Quick reference
Scan this table first. Details for each row are below.
Oral medicines
This is the whole of the Saxenda drug interactions section in the FDA label.
Any medicine you swallow
Timing mattersSaxenda delays gastric emptying, so it may affect how oral medicines taken at the same time are absorbed.
The label says Saxenda causes a delay of gastric emptying and therefore has the potential to affect the absorption of oral medicines taken alongside it, and that it should be used with caution. It also reports the reassuring half of that finding: in clinical pharmacology trials, liraglutide did not affect the absorption of the tested orally administered medicines to any clinically relevant degree. The instruction that follows is to monitor for the potential consequences of delayed absorption rather than to change timings across the board. If you take a medicine where the level matters — a thyroid replacement, an anticoagulant, an anti-epileptic — this is worth raising with your prescriber when you start Saxenda.
Insulin and sulfonylureas
The label singles this combination out as a hypoglycaemia risk.
Insulin and insulin secretagogues
Use cautionAdults with type 2 diabetes taking insulin or a sulfonylurea may have an increased risk of low blood sugar with Saxenda, including severe hypoglycaemia.
The label says adult patients with type 2 diabetes on an insulin secretagogue, such as a sulfonylurea, or on insulin may have an increased risk of hypoglycaemia with Saxenda, including severe hypoglycaemia. It says the risk may be lowered by a reduction in the dose of the sulfonylurea or other secretagogue, or of insulin, and it asks prescribers to inform patients of the risk and educate them on the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar. It also says to monitor blood glucose before starting Saxenda and during treatment in people with type 2 diabetes. Any change to your insulin or sulfonylurea dose is a decision for your prescriber, not something to adjust on your own.
Surgery, anaesthesia and deep sedation
Not a drug interaction in the classic sense, but the label asks you to raise it.
Planned surgery or a procedure under sedation
Use cautionSaxenda may cause your stomach to empty more slowly, which can lead to complications with anaesthesia or deep sedation.
The label says to inform patients that Saxenda may cause their stomach to empty more slowly, which may lead to complications with anaesthesia or deep sedation during planned surgeries or procedures, and instructs them to tell healthcare providers before any planned surgery or procedure that they are taking Saxenda. Put it on the form, say it out loud at the pre-op appointment, and mention it to the anaesthetist — this is one of the few things on this page you have to bring up yourself, because nobody else will know.
Other GLP-1 medicines
Saxenda is not meant to be stacked with another drug in the same class.
Other GLP-1 receptor agonists
Avoid or discussThe Medication Guide says Saxenda is not recommended for people who also take liraglutide or other GLP-1 receptor agonists.
The Saxenda Medication Guide says Saxenda is not recommended for people who also take liraglutide or other medicines called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. Liraglutide is also sold at lower doses under a different brand name for type 2 diabetes, so this is easier to run into than it sounds — for example if one prescriber has started a GLP-1 for diabetes and another is treating weight. Make sure whoever prescribes your Saxenda knows every medicine you are on.
Common questions
Written and maintained by one person · Built with agentic AI tools · Every number checked against the cited trial · Not medical advice
- Saxenda (liraglutide) prescribing information — Drug Interactions (7, 7.1), Warnings and Precautions (5.4, 5.9), Medication Guide View source ↗
Next step most people take
Built with agentic AI tools and not a substitute for medical advice
Last reviewed: