Weight loss injections like semaglutide and tirzepatide have become increasingly popular, but there’s still a lot of misinformation out there about the treatments. At Lumina Vein & Aesthetic Institute, we’re dedicated to educating our patients about their care, ensuring you have the knowledge, resources, and tools you need to make informed decisions.
Here, we’ll explain everything you need to know about semaglutide in Windermere, FL, so you can understand exactly how treatment works and determine if it’s right for your health and wellness goals.
How It Works
Semaglutide works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which is the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Released in the small intestine after eating, GLP-1 signals to your brain that you’re full.
Semaglutide
Semaglutide is the most common medication used for medical weight loss. It mimics the GLP-1 hormone, which causes you to feel full for longer. This helps limit the amount of food you consume, making it easier to maintain a calorie deficit. With a reduced caloric intake, your body can burn more calories than you consume, leading to weight loss.
We provide semaglutide in Windermere, FL, to those who are trying to lose 25 pounds or fewer. Anybody wanting to lose more than that will most likely start using tirzepatide for their weight loss injections.
Tirzepatide
Tirzepatide works similarly to semaglutide, but in addition to the GLP-1 hormone, it also mimics the GIP hormone. The GIP hormone works directly with the pancreas, stimulating the production of insulin after eating to regulate blood sugar levels. This hormone helps improve weight loss, especially when paired with the GLP-1 hormone.
When looking at patients who are looking to lose 30 pounds or more of their overall body weight, we are more likely to provide tirzepatide over semaglutide in Windermere, FL.
The Semaglutide Process
Here is what you can expect when visiting our Lumina team for medical weight loss.
Lab Draw
Before your consultation, you will need to have blood work done. This way, your provider will have all the information they need during your appointment to help you make the best decisions for your care.
Consultation
Once you have completed your labs, you will meet your provider for an initial consultation. Together, you will go over your goals, your medical history, and your lab results, using this info to understand your overall health profile. After determining where your health stands, they can talk with you about your options for treatment, helping you find the right method to pursue your personal health and wellness goals.
Weekly Injections
Once you and your provider have decided on your weight loss plan, you’ll begin your series of injections. You will make an appointment each week, meeting with your provider to quickly discuss any concerns or side effects before receiving your injection. Then, after 4 injection appointments, your provider will have you schedule a 5-week check-up.
5-Week Check-Ups
Your provider will schedule a longer checkup every 5 weeks while you are taking semaglutide in Windermere, FL. This is where you both can discuss your health in a little more detail, talking about side effects, concerns, changes you’ve noticed, and more. If you are still doing well, your provider will continue your treatment. However, if need be, they can adjust treatment to ensure you are receiving the best care.
12-Week Check-Ups
Once you are 12 weeks into your weight loss program, your provider will schedule an appointment with you to check your progress. They will look over your beginning weight, your ideal goals, and how far you’ve come thus far. This helps them understand how your body is reacting to the additional GLP-1 hormones.
6-Month Labs
After 6 months, your provider will ask you to complete lab work once again to further track how your body is responding to treatment. Your health is important to us, and we want to verify that your medical weight loss journey is still going as planned. With this blood work, we can assess the progress you’ve made internally, while also helping us detect other underlying health issues that may impact your treatment plan.
Paired Treatments
Taking semaglutide in Windermere, FL, can impact other aspects of your health and wellness. After all, weight loss isn’t just about the number on the scale—it’s about improving your overall well-being and quality of life. Therefore, we often recommend pairing other supportive treatments with your weight loss injections for a more well-rounded approach.
Emsculpt NEO
In addition to your own efforts and lifestyle adjustments, such as a healthy diet and exercise regimen, Emsculpt NEO can support your weight loss journey by increasing your muscular strength and targeting specific pockets of fat.
Emsculpt NEO combines radiofrequency and HIFEM (high-intensity focused electromagnetic) energy to build muscle and melt fat. So this not only helps you target areas of stubborn fat, but keeps your muscles strong during your weight loss journey.
IV Therapy
Even in a calorie deficit, your body still needs the essential vitamins and nutrients to function well. Therefore, in addition to semaglutide in Windermere, FL, we often recommend pairing IV therapy with your medical weight loss plan to continue supporting your body from within.
IV therapy is more effective than oral supplements because it bypasses the digestive process entirely, delivering the nutrients directly into your bloodstream to be put to immediate use. This means a higher rate of absorption—and therefore higher energy levels, better sleep, increased hydration, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are still plenty of questions our patients have when it comes to receiving semaglutide in Windermere, FL. Here are some common questions we get about medical weight loss:
Can I administer injections myself?
Yes! We like for patients to visit our office for their injections, but if there is a situation that requires you to perform your injections yourself, then we can provide you with the medication to administer at home.
At Lumina, we like to take a hands-on approach to your care, making sure to check in regularly with you to ensure you are achieving healthy and sustainable weight loss, and adjusting your plan as needed.
That is why we like to have weekly injection appointments with you—it allows our team to do a quick check-in to see how you are feeling, hear about any issues you may be experiencing, address any concerns, and answer any questions. We want to make sure you have the best experience possible when it comes to losing weight and feeling confident in your body.
What are some of the side effects?
Every patient has different experiences when taking semaglutide in Windermere, FL. Side effects most often occur when you first begin taking the medication, then dissipate once your body adjusts. However, your provider will check in with you frequently, and they would be happy to offer advice for managing side effects.
Some possible side effects you may experience include:
- Belching
- A bloated, full feeling
- Excess air or gas in the stomach or intestines
- Gaseous stomach pain
- Heartburn
- Passing gas
- Recurrent fever
- Stomach discomfort, fullness, or pain
Talk to your provider if you experience any of these side effects, and they’ll be able to help you manage them and adjust your weight loss plan as needed.
Do you offer maintenance injections?
Yes. Sometimes, patients have a difficult time maintaining their results after accomplishing their goals with semaglutide in Windermere, FL. When this happens, we do offer maintenance injections. These injections are similar to the normal injections and contain the same formula, but are a lower dose and are administered on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, depending on your individual needs.
However, our goal is to help you achieve sustainable weight loss without the need for maintenance injections. During your weight loss journey, we’ll help you establish healthy habits, like eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. That way, you will have the tools you need to maintain your results yourself. However, if these methods do not work, maintenance injections can provide you with the support you need.
Do I need a prescription for semaglutide?
Since we do not use insurance to cover the cost of semaglutide, you typically don’t need a prescription; however, you will need one to administer the injections yourself at home.
Feel Confident in Your Body
With weight loss solutions advertised everywhere, it’s helpful to know there is a team that will customize your weight loss journey to your needs. Try our virtual consultation tool or schedule an in-person consultation with our team to see if our medical weight loss program is right for you.
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