Side effects of OZEMPIC
Stomach ones, and the label counts them: nausea in 15.8% of people at 0.5 mg and 20.3% at 1 mg, against 6.1% on placebo. Vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation follow, each in fewer than one in ten.2
On this page
The table, and who was in it
OZEMPIC is approved for adults with type 2 diabetes, and the people in the trials behind its adverse-reactions table were exactly that: 521 patients on OZEMPIC across two placebo-controlled trials, a mean of 32.9 weeks each, mean age 56, 55% of them men, with type 2 diabetes for an average of 8.8 years. The table counts what was reported in at least 5% of them and more often than on placebo.2
| Reaction | Placebo | 0.5 mg | 1 mg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 6.1% | 15.8% | 20.3% |
| Vomiting | 2.3% | 5% | 9.2% |
| Diarrhea | 1.9% | 8.5% | 8.8% |
| Abdominal pain | 4.6% | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| Constipation | 1.5% | 5% | 3.1% |
OZEMPIC prescribing information, Table 1, section 6.1 (label revised 5/2026, DailyMed updated 1 June 2026), read September 2026. Adults with type 2 diabetes: placebo N=262, OZEMPIC 0.5 mg N=260, OZEMPIC 1 mg N=261. Listed in full under Sources.
Two things are worth reading twice. Nausea and vomiting climb with the dose, which is what you would expect. Abdominal pain and constipation do not: both came out lower at 1 mg than at 0.5 mg. A reaction that does not rise with the dose is not behaving like the ones that do, and the label prints that without comment.2
Below the 5% line the label lists five more, with their placebo, 0.5 mg and 1 mg rates in that order: dyspepsia (1.9%, 3.5%, 2.7%), eructation (0%, 2.7%, 1.1%), flatulence (0.8%, 0.4%, 1.5%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (0%, 1.9%, 1.5%) and gastritis (0.8%, 0.8%, 0.4%).2
The whole digestive system, counted together
Individual rows undercount how many people had something, because one person can have two of them. The label totals it: gastrointestinal reactions were reported by 15.3% on placebo, 32.7% on OZEMPIC 0.5 mg and 36.4% on OZEMPIC 1 mg. In the later trial of 2 mg against 1 mg, the totals were 34% and 30.8%.2
And on when they happen, the label is specific:
The majority of reports of nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea occurred during dose escalation.
That is why the schedule starts at 0.25 mg, a dose the label describes as an initiation dosage rather than a treatment dose, and steps up. The OZEMPIC dosage chart has the four steps and the gaps between them. The dosage chart sets the steps out, and the page on how long side effects last has the week-by-week shape and how many days a bout usually runs.
How many people stopped
More people on OZEMPIC than on placebo left the trials over their stomach: 3.1% at 0.5 mg and 3.8% at 1 mg, against 0.4% on placebo. Set that beside the table above. One in five reported nausea at 1 mg, and fewer than one in twenty-five stopped over any stomach reaction at all.2
Why WEGOVY's numbers are higher
Same molecule, two labels, two sets of numbers. WEGOVY’s table reports nausea in 44% of people against 16% on placebo; OZEMPIC’s reports 20.3% at its top studied dose in that table against 6.1%. The gap is not a contradiction: the trials differ in the two ways that matter most. WEGOVY’s were weight trials at 2.4 mg in adults with obesity or overweight; OZEMPIC’s were glycemic control trials at 0.5 mg and 1 mg in adults with type 2 diabetes.1,2
The label warns against exactly the comparison a reader is tempted to make:
Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.
The WEGOVY side effects page has that label’s own table, with its own population beside it, and WEGOVY vs OZEMPIC sets out what else separates the two.
What the label does not break out
It reports no rate by sex. The pool behind Table 1 was 55% men, and the label gives one set of figures for everyone in it, so a page that tells you how OZEMPIC affects women specifically is not reading it from this document. The label does carry sex-specific instructions in a different place: it says to discontinue OZEMPIC in women at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy, because of semaglutide’s long washout period.2
Questions
What are the most common side effects of OZEMPIC?
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation: the five the label reports in at least 5% of patients. At 1 mg, nausea was reported by 20.3% against 6.1% on placebo.
Do the side effects get worse on a higher dose?
Nausea and vomiting did: 15.8% and 5% at 0.5 mg against 20.3% and 9.2% at 1 mg. Abdominal pain and constipation did not: both were lower at 1 mg than at 0.5 mg. Counting the whole digestive system, 32.7% at 0.5 mg and 36.4% at 1 mg reported something.
Are OZEMPIC's side effects different for women?
The label does not report its rates by sex, so this page cannot say. The pool behind its table was 55% men. The one sex-specific instruction it does give is to discontinue OZEMPIC in women at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy, because of semaglutide’s long washout period.
Read next
Sources
A reference, not medical advice, and not a substitute for your prescriber or pharmacist. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number.