Patient's Rare Ailment Linked to Possible Ozempic Adverse Event. Believe Me, Weight Loss Not Justified by This Health Risk.
In August 2023, freelance journalist and essayist Laurie Yarnell shared her personal journey with gastroparesis in a thought-provoking piece that appeared on HuffPost as part of HuffPost Personal's "Best Of" series.
Gastroparesis, a condition affecting approximately 10 men and 40 women out of 100,000 people, is characterised by the muscles in the stomach reacting too slowly, causing food to sit there until it starts to ferment. This can lead to a range of unpleasant symptoms, including nausea that is comparable to living with acute pain.
The author expresses concerns about the potential side effects of Ozempic and similar drugs, particularly gastroparesis. Ozempic, an injectable diabetes drug that has become popular as an off-label medication for weight loss, mimics GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone, to suppress appetite and delay the passage of food in the stomach. In rare instances, taking Ozempic might be linked to the development of gastroparesis.
Living with gastroparesis can have a significant impact on a person's emotional state. It can be life-altering, affecting every aspect of a person's life and requiring constant vigilance about food intake. Dining out can present challenges due to a lack of understanding about the condition from servers.
The author does not believe that any amount of weight loss is worth the suffering caused by gastroparesis. She laments the fact that Domperidone, a drug for delayed stomach emptying, is not readily available in the U.S. for gastroparesis patients. Domperidone was never approved for sale in the United States due to concerns about cardiac side effects and the risk of serious arrhythmias; the FDA has consistently not approved it since the 1980s.
Ondansetron, the drug of choice for the nausea associated with gastroparesis, does nothing for some patients. The author, who has been suffering from gastroparesis for close to a decade, shares her own experiences with the condition and the struggles she faces on a daily basis.
The piece contains information on how to submit personal stories to HuffPost for potential publication. It also highlights HuffPost's commitment to unflinching, fact-based journalism and encourages continued reader support.
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