Can Ozempic or Wegovy (semaglutide) cause gastroparesis or delayed gastric emptying? I did some research to find out why all of the sudden news outlets are reporting some extremely terrible and sad stories of Ozempic patients all of the sudden having delayed gastric emptying. If you’ve experienced any symptoms like this while on this medication or another one, you may want to talk to your doctor. (Click here for video sources.)
Watch the video below
If you prefer to read it, here is the transcript:
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Can Ozempic cause gastroparesis?
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Kinda. It was designed that way.
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Ozempic has only been on the U.S. market since 2017 and Wegovy the was approved in 2021.
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Both Ozempic and Wegovy are made from a medication called Semaglutide.
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The only difference between Wegovy and Ozempic are dosage amounts.
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Ozempic is
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FDA approved to lower blood sugar levels in adults with type two diabetes.
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Wegovy is FDA approved to help adults with obesity or excess weight who have weight related medical problems
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lose weight
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Semaglutide, which is what Wegovy and Ozempic are
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is known as
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glucagon like peptide one GLP-1
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receptor
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GLP-1 is a gut derived incretin hormone
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that stimulates insulin
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and suppresses glucagon secretion,
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inhibits gastric emptying
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and reduces appetite and food intake.
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So what does this mean? It means that Wegovy and Ozempic are not recommended for people that have delayed gastric emptying or gastroparesis because GLP-1s can cause delayed gastric emptying.
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Okay, so I know lots of background, lots of science on how Ozempic and Wegovy work, aka Semaglutide.
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So why now are news outlets reporting that people who take Ozempic are getting gastroparesis?
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This is probably because prescribing information for both Ozempic and Wegovy do not list delayed gastric emptying as a side effect
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and most patients don’t read the entirety of the full prescribing information.
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Also, patients physicians aren’t telling them that this is a potential side effect with these medications when they are being prescribed
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So Wegovy and Ozempic’s tie to delayed gastric emptying is known in the medical literature and it is also mentioned within the full prescribing information underneath the
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drug interactions section.
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So why is it not listed as a side effect
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on the FDA’s website. They state side effects are
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unwanted, undesirable effects
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that are possibly related to a drug.
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The prescribing information for Wegovy and Ozempic does talk about side effects that are consistent with delayed gastric emptying side effects like nausea, vomiting, constipation,
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abdominal pain and acid reflux.
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But it doesn’t flat out say delayed gastric emptying.
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So why?
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Because that effect of delayed gastric emptying is not undesirable.
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As I stated before, GLP-1 receptor agonists
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are designed to delay gastric emptying.
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So while this side effect may be undesirable in individuals who currently have Gastroparesis or maybe have slow gastric emptying,
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it’s not necessarily an undesired effect
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in someone else.
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Should there be a lot more emphasis somewhere else within the full prescribing information about
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the effect that Semaglutide has on delayed gastric emptying?
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Probably considering that it doesn’t seem like a lot of patients understand the mechanism of the drug.
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But I don’t work for the FDA or the drug companies, so I actually have absolutely no idea.
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But patients do need to know how this drug works, and that delayed gastric emptying is a possibility.
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Now, when posting this video, August happens to be Gastroparesis Awareness Month,
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and I’m absolutely heartbroken by reading all these stories in all these different news outlets that these individuals who started taking Ozempic or Wegovy to control their blood sugar levels and to lose weight and maybe help with some other medical conditions.
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And I feel extremely bad that they’re now left with significant side effects like extreme nausea and vomiting all the time, with diagnosis of delayed gastric emptying and or gastroparesis.
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I’ve had idiopathic gastroparesis meaning they have absolutely no idea why I have it for
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decades,
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and it’s been really bad for the past 12 years. I would not wish it on anybody.
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It’s completely life altering and extremely difficult to treat with very minimal options available.
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So I wanted to share this information with you just so that you as a patient are empowered and have more knowledge of something
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so that if you decide to take medications like these, you know that that is a possible side effects.
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It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be life altering for you. It just means that you have a little bit more information as to how these medications work.
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Remember that all medications do have side effects. Sometimes they are harmful to some people. Sometimes they’re annoying and some people don’t get them at all. We all react different to tons of different medications.
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Now, on a side note, in relation to Gastroparesis, it’s also important to understand that
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a lot of diabetics are given medications specifically like
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and high blood sugar over large amounts of time throughout the process of having diabetes can lead to gastroparesis.
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According to the CDC, diabetes is the most common cause of gastroparesis.
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And in a ten year study that was done of individuals who had diabetes type one and two,
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only 5% of patients with type one diabetes and 1% of patients with type two diabetes
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ended up getting gastroparesis.
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So if you’re concerned about taking Wegovy or Ozempic, you’re currently on it maybe a little bit fearful because you keep seeing all these headlines.
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I would highly recommend talking to your doctor about it.
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Maybe your dose can change or maybe you can be monitored more, or maybe you’ve been experiencing symptoms of gastroparesis for a really long time. But it didn’t get really bad until you got on the medication. You really need to talk to a doctor because they are the best ones to be able to assess your individual situation.
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And don’t wait until your symptoms get incredibly bad because sometimes gastroparesis can be reversible, especially if it’s due to medication cause, if you don’t continue the medication. So definitely talk to your doctor. If you’re experiencing fairly significant side effects while on these medications.
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Being an individual who is a patient with Gastroparesis not caused by anything that they can figure out at this time. I don’t want anybody to potentially get a long term gastroparesis just because of a medication. Even though I know these medications can be life changing.
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I am not shaming people for being on these medications. It is a fantastic tool in a very sparse toolbox that physicians have right now to help patients who have weight gain or obesity or
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weight related health problems. But if you do experience really significant side effects, you got to tell your doctor because again, I don’t wish gastroparesis on anybody.
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It is probably the worst
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illness that I have as a chronic disease person.
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So any awareness that I can potentially bring to delayed gastric emptying gastroparesis any of that sort of stuff, that’s why I make content like this.
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even though right now I’m talking about Ozempic and Wegovy, there are other medications that people can be on at different points in their life that can cause daily gastric emptying as well. So this is not a one time thing with one drug. So, you know, think about it. If some of your side effects are really affecting your digestion and you just feel so nauseous all the time and or you’re throwing up and you can’t keep anything down and you feel full after a couple bites of food, talk to a gastroenterologist.
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They’re starting to now know a little bit more about Gastroparesis than they did when I was having issues with it about 15 years ago. So it is being recognized a little bit more and you can potentially get help for it.
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If you liked this video, you might like this one. Next. It’s me talking about my gastroparesis diagnosis.
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Thanks. I’ll see you next time.
Sources for the video
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/medications-containing-semaglutide-marketed-type-2-diabetes-or-weight-loss#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%20three%20FDA,addition%20to%20diet%20and%20exercise.loss#:~:text=Ozempic%20injection%20and%20Rybelsus%20tablets,mellitus%20and%20known%20heart%20disease.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606697055/fulltext
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2017/209637lbl.pdf
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2021/215256s000lbl.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-digestion.html
https://diabetesjournals.org/spectrum/article/33/3/290/32318/Diabetic-Gastroparesis-A-Review