Ex-Ozempic Patient Shares the Side Effect That Won't Go Away

Vertigo Concept. Young Woman Feeling Unwell At Home — Shutterstock

Ozempic has been heralded by many as the miracle solution for substantial weight loss. But amid its rise to fame, some unfortunate news has also come out about the aftermath of using this semaglutide-based drug. Many Ozempic patients have shared troubling stories about side effects, which pushed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate some of these reports and even resulted in a lawsuit against the medication's maker. But the concerns only continue as one ex-Ozempic patient is now sharing her experience with the drug's lasting effects in a new interview with the Daily Mail.

Just three years ago, Sam King weighed around 19 stones, or 266 pounds, which was the heaviest she had ever been. "I tried every diet going—Slimming World, diet shakes, keto—nothing worked," King told the British newspaper. "I would spend two hours in the gym and lose a pound in three weeks then put it on again. I'd wear men's clothes to cover up and I had no self-confidence."

Then, in 2022, King's general practitioner told her about Ozempic. "I was so excited," she said, adding that by this time she was so "desperate" to lose weight that she would have "tried anything."

But the decision to go on Ozempic is one King now regrets. She told the Daily Mail that she chose to stop taking the medication after three months. By that point, King said she had barely lost any weight and was experiencing a myriad of side effects, including a lingering problem she says has still not gone away: vertigo.

As the Cleveland Clinic explains, "Vertigo causes dizziness and makes you feel like you're spinning when you're not." This condition is usually the result of an issue with the inner year, but it can also be caused by certain medications.

"I thought Ozempic would be a wonder drug and it seems to be for some people but it certainly wasn't for me," King said.

But vertigo was hardly the only side effect the ex-Ozempic patient experienced during her three months on the drug. Soon after being prescribed the medication, she said she started struggling with nausea, too.

"It was all consuming and I found I couldn't leave the house. Luckily I work from home so was able to work," King said. "But then the nausea got so bad I had to stay in all day and couldn't leave the sofa. I would feel so nauseous I'd actually be sick—at first once a day, then several times. I felt horrendous."

When she went back to her doctor for another month's prescription of Ozempic, she said she was told that this was a normal reaction to the drug.

"But it got worse," King recalled. "The fatigue got worse. I couldn't lift my head off my pillow. I knew exercise was a component of losing weight but couldn't get up. I'd be sick all day every day."

After three months on Ozempic, King had only lost six pounds—which her doctor said was probably "due to [her] vomiting and dehydration," not a result of the drug at all.

"I was so frustrated and envious of these people online saying they were losing stones and I had lost barely anything," she told the Daily Mail. "My body looked the same I just looked fatigued, dark circles under my eyes and shaking and weak from the sickness."

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Kali Coleman Kali Coleman is a Senior Editor at Best Life. Her primary focus is covering news, where she often keeps readers informed on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and up-to-date on the latest retail closures.Read moreFiled UnderMedicine • News • Weight LossSources referenced in this article