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Ozempic side effects
Ozempic’s label reports nausea in 20.3 of every 100 people on the 1 mg dose, and 15.8 on 0.5 mg, against 6.1 on placebo.
Source for this answer
Source: Read from the Ozempic label, revision 05/2026
Source: Read from the Ozempic label, revision 05/2026
Medically reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD · non-practicing medical reviewerReviewed 2026-08-12every number here is sourced
The two placebo-controlled diabetes trials
Read the placebo column first. Nearly everything below also happened to some people on placebo. The gap between columns is the part linked to the drug in these trials.
Trial armsPlacebo: n = 262Ozempic 0.5 mg: n = 260Ozempic 1 mg: n = 261
| Side effect | Placebo | Ozempic 0.5 mg | Ozempic 1 mg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 6.1% | 15.8% | 20.3% |
| Vomiting | 2.3% | 5% | 9.2% |
| Diarrhea | 1.9% | 8.5% | 8.8% |
| Belly pain | 4.6% | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| Constipation | 1.5% | 5% | 3.1% |
The boxed warning: thyroid tumors in rodents
Ozempic carries the same boxed warning as every product in this family. Rats and mice given semaglutide grew thyroid C-cell tumors, and nobody knows whether people do. The label says the drug is not for anyone whose family has had medullary thyroid cancer, or who has the inherited condition MEN 2.
What does the label tell prescribers to watch for?
These warnings sit above the table in the label. They cover uncommon problems that matter most.
| Warning | What this label says about it |
|---|---|
| Pancreatitis | The label lists it among the reasons to stop. |
| Diabetic eye disease | This gets its own warning here, because the trial population had diabetes and 8.9 in 100 already had eye damage at the start. |
| Low blood sugar | The risk rises when Ozempic is taken with insulin or a sulfonylurea, and the label says those doses may need cutting. |
| Kidney injury | Usually after fluid loss from being sick or having diarrhea. |
| Severe stomach and gut problems | Added to the label in October 2025. |
| Gallbladder disease | Including gallstones and inflammation. |
| Serious allergic reactions | Including swelling of the face and throat. |
| Breathing in stomach contents under anesthetic | The label warns anesthetists that the stomach may not be empty. |
| Sharing a pen | The label warns that an Ozempic pen must never be shared, even with the needle changed, because of infection risk. |
What matters first
- Highest listed reaction
- Nausea: 20.3% in Ozempic 1 mg
- Distinct reactions listed
- 5
- Warnings to watch
- 9
- Boxed warning
- The boxed warning: thyroid tumors in rodents
What have people actually reported about Ozempic?
66,161 reports naming Ozempic have reached the FDA’s public database. A report is not proof the drug caused anything, and there is no way to know how many people took it.
| Most reported | Reports | Share of Ozempic reports |
|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 9,751 reports | 15% of Ozempic reports |
| Off label use | 6,949 reports | 11% of Ozempic reports |
| Vomiting | 6,341 reports | 9.6% of Ozempic reports |
| Diarrhea | 5,980 reports | 9.0% of Ozempic reports |
| Decreased appetite | 4,507 reports | 6.8% of Ozempic reports |
| Constipation | 4,406 reports | 6.7% of Ozempic reports |
| Weight decreased | 4,157 reports | 6.3% of Ozempic reports |
| Impaired gastric emptying | 3,431 reports | 5.2% of Ozempic reports |
| Product used for an unapproved purpose | 3,294 reports | 5.0% of Ozempic reports |
| Blood glucose increased | 2,962 reports | 4.5% of Ozempic reports |
FDA reports include how a drug was used as well as symptoms reported afterward. Entries about use outside the label do not identify the reason for use on their own.
The counts cannot show whether Ozempic is safer than another product. They reflect reports filed, without a matching count of everyone exposed to each drug.
4Interpret the page
The 2 mg dose has separate findings
The main common-side-effect table covers 0.5 mg and 1 mg. The label reports separate findings from a 40-week trial comparing 1 mg and 2 mg.
That trial enrolled 959 people using metformin, with or without a sulfonylurea. Stomach and bowel reactions affected 34 in 100 on 2 mg and 30.8 in 100 on 1 mg.
The label reports no new safety concerns in that trial. Side effects still occurred, as the trial percentages show.
Why Ozempic’s numbers look lower than Wegovy’s
The labels’ main tables come from different studies. They cannot establish that one product is easier to take than the other.
The doses differ: Ozempic’s main table covers 0.5 mg and 1 mg; Wegovy’s main weight-trial table covers 2.4 mg. Ozempic’s participants had type 2 diabetes. Wegovy’s weight trials enrolled people with obesity or overweight.
The cut-off differs as well. Ozempic prints everything at 5 in 100 and above. Wegovy prints everything at 2 and above. So an effect landing between those two lines shows up on one label and not the other.
The labels themselves open with the warning that rates from one drug’s trials cannot be lined up against another’s. That applies here even though the drug substance is the same.
Why do Ozempic and Wegovy report different numbers for the same drug?
Both are semaglutide. The percentages differ because the trials behind them differ, not because one product is gentler than the other.
Each label opens its table with the same warning: rates from one drug’s trials cannot be set against another’s. That holds here even though the drug substance is identical. The two sets of trials enrolled different people. They ran to different doses. And they used different cut-offs for what got printed at all.
Where to read next
Two pages carry the parts this one leaves out.
- The Ozempic dose schedule has the step pattern these percentages are attached to.
- Side effects of semaglutide itself covers the drug across every product built on it.
Questions readers ask
What are the long-term side effects of taking Ozempic?
What are the long-term side effects of taking Ozempic?
The main side-effect table comes from two diabetes trials averaging 32.9 weeks on Ozempic. The label also includes longer heart and kidney trials with different safety reporting.
The common table is not a yearly risk estimate. Later FDA reports can describe concerns after treatment starts, but they do not measure how often users experience them.
Can I just stop taking Ozempic?
Can I just stop taking Ozempic?
The label does not give a gradual dose-reduction schedule for stopping Ozempic. That does not mean stopping has no effect on blood sugar or other treatment goals.
It lists reasons to stop, including suspected pancreatitis. A prescriber can explain whether to stop and how the rest of the treatment plan would change.
What I wish I knew before taking Ozempic?
What I wish I knew before taking Ozempic?
The 0.25 mg dose is a starting step, not a maintenance dose. The main common-side-effect table covers 0.5 mg and 1 mg. The label reports separate findings for 2 mg.
Those figures come from adults with type 2 diabetes. They are not a direct comparison with weight-management doses or with another drug’s trials.
How do you feel after an Ozempic injection?
How do you feel after an Ozempic injection?
The label’s common-side-effect table does not predict how someone will feel in the hours after an injection. It counts reports over the trial.
What it does record is how often. Nausea reached 20.3 in every 100 people on 1 mg and 15.8 on 0.5 mg, against 6.1 on placebo. Vomiting, diarrhea, belly pain and constipation follow below it.
- OZEMPIC (semaglutide) injection — DailyMed SPL, sections 5 and 6.1retrieved 2026-09-13FDA label