Saxenda is a man-made version of a natural hormone called GLP-1.
Because of this, it’s classed as a GLP-1 receptor agonist, along with other drugs such as Semaglutide.
The medicine in Saxenda (Liraglutide) is incredibly similar to the GLP-1 that we already produce, but it lasts much longer.
GLP-1 is naturally released after we’ve had some food.
Essentially, it lets us know that we’ve had something to eat and that we’re satisfied.
Unfortunately, the natural version of this hormone doesn’t last very long at all.
Saxenda lasts much longer than your natural hormone because Liraglutide has been structurally modified to resist being broken down as easily.
This means that it’s able to work for longer in the body, causing the appetite reducing effects that often lead to weight loss.
The half-life of Liraglutide (the active ingredient in Saxenda) is 13 hours.
This means that it would take 13 hours for Liraglutide to reduce by half in your body.
For example, let’s say you inject 3.0mg of Liraglutide at 8 am, by 9 pm, that dose would have reduced to around 1.5mg.
Because of this, it would take at least 3 days for your body to completely eliminate Saxenda.
Semaglutide lasts even longer, with its half-life lasting 7 days.
This means that it can take over a month to eliminate a dose of Semaglutide or Rybelsus.
However, all of this depends on the dose that you’re taking.
The reason Saxenda has to be taken daily is due to the half-life of 13 hours
Because of this, we recommend keeping on top of your dose each day for the best results.
If you’re thinking of stopping Saxenda, you should speak to your prescriber first.
If you’ve reached a weight that you’d like to maintain, our team can offer support and advice.
If you are one of our patients and are wanting to stop your treatment for other reasons, please do email [email protected] to speak to one of our dedicated team.
We want to make sure that you have the best support available.
Sometimes, your GP may ask you to temporarily stop taking Liraglutide.
This is more likely if you’re being sent for blood tests relating to diabetes.
Because Liraglutide can affect your blood glucose levels, it may also affect any blood test results.
If you have a blood test coming up, you should ask your GP if you need to stop taking Saxenda for a few days.
Once you stop taking Saxenda, you can expect any side effects to also disappear.
Some people find that their appetite returns shortly after stopping Saxenda.
However, others find that it helped them to eat smaller portions in the long run.
Unfortunately, every journey is individual.
The best advice that we can give is to implement positive lifestyle changes while you are on the Saxenda.
You should make sure to carry on with these once you decide to stop medical treatment.
This is to make sure that your weight stays as stable as possible.
The USA website for Saxenda states that if you’ve missed a dose for 3 days or more, you should call your prescriber to discuss how to restart treatment.
Depending on the dose you were on and how well you tolerated side effects, your prescriber might advise you to continue as normal or to reduce your dose for a while until your body adjusts again.
