Severe Stomach Conditions in Patients taking Semaglutide

Severe Stomach Conditions in Patients taking Semaglutide

Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Joseph Gut – thasso

26 May 2024 – Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the three Novo Nordisk drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy that are being used for weight loss purposes. Thus, Ozempic, which was approved in 2017 by the FDA as a Type 2 diabetes treatment, is also being used “off-label” for weight loss. Rybelsus, approved in 2019 as Type 2 diabetes treatment, is also being used “off-label” for weight loss, and Wegovy, which was approved in 2021 by the FDA as a treatment for adult obesity and indicated for weight loss (and as such, not “off-label”).

In the popular press and with people of public interest and fame in the weightloss and beauty industries, Semaglutide has been considered the slimming miracle elixir par excellence. Semaglutide may work for some patients as promoted and intended, with some spectacular weight loss results in some mostly prominent individuals.

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, which means it mimics the action of human incretin glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). This improves insulin secretion and glycemic control, and reduces appetite and calorie intake. In recent years we have seen an increasing number of adverse event reports for these Novo Nordisk semaglutide weight loss drugs that involve severe stomach conditions, including Gastroparesis, Gastric Stasis, or Stomach Paralysis.

For a general medical definition of these semaglutide-related stomach conditions, we turn to a National Library Medicine webpage titled “Gastric Stasis” Gastroparesis (gastric stasis) is derived from Greek words gastro/gaster or stomach, and paresis or partial paralysis. It is a clinical condition resulting from delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction and is associated with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Most common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, early satiety, postprandial fullness, upper abdominal pain, bloating, and weight loss. These symptoms can be severely disabling and can adversely impact the quality of life in patients suffering from this disorder.

 

Given the explanation  and description of these severe stomach conditions that have been linked to Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy, people experiencing gastroparesis or gastric stasis often go to the emergency department/emergency room (ER) of their local hospital, sometimes several different times, before finally being admitted to the hospital.

While an ER doctor may determine that a person using the semaglutide weight loss drug has developed severe stomach conditions and then orders hospital admission, the actual medical diagnosis of gastroparesis or gastric stasis is usually made by a gastroenterologist, also called a GI doctor.

Going back to the increasing number of adverse event reports for Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy that involve severe stomach conditions, drug injury lawsuits will likely be filed against Novo Nordisk. These lawsuits would be based on the failure of Novo Nordisk to include an adequate warning in the drug labels for these semaglutide weight loss drugs about an increased risk of gastroparesis, gastric stasis, or stomach paralysis.

Besides the drug induced injuries cited here, there it becomes evident that Semaglutide-based weight-loss theraphies might be the cause for an variety of unwanted and largely uninvestigated side effects. These may include i) deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), portal vein thrombosis (PVT), and ischemic stroke possibly due to semaglutide-related blood clot building, ii) eye problems with possible vision loss due  to  nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) linked to Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic as well as Wegovy and Rybelsus. and iii), as recently discovered, emerging reports on unwanted pregnancies while taking Semaglutide.

Overall, there seems to exist a huge lack un clinical data on the security of Semagutide usage in the general population. And as is usage in the pharmaceutical industry, patients at risk for a possibly adverse effect, which may the companies internal preclinical research has identified, are excluded from all further controlled clinical investigation. However, in reality, such patients are existing in the large population. Needless to mention that Thasso had already one or two articles around the Semaglutide issue.

See here a sequence addressing aspects of Semaglutide side effects, even though perhaps not yet the rarer ones coming up:

 

Disclaimer: Images and/or videos (if any) on this blog may be subject to copyright. All rights remain with the owner of these rights.

 

Ph.D.; Professor in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Senior expert in theragenomic and personalized medicine and individualized drug safety. Senior expert in pharmaco- and toxicogenetics. Senior expert in human safety of drugs, chemicals, environmental pollutants, and dietary ingredients.

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