Make room for the difficult questions
What needs a personal health review?
Bring your history, current medicines and plans for pregnancy or procedures. Ask the prescriber to connect each check to the proposed drug.
Common trouble and specific concerns
Ask about
What the answer needs to cover
Stomach problems
The September 2026 weight-drug labels list nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation among common problems.
Nausea means feeling as if you may vomit.
More severe symptoms
The labels warn that severe stomach problems and fluid loss can injure the kidneys.
Semaglutide and tirzepatide labels also flag severe belly pain that persists, sometimes extending to the back.
A plan for contact
Ask which symptoms call for a prompt discussion, how to reach the care service and what to do when it is closed.
“Common” describes how often something occurred. It does not settle how serious a symptom is for the person having it.
Ask about the boxed warning
Boxed label warnings apply to liraglutide (Victoza, Saxenda), semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound).
A boxed warning is the strongest warning format used by FDA, the US drug agency.
The warnings describe tumours in the thyroid, a small part of the body in the neck, in rats or mice. It is still unknown whether people develop those tumours because of these medicines.
These drugs are ruled out by their labels when medullary thyroid cancer has occurred in the patient or a family member. This was the warning in September 2026.
Medullary is the name of this rare kind of thyroid cancer, rather than all thyroid cancers.
The labels also rule out these drugs for people with MEN 2, a rare illness passed through families. It involves tumours in parts that make hormones, the body’s natural messages. The condition’s name, written out, is multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. They also rule them out after a serious allergy to the drug or its ingredients.
Keep these exact cancer and illness names when asking about your family history. Ask the prescriber to check any uncertain name against your records.
Ask about pregnancy, other medicines and procedures
Pregnancy wording differs between products in the September 2026 labels.
The Zepbound label says tirzepatide can weaken birth control pills for a time.
Ask the prescriber to explain the plan for your product and your birth control method.
The labels also flag other diabetes medicines and eye damage from diabetes for review.
The labels warn about stomach contents entering the lungs during procedures that use medicines to put people deeply to sleep.
Bring the medicine name to the team planning a procedure. Ask that team for the plan.
When a severe allergy needs urgent help
A life-threatening emergency is how MedlinePlus describes a severe allergic reaction.
Possible signs include dizziness, breathing trouble, and swelling affecting the tongue or face.
Its advice for severe signs is to contact emergency services or go to an emergency department.
Leave with the follow-up plan
- Which checks are needed for my history?
- Who reviews results or new symptoms?
- When will we discuss whether treatment still fits?