"Type 2 diabetes is hard to manage, and sometimes changing your habits and eating better is not enough for a person. Some people need a lot of time to find the right medicines for them, and there are many choices: needles, pens, pills, and many more! It is not easy to choose the best medicines for high blood sugar.
This article is about two popular brands for controlling blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes - Ozempic and Metformin. Sometimes they can be mixed up, but it is important to know the differences, and also some answers to some important questions. So, let’s get started with the article!
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"An Introduction to Ozempic
Ozempic is one of the most popular products for managing diabetes. It is made by Novo Nordisk and it contains only the best ingredients, including a natural hormone called GLP-1. This hormone is very effective for treating type 2 diabetes and it should be used with some changes in your lifestyle, diet, and other habits.
Some of the main features of Ozempic are:
It makes your body release more insulin;
It reduces the amount of sugar in your liver;
It slows down your digestion.
Usually, people buy Ozempic online when they have a doctor’s prescription, which they can get if other insulin drugs are not working. Another advantage is that these diabetes drugs lower the risk of serious heart problems in people (like heart attack, stroke, etc.), and also the chance of dying from heart issues.
What Is Metformin and How Does It Work?
Metformin is a common drug for type 2 diabetes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to lower high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, in people with type 2 diabetes.
“Metformin is the first choice of medication for type 2 diabetes, and it mainly works by reducing the amount of sugar that the liver makes,” says Minisha Sood, MD, a certified endocrinologist in New York City. “It also helps a hormone called insulin to work better by helping muscles use sugar in a better way. When insulin works better — and insulin sensitivity gets better — a person’s insulin levels are lower than they would be otherwise.”
There is no cure for type 2 diabetes, but the right mix of medication and a healthy lifestyle can keep blood sugar levels stable, according to the Mayo Clinic, and in some cases even reverse type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in Nutrients in April 2019. This is the ultimate goal of any diabetes treatment.
As the drug helps your body lower your total blood sugar levels and improve your ability to react to insulin, you will not only feel better, but you may also lower the risk of future problems from high blood sugar, such as heart disease, kidney damage, nerve damage or diabetic neuropathy, and eye damage (medically called retinopathy), the Cleveland Clinic says.
Metformin Vs. Ozempic. The Basics
Both brands in this article are good diabetes medicines for controlling blood sugar, but there are still some important differences that you should not forget when making a treatment plan. But before talking about the differences more, it is better to know the main features of the products to see all the options you have.
Our article Humalog vs. Apidra: Understanding the Differences and Similarities will help you understand the difference between these two drugs. Read this article first.
What Is Metformin?
Metformin hydrochloride is a pill brand made by Harman Finochem and used for lowering blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It is good to use this product with positive changes in your life, like exercising, making a new healthy diet plan, keeping a good weight, and so on. It is not often used alone and is mostly given with other insulin or insulin-like medicines to keep sugar levels normal.
The main reasons people take Metformin are:
Make their insulin work better; Reduce the amount of sugar made in the liver; Reduce stomach sugar intake. Metformin is not good for treating type 1 diabetes mellitus."
Ozempic vs metformin: How do they work?
Ozempic and metformin are both approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat type 2 diabetes. Both drugs lower blood sugar levels in people with high blood sugar and who may have trouble with insulin.
Doctors also prescribe metformin and Ozempic for other reasons to treat overweight and obesity as part of a drug-supported approach to weight loss. Found’s experts suggest using these drugs for weight care should be done with a lifestyle and behavior change program that is made for the person.
Though they both can help with weight loss, these drugs are different in several ways."
"More about Ozempic
Ozempic is a medicine that works like a hormone called GLP-1. GLP-1 is a chemical that your body makes mainly in your gut. It helps slow down how fast you digest food, makes more insulin when you eat, and lowers your blood sugar. Some people do not have enough GLP-1, or their brains do not respond to it well. Ozempic is a man-made version of GLP-1. It copies what the natural GLP-1 hormone does in your body, and makes your digestion slower. This helps you control how much you eat, so you feel full for longer and eat less.
Before you use Ozempic for losing weight, you should know that you have to inject this medicine under your skin, usually once a week.
Ozempic has the same main ingredient as another medicine called Rybelsus®, which is a pill. In 2021, the FDA said yes to a new medicine called Wegovy, which is also the same as Ozempic. Wegovy is for people who are very overweight (their body mass index is 30 or more) or people who are overweight (their body mass index is 27 or more) and have other health problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or type 2 diabetes. It is the first medicine of its kind to get FDA approval for helping people lose weight since 2014. And some insurance companies will pay for it to treat being overweight.
More about metformin
Metformin is a medicine that the FDA approved to treat type 2 diabetes in 1994. Metformin is different from Ozempic, because it does not work like the GLP-1 hormone. It belongs to another group of medicines called biguanides, which stop the liver from making too much sugar, and lower the amount of sugar that your gut absorbs.
Like Ozempic, doctors prescribe metformin for helping people lose weight, even though the FDA did not approve it for that. A study in the journal Diabetes Care showed that “metformin makes people lose a lot of weight and belly fat” and said that people who kept taking metformin did not gain back the weight for 10 years.
It is also important to know that metformin is usually the first medicine that doctors give to a patient. If a doctor thinks that metformin is not working for the patient, they might give them Ozempic. This is a common way of trying a cheaper medicine first, called step therapy. It can be useful when dealing with the difficulty of getting insurance to pay for medicines like GLP-1s.
Besides helping people lose weight, metformin may also have other good effects on health. Some of them are improving heart health and making polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) symptoms better. Metformin may also help with the problem of gaining weight because of antipsychotics—a 2016 study in BMC Psychiatry showed that patients who took metformin and antipsychotics that are not typical lost more weight than those patients who took a fake pill.
Metformin is a pill that you take once or twice a day, either right away or slowly."
"How Metformin Can Make You Lose Weight?
It is not clear how metformin and weight are related, but there are some ideas that might explain why people’s weight changes.
For example, metformin might change how hungry you feel. In a small study, 12 women who had obesity and type 2 diabetes and were not using insulin got two different amounts of metformin — 850 mg or 1,700 mg — or a fake pill three times a day for three days. Each woman did the study three times so they got each amount and the fake pill. On the third day of each time, they got a meal and said how hungry they were before eating. The researchers saw that the women who got metformin were less hungry, especially with the 1,700 mg amount compared with the lower amount or the fake pill.
Another study, which came out in May 2020 in the journal Diabetes Care, saw that when people took more metformin by 1,000 mg or more, they lost more weight than those who did not change how much metformin they took or took less. New research in journals like Current Obesity Reports says metformin might also make people lose weight because of changes in the parts of the brain that control hunger, changes in the bacteria in the gut, and changes in the way the body works as people get older.
There is also a chance that the bad effects of the medicine can make you eat less. “Some people who take metformin may have stomach problems like feeling sick and having diarrhea,” says Rahaf Al Bochi, RDN, who speaks for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in Baltimore and runs Olive Tree Nutrition.
A study that was in the Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice from April to June 2017 said that stomach problems are the main reason people who take metformin pills in their normal form complain. The most common problems are throwing up, having diarrhea, and feeling sick, which happen to 2 to 63 percent of people who take the medicine. The problems can be so bad that you may not want to eat a lot and end up eating fewer calories. The metformin pills that release slowly have less bad effects, according to an old review.
"Ozempic and metformin are drugs that doctors give to people with type 2 diabetes who also eat healthy and exercise to keep their blood sugar levels normal. Ozempic and metformin are not for people with type-1 diabetes.
Ozempic might be good for people who have heart problems, diabetes, and a high chance of getting heart disease, such as:
Smoking Being old Having high blood pressure Having high cholesterol Metformin can also be used for other things that are not approved by the government, such as treating PCOS, diabetes type 3c, problems getting pregnant, and insulin resistance syndrome.
How much weight can you lose?
Ozempic and metformin can help you lose weight if your doctor says so. When you talk to a Found-affiliated provider, they will tell you what is best for you based on your unique body. The reason is simple—you are different, and so is the drug (or mix of drugs) that will help you lose weight.
A study looked at how well semaglutide (Ozempic) works at doses used in tests to treat obesity. It found that out of 175 people who were overweight or obese, the average weight loss percentages were 5.9% in three months and 10.9% in six months.
The maker of Ozempic says that how well it works depends on the person and can take more time, depending on things like age, weight, how much water you have in your body, your kidney and liver health, and other drugs you take.
When looking at how well metformin works, one study of metformin and weight loss in 2001 on 31 people who were obese but did not have diabetes found that after 28 weeks, they lost about 16 pounds on average. Another study of 3,234 people showed that 28.5% lost about 5% weight in the first year of taking metformin. Metformin can also be used with other diabetes drugs to make them work better.
Is Ozempic or metformin more effective?
Ozempic and metformin are good options for keeping blood sugar levels normal. They usually lower A1c levels by 1% to 2%. Metformin is often the first option along with changing your lifestyle. Semaglutide, the main ingredient in Ozempic, is one of the strongest GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Ozempic can be used by itself or with other diabetes drugs, such as metformin or sulfonylureas. So, a healthcare provider may suggest a mix of Ozempic and metformin if your blood sugar levels are not normal with either drug alone.
Tests show that Ozempic and metformin can help you lose weight. One study found that semaglutide made people lose about 15% of their body weight after more than a year. On the other hand, metformin made people lose about 5% of their body weight on average. These drugs need to be used with a good diet and exercise plan for the best results.
There are other diabetes drugs, such as Rybelsus (semaglutide), Trulicity (dulaglutide), and Victoza (liraglutide), that can treat Type 2 diabetes. The best option will depend on your overall health and other drugs you may be taking.
"Ozempic vs metformin: How much do they cost?
Ozempic is very expensive - $935.77. The company that makes it has a coupon that can help you save money like other medicines. The coupon says that only people who have private or commercial health insurance that pays for Ozempic can use it and, if they can, they might pay only $25 for up to three months of medicine.
Health insurance does not pay for drugs like Ozempic as much as before. We asked the people at Found and they told us that health insurance for GLP-1s went down by half since December 2022. Almost 70% of health plans did not pay for this type of drug for weight loss or diabetes in June 2023. The news made a lot of people want this medicine and doctors gave it to too many people. This caused problems with supply and demand.
Metformin is easy to get and cheap. Many online stores have lower prices for this common medicine - some say you might pay less than your copay. Some prices are very low, depending on the store.
Metformin vs Ozempic: Side effects
Any medicine that a doctor gives you can have side effects. These are some of the most common ones that people in studies said, according to the FDA:
Common side effects
Side effects of metformin
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Feeling sick
Loose stools
Side effects of Ozempic
Feeling sick
Loose stools
Throwing up
Pain in the belly
Hard stools
Problems with the stomach and intestines
Feeling full
Metformin vs Ozempic: Warnings
We want you to know what you are taking. So here are some things to think about when you compare metformin vs Ozempic.
Ozempic
In rare cases, in animal studies, semaglutide made thyroid c-cell tumors.Ozempic has a “black box” that tells you about the danger of these tumors. If you have trouble swallowing, your voice changes, or you feel a bump or swelling in your neck, call your doctor right away.
The FDA also says not to take Ozempic if you or your family have a condition called multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, a type of thyroid cancer, diabetes that needs insulin, or a serious problem called diabetic ketoacidosis. So, if that is you, Ozempic is not for you.
Metformin
The FDA also has a “black box warning” on metformin because it has a big safety risk of lactic acidosis. This is a rare but very bad problem that makes too much lactic acid in the blood. It can cause low blood pressure, trouble breathing, heart failure, and even death.
Also, metformin can make you ovulate more if you have PCOS or are not in menopause and can make you more likely to get pregnant. If you are having that can make you pregnant, use at least one type of birth control unless you want to get pregnant."
"Ozempic vs metformin: Which one is better?
There is no simple answer to this question. Different people may need different medicines to help them lose weight. A doctor who specializes in obesity can help you choose the best one for you.
Ozempic is a medicine that you inject once a week. It can help some people lose a lot of weight, but not everyone. It can also be hard to get, even with a doctor’s prescription. Metformin is a medicine that you take as a pill. It is cheaper and easier to get than Ozempic. It can help you start your weight loss journey faster. If you have taken metformin before, it can also help you get another medicine called GLP-1 later, if you and your doctor think that metformin is not enough for you.
Doctors who work with Found will check your health and your goals to make a plan that works for you. They know that everyone is different and needs different medicines. If you want to start your journey with Found, take our quiz.
The Main Point
Ozempic and Metformin are good medicines for controlling blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. They work in different ways (injections and pills), but they have the same purpose - to help people who have problems with making or using sugar in their body. To buy either of these medicines, you need a prescription from a doctor, like any other medicine for diabetes. This is the end of the article. Thank you for reading our blog!
To sum up, both Ozempic and Metformin are useful medicines for treating type 2 diabetes. Ozempic is more convenient because you only need to take it once a week. It can also lower your blood sugar, your weight, and your blood pressure more than Metformin.
Metformin is a safe medicine that has been used for a long time. It can lower your risk of heart problems and some types of cancer. The best medicine for you depends on your situation and your choice. Always talk to your doctor about which medicine they think is right for you.
*The Food and Drug Administration has not checked these statements. These products are not meant to find, treat, heal, or stop any disease.
"Common questions about Ozempic and metformin
What is Ozempic?
Ozempic is a medicine made by Novo Nordisk that you inject once a week. It helps people with Type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels. It also helps prevent heart attack, stroke, and death in people with Type 2 diabetes and heart problems. The other name of Ozempic is semaglutide.
What is metformin?
Metformin is a medicine that many people use as the first choice for Type 2 diabetes. It lowers the amount of sugar that the liver makes and helps the body’s cells take in more sugar. Metformin is a pill that you swallow. Some of its brand names are Glucophage and Riomet.
Are Ozempic and metformin the same?
Ozempic and metformin both treat Type 2 diabetes, but they are not the same. They have different ways of working and different forms. Ozempic is a drug that has a brand name and has semaglutide in it, while metformin is a drug that does not have a brand name. Ozempic is a type of drug called a GLP-1 receptor agonist, while metformin is a type of drug called a biguanide.
Is Ozempic or metformin better?
Ozempic might be better for someone with Type 2 diabetes and heart problems because it can lower the chance of heart issues. But metformin is a common drug that doctors prescribe for Type 2 diabetes. A doctor will decide the best drug for a person based on their health. Sometimes, Ozempic and metformin can be used together.
Can I use Ozempic or metformin when I am pregnant?
Ozempic is not safe to use when you are pregnant because it can hurt your baby. Metformin is safer than Ozempic to use when you are pregnant because it has a low chance of causing birth defects. But you should talk to your doctor about the best drugs to use when you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Can I use Ozempic or metformin with alcohol?
It is usually not a good idea to drink alcohol when you take Ozempic, metformin, or other diabetes drugs. Alcohol can make your blood sugar levels go too low when you take diabetes drugs. Drinking a lot of alcohol can also cause a serious problem called lactic acidosis with metformin. You should ask your doctor before you drink alcohol with any drugs.