Ozempic and Wegovy, two medications that are increasingly prescribed to treat diabetes and help Americans lose weight, have taken the country by storm. Recent data indicates that nearly one in eight adults in the United States have used glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs. This conclusion takes into consideration the 2024 reporting. Although side effects are quite rare, some people do have bad reactions that call for medical help. This article explores the impact of these adverse events. It focuses on how they can affect patients and what makes an emergency room visit necessary.
As Dr. Pieter Cohen, internist at Cambridge Health Alliance and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, put it succinctly. Although serious side effects requiring hospitalization are unquestionably rare, they do occur.
Dr. Cohen went on to clarify that although serious adverse events from semaglutide are common, they rarely require hospitalization. He focused on how these types of events are possible. He noted that patients should be aware of potential side effects and communicate their medication history to healthcare providers in case of an emergency.
Side Effects of Ozempic and Wegovy
The most frequently reported side effects with Ozempic and Wegovy entail nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. To uncover this information, Dr. Cohen and his team relied on a national surveillance network. They expedited the analysis of emergent department visits due to semaglutide adverse effects. In their study, they found that almost 70% of the 551 visits to the emergency department were gastrointestinal related.
Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, remarked on the nature of these adverse events, stating, “The adverse events presented are not new.” Uncontrolled gastrointestinal symptoms are a major contributor to poor quality of life for these patients. In extreme instances, they can lead to hospitalizations.
The data showed that fewer than 18% of these emergency department visits led to hospitalization. On top of that, 16.5% of visits were due to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar levels. Among these cases, nearly 38% ended up hospitalized. In unusual cases, some patients can experience pancreatitis while on these drugs, which may require additional treatment.
Seeking Medical Attention
Knowing when to seek emergency care is key for anyone on Ozempic or Wegovy. Given the possibility of these side effects, Dr. Cohen encourages patients taking GLP-1 drugs to tell emergency room providers that they’re using them if they seek care. These details are necessary to make sure healthcare providers like Louie have the right information to treat patients properly.
According to Dr. Cohen’s research, patients have difficulty understanding when their symptoms are serious and need urgent attention. He noticed that routine care for low blood sugar often surprises patients. This is particularly true for those who are not on other blood-sugar lowering meds. These findings agreed with our extrapolation of a previous study, which found that semaglutide rarely leads to serious adverse events. In reality, it almost never admits patients to the hospital.
As Dr. Avlin Imaeda told us, making dietary changes for patients on these medications is a big deal. People [patients] absolutely have to change their diet if they want to stay on the medication,” he explained. He expressed concern regarding abdominal pain assessments, stating, “Abdominal pain is really challenging both for patients and doctors to assess.”
This complexity may cause patients to miss valuable time in emergency care or visit unnecessary. Dr. Imaeda remarked on the implications of recent findings: “This study makes me think maybe I should counsel patients about not being so quick to go to the emergency room.”
Regulatory Considerations
Just recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signaled its intentions to ban compounded semaglutide. This move comes just a month after supply shortages for Ozempic and Wegovy have been largely alleviated. This decision is part of a broader strain of attempts to rein in the skyrocketing use of GLP-1 receptor agonist medications.
Dr. Peminda Cabandugama raised concerns about compounded medications, stating, “It’s kind of like the Wild West when it comes to medications [that] are compounded because there is no standardization.” This inconsistency creates variability in both the dosage as well as the therapeutic efficacy between different compounded drugs.
Dr. Cabanduga noted the need to be treated by qualified professionals for effective weight loss treatments. This is all the more important as online weight loss clinics and social media influencers continue to glorify these medications. It’s extremely important to focus that patients are being seen by the appropriately trained providers for weight loss,” she cautioned.
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