Ozempic — one brand name for the drug semaglutide — is a diabetes drug that’s often used for weight loss. It may cause tiredness as a side effect, but as it’s a relatively new drug, so more research is needed.
Below, we’ll dive into whether Ozempic can make you tired, other common side effects that could affect your sleep and energy, and how you can use the RISE app to get better sleep and more energy, both while on and off Ozempic.
Heads-up: More research needs to be done into Ozempic and its potential side effects. We’ve rounded up what we know so far, and we’ll update this article as more research comes out. While official research is lacking, there’s been an increase in online reports of Ozempic fatigue as more people start using the drug.
Another heads-up: Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus are different versions of the same drug: semaglutide. Wegovy is a higher dose and Rybelsus is a tablet form. Here, we’ll focus on Ozempic, but we’ve covered whether Wegovy can make you tired here and whether Rybelsus can make you tired here.
Yes, Ozempic may make you feel tired. Tiredness isn’t listed as a common side effect of Ozempic, however. But this is just what we know from limited clinical trials. As popularity explodes, more people are reporting it online. Ozempic tiredness may get better as you adjust to the medication, but more research is needed.
According to the FDA, fatigue is a potential side effect of Ozempic, affecting more than 0.4% of people. This figure comes from clinical trials that looked at diabetics taking Ozempic, however, so it’s not clear how non-diabetics react to the drug.
Also worth noting: fatigue is listed with dizziness and dysgeusia (a taste disorder) as a frequency of more than 0.4%, so it’s not clear if they all occur at more than 0.4% or if that’s the total frequency of all three side effects.
While 0.4% sounds like a small number, as Ozempic becomes increasingly popular, that 0.4% can end up being hundreds of thousands of people experiencing Ozempic fatigue.
More recently, a first of its kind study, published in 2023 in Brain Sciences, analyzed social media posts about glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 receptor agonists) side effects, the class of medication Ozempic belongs to. It pulled together posts on Reddit, Youtube, and TikTok and found sleep-related issues were mentioned most by users, including mentions of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and general mental health issues. These findings come from social media, however, not controlled studies.
There are a few more issues to consider here:
Tiredness is listed as a common side effect of Wegovy, however, which is simply a higher dose of the same drug: semaglutide. Fatigue affected 11% of people taking Wegovy in clinical trials.
Heads-up: There’s a difference between tiredness and sleepiness. Tiredness is when you feel mentally or physically fatigued. Sleepiness is when you feel like you could fall asleep if you tried. You might feel tired after a workout, for example, but you might not be able to actually fall asleep. Ozempic may cause both tiredness, as a side effect, and sleepiness, as it can cause sleep deprivation.
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More research is needed to find out how Ozempic can make you feel tired. It’s thought Ozempic fatigue could be caused by eating fewer calories, low blood sugar, or gastrointestinal side effects or anxiety cutting into your sleep. New findings suggest Ozempic may affect dopamine levels, which could make you feel low, affecting your sleep and energy.
Here’s more on why Ozempic could make you feel tired and sleepy:
It’s also possible that the more common culprits of tiredness (high sleep debt and circadian misalignment) are causing low energy, whether you’re taking semaglutide or not. We’ll get into how to fix these next.
Heads-up: Many studies on Ozempic include people with diabetes, so we don’t know much about how the drug affects the general population — like those using it for weight loss when they’re not diabetic, for example.
Ozempic may be used for other health conditions, like cancer and alcohol and opioid addiction. But more research is needed to find out how the drug affects the sleep and energy of people with these conditions, and how their various medications interact with Ozempic.
Semaglutide may make you feel tired. It’s listed as a potential side effect of some medications that contain the drug, including Ozempic and Wegovy.
More research is needed to know why semaglutide can make you feel tired, but it could be down to eating fewer calories, GI issues and anxiety causing sleep loss, low or high blood sugar, and doing less exercise than usual.
Fatigue isn’t listed as a side effect of Rybelsus, however, which are daily semaglutide tablets. But Rybelsus can cause side effects — like nausea and abdominal pain — which could cause sleep loss.
We’ve also covered whether dual-acting GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes and weight loss (active ingredient: tirzepatide) — like Mounjaro and Zepbound— make you feel tired.
Ozempic may affect your sleep, either directly or through the side effects and behavior changes it can cause.
For example, GI issues — and the stress they cause — can make it hard to get enough sleep. Skipping workouts may make it harder to fall asleep and low blood sugar from eating less may wake you up in the night.
Ozempic may also worsen anxiety and depression, which can cause sleep loss, which, in turn, can make anxiety and depression worse.
Ozempic may affect your sleep directly, but more research is needed. A clinical trial company called eHealthMe looked into sleep problems in those taking Ozempic. It states poor quality sleep was reported in those taking the drug, especially by “people who are female, 60+ old, have been taking the drug for 6 - 12 months.”
The company helps the public run clinical trials, however, and data is sparse. Plus, there’s no set definition for sleep quality, so we don’t really know how Ozempic affected their sleep exactly.
But it’s not all bad news.
Ozempic may improve your sleep by helping you lose weight or manage type 2 diabetes, which then improves sleep problems caused by these health conditions. Both type 2 diabetes and obesity are linked to sleep disturbances and sleep disorders like sleep apnea.
We’ve covered more on Ozempic as a potentially promising treatment for sleep apnea here.
Ozempic may improve other conditions caused by diabetes, like joint pain, which can disrupt sleep.
And the 2023 study we mentioned earlier looking into social media reports found some Ozempic users reported improved insomnia, as well as improved anxiety and depression, which may in turn improve your sleep.
The diet and exercise changes that are encouraged when taking Ozempic can also help you sleep. Ozempic may also reduce food cravings, appetite, and preference for high-fat foods, so you eat better and smaller meals. This too can improve your sleep.
Ozempic may even reduce your cravings for alcohol and cigarettes, and cutting down on these can also improve your sleep.
It’s unclear whether Ozempic can cause insomnia. A 2023 study found social media reports of GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic causing insomnia, but it also found reports of improved insomnia.
This research also found users reporting better and worse anxiety and depression, both of which are linked to insomnia.
This shows, again, how much more research is needed into Ozempic.
Ozempic may cause sleep problems that look a lot like insomnia, but they may not be clinical insomnia.
According to the third edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3), insomnia is when you have:
Having these sleep problems at least three nights a week for at least three months could be a sign of insomnia. Having them for one to three months could be a sign of episodic insomnia.
Chronic or episodic insomnia may need different, or additional, treatments compared to other sleep problems caused by Ozempic. Seek medical advice if you think you have insomnia.
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It’s unclear how long Ozempic fatigue lasts. Ozempic fatigue may last for a few weeks while your body gets used to the medication and while your dose is increasing.
From what we know so far, Ozempic-related fatigue does go away after the initial adjustment period as the body gets accustomed to the medication.
Fatigue may be caused by other factors, however, so how long it lasts can vary. For example, if GI issues are causing sleep loss, but these resolve in a few week’s time, your Ozempic fatigue may resolve in a few weeks, too.
There are no long-term studies on Ozempic, however, so we don’t know if it causes fatigue when you take it for long periods of time or when exactly Ozempic fatigue goes away.
Ozempic can lower your blood sugar levels within the first week of use, but it can take eight weeks or longer for the medication to reach its full effect. So you may feel fatigue creep up in this time.
The most common side effects of Ozempic include:
Many of these side effects — like nausea and diarrhea — can make it hard to get enough sleep.
Ozempic is still a relatively new drug, so we don’t know the full extent of the side effects, or the long-term effects of taking it.
Research from 2021 into semaglutide found most of these symptoms were mild or moderate, and got better over time without patients needing to stop the medication. But everyone reacts differently, and it may take five weeks or longer for side effects to clear up once you stop taking the drug.
More serious possible side effects of semaglutide include:
These side effects happen in rare cases. Seek medical attention if you get serious side effects from Ozempic. Ozempic isn’t used to treat type 1 diabetes, and it's not clear if Ozempic is safe for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Get medical advice before taking these drugs.
One major problem with Ozempic research? Most of what we know about the drugs comes from studies linked to the manufacturer, Novo Nordisk. More research needs to be done.
You can improve Ozempic fatigue by lowering your sleep debt, syncing up with your circadian rhythm, improving your sleep hygiene, managing GI issues, reducing anxiety, eating a balanced diet, and getting some exercise.
Here’s more on how to feel less tired on Ozempic.
Sleep debt is the running total of how much sleep you owe your body. The more sleep debt you have — whether it’s caused by Ozempic or not — the more tired and sleepy you’re going to feel.
You can lower your sleep debt to get more energy. Here’s how:
RISE works out how much sleep debt you have and keeps track of it as you pay it back. Aim to keep your sleep debt to five hours or less to feel more energy each day.
RISE calculates your sleep debt by comparing how much sleep you get to how much sleep you need. This is known as your sleep need — which is determined by genetics and is unique to you.
For example, when we looked at the sleep needs of 1.95 million RISE users aged 24 and up, we found it ranged from five hours to 11 hours 30 minutes.
RISE users on iOS 1.202 and above can click view their sleep need here and view their sleep debt here.
Your circadian rhythm is your body’s roughly 24-hour biological clock. You can feel tired and have trouble sleeping if you’re living out of sync with it — which can happen if you work night shifts, have an irregular sleep schedule, or eat at odd times.
Get in sync with your circadian rhythm by:
RISE predicts the timing of your circadian rhythm each day so you can better sync up your sleep and meal times to match.
Expert tip: Your energy levels naturally fluctuate across the day. Check RISE for when you can expect peaks in energy and plan your day to match to make the most of the energy you do have while on Ozempic.
RISE users on iOS 1.202 and above can see their circadian rhythm on the Energy screen here.
Sleep hygiene is the set of habits you can do daily to fall asleep more quickly, wake up less often during the night, and get the most restorative sleep possible, both when you’re taking Ozempic and if you come off the drug.
Here’s what to do:
RISE can guide you through 20+ sleep hygiene habits each day and tell you the ideal time to do each one to make them more effective.
RISE users on iOS 1.202 and above can set up their 20+ in-app habit notifications here.
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If GI issues are keeping you up, here are some Ozempic fatigue remedies to try:
We’ve got tailored advice for some common GI issues such as:
It’s easier said than done, but try to keep anxiety in check, especially before bed.
If you can’t sleep, avoid looking at the time and worrying about how few hours there are before your alarm clock goes off.
Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques can help reduce stress and anxiety. RISE’s audio guides can walk you through relaxation techniques to help lower anxiety so you can drift off.
Expert tip: If you’ve been awake in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up and do a relaxing activity in low lighting until you feel sleepy again. This will stop your brain from making a link between your bed and wakefulness.
We’ve covered more on how to sleep with anxiety here.
Your appetite may change on Ozempic and you may find yourself having fewer food cravings. But you should still strive to eat a balanced diet overall — this can help boost your energy and improve your sleep.
Eat plenty of fruits, veggies, fiber-rich complex carbs, and protein. Research shows semaglutide can reduce muscle mass, so a high-protein diet can help stave this off.
We’ve covered more on foods that give you energy here.
You may not feel like exercising if you’re fatigued and nauseous, but try to get in some physical activity each day — even if it’s just a walk or some gentle yoga.
Exercise can help you fall asleep faster, wake up less often, and improve insomnia. It’ll also boost your energy. Just be sure not to do any vigorous exercise within an hour of bedtime as this can keep you up.
We’ve covered more on the best time to work out here.
Speak to a healthcare professional if you’re taking Ozempic and suffering from fatigue. They can suggest treatment options tailored to you.
They may lower the dose of other prescription drugs or supplements you’re taking or suggest over-the-counter medications to help with GI side effects.
They may also recommend taking Ozempic at a different time of day, like in the morning as opposed to before bed, to see if that stops side effects from disrupting your sleep. Drug timing may make a difference — the emerging field of chronopharmacology shows there’s likely an optimal time of day to take medication, like the flu shot, for example.
We’ve covered more ways to get more energy here.
If you’re taking Ozempic, there’s a chance the drug could be causing fatigue. As far as we know, this side effect is rare, however, and it may improve with time. More research is needed into the potential side effects to know for sure.
To feel less tired on Ozempic, eat a balanced diet, get some exercise, and manage GI issues and anxiety. Focus on paying down your sleep debt and getting in sync with your circadian rhythm for a real energy boost. RISE works out how much sleep debt you have and shows you a prediction of your circadian rhythm each day to help.
You can also follow RISE’s 20+ sleep hygiene recommendations to have an easier time falling and staying asleep.
RISE users say these habit reminders make a big difference:
“Just becoming more aware of when’s the best time to drink caffeine, eat dinner and get sunlight according to my circadian rhythm has helped my sleep quality tremendously.” Read the review.
And it’s not better nights — 80% of RISE users feel more daytime energy within five days.
RISE makes it easy to improve your sleep and daily energy to reach your potential
RISE makes it easy to improve your sleep and daily energy to reach your potential
