‘Ozempic Face’: The Shocking and Ugly Side Effect of the Popular Weight Loss Drug

However, it’s become clear that the major ingredient in the drug, semaglutide, is causing what many are calling “Ozempic Face,” where a person’s skin essentially loses its elasticity, aging them years in just months.

However, because Ozpemic is made with semaglutide, it also induces satiety, i.e., making the brain think the stomach is full, even when it isn’t. Therefore, it works extremely well as a weight loss drug.

Prescribing a patient without type 2 diabetes Ozempic is technically illegal, but it certainly does happen.

Unlike Ozempic, Wegovy is a medicine specifically made and approved for people with obesity, but it has almost the exact same chemical makeup as Ozempic.

According to Ozempic, the most common side effects are “nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, or vomiting,” though many who have taken the medication have had far worse ramifications than stomach aches.

These changes can lead to the inability to absorb nutrients, cause pancreatitis, and in some cases, gastric, colon, or intestinal cancers. These warnings are written clearly on the labels, but sadly many people so desperately want to lose weight that they’re willing to take the risk.

Online, there are far less regulations, and a person may be getting a diluted or even completely different drug then they thought they were purchasing.

One of which is what people are calling “Ozempic Face.” While Ozempic Face technically isn’t fatal or even dangerous, it looks horrible.

Dr. Adil Sheraz, a consultant dermatologist at the British Skin Foundation, explained, “The face has a layer of fat that essentially stretches the skin. Ozempic results in rapid weight loss and does so very effectively. This, of course, will lead to rapid loss of subcutaneous (under the skin) facial fat.”

Essentially, it may look like a person has aged several years or even decades in just a few months or weeks as their skin is now sallow and loose. Depending on a person’s facial elasticity, this side effect can affect some more than others, but it is extremely common.

Dr. Frank explained, “A 50-year-old patient will come in, and suddenly, she’s super-skinny and needs filler, which she never needed before. I look at her and say: ‘How long have you been on Ozempic?’ And I’m right 100 per cent of the time.”

From Elon Musk to Oprah Winfrey, Kelly Osbourne and her mother, Sharon, Jessican Simpson, and Scott Disik, Ozempic Face is clearly a real byproduct of using the drug for weight loss.

Some may say that various celebrities look “better” because they lost weight on the drug. But remember, it’s likely that those whose faces still appear full and beautiful received several other cosmetic surgeries or implants before returning to the public eye.

Several celebrities, Scott Disick to name one, clearly took more Ozempic than his body needed. Although some say he was overweight before starting the drug, he certainly wasn’t obese. And now, many say he looks skeletal and even worse than he did before.

Even if a person gains the weight back, which they usually do, it’s highly unlikely that the face will regain its original elasticity and full structure.

But it’s extremely important to understand that these cases are not few and far between but widely extensive. In many cases, people are becoming dangerously sick from the drug, and Ozempic Face is the last of their worries.

In response to the extensive physical harm the drugs have caused them, hundreds of those negatively affected have decided to take their cases to court and sue both companies for their negligence.

As of June 2024, there are exactly 101 plaintiffs filing against the drug company for personal injuries, including but not limited to ileus, intestinal blockage, and gastroparesis. However, experts expect there to be thousands more before the year’s end.

According to Web MD, “Gastroparesis is a condition in which food stays in your stomach for a longer period than it should.” But it’s far more dangerous than it sounds; gastroparesis can and does cause further complications, such as severe dehydration, malnutrition, late onset diabetes, and bacterial growth, each of which can be fatal.

The sad truth is that, while many still don’t know the risks involved when taking Ozempic or Wegovy, those who do don’t care. They are willing to put their internal health risk in order to look “better” on the outside.

The idea of an idyllic body shape is not new to society; however, it seems that over the past few decades, people have been more willing than ever before to inflict physical harm on themselves in order to obtain the idolized beauty standard. 

These surgeries are generally safe, they are extremely expensive. The statistics show that Americans are prepared to spend and put themselves at risk, however minimal, to look a certain way.

Of course, it’s always important to speak directly with your doctor about any medication. But not all physicians are aware of the dangers these drugs can pose. Therefore, it’s important as the patient to keep yourself informed of anything you might want to or are currently taking.

If that wasn’t enough, the average person will gain back two-thirds of the weight they lost the moment they stop taking the medicine, and for many, their Ozempic Face will never go back to normal.