6 ‘Hidden’ Side Effects of GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs

• A current research discovered numerous “hidden” negative effects of GLP-1 medicine like Ozempic, together with chills, scorching flashes, and irregular intervals.
• The researchers used self-reported Reddit information to look at the real-world results of those drugs.
• An professional weighs in on why hidden negative effects, corresponding to Ozempic chills, could happen.

GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, have numerous identified negative effects, together with nausea, fatigue, constipation, and diarrhea.

Nevertheless, a current research printed in Nature Health discovered that GLP-1 medicine might also include sure “hidden” negative effects.

The researchers analyzed 410,198 Reddit posts that talked about both semaglutide or tirzepatide. They discovered a complete of 67,008 customers who self-reported utilizing these drugs. Of these, 43.5% posted about not less than one aspect impact.

Reproductive points, corresponding to menstrual irregularities and temperature-related complaints, like chills and scorching flashes, had been essentially the most notable unrecognized negative effects of GLP-1s.

Jeffrey Lee, MD, a double board-certified plastic surgeon and founding father of JL Plastic Surgical procedure in Boston, MA, who was not concerned within the research, spoke to Healthline about these “hidden” negative effects, why they might happen, and what individuals could misunderstand about GLP-1s from social media posts.

This interview has been flippantly edited and condensed for readability and size.

Lee: The most typical negative effects I see in observe are gastrointestinal, issues like nausea, bloating, or constipation.

These are usually short-term and infrequently dose-dependent, that means they will enhance over time or with a dosage adjustment.

Of the lesser-known negative effects talked about within the research, I’ve sometimes had sufferers report fatigue, nevertheless it’s not one thing I see ceaselessly.

I’ve not personally seen a lot of the different signs highlighted within the research in a constant or clinically important approach.

Lee: GLP-1 agonists primarily have an effect on the gastrointestinal system, however additionally they act on the brain, significantly the hypothalamus, which regulates many core features, together with hormones, temperature, and urge for food.

Due to this, it’s believable that some sufferers might expertise broader systemic results, together with hormonal or temperature-related signs.

That stated, these results should not but effectively established clinically, and extra analysis is required to find out whether or not they’re straight brought on by the remedy or influenced by elements corresponding to weight reduction, metabolic modifications, or particular person physiology.

Clinically, we’re seeing that some sufferers report a lowered sense of reward from sure behaviors.

For instance, there have been reports of people with alcohol use points experiencing a decreased urge to drink. This implies that GLP-1s could blunt the reward response, which might be helpful in some contexts.

Nevertheless, that very same mechanism might also translate right into a dampening of emotional highs and lows, which some sufferers could interpret as apathy or decreased libido. That is nonetheless an rising space of analysis, nevertheless it’s one of many extra attention-grabbing potential results of those drugs.

Lee: Affected person habits can completely play a job.

If somebody is actively limiting consumption past what the remedy is already doing, they might expertise signs like irritability or temper swings.

However, if a affected person is absolutely reliant on the remedy and experiences little to no starvation, these fluctuations could also be much less noticeable.

So there’s typically an interaction between the remedy’s results and the affected person’s behavioral response.

Lee: One of many greatest challenges with social media is that it captures anecdotal, self-reported experiences with out context.

It may be tough to find out whether or not a symptom is straight brought on by the remedy, associated to fast weight reduction, influenced by different drugs, or tied to underlying well being situations.

With out that medical context, it’s straightforward for associations to be made that aren’t essentially causal. That’s why it’s essential to interpret these reviews fastidiously and at the side of medical information.

Lee: These limitations are important. For findings to be broadly relevant, the research inhabitants must mirror real-world sufferers when it comes to age, gender, medical historical past, and dosing.

Self-reported information, particularly from platforms like Reddit, can introduce bias, because it typically captures a narrower or extra vocal subset of customers.

That stated, research like this will nonetheless be worthwhile as an early sign. They may help generate hypotheses and information extra rigorous, managed analysis that permits us to attract extra definitive conclusions.