A sad, but predictable, follow up to my post last July about the horrible side effects some patients were experiencing as a result of using the medication, inc. "gastroparesis" (stomach paralysis) ..

https://www.aol.com/dozens-sue-saying-ozempic-other-15494724 4.html

This is something i have been watching.. have not posted in a long time could not get in, probably because of a browser incompatibility... so in today for the first time in years. This drug is being used by diabetics who can't loose weight and those who choose a diet high in sugars and can't loose weight. Unfortunately is being pushed in spite of it's high out of pocket costs. It is made from gila monster poison. "Can a man take fire into his bosom and not be burned?" , quote seems to fit- as a reasonable answer.

I truly empathize with these people; however, once I started learning about these medications, I knew that if enough people were using GLP1 medications that we would naturally see more of the side effects like gastroparesis, for example, and that the lawsuits would be rolling in. Informed consent is so important, and someone always draws the short straw in life. I do wonder why some of these people would not have bariatric surgery when I see how the medications impact them and the stress of the shortages, etc.

Interesting personal footnote to my original post ..

I ran into a checker at a local grocery store where I sometimes shop. She has always been MO but on this visit, the first in several months, I could tell she had lost a good amount of excess weight. I was suspecting WLS, but when I complimented her on the loss she told me that she has been using one of these injectable weight loss drugs instead. I gave her the warning about all the recent problems with those drugs, but she just blew it off, claiming that the patients who are having problems with the medication are "continuing to eat" like they did before, instead of eating less. In other words, she is looking at it that the drug's effectiveness is due to its supression of appetite. Therefore, if the patient continues to eat as they did before despite the lack of hunger then they are going to get in trouble with the drug, e.g. the gastroparesis. I'm not sure how that could be, but that was her claim. I wonder how many users of the drug are under a similar (mistaken?) impression.

Man, that's tough news. Meds are supposed to help, not cause more problems. Thanks for keeping us updated.

Here is the latest .. an article about the injectables in The New York Times just released today. Seems to be putting a bit of a positive spin on the drug of late, including that it now supposedly helps those with sleep apnea .. (well, duh .. wouldn't weight loss itself tend to do that, with ob. apnea? ) It seems to be supposedly a panacea for a lot of ills (esp. those obesity-related), and those type of claims make me skeptical ..

* * * * * *

The new panacea?

	By Dani Blum I've covered Ozempic and similar drugs since 2022.

In the past two years, Ozempic has become a synonym for weight loss. When celebrities slimmed down, tabloids wondered whether they were taking the drug. Activists argued that the drug entrenched old norms about body image -- people still seemed to want to be thin. Ozempic was weight loss; weight loss was Ozempic. It's like Kleenex or Scotch tape: totemic.

Technically, while Ozempic is a diabetes drug, people can, and do, take it to drop weight.

But the drug -- and others in its class, such as Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound -- is about much more. Scientists believe the drugs are about to revolutionize several fields of medicine, such as cardiology and endocrinology. Researchers are also running dozens of trials to see whether they might help with Alzheimer's, liver disease, polycystic ovary syndrome and even skin conditions. If these trials prove successful, the drugs may extend many lives by years, save billions in medical costs and divide public health into before-and-after epochs. A researcher studying these drugs told me he felt like the scientist who first discovered antibiotics.

Those are some sky-high hopes, and not all will be come true. But we've already seen a real-world impact. In March, the Food and Drug Administration said that doctors could use Wegovy to reduce the risk of heart problems. Last month, a trial showed that the compound in Ozempic reduced the risk of complications from chronic kidney disease. And last week, two trials found that tirzepatide, the substance in Mounjaro and Zepbound, could improve symptoms of sleep apnea.

The idea that a single drug that could target so many kinds of disease might sound too good to be true. These drugs, called GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists), mystify even the scientists who study them. When I asked researchers how it was possible that Ozempic might help with cognitive issues and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and opioid addiction, they gave the same answer: We don't know!

But we have early clues about where these drugs might take us -- and what that means for medicine. In today's newsletter, I'll explain.

Ozempic injection pens on the production line. Charlotte de la Fuente for The New York Times

Fighting inflammation

Some researchers think Ozempic and drugs like it may have something of a medical superpower: lowering inflammation in the body.

Inflammation is a key part of the body's defense system. When we sense a threat, such as one posed by a pathogen, our cells work to help us fight off the intruder. But chronic inflammation contributes to heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and a host of other major illnesses. If new obesity drugs really do reduce inflammation, that could explain their effect across such a wide spectrum of diseases.

Still, there are already limits. Not everyone responds to GLP-1s. Even those who slim down inevitably hit a floor, typically after losing about 15 percent of their body weight. And the drugs come with side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation) and rare but serious risks: People can develop gallstones and an inflamed pancreas; they can eat so little they become malnourished; and, more commonly, they can lose muscle mass.

Limiting urges

We know that these medications target the areas of the brain that regulate appetite. But there are questions around what else the drugs do to the mind. I've interviewed dozens of people taking these medications who say they've lost all interest in alcohol.

Could these drugs curb other compulsive behavior, too, the way they silence "food noise"? Studies in rats suggest that GLP-1s reduce cravings for cocaine. Scientists are examining whether these medications might even be able to alleviate gambling addictions and smoking.

The great experiment

Ozempic and drugs like it are considered "forever drugs" -- that is, people are supposed to stay on them for the rest of their lives. They're like statins or blood pressure medications. When you stop taking them, they stop working.

A display at a GNC store. Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times

But this class of drugs has existed for less than 20 years. Ozempic itself has been on the market for only six. We don't know what happens after lifelong use of these drugs. Researchers point to past examples of drugs we once thought were miraculous, chiefly fen-phen. It, too, was astonishingly effective for weight loss. Then doctors learned that it damaged the heart and stopped prescribing it.

It will take years, more diverse trials and much more data to determine the potential of these drugs. We are years away from solid evidence underpinning their use to treat Alzheimer's disease, for instance. There's a chance they won't do what scientists hope.

Researchers sometimes tell me that we're living through the great Ozempic experiment.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the globe are taking GLP-1s. The number will rise as they're approved for other uses. It may be years or generations before we know their hidden limitations -- or their full powers.

For more

We know where the new weight-loss drugs come from -- but not why they work. These medicines are incredibly expensive. One state stopped covering some of them this year.

btw, for those curious over that last "for more" part, it's North Carolina that has decided they are no longer going to cover the cost of "pricey" anti-obesity medications .. Let's hope and pray this is not part of a trend ..

I've been on Ozempic for 3 years for diabetes. Dropped my A1C from mid 7s to high 5s. Also lost 37 pounds. No side effects. I'm 20 yrs out from RNY. Highest wt was 262. Today I'm at 143. Medicare pays for my Ozempic. It is not cheap. I'm in the dreaded doughnut hole now so I pay $219/month. It might not be for everyone, but it works for me.