A supervised path, not an online script
Medical weight loss at Skinovatio Lincoln Park is a once-weekly injection of semaglutide or tirzepatide, prescribed and monitored by our nurse practitioners for adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related condition. In the trials, the average was 14.9 percent of body weight on semaglutide at 68 weeks, and up to 20.9 percent on tirzepatide at 72 weeks.
Consult
priced at your visit
At a glance
Medical weight loss- Appointment
- 30-minute consult, then short check-ins on a set cadence
- Downtime
- None, but nausea is common in the first weeks of each dose step
- First results
- Appetite change within days, weight change within the first month
- Full results
- Trials ran 68 to 72 weeks, with most of the loss in the first year
- Sessions
- Weekly injections, ongoing, with dose steps every four weeks or longer
- Cost
- Priced at your consult. Financing available.
What to expect
What the appointment is like
You’ll start with a 30-minute consult with our nurse practitioner. We’ll check your weight, height, and blood pressure, and go through a full history including thyroid, pancreatitis, gallbladder and mood, every medication and supplement you take, and whether you’re planning a pregnancy. At the consult, ask whether you’ll be prescribed the branded or the compounded form, which pharmacy fills it, and which labs are drawn before the first dose. You’ll leave with either a written plan or an explanation of why the medication isn’t right for you.
Consult
We’ll review your BMI, history, and medications, and let you know whether you qualify. Labs if your history calls for them.
Prescription
Semaglutide or tirzepatide, the starting dose, and where it’s filled, all written down for you.
First injection
We do it together in the room, with a tiny needle under the skin of the abdomen or thigh. After that, you’ll inject at home, weekly.
Check-ins
Weigh-in, side effects, and the dose step decision. Every step waits at least four weeks.
Your results
A predictable timeline
You’ll likely notice appetite changes within days, and weight usually starts to move within the first month. The trial curves are steep through month six and flatten by month twelve to fifteen. Here are the averages, in people who also had lifestyle counseling: STEP 1: 14.9 percent lost on semaglutide 2.4 mg at 68 weeks versus 2.4 on placebo, with 86.4 percent losing at least 5 percent and 50.5 percent at least 15, per Wilding et al. SURMOUNT-1: 15.0, 19.5 and 20.9 percent at 5, 10 and 15 mg of tirzepatide at 72 weeks versus 3.1 on placebo, per Jastreboff et al. In the one direct comparison, SURMOUNT-5, tirzepatide produced 20.2 percent loss versus 13.7 for semaglutide. That trial was open-label and funded by Eli Lilly, per Aronne et al., NEJM 2025. Individual results vary. In the trials, 13.6 percent on semaglutide and 9 to 15 percent on tirzepatide did not reach 5 percent.
Week 1
Your first injection, together in the room. Appetite drops within days, and nausea is possible.
Weeks 2 to 4
Still on the lowest dose, and weight starts moving. We’ll check in before the first step up.
Months 2 to 4
Dose steps every four weeks or longer. This is the steepest part of the curve, and when gut effects tend to cluster.
Months 5 to 12
Maintenance dose. Loss continues, more slowly. Focus on protein and resistance training for muscle.
Month 12 and beyond
The curve flattens, and we’ll plan maintenance with you: lower dose, longer interval, or continue.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
Five things shape your cost: which drug, which dose, branded versus compounded, whether visits and labs are bundled, and how many months you stay on. You’ll find the consult fee on the price card at the top of this page. The Lincoln Park booking menu lists semaglutide and tirzepatide as promotional visits, so ask at your consult what the promotional visit includes and what a monthly refill costs after it.
- Which drug you’re prescribed
- The dose you end up on
- Branded versus compounded supply
- Whether visits and labs are bundled
At Skinovatio Lincoln Park
Medical weight loss
Consult
priced at your visit
- Consultation
- $50
- Financing
- Cherry, Affirm, Afterpay
Semaglutide and tirzepatide are listed on our booking menu as promotional visits. Ask at your consult what a monthly refill costs after that.
Book your Medical weight loss appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Medical weight loss or something else?
It comes down to what you’d like to change: total weight, a fat pocket, or skin.
| What we’d suggest | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| Total body weight, BMI 30, or 27 with a condition | Semaglutide or tirzepatide | The only thing on the menu that lowers total weight, with trial evidence |
| A pad under the chin at a stable weight | Kybella | Deoxycholic acid destroys fat cells in one small area. A GLP-1 does nothing selective about a chin |
| Loose skin after a large loss | Morpheus8 Body or Forma | Those change skin laxity, not weight. The follow-on conversation, not a substitute |
| Fat anywhere else | Not a device we offer | We don’t run body-contouring devices at Lincoln Park |
Total body weight, BMI 30, or 27 with a condition
- What we’d suggest
- Semaglutide or tirzepatide
- Why
- The only thing on the menu that lowers total weight, with trial evidence
A pad under the chin at a stable weight
- What we’d suggest
- Kybella
- Why
- Deoxycholic acid destroys fat cells in one small area. A GLP-1 does nothing selective about a chin
Loose skin after a large loss
- What we’d suggest
- Morpheus8 Body or Forma
- Why
- Those change skin laxity, not weight. The follow-on conversation, not a substitute
Fat anywhere else
- What we’d suggest
- Not a device we offer
- Why
- We don’t run body-contouring devices at Lincoln Park
The B12 shot on our menu has a narrow role. B12 corrects a deficiency and supports nerve and red blood cell health, per the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. On weight loss, Mayo Clinic notes: “There’s no solid proof that vitamin B-12 shots, also called injections, help you lose weight,” per Mayo Clinic. We offer it with a GLP-1 plan only when your history or labs suggest you’re low, which is plausible in someone eating very little for weeks. We never offer it as an energy shot or a fat burner. No IV vitamin blend has weight-loss evidence either.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
It’s a good fit for adults who meet the BMI criteria, are ready for weekly injections and check-ins, and understand this is long-term treatment, not a twelve-week program.
A good fit for
- Adults with a BMI of 30 or more
- A BMI of 27 or more with a weight-related condition
- Anyone who wants prescriber-supervised check-ins
- People ready to pair it with diet and activity changes
Not recommended
- A BMI under 27, or short-term goals like ten pounds before an event
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or planning a pregnancy soon
- A personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2
- A history of pancreatitis, until your doctor weighs in
Both drugs carry a boxed warning: in rodents they cause thyroid C-cell tumors, and it’s unknown whether they do in humans. It won’t keep weight off after you stop, most people regain most of it within a year, and it can’t choose where the weight comes from.
In detail
What medical weight loss treats
Wegovy (semaglutide) is FDA-approved to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults with obesity, or overweight with at least one weight-related condition, per the Wegovy prescribing information. Zepbound (tirzepatide) carries the same weight indication plus moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity, per the Zepbound prescribing information. Both labels say “with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.”
You’ll need a BMI of 30 or higher, or 27 or higher with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol or sleep apnea. Those were the enrollment criteria in both trials, and they’re the criteria we follow. A BMI below those thresholds, such as 26, doesn’t qualify.
Ozempic and Mounjaro are the same molecules approved for type 2 diabetes, not for weight. Prescribing them for weight alone is off-label, and we don’t call Ozempic a weight-loss drug. Fat under the chin at a stable weight is better suited to Kybella than to weight-loss medication.
How it works
Semaglutide mimics GLP-1, a gut hormone released after eating. Tirzepatide mimics GLP-1 and a second hormone, GIP. Both act on appetite centers in the brain, so you feel full sooner and eat less, and both slow stomach emptying. That’s why nausea tops the side-effect list, and why we start the dose low and raise it gradually, in steps.
Weight comes off because calorie intake falls. The drug doesn’t burn fat or reset your metabolism, and it does nothing while you’re not taking it. It’s a once-weekly injection under the skin of the abdomen, thigh or upper arm.
Dose steps from the labels: Wegovy starts at 0.25 mg weekly and rises every four weeks to 2.4 mg from week 17. Zepbound starts at 2.5 mg and rises in 2.5 mg steps, each held at least four weeks, to 5, 10 or 15 mg. In SURMOUNT-1, most gut effects clustered during the escalation, per Jastreboff et al., NEJM 2022. If side effects have been hard to manage, our prescribers will hold off on the next step.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
There’s no downtime, but expect a first month of gut adjustment. Here’s how common each side effect was in the label data.
From the Wegovy label, 2.4 mg versus placebo: nausea 44 percent versus 16, diarrhea 30 versus 16, vomiting 24 versus 6, constipation 24 versus 11, abdominal pain 20 versus 10. Severe gut reactions were 4.1 percent versus 0.9, and 6.8 percent permanently stopped for adverse reactions. In STEP 1, nausea and diarrhea were typically transient and mild to moderate, subsiding with time, per Wilding et al., NEJM 2021.
From the Zepbound label at 5 to 15 mg versus placebo: nausea 25 to 29 percent versus 8, diarrhea 19 to 23 versus 8, vomiting 8 to 13 versus 2. Discontinuation for adverse reactions was 4.8 to 6.7 percent versus 3.4.
A few things can help: small meals, protein first, water throughout the day, and a slower dose step if side effects are difficult. Zepbound’s label says to add a barrier contraceptive for four weeks after starting and after each dose increase. Always tell any surgeon, dentist or endoscopist you’re on one of these before sedation, since delayed stomach emptying raises the aspiration risk.
Why here
Why Lincoln Park
We’re on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, a block up from the Apollo Theater. Take the Brown Line to Diversey, then head south on Lincoln, or the Red, Brown or Purple Line to Fullerton, then head north. The 11 Lincoln bus stops on the block. Check-ins are short, and midday slots tend to fill first. If you drive, there are meters on Lincoln, and side streets west of Clark if you check the cleaning signs.
If you’re training for a race, start the medication after race day, since nausea in the first month can make long training runs difficult. As weight comes off, we can also discuss options for loose skin. Prescribing is by our nurse practitioner.
Questions
Common questions, answered
In SURMOUNT-1, adults without diabetes lost an average of 15.0, 19.5 and 20.9 percent of body weight at 5, 10 and 15 mg over 72 weeks, versus 3.1 percent on placebo. Those are averages in people who also had lifestyle counseling, and 9 to 15 percent didn’t reach 5 percent. Individual results vary.
Tirzepatide produced more weight loss in the one head-to-head trial: 20.2 percent versus 13.7 at 72 weeks in SURMOUNT-5, which was open-label and funded by Eli Lilly. Gut side effects were the most common in both arms. The right one for you depends on your history, your tolerance, and cost.
It’s not FDA-approved, which means the agency hasn’t reviewed it for safety, effectiveness or quality. The FDA had logged more than 392 adverse event reports with compounded semaglutide by late 2024, some from dosing errors. If a compounded version is prescribed for you, we’ll tell you which pharmacy fills it and why.
For most people, yes, most of it. In the STEP 1 extension, participants regained two-thirds of their lost weight within a year off semaglutide. In SURMOUNT-4, people switched to placebo regained 14 percent while those who stayed on lost more. That’s why your plan includes what maintenance looks like: a lower dose, a longer interval, or staying on.
Yes. In Illinois an advanced practice registered nurse can prescribe legend drugs under a written collaborative agreement with a physician, or independently with full practice authority, per 225 ILCS 65. Prescribing here is by our nurse practitioner after a consult, a history, and any labs.
The most common are gut effects: nausea in 44 percent on Wegovy versus 16 on placebo, diarrhea 30, vomiting 24, constipation 24, abdominal pain 20. About 7 percent stopped for side effects. Rarer and serious: pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, kidney injury from dehydration, and the boxed thyroid C-cell tumor warning. Most gut effects cluster during dose steps and ease with time.
Anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2, anyone pregnant, planning pregnancy within two months, or breastfeeding, and anyone with a serious allergy to the drug. A history of pancreatitis or gallbladder disease usually means a deferral, and a BMI under 27 means we can’t prescribe it.
Yes, with careful timing. The first month of any dose step is when nausea and fatigue peak. Avoid starting or stepping up a dose in the four weeks before race day. Hydrate more than usual, since dehydration is how these drugs cause kidney injury. Protein and lifting keep the loss from coming out of muscle.
You can stop at any time, and nothing needs reversing. Stopping does have consequences, though: weight regain after coming off a GLP-1 is well documented, so it’s best to think of this as ongoing treatment rather than a short course. We’ll go over this with you before you start.
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Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Medical weight loss options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna are available at checkout for eligible treatments.