Why you might still feel hungry while taking Wegovy

You've done all your research, got your scripts and supplies sorted, and have started your Wegovy weight loss journey. The anticipation is real — if you're anxiously waiting for the results to start kicking off, you're not alone.

But what happens if you've already started the medication, and nothing seems to feel any different? Or if you're just as hungry on Wegovy as you were before?

We've had a look at some of the research so that we can explore the answers together.

How does Wegovy impact hunger levels?

When it's working as designed, Wegovy (also known by its fancy medical name of semaglutide) is a medication that can help with weight management.

Originally developed as a treatment for diabetes, semaglutide is now commonly prescribed to treat obesity or to help with weight loss [1].

Wegovy can change your appetite and hunger levels in a few different ways.

The first is by slowing down how quickly your stomach digests food. The experts call this gastric emptying — the slower it happens, the longer you feel full after eating [1].

Semaglutide does some pretty nifty work on the brain. It mimics the hormones in our body responsible for hunger signals and lets us know when to feel full after eating. Semaglutide can lower hunger by sending signals to the brain that you feel full already. This also helps with food noise and cravings [1].

Research suggests that semaglutide can also help to adjust the brain's reward response to food. It does this by adjusting dopamine, a chemical that's responsible for making us want to do (or eat!) things that make us feel good [2].

By breaking the link between food and dopamine, semaglutide can help people manage overeating and food cravings [2].

Lastly, it can also help to regulate blood sugar by balancing the body's insulin levels. The more unstable your blood sugar, the more likely it is that you'll end up feeling hungry — even after you've eaten [3].

This can lead to consuming more calories during the day, causing weight gain and making it harder to lose weight in the long run [3].

How quickly does Wegovy start to reduce your appetite?

It's normal to be curious about how long new medications will take to kick in. It's important to remember that everyone's different — how Wegovy works will differ a lot from person to person.

Some people might start feeling the appetite-suppressing effects almost immediately, but weight loss can take a little longer.

Wegovy isn't intended to be a quick fix — it takes about 4 weeks to build up to what doctors call a 'maintenance' dose, which is where people usually experience lower hunger levels [4].

Depending on your weight loss goals and how your body reacts to the medication, you might stay at this dose or increase further over time (with the guidance of your GP or healthcare professional) [4].

Studies confirm the idea that how fast someone loses weight on Wegovy/semaglutide is really individual.

In a clinical trial where people were given weekly semaglutide injections, participants lost an average of 6.7kg at the 3-month mark, and 12.3kg at 6 months of taking the medication [5].

Another trial that followed patients taking semaglutide for 68 weeks found that, when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, people lost an average of 15% of their body weight. Participants who received the placebo during the trial only lost 2.4% of body weight [5].

If you skim-read the science-y bits, here's the final scoop: there's no way to tell how quickly Wegovy helps to reduce your appetite, but giving it time to work and get to the right dose for you is important.

And if in doubt, always check in with your GP about what to expect/how you're travelling [6].

Potential reasons why you're still hungry on Wegovy

What if you've been taking Wegovy for a while, but still struggling with hunger levels and cravings?

The first thing to remember is that while semaglutide is a tool in your weight loss toolbox, it's not a miracle cure. Hunger is a normal and vital bodily function — it quite literally keeps us alive [7].

So Wegovy won't (and shouldn't) shut down hunger entirely, but help reduce it to a level that feels manageable and helps you kickstart healthy lifestyle habits.

If you're feeling like you're still more hungry than you should be on Wegovy, there might be a few things going on, such as:

Not having the right dose, or not being on the medication long enough

We know that it takes about 4 weeks to get to the therapeutic dose of Wegovy, but this doesn't mean the same dose works for everyone [4].

It's important that your prescriber starts things off slowly so your body has time to adapt to the new medication. But those initial starting doses might not have enough of an effect on your appetite.

Or if you've been prescribed a dose that's too low for your body's needs, you might still find yourself having cravings [4].

If you're feeling hungry all the time and it doesn't seem to be calming down, it could be time to move up to a higher dose or ask your prescriber to review your medication.

But make sure you're not expecting overnight results or dramatic changes to happen really quickly — like any medication, Wegovy needs time to do its job [4].

Not adjusting diet and lifestyle habits

Another reason you might still be hungry on Wegovy, or stuck in a weight loss plateau, is if you haven't made any changes to your diet or exercise habits.

Weight loss medications work best when they're combined with a healthy diet and increased physical activity (that suits you and your body's abilities).

Just using semaglutide by itself, with no other lifestyle changes, is unlikely to help with weight loss goals in the long run [8].

Most people will need to eat fewer calories (sometimes called a reduced calorie diet or calorie deficit) while taking Wegovy, as part of their treatment plan [9].

This can feel scary. Normally when we start eating less, we expect the body to push back and increase hunger levels even more. But that's where Wegovy steps in — to calm down the cravings as you focus on getting the food and exercise balance right [9].

If you keep eating the same amounts as you did before going on the medication, it might not have the chance to do its job properly [9].

Setting yourself up with these healthy changes also leads to more sustainable weight loss. If you decide to stop the medication, you're less likely to gain the weight back again if you've introduced more exercise and healthy foods into your life [8].

Don't forget: a healthy lifestyle is more than just eating the right meals and going for a jog.

It also means taking care of your mental health, and supporting your body in other ways — like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and reducing stress as much as you can. All of these factors can influence weight loss [11][12].

The medication isn't the right one for you

In some cases, people taking semaglutide might find it just doesn't work for them.

Though relatively rare, it can happen — in the clinical trials where semaglutide was being FDA-approved for weight loss, there was a category of participants called 'non-responders'.

This refers to people who lost less than 5% of their baseline body weight while taking Wegovy. Notice it doesn't mean they lost no weight at all, just that they lost less than other people in the trial [10].

Sometimes this can happen because other medications or health conditions get in the way of Wegovy working how it should.

Other times, it could simply be that semaglutide isn't gelling with your genetics and/or body's systems [10].

If you suspect this might be you, it's not time to give up. There are other medication options and treatment plans available that you can explore with your prescriber.

No idea what to do next? Let our team of weight loss experts do the work for you.

Juniper's Weight Reset Programme includes access to different medications depending on your needs, as well as consultations and coaching with registered health professionals to support you on your journey.

If Wegovy doesn't work for you, there's Mounjaro, a medication that encourages weight loss through the combined action of the GLP-1 and GIP agonists.

Chat with us anytime, especially if you're feeling like you've hit a bump in the road.

How to manage your hunger levels while on Wegovy

Firstly, as we said earlier — some hunger is normal, and it probably won't disappear completely. But it is possible to give Wegovy a helping hand, by doing a few things to manage your hunger levels. You could try:

Eating a healthy, filling breakfast

People who skip or don't eat enough breakfast might be more likely to crave sweets or fast food and feel hungrier throughout the day [13].

Eating lots of protein and fibre

A diet rich in protein and fibre can help you stay fuller for longer, making it easier to stop snacking. It can also leave you feeling more satisfied after your meals [13].

Practise mindful eating

We're all guilty of rushing through a meal to get back to work, or eating in front of the TV and not truly enjoying our food because we're distracted.

By slowing down while we eat, not only is food usually more enjoyable — but we're more likely to eat less. This is because it's easier to pick up on feeling full when you're in touch with your body's signals [13].

Finally, it's really important not to turn losing weight into just a deprivation exercise. Eat things you enjoy in moderation instead of cutting them out completely — doing so will help with cravings (and your sanity) [13].

Eating should still give you pleasure, it's just about making the right adjustments and getting support to help you get to your healthiest self.

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