strength training. Later on, I also implemented running,” Mendez said.<\/p>\n
“Resistance exercises are important since these medications cause weight loss. A lot of time, you lose protein so you lose muscle, so we want to keep that muscle mass,” South Texas Health System Family Medicine Dr. Chris Casso said.<\/p>\n
Casso says it’s also important to avoid fast food and snacks with sugar and instead focus on a balanced diet.<\/p>\n
“Make sure you are getting enough vegetables, enough fruit, enough proteins and whole grains,” Casso said.<\/p>\n
While GLP-1 medications can help, they don’t come without risks.<\/p>\n
“There can also be side effects of nausea, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, dehydration,” Casso said.<\/p>\n
Casso says many of her patients with type 2 diabetes have benefited from taking GLP-1s.<\/p>\n
In addition to lowering A1C levels, some of her patients have also stopped using insulin. The medication also reduced her patients’ risk of heart disease and stroke; their kidney function also improved.<\/p>\n
“We are basically helping save lives with this medication,” Casso said.<\/p>\n
Doctors say GLP-1 medications can help, but they’re just one part of a lifestyle change you have to commit to for the long haul.<\/p>\n
Watch the video above for the full story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLP-1 medications, like Ozempic and Mounjaro, help many people lower their A1C levels, but there are also risks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[263335,60856,263337,10938,97,263338,263336,243,1623,249,44578,3629,66531],"class_list":{"0":"post-605701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-a1c-levels","9":"tag-diabetes-management","10":"tag-dr-chris-casso","11":"tag-glp-1-medications","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-heart-of-the-valley","14":"tag-jesus-mendez","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-mounjaro","17":"tag-ozempic","18":"tag-south-texas-health-system","19":"tag-type-2-diabetes","20":"tag-weight-loss-success-story"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}