Why men on Ozempic are reporting a NEW, very embarrassing sex side effect

From smelly flatulence to a fertility boost, Ozempic has been linked to a host of unusual side effects.

But men are reporting what may be the most embarrassing yet: erectile dysfunction.

Reddit pages dedicated to Ozempic and other drugs used for weight loss are peppered with stories of men having trouble performing in the bedroom, believed to stem from low testosterone levels caused by the blockbuster drugs.

Safety brochures that come with the medications include a warning that sexual dysfunction could be a side effect, but the link has not been extensively studied.

a study Earlier this year the problem was found to be a side effect in around one in 75 men taking the drugs to lose weight, with many of them describing frustration and humiliation in the bedroom.

Many men looking to lose weight on the drugs have been surprised by their loss of ability to perform sexually and have asked their peers on Reddit for advice on how to combat the side effect, with one saying: ‘I’ve been taking Ozempic for a while now 3 months . The TT level dropped very quickly and I am now in treatment to fix it.

“Has anyone had similar experiences?”

Another man, 23, who has been taking semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, for five weeks, said he had never experienced ED before.

He said: ‘I recently started seeing someone and have now been dealing with a complete loss of erection.

‘The first time worked because after an hour of failed attempts I finally got and kept an erection.

‘But the second time I got an erection as we were about to put it on, and then just like that it was over.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to sort this out in front of a new partner.”

And another said: ‘When I took (Ozempic) 1.5 times a week I had a complete loss of erection. The Viagra prescribed by the doctor did not work at all. Stopped myself (Ozempic), three weeks later working normally.’

Only a handful of studies have shown that men who took the drugs were more likely to have low testosterone, something that baffled doctors because weight loss typically regulates T levels.

Dr. Shauna Levy, an obesity specialist at Tulane University, told DailyMail.com that the side effect is “counterintuitive” because losing fat also leads to lower estrogen levels in men.

She added, “I’m not denying it’s happening, but the path doesn’t reveal itself immediately.”

Weight loss is known to lower the amount of circulating estrogen, the female sex hormone. Lower levels of this have helped many women at risk of breast cancer and people with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Meanwhile, weight loss has been linked to increased testosterone levels, with one study showing that weight loss can improve testosterone levels in overweight, middle-aged men by almost 50 percent.

Low testosterone levels on their own rarely cause ED, which can often be attributed to other health problems, such as hardened arteries and high cholesterol.

But testosterone affects libido, and lower T levels can lead to decreased sexual desire, resulting in ED.

The reason for a drop in testosterone among male Ozempic users has eluded doctors, including Dr. Levy, who said, “I can’t understand the mechanism as to why that would be the case” and SHE HAS NOT found any patients in Tulane’s system who have this side have reported. effect.

Dr. Brian Liao of the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine, who co-authored the study, said: ‘Our findings were in the opposite direction to expectations, where we expected weight loss to improve symptoms of erectile dysfunction.’

That retrospective study found that more than 3.8 percent of men had ED while taking the drugs, compared to less than two percent in the control group.

But Dr. Levy remains skeptical about the side effect’s prevalence even after speaking to Novo Nordisk’s medical liaison, a person in the company who serves as a link between the drug makers and the doctors who administer the drugs.

She told DailyMail.com that the representative for Novo, the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, had never heard of this connection: “That’s always a sign to me that it’s not the most common case if the medical contact has never been there has heard of. That doesn’t mean it’s nothing, it’s just not on their radar.”