People Are Getting Honest About The Unexpected Side Effects Of Ozempic, Wegovy, And Mounjaro That No One Ever Talks About

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have become almost impossible to escape. They’re everywhere — in ads, on TikTok, in celebrity interviews, and even in group chats. For many people, these drugs have been genuinely life-changing, helping with blood sugar control, appetite regulation, and weight loss in ways that felt out of reach before. But as the success stories have gone mainstream, a quieter conversation has lagged behind: what it actually feels like to be on these medications, day-to-day.

So we asked the BuzzFeed Community a simple but important question: If you’ve been on a GLP-1, what’s a side effect no one warned you about? Many responded, sharing their experiences honestly — sometimes humorously, sometimes painfully — often with the hope that being open might help someone else feel more informed or less alone. Below are just 34 of their responses:

1. “I almost died. I was taking Zepbound for over six months and increased my dose to 10 mg. I had no appetite, so I’d forget to eat. I was throwing up nonstop. One night, I fell and passed out over my Dyson fan. Fortunately, I made so much noise that my landlords decided to check on me. First time in nine years. They asked if I knew where I was (it was 10 p.m.), and I said I was in bed. I don’t remember any of this. They called 911. I went to the hospital and was in the ICU for five days. I don’t remember the first two-and-a-half to three days. I finally came around on day three, and we discussed what I was taking. I said Zepbound, so the doctor looked into it. It’s a very rare side effect, but I developed metabolic acidosis. All my organs were shutting down. My kidneys were shot, and I developed acute kidney injury. They almost lost me.”

“I’ve been on dialysis since Dec. 5. Ten-day hospital stay. Dialysis three days a week. I just went down to two days this week. It’s wild. It was a great drug. Now I just want my life back.”

—magicalcoyote9522

2. “I’m on Ozempic for diabetes. I’m in remission, which is awesome. I’ve lost weight, too, and now I wear a size 14. I used to wear a size 22. Downside: I will literally throw up if I don’t eat when my body tells me to eat. And it’s happened in the worst places imaginable: at the mall, in a store, at my in-laws’, while driving (cost me $100 to fix that mistake), and so on. The burps are absolutely lethal and long. Watch out. Don’t stand behind me when I fart. I’ll apologize, but just know it’s bad. The weight loss is odd. I’ve lost my butt, but my upper arms are still chunky. My tummy only started to disappear this year (five-plus years in). My shoe size, bra size, and underwear size change drastically from day to day (why? I don’t know!).”

“This drug is brilliant, but please do your research before you start and understand that it’ll change the way you look at yourself in the mirror. Would I recommend Ozempic? Yes, for people with diabetes. But for weight loss, no, because the moment you stop taking it, the weight comes back super fast.”

—bluebooky13

3. “Good: nearly instant change in cravings from starches to stone fruits. Feeling full and satisfied for the first time in my life. Bad: major hair loss.”

—leendadll

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4. “I was prediabetic, so my doctor put me on Ozempic to help get it under control because Metformin made me very sick. The joke was on me because the nausea was horrible, and it’s been so bad that I’ve thrown up. When it was first prescribed, I felt sick the entire first week. After the first dose increase, I felt really sick for a couple of days and ultimately ended up throwing up. The second increase was fine and didn’t make me sick. However, it makes you not hungry. With my ADHD, I already forget to eat a lot of the time, so I often find myself feeling incredibly nauseous because I realize 12 hours later that I haven’t eaten all day. Don’t get me wrong, forgetting to eat is nothing new, but the sick-from-not-eating feeling tends to hit much later than it used to. The other thing they don’t tell you is that not everybody loses weight, or loses it in the way people around you expect on Ozempic specifically.”

“I’ve been on this medication for a long while now, and I’ve only lost 10 pounds. One of my coworkers has been on it longer than I have, and he hasn’t lost any weight.”

—mo2758

5. “It’s the weird places you lose weight that I didn’t expect. I had to get my glasses resized because they kept slipping off my face. My watch doesn’t fit my wrist anymore either. It’s also fascinating to see angles and feel bones that were previously covered in a thick layer of fat. Eating-wise, I had to stop eating Christmas dinner four bites in because I was stuffed. And all calories count to fill your stomach. Empty calories are now filling. I’ve also experienced a ton of nausea and acid reflux, so that has not been fun.”

“On the other side, exercise also now counts. Before semaglutide, I was working out three to five times a week and never losing weight or gaining muscle. Now I can do a 10-minute workout, and those muscles are actually getting stronger, and I’m becoming leaner. To me, this medicine is amazing, but like everything else, it’s not for everyone.”

—surprisedcookie352

6. “Crazy dreams, man. They’re wild and out of control.”

—thepontiuspilate7

7. “I didn’t have any of the nausea or vomiting or diarrhea that many others have mentioned. Just…no appetite. Like, within a few hours of my first shot. I had to set reminders to make sure I ate enough in the beginning. I’ve been on it for a year, and I’ve lost about 70 pounds. No more metabolic syndrome. No more inflammation. No more pain. The unforeseen side effect that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing is a complete silencing of my OCD symptoms. I’ve had this illness for 30 years, and there have been long periods of time where it’s been completely debilitating. I’ve had it ‘under control’ for a few years now, but it’s never completely gone away. It’s always lurking in the shadows, threatening to rear its head and ruin my life. That is, until now.”

“I imagine that the same property of the drug that prevents the compulsion to overeat is also preventing my other compulsions. It’s really fascinating. For the first time since I was 12 years old, my brain is just…quiet. Thoughts that would have become intrusive and burrowed their way into my brain? They just pass through. I can notice them and observe them, but they don’t stop and stay. Is this the way that ‘normal’ people feel all the time?”

—juliadominick

8. “I get full now. Uncomfortably early. Half a meal in and my stomach is like, ‘Nah, we’re done here.’ No warning. No committee meeting. Just shuts the whole operation down. I used to eat through that signal out of spite. Can’t anymore. My body has apparently unionized. Also, sneaking food has become impossible. No more ‘just a little something’ that accidentally turns into a full second meal. Tried to sneak a cheeseburger the other day and my brain just stared at it like, ‘Why.’ Devastating loss for the late-night snack economy. Food used to live rent-free in my head. Full-time job. Overtime. Now? Silence. No 9 p.m. snack negotiations. No fridge pacing. No internal monologue going, ‘You should probably eat in case.’ In case of what, brain? In case of happiness?? Yes, at the start I felt a bit nauseous. Almost like my body was adjusting to not being fed constantly like a Victorian child with rickets. That passed.”

“What didn’t pass is this deeply unsettling calm around food.”

—crunchytiger723

9. “I was one of the first people in Canada to be prescribed semaglutide for diabetes after it was approved by Health Canada. Yes, I lost weight (from size 14 to size 10), but only because the medication made me constantly sick. I stayed on it for six years. During that time, I lost my hair, my muscle mass, and even part of my vision. During the last year I was on it, I had to switch to special accessibility settings on my computer and phone just to read anything. I eventually stopped taking it, even though my doctor advised me to continue (‘Stay on it, or you’re irresponsible’). I’ve been off it for a year now. My hair is slowly growing back, my muscle strength is improving, and after months of waiting, my vision has returned to its pre-semaglutide accuracy. In the end, it felt like I had to choose between being harmed quickly by the medication or slowly by the diabetes.”

“Why did I stay on it that long? There’s no good reason. That’s the absurdity.”

—vinnyvang

10. “I was researching whether I wanted to try one by asking people who take them. Fatigue and nausea for the first 48 hours after the weekly injection, increased anxiety and panic attacks, and constipation were common. I also learned that GLP-1 medications change how hormonal birth control is metabolized, resulting in unexpected pregnancies, which is why there’s an ‘Ozempic baby boom’ right now.”

—sexymedicaljane

“I got pregnant with my son after being on it for almost a month. I was barely coming off birth control and shouldn’t have been ready that quickly. Apparently, Ozempic babies are a thing. I love my little guy.”

—taylotanderson

11. “I’ve received a lot of stigma and a lot of negative responses, saying I’m ‘cheating’ and losing weight ‘the wrong way.’ Straining with bowel movements, stomach pain, and completely forgetting to eat sometimes.”

—officialzombie842

Related: 21 Things Women Didn’t Realize Their Body Was Capable Of Doing Until It Just… Happened

12. “My doctor put me on Ozempic. Two stomach surgeries later for blocked intestines, I’m still trying to get my life back. Almost three years. They know about it — intestinal blockage — but I didn’t, and neither do most patients.”

—Anonymous, 64, Female

13. “I started on a compounded version of Zepbound and was successful in losing weight. The clinic could not get the medication anymore, so I switched to compounded Wegovy. After a few weeks, my skin started to hurt. It felt like a bad sunburn. I didn’t lose any weight, either. I stopped Wegovy, went to another provider, and got back on Zepbound. Back on track.”

—Anonymous, 67, Female

14. “Being on Ozempic for Type 2 diabetes, you increase dosages every four to six weeks, and you max out way before people do on Wegovy. So you don’t get as sick. A friend of mine started at 3.25 mg per dose. I started at 0.25 mg for 6 weeks. My dosage will also max out at 2 mg. I think this is likely because it’s not covered in Canada for weight loss, so upping dosages at a reasonable rate is too expensive. My friend has been sick — never-leaving-the-bathroom kind of sick — for the entire duration. I’ve had some low-level nausea and can’t eat mustard (no idea why) or orange pekoe tea, but I’ve been able to eat and drink pretty much everything else. The big symptom for me has actually been constipation. I had to start tracking my bowel movements and have been taking fiber gummies twice a day. I’ve gone five days without pooping a couple of times. Not great.”

“You need to hydrate and take care of your fiber needs. Most important advice I could give. Also helpful: Noom with the GLP-1 Companion app. Sea-sickness bands and the Allclair essential oil sticks. They’re so helpful for nausea.”

—Anonymous, 37, Female, Canada

15. “They don’t tell you how exhausted you are and how much muscle you’re going to lose after taking the shot once a week. My hands and feet are so cold. I also can’t eat most foods. They don’t digest well and make me nauseous or vomit. Right after I take the shot, it feels like my bones ache, but I guess on the plus side, it is helping with my Type 2 diabetes and weight loss. Although I do feel like I’m withering away.”

—Anonymous, 45, female

16. “When I first tried Ozempic, I constantly smelled cigarette smoke. I had to quit after six weeks. When I started Mounjaro, my sense of taste changed. My body odor increased and also changed.”

—Anonymous, 65, Female, North Carolina

17. “I’ve been on Zepbound since October and have lost 40 pounds so far. I am still fighting nausea and extreme fatigue, but having dropped two pants sizes is kind of amazing. Pooping every four to six days is weird, but I’d say the extreme neck pain for three days after injection is the weirdest side effect.”

—Anonymous, 39, Female, Ohio

18. “I started losing my hair. I was only on it for three months, and my hair started falling out in clumps. Six months later, my doctor told me it could be another six months until it stops and starts growing back.”

—Anonymous, 36, Female, Washington, DC

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19. “I took my first injection of compound semaglutide and immediately almost passed out. I had to lie in bed for the rest of the day and night. Following that, my anxiety became so intense that I was almost panic-attacking every moment of every day until the dose backed off. Hands down, the scariest feeling I’ve ever had. Needless to say, I never used the rest of it and just wasted $400. Never again. Now, many months later, I’ve lost 20 pounds on my own without any meds. It wasn’t worth it to feel like death.”

—Anonymous, 36, Female, Texas

20. “Honestly? The nausea. I’m on a GLP-1 to help with insulin resistance after living with Type 1 diabetes most of my life, and while it has helped, no one prepared me for how rough the nausea can be. I’m talking hours laid out, curled up, just waiting to throw up. I ended up needing anti-nausea meds, and my doctors even suggested eating super light, or just not at all, around injection days. It’s also totally curbed my appetite. I was never a big eater (maybe two meals and a snack), and now I’m lucky if I feel hungry enough for one meal a day. Definitely something I wish I’d known going in.”

—Anonymous, 26, Female, Ohio

21. “I have systemic itching from Mounjaro, including severe vaginal itching that I’ve never had before. Also, I crave carbs much more strongly and cannot stand the taste of meat.”

—Anonymous, 72, Female, Ohio

22. “I was so nauseated I couldn’t eat at all. I lost a lot of weight, obviously, but wound up in the hospital twice. Taking the bare minimum dose nearly killed me.”

—Anonymous, 38, Female, California

23. “I was on Mounjaro for 10 months, starting in July 2025, and I can honestly say it was a miracle drug. I had mobility issues, so I struggled to lose weight myself, but the jab helped me lose seven and a half stone. However, it got to the point where whenever I had the occasional treat, I had the worst abdominal pain imaginable. Ten out of 10, like a red-hot poker burning through my right side, and I had to vomit my guts up for hours until there was nothing left. Turns out I had gallstones and had to have emergency surgery to have my gallbladder removed. I know of at least two other people who have been through the same thing with Mounjaro.”

—Anonymous, 31, Female, United Kingdom

24. “I have tried both semaglutide and tirzepatide. Both made me emotionally numb. Tirzepatide was the worst, as it gave me suicidal thoughts after my third dose. I stopped immediately. It was working great beyond that, but I’m not putting my mental health at risk again to lose weight. The semaglutide wasn’t as severe, but I felt emotionally flat and wasn’t losing any weight, so I stopped. I didn’t expect the emotional effects to be so severe.”

—Anonymous, 45, Female, California

25. “I’ve been on Zepbound for almost a year now, and I’m down 60 pounds. It’s supposed to be the gentlest on the stomach, and I’ve had minimal issues except for when I eat something greasy or fatty. However, I learned as I upped my doses that it can affect how your medications are absorbed. I was told in the beginning that it would make birth control pills less effective, but I didn’t realize I was getting anxiety attacks randomly (felt like my throat was closing up, similar to full-blown panic attacks, and it was difficult to take a deep breath) due to how my Vyvanse and Zoloft were being absorbed.”

—Anonymous, 31, Female, Arizona

26. “I have been a very heavy man my whole adult life, but constantly had ups and downs due to thyroid issues. People always (and only) compliment me when I lose weight. After taking GLP-1s, I lost a lot of weight, and the compliments were out of control. I have always hated this because it’s backhanded, basically telling me how repulsive I was before, and as though my whole worth only has to do with my weight. I lost my health insurance, and before long, all the weight came back, and guess what? Compliments stopped, and people treat me like I’m invisible again. Never had any physical side effects, but it just makes me see how cruel and superficial basically all people really are.”

—Anonymous, 41, Male

27. “Brain fog and constant headaches.”

—Anonymous, 73, Female, California

Related: 22 “Mild” Health Symptoms That People Often Ignore Until It’s Just Way Too Late

28. “No one told me it was meant to be a lifelong medication. I lost very little weight over a 14-month period. The loss of muscle mass is most concerning because lean muscle mass is key to metabolizing fat. Using these drugs results in a loss of muscle (remember, your heart is a muscle), bone density, and fat. When people decide they don’t want to take (and pay for) the medication as a lifelong thing, they regain the weight. Only this time, they have more body fat because they lost lean muscle mass. None of this was explained when it was prescribed to me. I was only asked if I had a family history of thyroid cancer. Like it or not, we are one giant test group and won’t know the full story of these drugs for several years.”

—Anonymous, 69, Female, New Mexico

29. “Eating within four hours of sleeping equals morning vomit sessions. Often, it also results in my capillaries breaking, leaving my skin all splotchy. This also messes with my morning thyroid medication. I have to be so careful with behaviors. Still, super grateful for these meds.”

—Anonymous, 39, Female, Canada

30. “I got severe brain fog on Wegovy. My head felt heavy and I just felt slow. I lost weight super fast (30 pounds in three months), mostly because the only thing that helped me break through the brain fog was hard cardio.”

—Anonymous, 37, Female

31. “Taking semaglutide caused me to have a severe case of pancreatitis. During my trip to the emergency room, I got a CT scan that found a 10-centimeter tumor on my kidney. I had stage 3 renal cell carcinoma. I am thankful for that side effect, though. Eighteen months later, and minus a kidney, I am doing well.”

—Anonymous, 50, Male, Texas

32. “Ozempic made my gums and teeth super-sensitive. To the point that I couldn’t talk or smile while outside because the cold wind hitting my teeth hurt so badly. The sensitivity started a bit after starting Ozempic and stopped right after I stopped taking it, so it was that for sure. So weird and random.”

—Anonymous, 36, Female, New York

33. “Everything is so dry. I constantly feel like my teeth are hairy, my boogers are like cement, my manicures don’t last very long, and my vagina is drier than a popcorn fart. But it’s so worth it. I can actually slow down and make a good choice when I feel hungry, and I’ve actually noticed I make better choices in other aspects of my life, too.”

—Anonymous, 38, Massachusetts

34. “Feeling like a failure when they didn’t work for me. Everyone else I knew who’d used GLP-1 meds had lost 40 or 50 pounds or more. I lost 15 on the first one I tried, then when it stopped working, I tried a different one and actually gained weight. I thought there must be something wrong with me. It really messed with my head!”

—Anonymous, 46, Female, Missouri

These experiences don’t mean GLP-1 medications are “good” or “bad.” What they show is how complex and deeply personal being on them can be. Bodies respond differently. Circumstances vary. And for many people, the most surprising effects aren’t always the ones listed on the label.

What do you think? If you’re currently on a GLP-1, considering one, or have been on one in the past, we want to hear from you. What’s a side effect you wish someone had told you about sooner — physical, emotional, or social? Share your experience in the comments below, or, if you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can submit using the form at the bottom of this post. Your story could help someone else make a more informed decision or simply feel a little less alone.

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