Liraglutide Muscle Loss: How Common, How Long It Lasts
The liraglutide labels do not list muscle loss as a side effect. What people mean by it: losing muscle along with fat while losing weight.
- In the label
- Not listed
- Most common in the label
- Nausea 20%
A brief look at Saxenda
The half-life is about 13 hours. Once 13 h pass, half is gone. Five half-lives (2.7 d) leave about 3%.
The result from SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, 56 weeks, was 7.4% of body weight, compared with 3% on placebo.
Information from FDA label (DailyMed).
What the Victoza label lists instead
The Victoza label does not list muscle loss. These five side effects appear most often on the label.
| Side effect | Placebo | Victoza 1.2 mg | Victoza 1.8 mg | More than placebo, 1.8 mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 5% | 18% | 20% | +15 points |
| Diarrhea | 4% | 10% | 12% | +8 points |
| Headache | 7% | 11% | 10% | +3 points |
| Nasopharyngitis | 8% | 9% | 10% | +2 points |
| Decreased appetite | 1% | 10% | 9% | +8 points |
Source: Victoza label (DailyMed).
Source: FDA label (DailyMed).