Research

Hormonal

Patients who use anti-obesity medications (AOMs) prior to bariatric surgery experience significant weight regain (average 18 kg) upon stopping the medication, yet this history does not negatively impact their expectations for surgical weight loss.

If you stop taking weight loss drugs like Ozempic before surgery, you will likely regain the weight you lost (average 18kg). However, this history does not mean surgery will fail. Your expectations for surgery should remain focused on long-term health, as your prior drug experience doesn't change your surgical goals or likely success.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Of past AOMs recipients, 87% reported weight regain upon stopping AOMs. Average weight regain was 18 kg (SD 13kg, 126% increase).
Jason M. Samuels et al. · Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases · 2024

Why this rating

Self-reported data from a cross-sectional survey; lacks long-term follow-up or control for confounding lifestyle factors.

Source

Patients experience with preoperative use of anti-obesity medications and associations with bariatric surgery expectations

Jason M. Samuels et al. · Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases · 2024

DOI 10.1016/j.soard.2024.08.041

preprint · n=105Cited 3×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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