Can the diabetes drug Trulicity cause weight loss?

Trulicity works by stimulating insulin production and inhibiting glucagon. It also slows down digestion and causes weight loss to the point it's also known as "Trulicity weight loss drug" among people who are interested in weight loss. The good thing is that you need to take it only once a week, it's injected. 

A lot of people initially experience a myriad of side effects on Trulicity. Nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, bloating, indigestion, and a lack of appetite are all pretty common. Few people on Trulicity will say they didn't experience any of these. You shouldn't get urticaria, breathing difficulties, swelling, or bad pain on your upper abdomen though. If you do, you need a doctor. 

Don't fall for it. Promoted as a wonder drug for diabetes, Trulicity actually comes with a whole host of unpleasant side effects, not to mention dangerous consequences in the long term. Cancer is probably the worst, and this is not unique to Trulicity but applies to  GLP-1 drugs in general. As for the weight loss, yes, you may lose weight on Trulicity, but that is because it makes you sick as a pig the whole time you are on it, so you don't feel like eating. That is not a healthy way to achieve weight loss at all. There are better ways to go about weight loss.

Not a diabetic here, but Trulicity is apparently one of the easiest to use diabetes drugs. Not only do you use it only once a week, but the injections are easy even for people who are a little scared of needles, because you cannot actually see the needle while you use Trulicity.

Trulicity does a better job of lowering A1c than many other drugs, too.

As for weight loss, I saw there was a study that determined that you are likely to lose about six pounds over 26 weeks. Not a lot, exactly. Victoza is a lot better for weight loss for diabetics.

Many diabetics are successfully able to lose significant amounts of weight while using the diabetes drug Trulicity. The drug alone will not do all the work for you, you should know, and you should consider trying a low carb diet if you are not on one already. This will improve your blood glucose levels, and it will also help you lose weight. In addition, a good exercise regimen is necessary for everyone, really. These two things combined with Trulicity, which suppresses appetite as well, should help you start dropping the pounds.

I am not sure where the idea that Trulicity can cause cancer comes from, by the way. I have never heard that.

My rule of thumb is this: If in doubt, consult the manufacturer of the drug. They're not allowed to make wild and untrue claims about the results of their products, or they'd have the FDA on their backs. :)

In this case, the manufacturer makes it very clear that Trulicity is not a weight loss drug. It is a diabetes drug that encourages your body to increase its own insulin production. That is what its primary purpose is. Studies, they say, show that most people using Trulicity will lose between two and six pounds, if they lose weight, which is not a given. That's nothing to spit on, but it's not extreme either. 

Your doctor, of course, may offer their own opinions based on what they have seen in other patients. 

Wow, 2 to 6 lbs really isn't a lot! And not everyone is that lucky! All that talk of Trulicity as a weight loss drug, and it turns out that even those who make it don't see it that way. Greatly exaggerated. 

Could it be that weight loss wasn't even an originally intended "bonus purpose" of Trulicity, and that it was found that Trulicity could lead to spontaneous weight loss in some who use the diabetes drug only because it does tend to take away the person's appetite and make them nauseous? Most people don't feel like eating much under those circumstances and if they do, they may purge (vomit) spontaneously. This obviously leads to weight loss.

My doc is talking about putting me on Trulicity as well. I'm scared because of the many side effects, primarily out of control diarrhea and nausea, that I've read about other people having. 

It did say, somewhere, that these could be connected to the kinds of foods you eat while using Trulicity. Some say dairy products especially tend to trigger these side effects, and fatty meals. I'm not sure though and before trying it, I really want to know what to eat and not on Trulicity. I'm not too bothered about the weight loss, I just want to feel good on any drug I take.

Hi there,

Don't be too scared. As with all other GLP-1 agonists, some folks do really well on Trulicity but others do experience indigestion, diarrhea, and other side effects. The reason fatty foods often cause problems is because they slow your digestion down, and this is what leads to indigestion. Eating excessive amounts can do the same thing, as well. I use Trulicity myself and I have no issues with side effects except on the rare occasion that I honestly overeat. I know I'll have trouble going into that, so I avoid it whenever I have self-control. :)

Talk to your doctor about how to avoid side effects. This will help a lot. 

HTH

I've been on Trulicity for 3 weeks. I was previously taking up to 90 units per Humalog and 96 units of Lantus. Since starting Trulicity I now take 0 (yes, zero) units of Humalog and now only 77 units of Lantus per day. Thus far I have lost 23lbs. The biggest shift regarding food is the change from 'living to eat' to simply 'eating to live'. I don't crave anything anymore and I sometimes barely have the hunger to even eat 1 small meal a day. Initially I experienced only slight side effects but that pretty much cleared up on day 3, nothing I couldn't handle. The interesting thing about the appetite suppression is that I have almost a 24/7 feeling of having a satisfied full feeling. My blood sugar readings and sometimes being light headed are the only telltale sign that I need to eat something which is sometimes difficult because it feels like I've already eaten a large meal and the thought of eating something more actually makes you feel sick. I normally just slowly eat a cracker and I'm good to go. Wonderful results (so far) for me and it sucks to see that it absolutely doesn't work for some people. I only hope that my body doesn't become tolerant and diminish the effects over time.

Hey Brad,

Would you share what you diet looks like and if you planned that out or whether it kind of happened naturally due to the appetite suppression? 23 lbs is pretty good going! Congrats! Nothing works for everyone but it's pretty inspiring to see that Trulicity did work out for you. That's a great thing to read.

My main food source for what little I have been eating is steak tips (Sweet Bourbon marinated are my favorite). I fry up a pound on a Sunday night, slice into very thin pieces, and that is what I take for lunch everyday along with celery sticks just for something crunchy to chew on. Because I don't feel like eating, I'll just nibble the thin pieces over the course of a couple of hours mid day. With meat already being slow to digest and with Trulicity slowing the digestive process further, I feel so full that I don't eat supper or breakfast and the meat seems to keep my blood sugar hovering between 95 and 105. If my blood sugar dips into the 70's on occasion because of physical activity, or if I feel hypoglycemic, I'll eat 1 or 2 ritz crackers with cheese on them and I'm usually good to go. I also take multi-vitamins daily and sometimes have a small glass of V8 juice every other morning. I drink a lot of water even though even that sometimes isn't appealing while on Trulicity. I'm on week 4 with Trulicity and am now down 28 pounds. I was stopped in the hallway at work by a secretary yesterday and she said "wow, you've lost a lot of weight!" Hope it keeps working for me, I'm cautiously optimistic and 'if' I reach my goal weight I'm already thinking about how I might maintain it. I've read many accounts of people losing massive weight with Trulicity but only to regain it all back after discontinuation of the drug...yikes!

Thanks for the update... Have been on Trulicity 1 week and have experienced nausea the day after taking it but that was because I was in a cycle class for an hour and it drained me.... Ate a burger and was hurting about 40 minutes later... Next day I was better and realized I can't eat like that and did my homework on Trulicity. I have no appetite, I've had to make myself eat and I've noticed a change in my weight, I've lost a lot of inches within the week. I had a small bowl of Special K cereal for breakfast and several hours later still feeling full. Yesterday I made myself eat lunch and it was VERY small and afterwards felt to full on just the little.... So as for side effects... Nausea, loss of appetite only... haven't had the others yet.

Yes I'm on Trulicity as well and I've lost weight and have No Side Effects what so ever. Its working pretty well for me and I fried some fish had it with no issues.

I have been on Trulicity for a couple of years now @0.75 mg. I initially got sick for first 3 weeks with lots of abdomen pain and diarrhea. But it went away. I did not see any weight loss at this dosage. I work out 5 times a week a couple hours each day with moderate exercise and became very discouraged that my weight did not change. Slowly but surely my A1C has been climbing. 3 weeks ago I saw my endocrinologist and my A1c was 7.3. 3 months prior it was 6.8 and 3 months before that it was 6.3.

3 weeks ago my doctor put me on the 1.5mg dosage. First few days of first and first few days of second week I was ill again. But this week nothing, I actually feel really good. I have lost 9 pounds in the last 3 weeks. Which is also new and unexpected. Basically I think give it a try. Everyone's diabetes and physiology is unique so this is not a one size fits all proposition. Also get a Fit Bit and scan in everything that goes into your mouth and as long as your intake is less than what you burn, you will lose weight. Also stay away from the carbs.