Mother who took Ozempic for six weeks suffered from stomach cramps, so doctors thought she had a twisted intestine: ‘The pain was worse than childbirth’

A mother is warning others about the risks of Ozempic after suffering a potentially fatal complication that left her in pain ‘worse than childbirth’.

Michelle Stesiak, a woman in her 50s from South Carolina, was initially thrilled when she got a prescription for the shot and said she lost weight easily.

But just six weeks later, the mother was awakened at 3am with a stabbing pain that ran from under her breasts, down her left side, to her back. It was so bad that she said she couldn’t talk, move or even let a blanket touch her side.

Doctors initially thought she might have a “twisted bowel,” a condition in which part of the intestine twists on itself and causes a blockage.

She was diagnosed with pancreatitis, a potentially fatal condition in which the pancreas – an organ in the upper abdomen that produces insulin to help regulate blood sugar levels – becomes inflamed.

The condition can be fatal if the inflammation cuts off the blood supply to part of the pancreas, causing this area to die and become infected, causing sepsis. It can also cause serious internal bleeding if toxins and enzymes leak from the organ and damage nearby blood vessels.

Describing the pain, the mother said: ‘I thought I was dying. It was the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced.

‘I was immediately in the fetal position. I couldn’t talk. I was vomiting profusely and had full-blown diarrhea.

“You couldn’t touch my stomach; even a blanket on it was unbearable.”

Her case was exposed by Johann Hari in Magic Pill, The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight Loss Drug, a new book that looks at the benefits and risks of the new weight loss drug.

She is one of many women who have come forward to tell the author about their experiences and warn others of the potential risks.

Pancreatitis is considered a possible serious complication of Ozempic, with those who have a family history of the disease being told to avoid the drug.

It comes amid a surge in Ozempic’s popularity, with millions of Americans using the drug. Some studies suggest that as many as one in eight Americans have now tried the drug

Studies suggest that Ozempic users have an up-to-date nine times higher risk of developing the complication compared to those who do not use the drug.

But it is still considered uncommon among users, affecting about one in a hundred to one in a thousand people on Ozempic.

Four out of five patients who suffer from pancreatitis while taking Ozempic make a full recovery.

But for others, it can lead to serious complications and, in rare cases, death.

In rare fatal cases, the inflammation causes part of the pancreas to lose its blood supply. This causes the tissue to die, or necrosis, which can then become infected with bacteria.

The bacteria can then spread to the blood and cause sepsis, causing widespread organ failure and death.

Ms. Stesiak said she was visiting her daughter in Pittsburgh from her home in Myrtle Beach at the time her pancreatitis occurred.

She was rushed to hospital by her son-in-law, where – once tests showed her pancreas was in trouble – doctors first asked if she was a heavy drinker or had gallstones before the suspicion turned to Ozempic.

Since the scare, Ms Stesiak has stopped taking the drug and recovered a month later. She is now warning others of the risks, saying: ‘It can cause pancreatitis, and very quickly. It’s something you don’t want to mess with.”

Doctors aren’t sure how Ozempic might cause the condition, but leading theories suggest it may be related to the drug’s binding to receptors for the satiety hormone glucago-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in the pancreas.

One hypothesis suggests that the drug causes the organ to produce more insulin than normal, which can cause the organ to become inflamed.

But others have said the inflammation may be related to changes in metabolism caused by the drug, which change the way the pancreas functions.

Pancreatitis was just one of the many risks Ozempic poses to people’s health, while others include an up to 75 percent higher risk of thyroid cancer and a greater risk of cosmetic complications such as ‘Ozempic butt’ and ‘Ozempic face’.

But experts still warn of the “unknown unknowns,” or negative effects the drug could have, which won’t materialize for decades.

Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, has been tested for decades, but mainly in people who are obese or have type 2 diabetes.

However, many take the drug off-label and do not fit into this category.