Is Liraglutide safe?
Years of trial data; boxed thyroid warning
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation are the most common side effects. They are the main reason people stop. In SCALE, stomach and gut events were the leading cause of quitting. Gallbladder disease, pancreatitis and a faster heart rate are listed warnings. 56
Both labels carry a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors seen in rodents. People with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2 must not use it. After more than a decade of use, it is still unknown whether the rodent finding applies to humans. Low blood sugar becomes a worry when liraglutide is combined with insulin or sulfonylureas. 15
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Citations
- FDA 2025: Victoza (liraglutide) prescribing information accessdata.fda.gov
- Drugs.com: Liraglutide monograph and generic availability drugs.com
- 2025, Pharmacological Research: Review of liraglutide development and pharmacology sciencedirect.com
- Marso 2016, NEJM: Liraglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes (LEADER) doi.org
- FDA 2025: Saxenda (liraglutide) prescribing information accessdata.fda.gov
- Pi-Sunyer 2015, NEJM: A randomized controlled trial of liraglutide for weight management (SCALE) doi.org
- Caballero-Corbalán 2026, Diabetes Obes Metab: liraglutide and beta-cell function in long-standing type 1 diabetes, blinded randomized trial pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Liraglutide article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.