What is stomach paralysis? Weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy come under scrutiny for alarming side effects

A recent report published by CNN on July 25, 2023, has revealed that several patients who took Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss experienced severe gastroparesis, better known as stomach paralysis.

Ozempic and Wegovy are examples of a class of drugs that work by imitating a hormone that tells the brain that a person is full to lower blood sugar and reduce hunger. Ozempic is also known for its weight loss side effects.

According to the same CNN article, three patients who had taken Ozempic and Wegovy to fasten their weight loss process said that their "stomachs are paralyzed" as a result of the medication.

Gastroparesis reduces the spontaneous movement of the nerves and the muscles in the stomach. It's not always clear why it happens. It may be a complication of chronic illnesses like diabetes.

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Users of Ozempic and Wegovy with weight loss goals regret taking the drugs

People who took Ozempic and Wegovy to fasten their weight loss faced severe health problems (Image via Getty Images)

Women who stopped using Ozempic and Wegovy claimed that even after quitting the medicine, it made their lives "hell." According to CNN, Joanie Knight and Emily Wright have been identified as having severe gastroparesis. It is a condition that affects how quickly food moves from the stomach to the small intestine.

Food takes too long to pass through the digestive tract when someone has gastroparesis. This is because the nerves and the muscles that carry the food to the small intestine do not function properly. The illness might have other symptoms, such as vomiting.

Emily Wright, a 38-year-old Toronto teacher, was diagnosed with gastroparesis after using Ozempic for four years and losing 80 pounds. Wright has frequent vomiting syndrome, which makes her puke several times every day. This has also forced her to leave her job.

“I’ve almost been off Ozempic for a year, but I’m still not back to my normal,” she told CNN.

On the other hand, 37-year-old Joanie Knight from Louisiana began taking the popular weight-loss drug in 2019 and started experiencing extreme nausea and vomiting two years later.

"I wish I never touched it. I wish I'd never heard of it in my life. This medicine made my life hell. So much hell. It has cost me money. It cost me a lot of stress; it cost me days and nights and trips with my family. It's cost me a lot, and it's not worth it. The price is too high," she told CNN.

The nausea got so awful that she couldn't eat, and she was eventually found to have stomach paralysis. She thinks the disease, which results in severe vomiting and malnutrition, may have been caused by or made worse by the medicine because it slows down digestion.

The same is true for Texas, Dallas resident Brenda Allen. For weight loss, her doctor recommended Wegovy. She said that after taking the medicine, she had to visit an urgent care facility because after vomiting a lot, she lost too much water. Regreting her decision to take the drug, she told CNN:

“And even now, being off the medication for almost a year, I’m still having a lot of problems”.

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Other side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy

Semaglutide is the same active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic. Hence, their adverse effects are fairly similar. According to popular sources like Single Care, the side effects of these weight loss drugs are more prevalent when one first starts using them. Wegovy and Ozempic can cause more negative effects when used in higher doses.

As per Mayo Clinic, users of these two medicines report stomach paralysis, frequent vomiting, wrinkles, muscle loss, and hair loss. They have also faced some adverse effects, like nausea, constipation, and diarrhea. Some other rare but extreme side effects include pancreatic inflammation and cancer.

Thyroid tumors, problems with eyesight, pancreatitis, kidney failure, and gallbladder problems are a few other major adverse effects of these drugs.