Since weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro first hit the market, patients have shared horror story symptoms and even complained of how the pounds pile back on when they stop taking the medication.
Nausea, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain and other gastrointestinal issues are just some of the common side effects listed. However, even if you make it through these, some patients say the weight loss goes into reverse once you're off the drug again.
In one 2022 study, patients who stopped taking semaglutide (generic name for common brand names such as Ozempic) had regained two-thirds of the weight they initially lost one year out.
Prices for the pharmaceuticals have also been soaring, with the price of Novo Nordisk's Ozempic climbing by 3.5 percent in January to $984 for a monthly supply. Eli Lilly's Mounjaro also grew significantly, by 4.5 percent, to $1,000 a month, according to 46Brooklyn Research.
Despite this, demand for the drugs has never been higher.
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According to data from ecommerce accelerator Pattern, semaglutide weight loss product Wegovy grew in demand on Amazon Pharmacy by 3,151 percent since 2022, while Ozempic jumped in interest by 2,106 percent.
"The continued massive demand for these weight loss drugs we're seeing speaks to the desperation consumers are experiencing," Hamilton Noel, Pattern's data scientist, told Newsweek. "With these intermittent shortages, folks are continually checking places like Amazon despite reports of tricky side effects. We expect the drugs to continue growing in popularity despite those supply chain issues."
While prescriptions are required to purchase these weight loss drugs on Amazon, several were out of stock due to the growing demand.
It's something Sue Decotiis, a triple-board-certified medical weight loss doctor in New York City, says drug companies didn't anticipate when they first revealed the medications on the market, and now doctors are being forced to look at other alternatives to help their patients, whether they have diabetes or specific weight loss goals in mind.
"The drug companies didn't anticipate how popular these drugs would become," Decotiis told Newsweek. "Since they are being used for many issues, like diabetes, heart failure, obesity, this exacerbates the shortages significantly."
"To combat this shortage issue in my practice, I have to make sure my patients have an ongoing supply of medication so I often use compounded medications that are produced by an FDA-supervised pharmacy. For any condition, any patient who cannot receive medication due to shortages can really disrupt their progress."
The drugs were initially designed for people with type 2 diabetes to help control blood sugar, but now a large percentage of the general population is looking to get their hands on them for weight loss.
Human condition
"Unfortunately the human condition is such that, when it comes to diet and exercise, we are constantly seeking the quickest fix with the least amount of effort, regardless of the costs, both monetarily as well as physically," Tom Holland, an exercise physiologist and weight-loss expert and author of Beat the Gym & The Micro Workout Plan, told Newsweek.
Barb Herrera, who took the Trulicity weight loss drug for a year and then switched to Mounjaro in September 2023, said that word has sufficiently gotten out about just how successful these drugs can be.
After being on these medications, Herrera now runs the HealthAtAnyCost.com website and has lost more than 200 pounds in two years.
"So many are on the medications," Herrera told Newsweek. "I have found at least two people on them in the doctor's offices I visit. I do not ask. They volunteer when they hear I am on Mounjaro. How many more are on them that don't say?"
Celebrities who also acknowledge they've used the drugs to help lose weight have only pushed the shortages to the next level, Herrera added.
"People I never thought would want the meds are now clamoring for them," Herrera said. "Clearly the shortages didn't just start when Oprah admitted she, too, was on a GLP-1, but it can do nothing but exacerbate it."
Obesity across America has tripled since 1975 with over 650 million adults classified as obese in 2016, according to the World Health Organization.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Suzanne Blake is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on consumer and social trends, spanning ... Read more
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