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Drugs designed to treat diabetes have become one of the hottest and most controversial weight-loss crazes.
But some people who hopped on the Ozempic train are starting to regret it, claiming they’ve gained back more weight than they lost when they stopped taking it.
Ozempic and Wegovy, a drug called semaglutide designed for people with Type 2 diabetes, helps the pancreas release the right amount of insulin when blood sugar levels are high.
However, both have become widely used as weight-loss drugs.
The Messenger spoke to several dieters who regained the weight they lost — and then some — like Artemis Bayandor, who lost 15 pounds in six months when she started taking Wegovy in August 2021.
The 41-year-old mom found that she was becoming full more quickly with smaller portions of food. However, Bayandor had to stop taking the drug cold turkey when the manufacturer’s Wegovy coupon stopped, since her health insurance didn’t cover it and she would have to dish out $1,400 a month out of pocket.
Within just one month, she gained all the weight back, plus 10 pounds more than when she started taking Wegovy.
“The weight started coming on like never before,” Bayandor said, adding that she was at the most she’d ever weighed: 245. “I was insatiable. And I’ve never been that way. I was so hungry. It was crazy the way it felt.”
“It was awful, it’s still awful,” she added. Bayandor now weighs 246 pounds and has not been able to lose any weight since quitting Wegovy.
While both Ozempic and Wegovy are widely used for weight loss these days, only Wegovy has been approved for weight loss by the Food and Drug Administration, specifically for individuals with a body mass index of 30 and higher, or 27 and higher for those with a weight-related health condition.
The drugs work by mimicking a natural hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1, which slows down the passage of food through the stomach, making people feel full for longer.
However, a 2022 study found that those who take semaglutides regained two-thirds of their prior weight loss after a year of being off the drug.
A more recent study published in December 2023 found a similar result in tirzepatide, the main ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound.
“I’m not surprised that people have gained the weight back when they go off the medicines,” Dr. Melanie Jay, director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Program on Obesity, told the Messenger.
Since obesity is a chronic disease, patients who are prescribed these medications need to keep taking them indefinitely in order to keep the weight off, as well as make lifestyle changes, Jay explained.
“When we treat other chronic diseases such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, we don’t get surprised if people stop taking the medicine and their blood pressure goes up,” Jay said. “These medicines are not curing obesity, it’s a really effective treatment.”
Dr. Supriya Rao, a gastroenterologist and obesity medicine expert at Integrated Gastroenterology Consultants in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, echoed Jay’s sentiment, explaining to the Messenger that the effect of the medication disappears when you stop taking it.
Taking these drugs “is not like a diet that you start and stop,” Rao said. “Taking it for a long term is what you’re supposed to do.”
Aside from the costly expense, some people have stopped taking these weight-loss drugs due to extreme side effects.
CNN reported several dieters who have been diagnosed with severe gastroparesis, a condition that slows or stops the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine, likely as a result of taking Ozempic, their doctors believe.
Some people are rushing to the restroom and waking up with soiled sheets, and some say they joined a “s – – t the bed club,” saying they’ve woken up to find themselves covered in their own poop.
Users of the drug have also claimed they experienced odd dreams about Hollywood stars.
People have been sharing bizarre slumber fantasies on social media that include joining the cast of “The Golden Girls,” preparing to rob a museum with Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, and carrying Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s baby and then blending their families.
“Ozempic finger” has digit and wrist sizes shrinking, and jewelers have reported that women are coming in droves to size down their rings and bracelets — up a shocking 150% compared to last year. Another nasty side effect is “Ozempic burp” — specifically “sulfur burps” smelling of rotten eggs.
Some have even said their butts have flattened “like a pancake” — including one person who reportedly had undergone a previous Brazilian butt lift.
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