Patients taking the blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy say their hair begins to fall out in clumps.
An American TikToker who lost 60 pounds while taking Ozempic claims that her hairline has receded so far that she now has to cover it with makeup.
Another patient was so shocked by hair loss said she’d rather be “fat and able to hide behind my hair” than skinny with bald spots.
Hair loss is not listed as a side effect of Ozempic, but the side effect came up in clinical trials of Wegovy and affected three percent of patients taking the drug, compared to one percent in the placebo group.
Ozempic and Wegovy have already been linked to numerous other dire side effects, including vivid dreams of Oprah Winfrey riding a go-kart, being suddenly repelled by ground beef and losing muscle mass at an “alarming rate.”
An American woman on Mounjaro, who calls herself “the geriatricmillennial” on TikTok, said her hair fell out in clumps when she brushed it or showered
Wegovy and Ozempic both use the same drug, semaglutide, which suppresses appetite to cause weight loss. However, Wegovy uses a higher dose than Ozempic.
Doctors don’t know exactly what causes the hair loss, but some medics say it can be caused after rapid weight loss.
A temporary thinning of hair — called telogen effluvium — may be caused by rapid weight loss that disrupts hormones or causes resources to be diverted away from the hair, they said.
This causes hair follicles to suddenly switch to the resting or telogen phase of their growth cycle, causing hair to fall out.
But doctors point out that the loss is temporary, adding that new hairs will start growing at a later date.
Temporary hair loss can occur about three months after rapid weight loss, doctors say, and can take up to six months to disappear.
Novo Nordisk, behind Ozempic and Wegovy, did not respond to requests for comment.
Hair loss has also been reported in patients who were given another medicine, Mounjaro, to help them lose weight.
This uses another drug, tirzepatide, which acts on the same receptors as semaglutide, as well as a separate group. It also suppresses hunger pangs to help patients lose weight.
Eli Lilly, who is behind the drug, says hair loss was recorded in clinical trials of this drug, but it was generally short-lived.
Among the patients who reported hair loss on Ozempic was Becca, from the US, who lost 40 pounds while taking the drug.
She said in a TikTok video, “I feel like my hairline has definitely receded a little bit or just thinned out a little bit.”
She said she now fills in her hairline before going out to cover up the fact that it has receded slightly.
Other affected patients include a woman on Mounjaro who goes by the nickname “theegeriatricmillennial” and lives in the US.
In a TikTok video, she said, “We need to talk about hair loss.
“All my life I have had a thick and luscious head of hair.
“(But over) the last month I’ve lost so much hair.”
She added, “I know it’s to be expected if you’re losing weight quickly… uh… but the rate at which it’s coming off is terrifying.”
“I’d rather be fat and hide behind my beautiful hair than be skinny and have bald spots.”
Another patient named Becca, from the US, revealed on TikTok that she lost 60 pounds while taking Ozempic.
Amanda Staffor of Kentucky, who also uses Mounjaro, posted a video online of her holding up a clump of hair and saying it had fallen out of her hair while she was in the shower. She said this keeps happening, which “adds up” over time
Becca, from the US, also said she suffered from hair loss after she lost 60 pounds while taking Ozempic. She said it had caused her hairline to recede
Amanda Staffor of Kentucky, who also uses Mounjaro, similarly posted pictures of herself wearing clumps of her own hair online.
She said: ‘But this, yes, that’s how much hair I lose every time I shower, aAnd you can imagine that adding up.
“I need to know, is anyone else having this problem? Do you take supplements for that? Do you have any suggestions? Can someone help me, I don’t want to lose all my hair.’
More than five million Americans received a prescription for Ozempic in 2022, data shows, compared to 230,000 in 2019.
And the number is only growing, with more than 373,000 prescriptions submitted in the last week of February alone, doubling from the same time last year. Analysts say more than half of these were new.
Texas, Florida, California, New York and Georgia are the states where it’s most common for patients to get a new prescription for the drugs.
In clinical trials for Wegovy, results showed that about three percent of patients said they had experienced hair loss.
In comparison: in the group that received the placebo, this was only one percent.
Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind Mounjaro, said in a statement to NBC News that hair loss was recorded in clinical trials of Mounjaro, but was generally short-lived.
“Hair loss is a side effect that has been associated with significant weight loss in many previous clinical trials for the treatment of obesity,” said a spokesperson.
Novo Nordisk, behind Ozempic and Wegovy, did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr. Susan Massick, a dermatologist at Ohio State University who has been prescribing the drugs to patients, said, “What really stands out for people is that there are no scalp symptoms.
“It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t itch, but you can run your hands through your hair and you’ll have a handful of hair. It can be really disturbing to see that.”
