What is the Holistic Weight Loss Program?

At Stellar we are supporting our patients to lose weight in the healthiest way possible. Many of you have done “all the things” and have not seen the scale move. Some of you are doing “none of the things” and are looking to find support and motivation to get going on a healthier path. Either way the GLP-1 injections can be very beneficial. This program WILL require you to be an active participant in your health. We expect our patients to work toward improving their diet, lifestyle and increasing exercise. There is no pill or injection that can do it all for you. You will be working with a trained professional each month to support you in these areas but the work is yours to do.

What are GLP-1s?
GLP stands for Glucagon Like Peptide. Peptides are strands of amino acids that are naturally occurring inside your body. If the strand of amino acids is long enough, it is called a protein. These peptides bind to cellular receptors to improve insulin sensitization, decrease cravings, and delay gastric emptying to help you feel full faster at meals. There are also receptors for these peptides located in your, liver, kidney, brain and more!

Are these medications safe?
I have found them to be very safe when administered in correct dosages. In Western Medicine, very high dosages are being given without proper patient management. This is the cause of many severe side effects including pancreatitis, gallstones, muscle loss, bone loss and more. When these peptides are given at low doses that slowly increase overtime, side effects are very minimal. They not only optimize weight loss but because stabilizing insulin is so impactful on the body, we see many other great health benefits!

What are other benefits of GLP-1s?
They have been shown to improve many inflammatory conditions such as; arthritis, eczema, endometriosis, hot flashes, etc. They also help to optimize your metabolism which can help with conditions like type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and high blood pressure. Lastly, because inflammation is so destructive to the immune system, we are seeing improvements in many autoimmune diseases like, Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and psoriasis.

How are these medications dosed?
You will give yourself weekly subcutaneous injections at home. We will be using a compounding pharmacy to tailor dosages to you specifically. Whether you choose to start with Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, you will start out at a pre dose that is lower than the standard starting dose. This allows us to identify how you tolerate the medication. Once you reach a consistent pace of 1-2 lbs of weight loss each week, we will maintain that dose until the goal weight is reached. If you are losing weight too quickly, we will reduce the dose and if you are at a plateau, we may increase it. We are not going by standardized dosing like the brand names use, so we can be more specific in how to increase or decrease your dose as needed. 

Side Effects
Losing weight too quickly is hard on the body in many ways and will absolutely put a huge stress on all major organs. The issues of gastroparesis, pancreatitis, and gallbladder dysfunction that have surfaced in the news are typically due to titrating up on the medication too quickly causing someone to drop weight too rapidly. The risk of these side effects is very low. Common side effects are mild nausea, vomiting, headache, heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea. Many of these side effects are easily managed by either increasing water intake or taking a nutritional supplement to support the body. This is where Naturopathic medicine shines.

Contraindications
You should not take this medication if you have a personal history of Medullary thyroid cancer or if you are or plan to become pregnant.