An influencer revealed that she suffered a diarrhea ‘storm’ and ‘absolute agony’ while taking the blockbuster weight reduction drug Ozempic.
And the worst part about it? She didn’t lose any weight.
Jaime French, a 33-year-old web personality in St Louis, Missouri, began taking a generic type of semaglutide – the energetic ingredient in Ozempic – in November 2022 to shed weight and forestall diabetes.
‘Like most obese people, I even have at all times struggled to lose body fat, and calorie deficits literally don’t work for me, a minimum of not long run,’ she said in a video last 12 months.
Ms French noted that though she works out often, ‘nothing makes a measurable difference.’ ‘[Ozempic] appeared like a really promising solution,’ she said.
However, immediately after getting her first injection, she said experienced ‘a literal poop storm’ of diarrhea and ‘agonizing’ pain. ‘I used to be pretty confident it was the drug causing it,’ she said.
Jaime French, 33, began taking Ozempic in November 2022 to shed weight and forestall diabetes. However, it led to ‘agonizing’ pain and diarrhea
Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide, which mimics the hormone GLP-1 to suppress appetite
Ms French’s story comes as people across the country on Ozempic and other weight-loss shots like Wegovy and Mounjaro report a slew of unintended effects, from stomach paralysis to depression and shrinking breasts.
Ms French noted that she has struggled together with her weight, in addition to disordered eating, for her entire life.
She has also been diagnosed with the hormonal condition PCOS, lymphocytic colitis – a type of inflammation in the massive intestine – and previously battled thyroid cancer.
All of those aspects led to difficulty dropping pounds, so her doctor eventually beneficial she start on the bottom dose of a generic type of Ozempic.
However, only one dose led to intense bouts of diarrhea and difficulty controlling her bowels, in addition to excruciating pain.
‘If any of you’ve got colitis or Crohn’s or anything like that, you realize absolutely the agony, meaning pain, that it physically causes in your intestines,’ Ms French said. ‘Well, buyer beware because that pain has nothing on Ozempic.’
‘I didn’t ever imagine it could worsen than that, and on Ozempic, it was worse.’
Recent reports have suggested that Ozempic has been linked to a slew of digestive issues.
This is since the drug mimics the hormone GLP-1, which causes food to remain within the stomach longer and signal to the body that it’s full.
In many cases, this has been linked to gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis.
Additionally, Ozempic can change the way in which the body absorbs certain nutrients, which results in diarrhea.
Ms French also had bouts of dizziness and pain near her gallbladder. ‘This was the response I had on the smallest dose possible,’ she said. ‘It was no joke.’
Still, Ms French assumed her body would eventually adjust, so she agreed to extend the dose after five weeks. She had not yet lost any weight, though there have been some positive effects,
‘Ozempic gave me this quiet mind where I never considered my calorie intake,’ she said. ‘It was incredible.’
And though she long suffered from insomnia, the drug caused her to sleep more soundly, which was a silver lining.
Some evidence from drugmaker Eli Lilly, which manufactures Mounjaro, suggests that these weight-loss shots could alleviate issues like sleep apnea by trimming excess fat along the neck, improving potentially blocked airways.
‘The good parts were ok for me to cope with the “dysentery,”‘ Ms French said.
Ms French, who has struggled together with her weight for her entire life, said that she only lost 4 kilos on the medication
However, after increasing the dose from 0.5 milligrams to 0.75, her restful nights became anxiety-fueled insomnia, leading her to average just three hours of sleep every night.
Still not having lost ‘one single ounce,’ the stomach and gallbladder pain ‘became unbearable,’ even from just getting away from bed and drinking water.
At the time, Ms French continued refusing to confess that Ozempic could possibly be causing her debilitating unintended effects. ‘I used to be just distracted and blinded by the will for weight reduction,’ she said.
Even at the total 1-miligram dose, she only lost 4 kilos, and he or she couldn’t control her bowels enough to exit with friends or attend events. ‘I used to be afraid of pooping my pants,’ she said.
After 17 weeks, Ms French finally went off the medication, and her symptoms resolved inside two weeks.
She likened her experience on Ozempic to being trapped in a toxic relationship and never realizing the toll until escaping.
‘It really looks as if it is a miracle drug for certain people,’ she said.
‘My goal here is to empathize with anyone else that it didn’t work for and to let you realize that you just’re not alone because the frustration level that this drug didn’t work is next-level bad.’
‘My ultimate advice I suppose should you are someone who finally ends up trying this drug is trust your gut and know you realize deep down should you did not have a symptom before and it arose after you began the drug, do not be blinded emotions.’
