Some diabetes and weight-loss drugs like liraglutide and dulaglutide can cause nasty stomach side effects like nausea and vomiting, and because of that, more people stop taking them—especially if they also have knee pain from osteoarthritis and other metabolic issues.

If you're an adult with knee arthritis and take GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy, you might get an upset stomach — including nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea — which is the most common side effect these medicines tend to cause, based on what we've seen in other studies.

People with knee arthritis and diabetes who take GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic seem to need knee surgery less often — 1.7% of them did over 6 years, compared to 5.9% who didn’t take the drugs — and some of this benefit comes from losing weight.

A diabetes drug called semaglutide might help people with knee arthritis lose weight and feel less pain, according to a recent study.

Some diabetes drugs called GLP-1 agonists might help ease knee pain in adults with osteoarthritis, but there’s only early hints from a couple of small studies — not enough proof yet to say for sure.

People with knee arthritis and type 2 diabetes who take GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic) may be less likely to need knee surgery—only 1.7% did, compared to 5.9% who didn’t take the drugs, over about 8 years.