Semaglutide is the latest weight loss treatment, growing more and more popular in just the last few years. However, its rapid rise has created a lot of misinformation about the treatment, causing people to become hesitant to use this revolutionary medication to achieve their goals.
At Form & Function, we understand that you want to know everything before committing to semaglutide in East Meadow. So we’ve created this blog to be your guide to semaglutide, ensuring you can make an educated decision about your health.
What is semaglutide?
Semaglutide is a weight loss medication that mimics the GLP-1 hormone. Your stomach naturally produces GLP-1 hormone to tell your brain when you are full. With semaglutide injections, your body feels fuller for longer, even when you haven’t eaten as much, so you can stop unnecessary snacking, minimize your meal portions, and make healthier choices.
The Semaglutide Process
The process varies slightly from patient to patient, but here is a general outline of what you can expect when you come in for semaglutide in East Meadow.
Consultation
You start by meeting with one of our expert providers for a consultation. During this appointment, your provider will listen carefully while you talk to them about your concerns, your goals, and your medical history—including lab results requested by our team or your PCP. Once they’ve learned all they need to know about your health, then they will start discussing options to best accomplish your goals. Based on those options and your preferences, timeline, and budget, you and your provider will create a care plan that’s customized to you.
First Appointment
For your first appointment, your provider will walk you through the injection process, explaining your dosages and injection schedule. Once they have administered your first injections, they will give you the rest of your doses for the month to take home so you can self-inject for the next few weeks.
Next, they will talk with you about your lifestyle choices, giving you resources and creating a plan for establishing healthy habits, like eating a balanced diet and regularly exercising. Finally, they will schedule your next monthly check up before sending you on your way.
Treatment
You’ll inject yourself with semaglutide once a week, just as your provider showed you during that first appointment. While you are taking your injections, you will also be working to establish healthier habits, like exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and drinking more water. We use an AI-drive app that will help you create grocery lists and choose healthier substitutions at restaurants. You’ll also be working to cut out alcohol and tobacco if you use those products.
Your provider will check in with you every month to see your progress, discuss any side effects or obstacles, adjust treatment if needed, and provide you with another month’s supply of medication.
Results
Once you have reached your ideal weight, your provider will wean you off your injections. This gives your body time to adjust to decreased amounts of the GLP-1 hormone. During this adjustment, you will maintain your healthy habits you established while you were on semaglutide in East Meadow. Your behavior and healthy habits are what help you maintain your results and keep the weight off for good.
Pre-Care & Post-Care Instructions
There are some things you can do both before and after your treatment to help you achieve your results more quickly. While your provider will give you a specialized list of instructions for your unique care, here are some general recommendations for how to make treatment more effective.
Pre-Care Instructions
- Start establishing healthy habits as soon as possible. The sooner you begin eating healthier and exercising regularly, the easier it will be to keep up those habits and make them a part of your everyday life.
- Stop consuming alcohol and using tobacco. These both prevent you from losing weight, so cutting these products out of your life as soon as possible will help make your treatment more effective.
- Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water each day. Drinking water will help you feel full and prevent you from eating excessively—plus it will help with possible side effects of semaglutide. We typically recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces each day of water.
- Make sure to tell your provider your full medical history during your consultation, including medications, procedures, medical conditions, and other weight loss treatments you have tried. The only way we can deliver safe and effective treatment is by knowing the ins and outs of your health.
Post-Care Instructions
- Maintain the healthy habits you established during your treatment series. These habits are meant to keep the weight off, so slowing down those habits or stopping them completely will most likely cause you to gain the weight back.
- Continue avoiding alcohol, tobacco, and added sugars. All of these products promote weight gain, and will work against your efforts to maintain your results after using semaglutide in East Meadow.
Side Effects of Semaglutide
Like many medications, semaglutide does have some mild side effects. While you are using semaglutide, it is important to let your provider know any side effects you have, when you start to have them, and how long you have them. Some effects you may experience can include:
- Belching or passing gas
- Bloated, full feeling
- Excess air or gas in the stomach or intestines
- Gaseous stomach pain
- Heartburn
- Recurrent fever
- Yellow eyes or skin
Commonly Paired Treatments
You can also choose to pair semaglutide with other treatments to enhance your results and prevent some side effects. Here are some treatments we recommend pairing with semaglutide in East Meadow.
Emsculpt NEO
Emsculpt NEO is a revolutionary device that combines radiofrequency with HIFEM (high-intensity focused electromagnetic) energy. This combination melts fat and builds muscle simultaneously, so you can sculpt and tone your body even more once you have completed your weight loss treatment. If added during your treatment, Emsculpt NEO also prevents muscle wasting, allowing you to retain most of your muscle mass while still losing fat.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
Bioidentical hormone therapy is a great treatment to pair with semaglutide. Oftentimes, patients who are overweight also experience issues with hormone imbalances, since unbalanced hormones can cause weight gain. By using semaglutide and hormone therapy together, you can address the root cause of hormonal imbalances and improve any symptoms—all while losing weight.
Exion
Exion is a 4-in-1 platform that can tighten loose skin and melt pockets of stubborn fat. While this cannot address severe cases of sagging skin, it can help correct mild-to-moderate skin sagging that appears after you lose weight. Exion can also target specific areas of stubborn fat that refuse to go away during your weight loss treatment.
Why choose Form & Function?
Form & Function has a team of dedicated, compassionate, and caring experts who use your goals as the guide to your care. We understand no 2 patients are the same, so we make sure no two treatments are the same and customize every care plan to each patient.
We offer the latest treatments and utilize the best aesthetic techniques to deliver the greatest results possible. We know patients come to us wanting to feel more comfortable and confident in their bodies, so we do everything possible to help you accomplish your goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions about semaglutide? Here are the most common questions our providers receive about semaglutide in East Meadow and our answers to them. If you still have questions after reading through the FAQs, please feel free to reach out to our team. We can provide any extra information you need to make an informed decision about your care.
How often do I inject semaglutide?
We typically have patients administer their injections once a week. However, your provider may have you follow a different injection schedule based on your unique needs.
How much does semaglutide cost?
The pricing for semaglutide depends on your injection schedule, your dosage, and how many injections you need to accomplish your goals. However, we do offer membership options to help you save on regular treatments like semaglutide in East Meadow.
What should I avoid while on semaglutide?
On top of avoiding alcohol and tobacco, you should avoid foods that are high in fat, sugary foods, starchy vegetables, and refined carbohydrates. Your provider will review the finer details of what foods you should avoid and show you examples of these foods. They can also provide you with helpful recipes so you can cook healthy, balanced meals that are high in fiber and vitamins.
Love How You Look and Feel
Achieving your weight loss goals will not only improve your form but also enhance your health. Obesity is a comorbidity with many other health conditions, and by losing weight, you reduce the likelihood of developing other concerns.
If you think you’re ready to take the first step towards feeling more confident in your body, then you should schedule an appointment for semaglutide in East Meadow. And, if you’re not quite ready to commit to an appointment, you can use our complementary treatment planning tool, where you can find the best treatments based on your specific concerns.
No matter whether you’re losing weight, improving your skin, or contouring your body, our team at Form & Function is more than happy to help you reach your goals. Reach out and take the first step towards improving your form and your function.
