The common ones, and what actually helps

Most side effects on these medications are gastrointestinal, dose-related, and worst in the days after an increase. Most settle. The advice below is the same advice the care team sends when you report one of these, so you are reading it early rather than after a bad week.

This is common in the first weeks. Smaller, more frequent meals help, as does avoiding fatty and very high-fibre foods while you adjust. Eating a small breakfast breaks the nausea-fasting cycle.

Tell us if it gets worse, lasts more than a week, or you start struggling to keep fluids down.

This is the second most common digestive effect and it responds well to being handled early. Fluid comes first — around two litres a day unless you have been told to restrict it — because adding fibre without adding fluid reliably makes constipation worse rather than better. Then build soluble fibre up gradually, psyllium being the usual choice, and walk every day; movement is genuinely part of how the bowel moves. If that is not enough after a few days, an osmotic laxative such as polyethylene glycol is the normal next step and a stool softener is gentler than a stimulant for regular use — check with us before you start either.

Tell us if you have not opened your bowels for three days and have pain, bloating or vomiting with it. That combination needs looking at rather than treating at home.

Reflux worsens when the stomach is full and the body is horizontal, and this medication keeps the stomach fuller for longer. Eat smaller meals, stop eating around three hours before bed, and stay upright afterwards rather than lying on the sofa. Raising the head of the bed by 10-15 cm does more than an extra pillow, which mostly bends your neck. Alcohol, coffee, chocolate, peppermint and fatty or spicy food all relax the valve at the top of the stomach.

Tell us if it wakes you at night, swallowing becomes difficult or painful, or you are reaching for an antacid most days.

Tiredness in the early weeks is usually about how little you are eating rather than the drug itself: appetite falls faster than eating habits adjust, and the gap shows up as fatigue. Eat regularly even when you do not want to, and hit the protein target in your plan — above 1.2 g per kg per day, which is the same figure that protects muscle while you lose weight. Dehydration produces exactly the same feeling and is easier to fix.

Tell us if it persists beyond a fortnight, or comes with dizziness, breathlessness or feeling cold all the time — those point at something checkable rather than at the medication.

• GLP-1 labelling, Adverse Reactions: nausea is the most frequent adverse reaction and is dose- and titration-related. Dietary management is the standard first-line approach during titration.

• The common ones, and what actually helps
• When this is not a side effect to manage at home