Weight Loss Doctor Reveals Alarming New Symptom He Sees in Ozempic Patients
A top doctor has revealed an alarming new symptom he has seen emerging in Ozempic patients.
Dr. Daniel Rosen, a New York surgeon and obesity medicine specialist, says a “legitimate number” of his patients have developed a condition called allodynia, or a hypersensitivity to pain.
Dr. Rosen says this means that even wearing clothes can feel painful, like the “wind blowing on your skin.”
Some people describe the feeling on their skin as a severe sunburn, where the sensation of touch causes a sharp, stabbing or burning pain.
The weight loss expert says some patients taking GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro have developed extreme tenderness on their shoulders, thighs and back.
He says he has heard in the scientific community that the condition is developing among those taking semaglutide (the generic name for Ozempic), but he has not seen any reports of it among those taking terzepatite (better known by the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro).
From his experience, Dr. Rosen says he has seen most cases of allodynia in patients taking higher doses of terzepatite.
He suspects that weight loss medications “somehow” cause the sensitivity of the skin nerves, but there hasn’t been enough research on this side effect to know exactly why this happens.
Dr. Daniel Rosen, a New York surgeon and obesity medicine specialist, says a “legitimate number” of his patients have developed a condition called allodynia.
The Cleveland Clinic emphasizes that there are three types of allodynia.
Dynamic allodynia causes pain from an object moving across your skin, while tactile allodynia causes pain from any amount of pressure applied to the skin.
The third variant is thermal allodynia, in which a mild temperature change (such as moving from indoors to outdoors) can cause a person to feel pain.
To help patients who have developed allodynia, Dr. Rosen has reduced their weight loss medications.
He says this caused immediate relief of symptoms or, in some cases, a more gradual resolution of the condition.
Dr. Anastassia Amaro, medical director and weight loss specialist at Penn Medicine, says she has also seen a similar side effect in her patients taking weight loss medications.
In a Q&A on the podcast in January 2024, she revealed, “An interesting side effect I’ve seen recently is allodynia.
‘So people get that unpleasant, painful (tingling or numb) skin feeling, especially on semaglutide.
‘I have not yet encountered it on tirzepatide, but semaglutide has. There are at least two cases before my eyes.
Dr. Rosen says allodynia means that even wearing clothes can feel painful, like the “wind blowing on your skin.”
‘One responded to the dose reduction and another held on for a while, and then I think we switched to tirzepatide, and I’ll have to see how that goes. So, and we’ll probably see more.”
Currently, there are no studies on the link between weight loss medications and allodynia and it is not listed as an official side effect by the FDA.
Although Dr. Rosen says allodynia is uncomfortable, he doesn’t think the side effect is “very concerning” unless it becomes “bothersome.”
And even then, he says, patients must weigh whether it’s “worth it to get off the medications and sacrifice the positive benefits of the medications.”
He notes that when his patients have reduced their weight-loss medications and slowly increased them again, they have not seen their allodynia symptoms return.
For those taking weight-loss medications, Dr. warns. Rosen that it’s “just something to be aware of (and) if you see it, discuss it with your doctor.”