A woman with type 2 diabetes has revealed she feared for her life after Ozempic severely burned her genitals and caused ‘chunks of skin’ to fall off her body.
Dr. Maria Rosas, a professor in Texas, was prescribed the drug once a week for her type 2 diabetes, in the hope that it would eliminate the need to take multiple medications twice a day.
The first week went well, she said, and her blood glucose levels were well controlled. Although she felt slightly depressed, she said this quickly improved.
However, the following week, Dr Rosas said a burning pain broke out in her back, genitals and buttocks. The spots also started to turn deep red, as if they had been in the sun for ‘days’.
And then she noticed “chunks of skin” appearing on her toilet seat and toilet paper every time she cleaned those areas.
Dr. Maria Rosas, who lives in Texas, said her skin broke out in a rash a week after starting Ozempic (pictured). She also had a burning sensation in her back and genitals
Dr. Rosas, pictured above, left Ozempic after suffering side effects and says her health is now improving. She follows a strict diet to control her type 2 diabetes
When she checked her genitals, anus and buttocks, Dr. Rosas said the skin appeared charred and burned.
Just 20 days after taking the medication in August 2023, she called her doctor to report her condition and he told her to stop taking Ozempic immediately.
Writing in a first person piece in NewsweekDr. Rosas said, “Ozempic helped me, but I thought I was going to die at some point because of what was happening to my body.
‘In August, a worse burning pain appeared in my genitals and buttocks.
‘I noticed ‘chunks’ of skin on my toilet seat and on the tissue paper when I cleaned the area.
‘I checked and my genitals, anus and buttocks were badly burned, some parts had charred skin.
“It was like being exposed to sunlight for days.”
Her doctor diagnosed her rash and hives as an allergic reaction to the medication, a possible side effect of Ozempic.
In cases where this happens, the package insert says that patients should stop taking Ozempic immediately and contact their doctor.
Dr. Rosas called the Ozempic 1-800 number and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to report her experience.
In clinical trials of semaglutide, the drug used in Ozempic, an allergic reaction to the drug was recorded in 108 out of 1,306 patients – or eight percent.
In the FDA adverse event reporting system, there have been 15 reports of allergic reactions – although this may be an undercount as most cases are unlikely to be recorded in the system.
Dr. Rosas, a counselor at Texas South College in McAllen on the Texas-Mexico border, says she is doing better now after stopping the medication — although she still experiences back pain.
She said that because of the drug’s many side effects, she doesn’t recommend people use it.
Dr. Rosas is now on a strictly controlled diet to control her blood sugar levels and says she does not plan to take any more medications until she is completely healed.
Ozempic and Wegovy – both of which use semaglutide – were originally approved to help manage diabetes, but it soon turned out that they also helped users lose weight. Doctors then began prescribing them off-label for weight loss.
Wegovy is now approved by the FDA for this purpose.
Data shows that in 2022 there were more than four million prescriptions for weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, with Ozempic behind the most prescriptions.
Thirty-seven million American adults have diabetes, estimates show. That’s when the body either doesn’t produce insulin or no longer recognizes its own insulin, causing the cells to stop absorbing sugar from the bloodstream.
A spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, told DailyMail.com: ‘At Novo Nordisk, patient safety is a top priority.
“We work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medications.
‘Specific to Ozempic, the most common side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain (abdominal pain) and constipation.
‘We recommend that patients who experience side effects while taking Ozempic® contact their healthcare provider.’
Patients have also discovered a number of other side effects caused by the injection, including vivid dreams, aversion to favorite foods and rapid muscle loss.
Some have also said that the weight has decreased so quickly that they have sagging skin on certain parts of the body.
A number of patients have also reported depression, suicidal thoughts and quickly regaining lost weight, and more, after stopping Ozempic.