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With sooooo many weight loss drugs out there, it’s hard to keep track of them all. Victoza® is one of your options.
Victoza is a diabetes drug sometimes prescribed off-label for weight loss. It’s a daily injection with the active ingredient liraglutide. This medication works by reducing appetite and helping you feel fuller.
Read on for everything you need to know about Victoza, including more on how it works, how effective it is for weight loss, and the side effects to be aware of.
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Victoza is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a diabetes drug.
It’s approved for:
Blood sugar control in adults and children 10 and over with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (like a heart attack or stroke) in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease
Where does weight loss come into this? Since some people experience weight loss on Victoza, it’s sometimes prescribed off-label as a weight loss treatment. An off-label prescription is when a drug is prescribed for something it’s not approved for. Sounds dodgy, but it’s very common and legal.
Victoza is a daily injection that can suppress appetite and increase feelings of fullness to help you stick to healthy eating habits. The active ingredient is liraglutide, which is also the active ingredient in Saxenda®, a daily injection that is approved for weight loss.
Victoza and Saxenda are both brand names for daily liraglutide injections. Here are the main differences between the two:
Victoza is a 1.2-milligram (mg) or 1.8-milligram dose of liraglutide FDA-approved for diabetes and prescribed off-label for weight loss.
Saxenda is a 3-milligram dose of liraglutide FDA-approved for weight loss in those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more or 27 or more with a weight-related health condition.
So, Victoza is a diabetes drug, but how does it work for weight loss?
Liraglutide is a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist. GLP-1s are a class of medications that includes Ozempic® and Wegovy®.
GLP-1 receptor agonists work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which is made naturally in the gut. The hormone stimulates insulin secretion after you eat, which lowers your blood sugar (glucose) levels.
GLP-1 drugs work to lower blood sugar levels and slow gastric emptying (the speed food leaves your stomach). They can also target the hypothalamus region of your brain (that manages hunger and thirst) and impact satiety (feelings of fullness).
Some research suggests liraglutide can even help reduce food noise (ongoing obsessive thoughts about food).
So, if you take Victoza, you may notice:
A reduced appetite
Feeling fuller sooner
Less food noise
Fewer cravings
This can help you stick to nutritious food choices and healthy portion sizes, both of which can promote weight loss.
But wait, there’s more. As well as blood sugar control and weight loss, GLP-1s can:
Lower blood pressure
Reduce fatty liver
Improve blood lipid disorder
Reduce the risk of cardiovascular events
Keep scrolling to learn about the effectiveness of liraglutide for weight loss.
Studies show Victoza can be effective for weight loss.
For example, a 2016 review looked at five trials of liraglutide for weight management. It found that — when used alongside diet and exercise — liraglutide consistently resulted in about 8.8 to 13 pounds of weight loss. Compared to a placebo, more people taking liraglutide lost at least five to 10 percent of their initial body weight.
The review concluded that liraglutide can promote weight loss in those with obesity, including people with obesity and hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia (like high cholesterol), type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea.
Some of these trials used the 3-milligram dose of liraglutide found in Saxenda. But a 2022 study found that the lower doses of liraglutide you’d be on with Victoza can still promote weight loss.
In this study, after four months of liraglutide treatment and lifestyle changes, women taking:
1.2 milligrams of liraglutide lost about 16 pounds
1.8 milligrams of liraglutide lost about 17 pounds
3 milligrams of liraglutide lost about 17.6 pounds (this is the Saxenda dose)
Liraglutide may also be useful for those struggling to lose weight with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A 2014 study looked at 84 women with excess weight or obesity and PCOS taking metformin and 1.8 milligrams of liraglutide for a minimum of four weeks. The results showed an average weight loss of about 20 pounds.
Beyond clinical trials, you might be able to read Victoza weight loss reviews for firsthand testimonials. But the trials are where the hard-and-fast data comes from.
There isn’t loads of research comparing prescription drugs for weight loss. From what we know, Victoza may be more effective for weight loss than orlistat (a weight loss pill). But a 3-milligram dose of liraglutide has shown to be less effective than 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy).
One study found liraglutide and exercise combined were more effective for weight loss than liraglutide alone. FYI, this study was funded by Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Victoza.
Victoza (like any drug) isn’t effective for everyone. You may have health conditions that make losing weight hard or need a higher dose of liraglutide (or a different GLP-1 altogether).
You might also need to make further lifestyle adjustments. Victoza is typically prescribed alongside lifestyle changes, like improving your diet and getting more movement into your day. Sticking to these changes can make the medication more effective.
Some tips to keep in mind:
Eat nutritious foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lead protein, and healthy fats,
Drink enough water.
Do more physical activity (ideally, at least 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic exercise and two strength-training sessions a week).
Get seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
Manage stress with activities like journaling, meditation, and talking with loved ones.
If you’re not losing weight on Victoza, reach out to your healthcare provider for guidance. They may recommend lifestyle changes, increase your dose, or prescribe a different weight loss medication.
As with any drug, Victoza comes with potential side effects.
The most common Victoza side effects include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Constipation
Decreased appetite (though for weight loss, you’re hoping for this one)
Diarrhea
Dyspepsia (indigestion)
These side effects happened in five percent or more of people taking Victoza in clinical trials. They should decrease over time as your body gets used to the drug.
There’s also a risk of more serious side effects like:
Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Hypersensitivity reactions
Acute kidney injury (when your kidneys stop working properly)
Acute gallbladder disease
Victoza comes with a black box warning stating that liraglutide causes thyroid C-cell tumors in rats and mice. It’s unknown whether Victoza causes tumors or thyroid cancer in humans.
Because of this, you shouldn’t take Victoza if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2).
You also shouldn’t use Victoza if you’ve had a serious allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.
And finally, let your prescribing healthcare professional know if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or want to start trying to conceive soon. It’s unclear whether Victoza is safe during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
It should only be used in these instances if the benefits outweigh the risks — and that’s if you’re taking Victoza as a diabetes medication, not for weight loss. Weight loss isn’t usually recommended during pregnancy — reach out to your healthcare provider if you’ve got any concerns at all.
Victoza is a daily subcutaneous (under the skin) injection. It comes in a disposable prefilled pen.
You should inspect each injection pen before use to make sure the solution is clear, colorless, and doesn’t have any particles floating in it.
You can inject Victoza into your stomach, thigh, or upper arm. It’s best to rotate your injection site each day to reduce the risk of cutaneous amyloidosis, which appears as lumps under the skin.
You’ll probably start on a low dose that slowly increases. This gives your body a chance to get used to the medication, reducing the odds of uncomfortable side effects.
Your dosing plan may look like this:
0.6 milligrams daily for one week
1.2 milligrams daily for one week or continued
1.8 milligrams daily if needed after a week on 1.2 milligrams
Victoza dosing for weight loss in those without diabetes may look different, though. Your healthcare provider will let you know how much to take.
If you miss a dose of Victoza, don’t panic. Skip this dose and take your next dose at your next scheduled injection time. Don’t take two doses of Victoza at the same time to try and catch up. This can increase your odds of severe side effects.
You can take Victoza at any time of day, with or without food. To help you remember to take it, aim to take Victoza at the same time each day — i.e., every morning before brushing your teeth.
Victoza (or the Victoza generic name, liraglutide) can help those with excess weight and obesity lose weight, including people with medical conditions like PCOS, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea.
Here’s the final rundown of the key facts:
Victoza is a diabetes drug. It’s FDA-approved for diabetes but prescribed off-label for weight loss. Though it can be effective for weight loss, your prescriber may recommend other weight loss drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound®, or Saxenda — the liraglutide injection approved for weight loss.
Victoza can help you eat nutritious foods. It can reduce your appetite, increase feelings of fullness, curb cravings, and reduce food noise, helping you stick to nutritious food choices and healthy portion sizes.
Gastrointestinal side effects are common. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. These should get better with time. More serious potential side effects include pancreatitis and gallbladder problems.
So there you have it — everything you need to know about Victoza weight loss. If you’re comparing weight loss medications, check out our guide to Victoza versus Ozempic.
You can also take our free online weight loss assessment to discover which weight loss treatment could work for you.
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