Do Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound Cause Stomach Paralysis?
GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide) as well as Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide) are a newer class of weight loss medications that have produced a lot of excitement due to more successful weight loss than traditional medications can offer. These medications work by slowing down gastric emptying and can result in up to 15-20% weight loss.
These medications work by stimulating the GLP-1 pathway, which in turn helps to sensitize people to their own insulin. This is why 2 of these medications are approved for diabetic treatment (Ozempic and Mounjaro). Stimulation of this pathway also works to slow down gastric emptying; which is why many people who take these medications feel full longer after eating, eat less, and begin to lose weight. However, side effects of these medications include nausea or vomiting, even to the point that some patients cannot tolerate these medications. These symptoms have led people to wonder whether or not Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound cause gastroparesis.
What Is Gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis is a term that simply means paralysis of the stomach. Patients who suffer from this condition often experience abdominal pain or discomfort, nausea, vomiting, bloating, and acid reflux after eating. This is because the paralyzed stomach does not contract to move food out of the stomach normally. As a result, food will sit in the stomach for extended periods of time. This in turn causes the stomach to become very thin-walled, expanded, and even more non-functional.
To complicate matters gastroparesis can also arise in the setting of diabetes, as elevated blood sugar levels cause gastric paralysis. Gastroparesis is very uncomfortable and in severe cases can lead to food intolerance.
Can Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound Cause Gastroparesis?
Given that they work by slowing down gastric emptying, researchers have begun to ask if these medications can cause gastroparesis. A recent study which drew from a database of 16 million patients found that using GLP-1 agonists such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) did significantly increase the risk of gastroparesis. However, this database did not have long-term data; so it’s not clear whether gastroparesis was temporary or permanent. It’s also not clear whether symptoms resolved or continued after these medications were stopped.
Finally, this study did not yet have data on the newer tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound). However, because tirzepatide also works via the GLP-1 pathway, these drugs will almost certainly demonstrate the same increased risk of causing gastroparesis as semaglutide. Another medication called liraglutide, which is related to tirzepatide, was found to increase the risk of gastroparesis.
Are There Other Gastrointestinal Risks Associated With Taking Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound?
This same study also found that patients taking GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound also had an increased risk of bowel obstructions and pancreatitis.
Bowel obstructions occur when food fails to move through the intestinal track, producing a distention of the intestines. This results in nausea and vomiting, and also prevents patients from eating until the bowel obstruction is resolved.
Pancreatitis is a condition in which the pancreas, which produces your digestive enzymes, becomes inflamed and then begins to digest itself. Pancreatitis causes severe pain, nausea, and food intolerance. In extreme cases it can even be life threatening.
Are There Other Risks Associated With Taking Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound?
At this point, other known complications include a higher risk of developing certain endocrine tumors in the pancreas or thyroid glands. If you are considering using Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound, then it is very important that you be screened for your potential risk for developing these tumors before starting these medications.
Patients with baseline gastroparesis, bowel obstructions, or pancreatitis; or risk factors for these conditions (including diabetes or prior stomach surgery); should be very cautious about using Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound. If your prescribing provider or entity does not do screening for the above conditions then you should go to another provider who screens for these conditions before prescribing Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound.
Similarly, if you start using these medications and begin to experience nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, or constipation then you should stop using these medications and consult your prescribing provider if symptoms persist.
Additionally, these medications are still very new. In many cases, some medical risks associated with medications have not been discovered for decades after medications have received FDA approval. It is possible that further risks and complications of these medications may emerge over time.
What Are My Alternatives?
If you are seeking to lose significant weight, reverse your weight-related health concerns, and keep the weight off for life, then you may want to consider bariatric surgery as a possible alternative.
While medications may be the right choice for some people, they only result in sustained weight loss as long as they are used. If patients stop taking these medications, then the weight may return. These medications also only help patients to lose an average of 20% of their body weight, which is unlikely to be enough for people who are suffering from obesity. Finally, these medications can be very expensive (up to $14,000 per year).
By contrast, bariatric surgery is a very safe and effective alternative. Most of our patients lose up to 90% of their excess body weight and keep it off. Imagine how that would feel.
While people commonly worry that surgery carries a higher risk, national data indicates that the risk of complications from bariatric surgery is very low. At a certified ASMBS comprehensive MBSAQIP center like the Bariatric and Metabolic Center of Colorado, surgery is often an outpatient procedure and is no more dangerous than any other outpatient procedure such as having your gallbladder removed.
If you would like to learn more about your weight loss surgery options, please feel free to browse around the site or give our friendly office staff a call. Many of our patients say that weight loss surgery was the best decision they ever made.
“We were no longer prisoners in our own bodies, we were no longer handicapped by our weight, we were living and moving and feeling better then we had felt in so many years.”–Lisa and Chris Chesrown, duodenal switch surgery patients.
If you’re suffering, don’t wait. Contact our Denver office today.
