Women Are Reporting ‘Ozempic Breasts’ — A Bizarre Side Effect That Surprised Doctors

FROM soft butts to sunken cheeks, drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been linked to some bizarre body changes.

The rapid weight loss triggered by this class of medications — known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — can leave users with saggy, sagging or wrinkled skin.

This has led to the creation of terms like “Ozempic face” and “Ozempic butt,” although losing weight quickly by any other method can alter people’s appearance just as much.

Now, women are reporting a side effect called “Ozempic breasts.”

Most of us would come to the conclusion that these women’s breasts responded to weight loss medications in the same way as people’s buttocks and faces, shrinking in size and drooping.

For some, this has indeed been the case.

As they lost weight while taking weight-loss or diabetes medications, they also lost fatty tissue in their breasts, which doctors say is expected when someone loses weight quickly.

But experts were baffled by some women who said the drugs actually made their breasts larger.

In a recent reddit postone user said he and his wife had been taking 0.5 mg of semaglutide – the active ingredient in the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight loss drug Wegovy – for just over a month.

“Not only have we not lost ANY weight, her breasts are getting huge,” He wrote.

“She says she’s more uncomfortable because now her tops are getting tighter,” he continued, saying he felt bad for his wife for how insecure she felt about her chest and ill-fitting clothes.

Responding to comments about whether his wife was pregnant, the Redditor said there was no chance of that.

One user shared that they were also experiencing the strange breast side effect after taking GLP-1 medications.

“I’m going through this too and I’m 100,000% sure I’m not pregnant at all,” she wrote.

But she added that her larger breasts could be caused by fat loss in other areas of her body.

“I think in my case I’m losing fat on my sides, so my breasts look bigger,” she explained.

“This happened to me AND my friend!” a third commenter added.

“Although I haven’t experienced this, I have seen posts on these subs about breast tenderness as a side effect for some,” said a fourth.

There were a number of theories about what could be behind this bizarre side effect, from the temporary increase in hormones like estrogen caused by weight loss to the retention of excess water weight.

Experts weighed in on the “Ozempic breast” phenomenon, saying it was very unlikely to happen to most people.

Dr. Andrew Peredo, a plastic surgeon based in New York, said DailyMail.com: “With Ozempic, what I have noticed is that many people take a high dose of the medicine to lose weight and then lose weight very quickly.

“And when that happens, the skin doesn’t have time to retract and recover.

“They will lose weight everywhere, their breasts will be totally saggy, their butt will be totally saggy, and they will lose weight in their face too.”

Dr. Smita Ramanadham, a New Jersey plastic surgeon, told the publication, “For our breasts, most of the tissue is actually fat, and in general, when you lose fat, you lose that size in your breasts as well.

“I think we need to remember that any weight loss affects the entire body, and one person’s experience will likely be different from another’s. It is best to consult your doctor before using the medications.”

Both surgeons said it was also “plausible” that fat loss could initially cause breast swelling – but emphasized that this would be a “rare” side effect.

MORE BIZARRE SIDE EFFECTS

Both Ozempic and Wegovy use the active ingredient semaglutide.

It works by mimicking a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which is usually released after eating, leading to reduced appetite and reduced desire for food.

According to Novo Nordisk, common side effects of the diabetes medication Ozempic include nausea and vomiting, as well as stomach pain, diarrhea and constipation.

It is advisable that you speak to a doctor about side effects, especially if they are bothersome and do not go away.

Stephen Fry recently spoke about the “surprising” weight loss he experienced while taking Ozempic, sharing that the weekly injection left him “vomiting four, five times a day.”

Studies have found that trendy fat injections can put users at greater risk of illnesses such as pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction and stomach paralysis, even if they were previously healthy.

However, research also shows that the drugs have the potential to treat Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as heart disease, fatty liver disease and chronic kidney disease.

And researchers say fat injections can also silence snoring by treating an underlying health condition called sleep apnea.

Some women have become pregnant unexpectedly after taking semaglutide, as weight loss is believed to increase fertility.

But recent research in pregnant animals has suggested that the treatment could lead to miscarriages and abnormalities.

The team of British scientists behind the study warned that semaglutide should not be taken within two months of trying to get pregnant.

Tricia Tan, from the department of metabolism, digestion and reproduction at Imperial College London, said: “Women need to know that these medicines should not be used during pregnancy.

“Animal studies have shown that babies born to animals given these medications have had problems.”