Misuse of Ozempic for Rapid Weight Loss Can Cause Significant and Perhaps Permanent Hair Loss

Table Of Content

• Is There a Cure for Diabetes? A Look at the Remission Potential for Each Type
• What are the more common side effects of Ozempic?
• Misuse of Ozempic for Rapid Weight Loss Can Cause Significant and Perhaps Permanent Hair Loss
• Can drinking ‘oatzempic’ promote weight loss?
• Possible Ozempic side effects, including hair loss, probed by FDA; no link found to suicidal thoughts
• New Twist on Walking Is Helping Women Lose Weight Faster: What You Need to Know About Rucking

If you’re experiencing hair loss, contact your doctor right away. If it’s related to blood sugar management, they may change your diabetes treatment plan. If it’s not, your doctor will check for other causes and discuss treatment options with you.

Is There a Cure for Diabetes? A Look at the Remission Potential for Each Type

“You should also discuss what your diet should look like, including how much protein you should be consuming to keep your hair healthy and maintain muscle mass during weight loss.” she added. Neither platform is the best place to seek medical insights, but experts share it’s important to discuss the potential for hair loss when taking a semaglutide medication. You may have heard about the dramatic weight loss people are experiencing from taking GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide), and Mounjaro (tirzepatide). Even if you are using medication, lifestyle changes like the ones listed above can help improve the effectiveness of your weight loss and blood sugar treatment. Studies have shown that it’s an effective treatment for weight loss that works for more than 80% of people who use it, with nearly a third of users losing more than 20% extra weight than they would have without Ozempic.

What are the more common side effects of Ozempic?

Telogen effluvium, according to a review by Dow University of Health Sciences, is one the leading cause of hair loss (alopecia) in women and men aside from hereditary male and female pattern baldness. The condition causes hair follicles to switch from the anagen phase of the hair cycle, where they grow, to the telogen phase, which is the resting period that causes hair to fall out. It keeps blood sugar in check by stimulating the body to produce more of the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin. This helps move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells, where it can be used for energy.

Misuse of Ozempic for Rapid Weight Loss Can Cause Significant and Perhaps Permanent Hair Loss

Drugs such as Ozempic have caused new or worsening kidney disease, including kidney failure, in some people. If you become dehydrated from other side effects of Ozempic, such as vomiting or diarrhea, this could also cause kidney problems. Your doctor may monitor your kidney health closely during your Ozempic treatment. If you develop new or worsening kidney problems, they may stop your treatment.

Ozempic and Hair Loss: Unraveling the Potential Link - Medriva

Ozempic and Hair Loss: Unraveling the Potential Link.

Posted: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Weight loss

Before starting Ozempic, tell your doctor if you’ve had pancreatitis or other pancreatic problems before. Burping is also a symptom of acid reflux or indigestion (upset stomach). These are both digestive system side effects that can occur with Ozempic. If you have questions or concerns about how long side effects from Ozempic could last, talk with your doctor. And you could experience some serious side effects, such as worsening diabetic retinopathy, even after Ozempic has been fully cleared from your system. Stomach paralysis isn’t the only severe gastrointestinal side effect that users have reported.

Can drinking ‘oatzempic’ promote weight loss?

Patrick Gilligan’s childhood struggle with food began when he was 10 years old. Placed on a caloric-restrictive diet by a doctor, the regime left him feeling ashamed and alone and triggered what would become a more than decade-long eating disorder. “I still look back on all the time that I spent as a teen, crushed by stigma and afraid to talk about mental health with my friends and family,” says the Stanford grad. Other side effects to be aware of include those in the eye (diabetic retinopathy) and serious allergic reactions. Ozempic and Mounjaro are approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss with these treatments usually continue over a year, before you stabilize at your goal weight, and then the medicines are continued to help maintain your weight loss.

Possible Ozempic side effects, including hair loss, probed by FDA; no link found to suicidal thoughts

Alongside that popularity has come wide-ranging reports of side effects from users, including nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. "I counsel my patients about the possibility of losing hair before they undergo bariatric surgery," Saunders said. "Generally, the health benefits of weight loss and weight maintenance outweigh the risk of temporary hair loss." Another diabetes drug, Saxenda (liraglutide), is approved for weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. (A drug class is a group of medications that work in a similar way.) Saxenda can’t be used with Ozempic.

Related Questions

Wegovy (semaglutide) and Saxenda (liraglutide) both carry warnings about suicidal behavior and ideation on their official FDA labels. But when either drug is sold for use as a diabetes medication, as Ozempic (semaglutide) or Victoza (liraglutide), there is no such warning. While it isn’t listed as a side effect on Ozempic’s FDA label, hair loss is listed on the FDA's label for Wegovy, essentially the same medication. Three percent of participants in the drug’s pivotal trial reported hair loss (3 times as many as those who used a placebo). Weight loss drugs such as Ozempic have been tied to a rare but increased risk of severe stomach problems according to research published in October 2023. In July 2023, CNN reported that some semaglutide users had experienced gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, which in some cases did not get better even months after discontinuing the medicine.

Dizziness can also be a symptom of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). If Ozempic is used with certain other diabetes drugs, such as insulin, it can cause low blood sugar as a side effect. During your Ozempic treatment, consider keeping notes on any side effects you’re having, especially episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This is especially helpful to do when you first start taking new drugs or using a combination of treatments.

Some experts, however, believe that Ozempic and related drugs are causing a surprising and worrying amount of muscle loss, more than we see with other weight loss methods. While a majority of users don’t perceive these pains, a substantial minority do. And for some, the gastrointestinal distress is just too much to handle, and they need to stop taking Ozempic entirely. The drugs work by targeting receptors in the body that are involved with producing insulin and regulating digestion.

They can also advise you on the risks and benefits of Ozempic treatment during pregnancy. Before you start treatment with Ozempic, talk with your doctor or pharmacist about potential side effects of the drug and how long they may last. For mild symptoms of an allergic reaction, call your doctor right away. They may recommend ways to ease your symptoms and determine whether you should keep receiving Ozempic. But if your symptoms are serious and you think you’re having a medical emergency, immediately call 911 or your local emergency number. For some people with diabetes, this means they could lose weight while receiving the drug.

Ozempic, along with similar medications like Wegovy and Rybelus, belong to a family of medications called glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, or GLP-1 agonists. It’s given as a shot in your stomach, thighs or upper arm typically once per week. The American Society of Anesthesiologists called in June for patients to stop taking the GLP-1 RA medications before elective operations, over the potential risk it could lead to complications.

A number of other medications have been linked to causing hair loss, including some antidepressants and birth control pills. "Ultimately, it’s important to weigh the benefits of anti-obesity medications against the potential risks, as we do with any medical intervention," Weintraub said. However, if the pattern of hair loss occurs in patches, this has an entirely different set of causes likely unrelated to their obesity medication and should be evaluated. "Some of my patients swear by biotin supplements, prenatal vitamins, or 'hair, skin, and nails' vitamins," she added. If hair loss doesn’t stop, a dermatologist can look for other contributors and discuss strategies for hair restoration. About 80% to 85% of hair is in the anagen (growth) phase, about 5% is in a transitional (catagen) phase, and the rest is in telogen (resting, or shedding) phase, Messick said.

However, elderly patients are more sensitive to the effects of this medicine than younger adults. Last year, the FDA said it had identified a possible signal of intestinal obstructions linked to the medication in reports to its FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, or FAERS. Ozempic's label was updated to acknowledge reports of the condition, which doctors call ileus. If you are starting an obesity medication, beginning a daily multivitamin has little harm, he said, and can help make sure you are getting essential minerals and vitamins.