Bizarre Ozempic side effect could lead to unwanted loss (and it’s not weight)

Yup, it turns out that ‘magic’ weight loss drug semaglutide, which gained traction earlier this year, has more than one undesirable side effect when used for rapid weight loss.

Semaglutide is an ingredient used in a number of drugs such as Ozempic, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes and ‘may cause weight loss’, as well as Wegovy – often is given to ‘adults with obesity or excess weight who also have weight-related medical problems.’ 

Both drugs are injected and are being used by people who don’t have type 2 diabetes, but who are trying to lose weight. 

Last year, the term Ozempic Face went viral when people using the drug found that their face was sagging, drooping and becoming wrinkled.

Metro.co.uk was told this happens because the skin on the face cannot keep up with the rapid weight loss caused by semaglutide (but this can happen with any sudden weight loss). 

But now, people using the drug have coined the term Wegovy Butt, which refers to people’s bums getting smaller, saggier and more deflated.

You can never spot-reduce fat, let alone when you’re using a weight loss drug, so it’s understandable that some people are losing their peachy butts faster than they’d like to.

Other people have experienced ‘Ozempic Finger’ which is essentially just rapid weight loss around the fingers and wrists, causing people’s jewellery to slip off.

Again, neither of these symptoms are specific to semaglutide, rather rapid weight loss in general. Sagging skin occurs when our skin can’t shrink at the same rate as our weight loss. 

Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic, told Metro.co.uk that it cannot comment on the side effects caused by people using Ozempic off-label, i.e. not for its intended purposes.

However, it said: ‘Regarding safety, the most common adverse events among people treated with Ozempic (semaglutide) for its indicated use, are gastrointestinal events including nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. 

‘Most events were transient, and mild or moderate in severity and resolved without permanent treatment discontinuation.

‘Ozempic (semaglutide) is a prescription-only medicine indicated for the treatment of adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adjunct to diet and exercise (as monotherapy or in combination with other medicines for treatment of diabetes). 

‘Ozempic (semaglutide) is not indicated for use in weight management.’

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