In short
We pooled every answer to the GLP-1 SOS post-purchase survey since it went live in May: 10,941 people. Four in five name constipation as the side effect that is hardest for them right now. Before they ordered, the most common thing they had tried was MiraLAX (34 percent), and one in five had tried nothing at all. The longer people have been on the medication, the more likely they are to have already been through the laxative aisle.
This is our second data note. The first one looked at a single month. This time we used every answer since the survey started, which gives us enough people to split the results by time on the medication and by drug. The questions come from the survey every GLP-1 SOS customer sees after checkout, so they describe people who went looking for help with their gut, not everyone on a GLP-1. We say so wherever it changes the reading.
The sample
Who answered
10,941
people answered at least one question between May 13 and October 8, 2026
6,729
told us the main thing they had already tried for their side effects
1,379
answered the newer question on the hardest side effect, live since September 21
Source: GLP-1 SOS post-purchase survey (KNO), May 13 to October 8, 2026. Each question has its own number of answers.
Constipation is the side effect people want fixed
Asked which side effect is the hardest for them right now, 80.7 percent chose constipation. Bloating or gas came second at 5.9 percent, nausea third at 5.4 percent and fatigue fourth at 3.5 percent. In the prescribing information, constipation is common but not the top complaint: 24 percent on Wegovy injection versus 11 percent on placebo, and 11 to 17 percent on Zepbound versus 5 percent on placebo. The gap is the sample. People who just bought gut support are the people for whom constipation is the problem. That is exactly why their answers on what they had already tried are worth reading.
Lab note
Nausea tends to fade. Constipation is the one people are still fighting months later.
The first weeks look different. Among people on the medication for less than two weeks, 63.5 percent named constipation and 12.5 percent nausea. From two weeks on, constipation sits between 81 and 85 percent, while nausea falls to under 9 percent and, after three months, under 4 percent. That fits the Zepbound prescribing information, which says most nausea, vomiting and diarrhea happened during dose escalation and decreased over time.
What people take before they find us
We ask one question: what have you already tried for the side effects? In our export each person gives one main answer, so read the chart as the first thing people reached for, not everything they ever used.
Main thing tried before ordering
n = 6,729. GLP-1 SOS post-purchase survey, May 13 to October 8, 2026. One answer per person.
MiraLAX is the default by a wide margin: more people start there than with magnesium, fiber and probiotics combined (25 percent). A stimulant laxative such as Dulcolax or senna is the first choice for about one in eight. The steady, daily options are where the fewest people begin, even though they are the ones that suit a slow gut that will stay slow for as long as the medication does. We cover each one in plain terms: how much fiber, and which kind, and which magnesium, how much and when.
It changes with time on the medication
Splitting the answers by how long people have been on their GLP-1 shows a clear path. In the first two weeks, almost half have tried nothing. By the second year, MiraLAX is the most common answer by far.
Main thing tried, by time on the GLP-1
| Time on GLP-1 | n | MiraLAX | Nothing yet | Stimulant | Magnesium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 weeks | 142 | 26% | 45% | 4% | 7% |
| 2 to 4 weeks | 122 | 37% | 26% | 7% | 7% |
| 1 to 3 months | 236 | 26% | 23% | 13% | 11% |
| 3 to 6 months | 170 | 33% | 16% | 17% | 13% |
| 6 to 12 months | 139 | 35% | 15% | 11% | 14% |
| Over a year | 195 | 43% | 15% | 13% | 10% |
n = 1,004 people who answered both questions (the time question went live on September 21, 2026). Percentages of each row; other answers not shown.
Two things stand out. First, people a year or more into treatment are the most likely to have used MiraLAX (43 percent) and the least likely to have tried nothing (15 percent): by then they have been through the pharmacy shelf. Second, stimulant laxatives peak at three to six months (17 percent). That matches the pattern we see in support messages every week, days of nothing followed by a sudden loose day, and the questions in what to do when nothing works for constipation.
Same story on every medication
The picture barely moves between drugs. MiraLAX was the main thing tried by 33.8 percent of people on Zepbound, 36.5 percent on Mounjaro, 34.5 percent on Ozempic, 34.1 percent on Wegovy and 32.8 percent of those on another or compounded GLP-1. Constipation was the hardest side effect for 77 to 86 percent of people on each of the five most common options. The Foundayo (orforglipron) group is still too small to split (61 people for this question); we look at the pill versus the shot separately.
What we take from it
- Start a plan before you are stuck. Almost half of people in their first two weeks have not tried anything yet. That is the moment to set up water, soluble fiber and a daily routine, not day five of nothing.
- Rescue is the default. Steady is the exception. MiraLAX and stimulants lead at every stage. They have their place, and MiraLAX keeps water in the stool rather than pushing the bowel, but a gut that stays slow for months does better with something steady every day.
- Expect it to last. Four in five people more than a year into treatment still name constipation as their hardest side effect. Plan for the long run, and tell your prescriber if it gets worse after a dose increase.
- Why we built what we built. This is the gap GLP-1 SOS was made for. GLP-1 SOS Daily Gut Relief is a daily formula, 2 capsules with dinner, with 250 mg of magnesium (citrate and oxide) to support regular bowel movements, plus ginger, a 19-strain probiotic blend and digestive enzymes for digestive comfort. It has no stimulant laxative and no fiber, so it fits next to the fiber and water you already use.*
*GLP-1 SOS Daily Gut Relief supports regular bowel movements and digestive comfort. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Method
The survey runs after every GLP-1 SOS order through a post-purchase questionnaire (KNO). Window: May 13 to October 8, 2026, every answer since the survey went live. 10,941 people answered at least one question and 5,184 completed it. Questions were added over time, so each one has its own number of answers: the main remedy tried (6,729), medication (7,925), the hardest side effect and time on the medication (both live since September 21, 2026: 1,379 and 1,451). The remedy question asks people to check all that apply, but our export records one main answer per person, so those shares describe the first or main thing tried. Cross-tabulations include only people who answered both questions. Free-text answers were read but are not quoted. Respondents are customers, so gut complaints are over-represented and the sample is not a picture of all GLP-1 users. Percentages are rounded to one decimal in the text and to whole numbers in the table.
Sources (3)
- GLP-1 SOS post-purchase survey (KNO), May 13 to October 8, 2026. Aggregated data, GLP-1 SOS.
- Wegovy (semaglutide) injection and tablets, Prescribing Information. Novo Nordisk / FDA, revised June 2026.
- Zepbound (tirzepatide) injection, Prescribing Information. Eli Lilly / FDA, revised August 2026.
From the people behind the Lab
You do not have to figure this out alone.
GLP-1 SOS is the daily companion made for life on a GLP-1. Plain answers like this one, a support team that replies to real questions from real people, and daily formulas like GLP-1 SOS Daily Gut Relief, designed around the side effects that come with the medication. The GLP-1 Lab is our free education arm: no login, no paywall, no hype. Side effects are part of the road. Suffering through them is not.
Reviewed by the GLP-1 SOS editorial team · Education, not medical advice · Talk to your prescriber about your dose and your symptoms.
