Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist given as a once-weekly injection under the skin. It was first approved in the United States in 2017. According to the current FDA label, Ozempic is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, and to reduce the risk of sustained eGFR decline, end-stage kidney disease, and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
What the Ozempic label does not include is chronic weight management. That indication belongs to Wegovy, which contains the same active ingredient at a higher weekly dose. Prescribing Ozempic itself for weight loss is off-label prescribing. It is legal, it is common, and physicians do it every day — but it means the medication is being used outside the uses the FDA reviewed for that particular product. We would rather say that plainly on this page than leave you to find it out later.
Semaglutide imitates GLP-1, a hormone your intestine releases after you eat. It prompts insulin release when blood sugar is high, reduces glucagon, and slows how quickly the stomach empties. Most patients describe the practical effect in simpler terms: feeling full sooner, staying full longer, and thinking about food less often. That shift is what makes nutrition and activity changes easier to sustain — the medication supports the work, it does not replace it.
At Atlanta Medical Institute, our team at 5009 Roswell Road NE in Buckhead has worked with medical weight management since 2010. Whether Ozempic, a different semaglutide product, or another medication entirely is appropriate for you — and at what dose — is a clinical decision a prescribing physician makes after reviewing your history, your current medications, and your lab work. For that reason you will not find dosing schedules on this page. You will find them in your treatment plan, after we have met you.
Program Benefits
- A full medical evaluation before anything is prescribed, including your history, current medications, and lab work
- Once-weekly dosing rather than a medication you have to remember daily
- Gradual, physician-directed dose adjustment, which is the main tool for limiting nausea and other gastrointestinal effects
- Changes in appetite and fullness that many patients find make nutrition and activity changes easier to keep up
- Scheduled follow-up to track weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and how well you are tolerating treatment
- Coordination with the rest of your care at AMI, including nutrition support, hormone evaluation, and metabolic labs
Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Compounded Semaglutide
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in several different products, and the differences are not marketing. They affect dose, approved use, and what evidence stands behind them.
Semaglutide is also not tirzepatide. Tirzepatide is a different molecule — the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound — and there is no FDA-approved generic of tirzepatide or of semaglutide. If you are comparing the two, our tirzepatide and Mounjaro program pages cover that side in the same detail.
- Ozempic — semaglutide injection, once weekly, approved for type 2 diabetes and, in specific groups of adults with type 2 diabetes, for cardiovascular and kidney risk reduction.
- Wegovy — semaglutide injection at a higher weekly dose, approved for chronic weight management and for reducing cardiovascular event risk in adults with obesity or overweight who have established cardiovascular disease. In December 2025 the FDA also approved an oral 25 mg form of Wegovy for weight management.
- Rybelsus — oral semaglutide tablets, approved for type 2 diabetes.
- Compounded semaglutide — not an FDA-approved product. The FDA has publicly warned about compounded GLP-1 drugs, citing dosing errors and the use of semaglutide salt forms that are chemically different from the approved ingredient.
Who Is and Is Not a Candidate
Candidacy is decided by a physician after an evaluation, not by a questionnaire. In general the conversation looks at your weight and body composition, your blood sugar and metabolic labs, conditions such as hypertension or sleep apnea, what you have tried before, and every medication and supplement you currently take.
Some things in the FDA label rule Ozempic out or change the plan, and you should know them before your visit:
None of this is a substitute for the discussion itself. Bring your medication list and any recent lab work to your consultation so the evaluation can be thorough the first time.
- It is contraindicated in anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, and in anyone with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2.
- It is contraindicated after a serious hypersensitivity reaction to semaglutide or any ingredient in the product.
- The label states it is not recommended in patients with severe gastroparesis.
- The label advises discontinuing semaglutide at least two months before a planned pregnancy, because the drug clears from the body slowly.
- A history of pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, or diabetic retinopathy, or current use of insulin or a sulfonylurea, calls for closer review and may change what we recommend.
What to Expect in the Program
Our program is built around visits, not refills. The point of the follow-up schedule is to catch side effects early, adjust before they become a reason to quit, and make sure the weight you are losing is coming off in a way your physician is comfortable with.
Doses are increased in steps over time rather than started high, because slower titration is the most reliable way to keep gastrointestinal side effects manageable. Your specific schedule is set by your physician and may be slowed down or held at your request.
- An in-depth consultation at our Buckhead office covering your history, goals, and current medications.
- Lab work and a physical assessment to establish your starting point and rule out contraindications.
- A prescribing decision made with you, including an honest conversation about off-label use if that applies.
- Instruction on how to store and administer the injection correctly, given in person.
- Regular follow-up visits for dose adjustment, side-effect management, and tracking of weight and metabolic markers.
- Nutrition and behavioral support alongside the medication, so the changes hold as dosing stabilizes.
Side Effects, Safety, and Monitoring
Ozempic carries a boxed warning for the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors. In rodents, semaglutide caused these tumors; whether it does so in humans is not known, and the FDA label says the human relevance of the rodent findings has not been determined. That is why the contraindications around medullary thyroid carcinoma and MEN 2 exist.
The most common adverse reactions listed on the label are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation. For most patients these are worst in the days after a dose increase and settle down. The label also carries warnings for acute pancreatitis, acute gallbladder disease, acute kidney injury caused by dehydration from severe vomiting or diarrhea, low blood sugar when combined with insulin or an insulin secretagogue, diabetic retinopathy complications in people who already have retinopathy, serious hypersensitivity reactions, and severe gastrointestinal reactions. In October 2025 the FDA label was updated on that last point.
Two practical items matter more than patients expect. Because semaglutide slows stomach emptying, it can change how other oral medications are absorbed, so your full medication list needs to be on the chart. And because pulmonary aspiration has been reported in patients on GLP-1 medications undergoing anesthesia or deep sedation, you should tell any surgeon, dentist, or anesthesiologist that you are taking it before a procedure is scheduled.
Call us if you develop severe or persistent abdominal pain, cannot keep fluids down, or notice vision changes. Those are reasons to be seen, not reasons to wait for your next appointment.
What the Evidence Shows — and What It Doesn't
The strongest weight-management evidence for semaglutide comes from the STEP trial program. In STEP 1, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021, adults with obesity or overweight who received semaglutide 2.4 mg weekly alongside lifestyle intervention lost close to 15 percent of their body weight on average over 68 weeks. Note the dose: 2.4 mg weekly is the Wegovy dose, higher than Ozempic's maximum labeled 2 mg. A trial average is also not a forecast for any one person — the range of individual results in these studies is wide, and some participants lost little.
The cardiovascular and kidney findings behind Ozempic's newer indications come from outcome trials in people with type 2 diabetes, including the FLOW kidney outcomes trial that supported the 2025 approval for slowing kidney disease progression. Those results apply to the populations studied and should not be read as general benefits for everyone.
Two honest caveats. Weight tends to return after semaglutide is stopped, which is why we treat this as long-term management rather than a course with a finish line. And the words you will not see us use are guarantee, cure, and permanent — no responsible clinic can promise any of them, and the evidence does not support them.
How Ozempic Fits with the Rest of Your Care at AMI
Ozempic is one option inside a broader medical weight loss program, not a standalone service. Depending on what your evaluation shows, your physician may recommend our semaglutide or Wegovy program instead, a tirzepatide-based option such as our Mounjaro program, or an approach to obesity treatment that does not involve a GLP-1 at all.
Weight also rarely sits on its own. Thyroid function, insulin resistance, sleep, and hormones all influence it, and AMI's hormone replacement, bioidentical hormone, menopause, and low testosterone services exist for patients whose weight concerns turn out to be part of a larger metabolic picture. Dr. Elbridge Bills and Dr. Leslye Pace bring different medical backgrounds to that assessment, with wellness support from Dr. Jeff Semel, D.C., and you can read more about each of them on our About pages.
Everything happens at our single office at 5009 Roswell Road NE, Suite 201, in Buckhead — we do not operate other locations. We are open Monday through Thursday from 9 to 6 and Friday from 9 to 4. To ask whether this program makes sense for you, call (404) 264-9553 or use our contact page to request a consultation.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ozempic FDA-approved for weight loss?+
No. Ozempic's FDA-approved indications are blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes and, in specific groups of adults with type 2 diabetes, reducing cardiovascular and kidney risk. Prescribing Ozempic for weight loss is off-label. Wegovy is the semaglutide product approved for chronic weight management.
What is the actual difference between Ozempic and Wegovy?+
Both contain semaglutide. Wegovy is dosed higher each week and is approved for weight management, and the large weight-loss trials were run at that higher dose. Ozempic's maximum labeled dose is lower and its approvals are for diabetes and for cardiovascular and kidney risk reduction. Which one is appropriate for you is a decision your physician makes at your evaluation.
Can I take Ozempic if I don't have diabetes?+
A physician can prescribe it off-label, and many do. Whether that is the right choice for you specifically depends on your evaluation — your labs, your history, your other medications, and whether an FDA-approved weight management option is a better fit. That conversation happens in the exam room.
How much weight will I lose?+
We cannot tell you, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does. Trial averages describe groups, not individuals, and results in those studies varied widely. What we can tell you is that patients who pair the medication with real nutrition and activity changes, and who stay in follow-up, tend to do better than those who rely on the injection alone.
What are the most common side effects?+
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation are the most commonly reported. They are usually worst after a dose increase and often improve with time, slower titration, and adjustments to how you eat. More serious risks, including pancreatitis and gallbladder disease, are listed on the FDA label and your physician will review them with you.
Will I have to stay on it forever?+
Weight commonly returns after semaglutide is stopped, so obesity is managed the way blood pressure is — on an ongoing basis rather than in a fixed course. Some patients taper with their physician's guidance once habits are established; others continue longer. It is a decision you revisit at follow-up, not one you have to make up front.
What about compounded semaglutide — isn't it the same thing?+
It is not the same thing. Compounded semaglutide has not been reviewed by the FDA for safety, effectiveness, or quality, and the FDA has warned about dosing errors and about suppliers using semaglutide salt forms that are chemically different from the approved ingredient. Ask your physician by name what is being prescribed to you and whether it is an FDA-approved product. You are entitled to a clear answer, here or anywhere else.
Costs and appointment planning
Review pricing questions, insurance and coverage information, and telehealth visit planning before booking. Confirm the costs and services that apply to your individual care.
Ready to Get Started?
Call us at (404) 264-9553 or book a telehealth consultation. New patients qualify for our 1st month Semaglutide special — $399 (regularly $450).