A woman with type 2 diabetes has revealed she was left fearing for her life after Ozempic severely burned her genitals and caused ‘pieces of skin’ to fall off her body.
Dr Maria Rosas, a professor in Texas, was prescribed the once-weekly drug for her type 2 diabetes in the hopes it could leave her no longer needing to take multiple medications twice a day.
The first week went well, she said, with her blood glucose levels being well controlled. Though she felt mildly depressed, she said this improved quickly.
The following week, however, Dr Rosas said a burning pain erupted in her back, genitals and buttocks. The areas also began to turn a deep red as though they were in the sun ‘for days’.
And then she noticed ‘pieces of skin’ started to appear on her toilet seat and toilet paper whenever she cleaned those areas.
Dr Maria Rosas, who lives in Texas, said her skin broke out in rashes a week after she started taking Ozempic. She also experienced a burning sensation in her back and genitals
Dr Rosas, pictured above, came off Ozempic after suffering the side effects and says her health is now improving. She is using a strict diet to control her type 2 diabetes
When she checked her genitals, anus and buttocks, Dr Rosas said the skin appeared to be charred and sunburnt.
Just 20 days into using the medication in August 2023, she called her doctor to report her condition and he told her to stop using Ozempic immediately.
Writing in a first-person piece in Newsweek, Dr Rosas said: ‘Ozempic helped me, but I thought I was going to die at one point because of what was happening to my body.
‘In August, a worse burning pain in my genital area and buttocks appeared.
‘I noticed “pieces” 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 severely burned, some areas with charred skin.
‘It was as if I was exposed to sunlight for days.’
Her doctor diagnosed her rashes and hives as an allergic reaction to the medication, a possible side effect of Ozempic.
In cases where this occurs, the medication leaflet says patients should stop taking Ozempic immediately and contact their doctor.
Dr Rosas called the Ozempic 1-800 number and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to report her experience.
In clinical trials for semaglutide, the drug used in Ozempic, 108 out of 1,306 patients — or eight percent — were recorded as having an allergic reaction to the drug.
In the FDA system for reporting side effects, there have been 15 reports of allergic reactions — although this may be an under-count because most cases are likely not recorded in the system.
Dr Rosas said in her Newsweek story that she is now improving after coming off the medication — although she still faces pain in her back.
She said because of the drug’s many side effects, she does not recommend people take it.
Dr Rosas is now on a strictly controlled diet to help manage her blood sugar levels and says she does not plan to take any more medications until she is healed completely.
Ozempic and Wegovy — which both use semaglutide — were originally approved to help manage diabetes, but were soon found to also help users lose weight. Doctors then began prescribing them off-label for weight loss.
Wegovy has now been approved by the FDA for this purpose.
Data shows there were more than four million prescriptions for weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro in 2022, with Ozempic behind the most prescriptions.
Thirty-seven million American adults have diabetes, estimates suggest, which is when the body either does not produce insulin or no longer recognizes its own insulin, causing cells to stop absorbing sugar from the bloodstream.
A spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, has previously told DailyMail.com: ‘At Novo Nordisk, patient safety is a top priority.
‘We work closely with the US Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines.
‘For Ozempic specifically, the most common side effects may include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach (abdominal) pain, and constipation.
‘We recommend that any patients experiencing side effects while taking Ozempic® contact their healthcare provider.’
Patients have also revealed a number of other side-effects caused by the injection, including vivid dreams, being repulsed by favorite foods and rapid muscle loss.
Some have also said the weight has come off so fast that they have been left with sagging skin in areas of the body.
A number of patients have also reported depression, suicidal thoughts and rapidly re-gaining the weight lost and more after coming off Ozempic.
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