Adverse effect · Liraglutide

How common is GI side effects with Liraglutide?

A
Grade A — established in humansAll trials · effect size: large · adverse
Short answerEstablished in humans. All trials point the same way: a large effect. Nausea in roughly 40% at the 3.0 mg dose in SCALE, vomiting and diarrhoea common; about 10% stopped for adverse events versus 4% on placebo.

What the studies show

Nausea in roughly 40% at the 3.0 mg dose in SCALE, vomiting and diarrhoea common; about 10% stopped for adverse events versus 4% on placebo.

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

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In context

Liraglutide is a once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist and the drug that proved the class. In the 3,731-person SCALE trial it produced 8.0% weight loss at 56 weeks against 2.6% on placebo, and in the 9,340-person LEADER trial it cut major cardiovascular events by 13% and cardiovascular death by 22% in people with type 2 diabetes. It is approved almost everywhere, now generic, and less effective than the weekly drugs that followed it.

Liraglutide is approved (saxenda, victoza). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Is Liraglutide proven to cause GI side effects?
Yes, as far as human trials can show it: All trials. LYO grades this outcome A.
What studies are behind the grade?
Nausea in roughly 40% at the 3.0 mg dose in SCALE, vomiting and diarrhoea common; about 10% stopped for adverse events versus 4% on placebo.
Is Liraglutide approved for this?
Liraglutide is an approved medicine (Approved (Saxenda, Victoza)); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Liraglutide

Reviewed 3 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →