Understanding Weight Loss Drugs vs Weight Loss Surgery

You know you’re ready to lose the weight, keep it off, and get your life back; but you’re not sure how you want to do it yet. You’re torn between second-generation weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, and bariatric surgery.

What are the benefits of weight loss medications and what are the risks? What are the benefits of bariatric surgery and what are the risks? Ultimately, which one will give you a better chance to live the full and rich life that you deserve?

Let’s walk through these questions together.

What Are the Benefits of Weight Loss Drugs?

Second-generation weight loss drugs (Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound) represent a powerful improvement over first-generation weight loss drugs such as Qsymia or Contrave. In clinical trials, patients who took Semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) lost an average of 12.4% more of their body weight versus a group who just took a placebo. Patients who took Tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound) lost even more weight: an average of 17.8% more of their body weight than did the placebo group.

It’s important to note that patients who took both weight control medications did so in the context of dietary and exercise changes. These medications do not work in a vacuum. Still, the weight loss benefits can be substantial (Learn more about Ozempic and whether or not weight loss medication can help you achieve your goals).

These medications were originally designed to treat Type 2 diabetes, and all four second-generation weight loss medications are effective at doing so. For instance, one study found that 70% of patients who used Ozempic for treatment of type 2 diabetes achieved very good blood sugar control and A1C levels.

What Are the Risks of Weight Loss Drugs?

Unfortunately, second-generation weight loss drugs do come with substantial risks. Side effects are common, and can include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation. Side effects can also be more severe. One study found that Semaglutide patients suffered from an increased risk of gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), though it’s not clear if gastroparesis in this case was temporary or permanent. Patients of all four weight control medications also suffer from a higher risk of developing endocrine tumors, pancreatitis, and possibly cancer.

One study found that 81% of Tirzepatide patients suffered at least one side effect. The most common side effects were nausea (35.5% of patients), diarrhea (21.1%), constipation (20.7%), and vomiting (16.3%). While more severe side effects were less common, a full 7% of patients reported such severe symptoms that they had to stop taking the medication.

What Are the Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery?

If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off, then bariatric surgery represents a more effective solution in many cases than do weight loss medications alone (or even medication paired with dietary and exercise changes). In conjunction with diet and exercise, bariatric surgery can help patients to lose 65-100% of their excess body weight and keep it off. At the Bariatric and Metabolic Center of Colorado (BMCC), our duodenal switch patients lose an average of 90% of their excess body weight within 9 months and keep it off. Imagine how that would feel.

Bariatric surgery can also relieve many problems that are associated with obesity. Part of this is because these problems are caused or influenced by obesity, and so losing weight can resolve them. But bariatric surgery also has profound effects on your gut, brain, liver, pancreas, and kidney; as well as on your muscle and even your bone. In fact, bariatric surgery is so successful at rewiring patients’ metabolic systems that it is sometimes referred to as ‘metabolic surgery.’ 

Bariatric surgery can prove very successful at resolving comorbidities such as sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. In fact, duodenal switch surgery is effective at curing type 2 diabetes in up to 98% of our patients. The health benefits of weight loss surgery actually go far beyond weight loss.

Why is bariatric surgery so effective? The anatomical rearrangement reduces the size of your stomach, which makes you get full faster and feel hungry less often. In gastric bypass surgery and duodenal switch surgery, the anatomical rearrangement also prevents your body from absorbing as many nutrients from food, which also facilitates weight loss (If you are struggling with obesity, take an in-depth look at the various weight loss surgeries we offer, and find the one that’s right for you). In addition, most of these second-generation medications are simply trying to mimic a small portion of the benefit of bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery also increases your GLP-1 levels just like Semaglutide or Tirzepatide. This powerful 1-2-3 punch can level the playing field in your battle against obesity.

What Are the Risks of Bariatric Surgery?

Compared to drugs like Ozempic for weight loss and Wegovy, the risks of bariatric surgery are minimal. At a certified ASMBS comprehensive MBSAQIP center like the BMCC, your risk is no greater than it would be for any minor outpatient procedure such as gallbladder surgery. In fact, for many of our patients, bariatric surgery is an outpatient procedure with many patients going home the same day as their surgery.

At the BMCC, our complication rate is well under 5% and most are preventable by simply following our thorough safety protocols. In the event that a minor complication does occur, our double-board-certified bariatric surgeon personally commits to working with you every step of the way to resolve the complication.

Which Weight Loss Treatment Is Right For Me?

It’s impossible to say that one solution or the other is right for every single patient and in every single case. In fact, some of our bariatric surgery patients also take Ozempic or Mounjaro for ongoing type 2 diabetes management.

That said, if you want a lifelong tool that delivers the best possible weight loss, we highly recommend that you consider bariatric surgery. The benefits of bariatric surgery are remarkable. It is safer and more effective than second-generation weight loss drugs. It’s also more affordable than these medications in almost all cases.

Most of our patients say that the decision to undergo bariatric surgery was the best decision they ever made.

“We were no longer prisoners in our own bodies, we were no longer handicapped by our weight, we were living and moving and feeling better than we had felt in so many years.”—Lisa and Chris Chesrown, duodenal switch patients.

If you’re suffering, don’t wait. Contact our Denver office today.