If you’re taking Ozempic for weight loss or diabetes management, you might be wondering whether it’s safe to have a drink at dinner or enjoy a glass of wine with friends. The short answer: You can drink alcohol while taking Ozempic, but doctors strongly recommend limiting your intake because combining the two can increase your risk of low blood sugar, worsen gastrointestinal side effects, and potentially raise your risk of pancreatitis.
Here’s what you need to understand about mixing alcohol with this popular GLP-1 medication.
There’s No Official Ban—But That Doesn’t Mean It’s Safe
The FDA-approved label for Ozempic contains no specific warnings about drinking alcohol. Novo Nordisk, the drug’s manufacturer, hasn’t issued dedicated alcohol warnings for semaglutide products. But before you take that as a green light, understand this: the absence of a warning doesn’t mean there’s no risk.
Medical experts recommend no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men while taking Ozempic. Even at these moderate levels, you need to be careful—never drink on an empty stomach, and monitor your blood sugar levels before and after drinking.
Why Alcohol and Ozempic Don’t Mix Well
Both Ozempic and alcohol affect your body in similar ways, and when combined, those effects can compound dangerously.
Blood Sugar Crashes Are a Real Danger
Ozempic works by slowing down how quickly your stomach empties and helping your body regulate insulin. Alcohol, on the other hand, prevents your liver from producing glucose the way it normally would. When you combine the two, you’re essentially hitting your blood sugar from both sides.
The result? A much higher risk of hypoglycemia (dangerously low blood sugar). While only about 4% of Ozempic users experience low blood sugar on the medication alone, that risk jumps to roughly 30% when combined with certain diabetes medications like insulin or sulfonylureas. Add alcohol to the mix, and you’re playing with fire.
The scariest part: hypoglycemia symptoms—slurred speech, confusion, dizziness—look a lot like being drunk. That means if your blood sugar drops dangerously low while you’re drinking, you (or the people around you) might not realize you’re having a medical emergency.
Your Stomach Side Effects Will Get Worse
If you’ve been on Ozempic, you probably already know about the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that up to 40% of patients experience. Alcohol irritates your stomach lining and acts as a diuretic, meaning it makes you lose fluids faster.
When you’re already dealing with Ozempic-related nausea, and you add alcohol into the equation, you’re setting yourself up for severe dehydration and potentially dangerous electrolyte imbalances.
Gastroparesis and Pancreatitis Risks
This is where things get serious. Ozempic deliberately slows down your stomach’s ability to empty—it’s part of how the drug works. But in some patients, this can lead to gastroparesis, a condition where your stomach essentially becomes partially paralyzed. Studies show that GLP-1 users have 3.67 times higher risk of developing gastroparesis compared to people using other weight-loss medications.
Alcohol also slows stomach emptying. When you combine both substances, you may be compounding your risk.
Even more concerning: both alcohol and Ozempic have been independently linked to pancreatitis. Up to 70% of chronic pancreatitis cases are related to alcohol use, and Ozempic’s label was updated in January 2025 to include a severe pancreatitis warning. If you’re drinking while taking Ozempic, you could be significantly increasing your risk of this painful and potentially life-threatening condition.
Why You Should Never Drink on Ozempic
If you’re also taking insulin or sulfonylureas, you should avoid alcohol entirely—your hypoglycemia risk is simply too high. The same goes if you’re already experiencing severe gastrointestinal side effects from Ozempic.
Were You Hurt by Ozempic? You May Have a Legal Claim
Here’s something you should know: despite these well-documented risks, Novo Nordisk’s label still contains no warnings about drinking alcohol while taking Ozempic. Thousands of patients have suffered severe side effects—including gastroparesis, pancreatitis, and intestinal blockages—that they allege could have been prevented with proper warnings.
As of December 2025, nearly 3,000 lawsuits are pending against Novo Nordisk, with patients claiming the company knew about these serious risks but failed to adequately warn healthcare providers and patients.
If you or someone you love developed gastroparesis, severe pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, or other serious complications while taking Ozempic—especially if you were drinking alcohol moderately and were never warned about the compounded risks—you may be entitled to compensation.
Don’t wait. These cases require medical documentation and proof that your injuries are linked to Ozempic use. The sooner you speak with an experienced attorney, the better your chances of building a strong case.
Contact Noakes Law Group today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll review your case, answer your questions, and fight to get you the compensation you deserve. You pay nothing unless we win.