Women On GLP-1s Are Revealing The Side Effects And Experiences No One Told Them About - BuzzFeed

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Whether they know it or not, almost everyone knows someone who's tried a GLP-1. After all, in an age when weight loss and its health benefits can be easier than ever, it only makes sense that so many people are interested. As someone who's plus-sized, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it myself!

Still, when it comes to GLP-1 injectables and pills, not all is as it seems. Hundreds of women responded to a Reddit inquiry from a 58-year-old woman who wanted honest, authentic information about the medication's side effects.

"The reason I'm posting here is that the medical field has a habit of reporting results for drugs based on primarily male clinical testing," she explained, "so I'd love to get side effects/benefits from a mainly female audience."

Here's what women who have tried GLP-1s had to say:

"I took GLP-1s and was miserable the whole time. I basically felt like I was pregnant. Nauseous, weak, irritable. I lost a bit of weight at the beginning, but by the end it wasn't doing much for me, and I asked my doctor if I could stop because I was so miserable and my weight wasn't moving anyway. Weight Watchers worked much better for me."

"Yes! It felt a lot like morning sickness. Nausea, constipation, food aversions. Sure, I lost a little weight, but only because I felt so awful I didn’t want to eat. Sadly, it left me so iron-deficient that I needed an infusion and gave me gallstones, for which I now need surgery."

"I was on GLP-1s for the better part of 7 months. I lost 15 lbs. I also became so iron-deficient that I needed an infusion to stop the soul-crushing exhaustion, and I now need surgery to have my gallbladder removed. No one told me a side effect was an increased risk of gallstones."

"Since being on the GLP-1, I can have 2 glasses of wine, and I am DONE. I am buzzed. I am not legal to drive. If I have a third, I will feel sick and probably throw up. I also don't find wine as tasty as I once did. I've tried a lot over the years and would have said I have a fairly expansive palate, even for some of the really robust reds. Right now I am sticking to Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, because everything is bitter."

"A major side effect I've heard about is nausea for the first few days after injection. For me, a bout of nausea lasts about 10 minutes. I get it less frequently now."

"GLP-1 was a nightmare for me. It caused severe daily vomiting, to the point that it damaged the enamel of my teeth. I was vomiting up to 20 times per day for the 8 months that I stuck with the medication. I also experienced daily diarrhea, burping, and bloating. I had zero weight loss despite my inability to keep food down for months. In fact, I actually gained weight. I stayed on it longer than I should have because I desperately wanted my blood glucose levels to go down."

"My palate has changed. I used to enjoy sour candy, but I no longer like it and now gravitate towards blander food, whereas I used to really love hot and spicy things. That might be a side effect of not drinking, though."

"Your taste is actually just more correct. It gives you the palate of a newborn, and you can taste the food without the emotional associations.

I asked a friend if she had added a spicy chili to a sauce… it was black pepper lol

Soda is also too spicy for me now."

"I've been on GLP-1s for 4 weeks, and my only side effect is that I don't feel thirsty as often as I should. My hunger is reduced, but sometimes I forget to drink water (because of the lack of thirst), so I get terrible headaches. Once I drink enough, it goes away. Otherwise, it has been amazing. I've lost 11 pounds in 4 weeks."

"I was on GLP-1s for a year. I had to take a magnesium citrate supplement to help with constipation, but I'm awful about drinking enough water, so that would help with that. I'd get nauseated if I didn't eat at least a little something. I occasionally had to take ondansetron to keep from vomiting. I started to get a bit of the 'GLP-1 face.' I'm 55, and my skin is beginning to look worse."

"I felt like there was something sitting on my shoulders, weighing me down all day long. I had heartburn that was horrendous, and I felt depressed all the time."