Common weight loss medications can carry some unusual side effects

June 12, 2023 — Joni Mendinal has never been the “skinny buddy,” she says, but the demands of motherhood—combined with a sedentary desk job—have made weight management more challenging. Fearing that type 2 diabetes might catch up with her family, she decided to start Wegovy weight loss injections.

She was nervous about the possible side effects. It took 5 days of staring at a Wegovy pen before she hit a nerve for her first 0.25-milligram dose. And sure enough, the side effects came out strong.

“The nausea started,” she said. “When I increased my dose to 1 milligram, I spent the entire night from 10 pm to 5 am vomiting. I almost quit that day.”

Mendinal is among a growing number of people sharing personal stories online about the weight-loss drug Wegovy — and similar medications — delving into the sometimes annoying, potentially gut-wrenching side effects.

While gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms seem to be the most common, a laundry list of others has been discussed in the news, on TikTok, and across online forums. These include the “Ozempic facial,” or the emaciated look some get after taking the drug, along with hair loss, anxiety, depression, and debilitating fatigue.

Specialists say starting with low doses and gradually increasing them over time helps avoid side effects, but insurance companies often require a faster schedule to continue covering the drug, Abovian said.

Insurance companies do medicine for us by asking the patient to go up in doses [too quickly]I explained.

Mendinal’s insurance paid for the Wegovy shots, but without that coverage, she said it would cost her $1,200 a month.

There are similar drugs on the market, such as liraglutide, sold under the name Saxenda. But it is a daily dose, not a weekly one, and it also comes with side effects and has been shown to be less effective. in One clinical trialOver the course of 68 weeks, the subjects studied observed an average decrease in body weight over 68 weeks of 15.8% with semaglutide, and by 6.4% with liraglutide.

Tirzepatide, called Mounjaro — a type 2 diabetes drug made by Eli Lilly that may soon get FDA approval for weight loss — may have fewer side effects. In clinical trials, 44% of abusers semaglutide experienced nausea and 31% reported diarrhea, compared to 33% and 23% of those who took Terzipatidealthough no trial has directly compared the two factors.

“One night I ate ramen before bed. I had severe heartburn and couldn’t take bites of food without feeling nauseous,” said Karo, 42, a registered intern in mental health counseling.

She also had “sulfur belching,” a side effect that some Ozempic users have discussed, causing her to taste rotten eggs at times.

She was diagnosed gastroparesisWeakness and paralysis of stomach muscle contractions that make it difficult to digest food. Some types of gastroparesis may be resolved by discontinuing the GLP-1 medications, as indicated in two case reports In the Journal of Investigative Medicine.

bowel hormone

Gastrointestinal symptoms are more common with semaglutide because the hormone it mimics, GLP-1, is secreted by cells in the stomach, small intestine, and pancreas. Ann Peters, director of clinical diabetes programs at the University of Southern California.

Here’s the deal: The side effects are real because it’s a gastro-intestinal hormone. “It increases the level of something your body already has,” she said.

Selina Horvath Myers, aka Selina’s Poke Bo, a.k.a Canadian YouTube Who took Ozempic for her type 2 diabetes, said she started having severe panic attacks and depression after starting the drug.

“Who I’ve been these past two weeks has probably been the scariest time of my life,” she said on her YouTube channel.

Scott Butch, MD, MA, director of obesity medicine at the Obesity and Metabolism Institute in Cleveland, says that while severe depression and anxiety are not proven side effects of the drug, some people experience anhedonia, or a “reduced capacity for pleasure.” clinic. But he said this could be a natural consequence of a decreased appetite, given that food gives most people pleasure in the moment.

Butch said many of the other reported changes come from the weight loss itself, not the medication.

“These are drugs that alter the body’s weight regulation system,” he said. “when Someone loses weight, a shrinkage of fat cells occurs, as well as muscle atrophy. Such rapid weight loss may change the appearance of the face.”

For some people, like Mindinal, the side effects are worth it. For others, like Karo, they are unbearable.

Caro said she stopped the medication after about 7 months, and gradually worked up to eating solid foods again.

“It’s the American way,” she said, “we all have to be thin and beautiful.” “But I feel it’s very unsafe because we don’t know how seriously our body will react to this stuff in the long term. People see it as a quick fix, but it has risks.”