{"id":617015,"date":"2026-05-01T10:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617015\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T10:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:07:19","slug":"doctors-flag-ozempic-personality-as-some-glp-1-patients-lose-appetite-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617015\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors flag \u2018Ozempic personality\u2019 as some GLP-1 patients lose appetite for life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Popular GLP-1<\/a> drugs prescribed for weight loss are suppressing people\u2019s appetite for more than just food: Health experts warn that they\u2019re also dulling some patients\u2019 desire for sex and socializing.<\/p>\n

Social media influencers have dubbed it \u201cOzempic<\/a> personality,\u201d referring to the anti-diabetes treatment that made GLP-1<\/a>s a household name.<\/p>\n

Doctors say it\u2019s a mild form of anhedonia \u2014 the loss of experiencing pleasure \u2014 that results from dampening of the brain\u2019s dopamine receptors.<\/p>\n

Psychologist Patrick Porter, a North Carolina-based brain researcher, says some patients lose motivation for \u201cactivities that normally bring meaning and engagement\u201d after GLP-1<\/a>s dull their pleasure in eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t happen to everyone, but it highlights a fundamental principle of neuroscience: When you dial down one aspect of the brain\u2019s reward system, you may dial down others as well,\u201d Mr. Porter said in an email.<\/p>\n

He said that could mean muscle loss, brain deterioration and increased depression risks for GLP-1<\/a> users who fail to stay physically active as they lose weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Ozempic<\/a> personality, you don\u2019t get too anxious, you\u2019re just numbed out,\u201d said Avigail Lev, a San Francisco-based psychologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there\u2019s a lot of anger and irritability, especially if there\u2019s low blood sugar,\u201d Ms. Lev added. \u201cBut there isn\u2019t much anxiety or motivation to get things done, and there isn\u2019t much reward once you do get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Physicians interviewed by The Washington Times noted that failing to pair regular exercise with GLP-1<\/a>s also increases a patient\u2019s risk of \u201cOzempic<\/a> face.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unofficial term describes the gaunt, sagging and prematurely aged visage of GLP-1<\/a> users who fail to exert themselves regularly as they shed pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt usually refers to facial volume loss after significant weight loss,\u201d said Dr. Fernando Ovalle, an obesity specialist and reviewer for Drugwatch.com.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ovalle rejected common internet phrases such as \u201cOzempic<\/a> face,\u201d \u201cOzempic<\/a> zombies\u201d and \u201cOzempic<\/a> personality\u201d as \u201cstigmatizing and not medically helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

KFF, an independent health policy think tank formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, estimated last year that 18% of U.S. adults had ever used a GLP-1<\/a> drug. That included 57% of diabetics and 34% of those diagnosed as overweight or obese.<\/p>\n

Most doctors insist that more research is needed to determine how many patients are using the drugs as they should.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not get ahead of the data by asserting there is an Ozempic<\/a> personality,\u201d said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University psychologist and addiction researcher. \u201cIt would be a mistake to panic when we don\u2019t know how rarely this happens and whether it goes away if you simply stop taking the medication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Side effects<\/p>\n

Originally designed to lower blood sugar in diabetics, GLP-1<\/a>s have driven billions in sales as pharmaceutical companies have marketed versions for weight loss.<\/p>\n

The Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic<\/a> as an insulin-boosting treatment for Type 2 diabetes in 2017.<\/p>\n

Subsequent reports of dramatic weight loss in patients led Novo Nordisk<\/a>, the Danish company that makes Ozempic<\/a>, to repackage it.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the FDA<\/a> approved Wegovy, a version of the drug prescribed for weight management.<\/p>\n

The FDA<\/a> approved the rival GLP-1<\/a> drug Mounjaro for Type 2 diabetes in 2022.<\/p>\n

Its maker, Eli Lilly & Co.<\/a>, reported an explosion in sales. The FDA<\/a> approved Lilly\u2019s Zepbound, a version prescribed for weight loss, in November 2023.<\/p>\n

A Lilly spokesperson encouraged anyone suffering side effects from the medications to contact their doctor and inform the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatient safety is Lilly\u2019s top priority, and we actively monitor, evaluate, and report safety information for all our medicines,\u201d the spokesperson said in an emailed statement this week. \u201cLilly\u2019s labels for its medicines include robust, FDA<\/a>-approved warnings.\u201d<\/p>\n

A U.S. spokesman for Novo Nordisk<\/a> emphasized \u201crobust clinical development programs [and] large real-world evidence studies\u201d confirming the safety of Ozempic<\/a> and Wegovy at their recommended dosages.<\/p>\n

\u201cNovo Nordisk<\/a> is continuously performing surveillance of the data from ongoing clinical trials and real-world use of its products and collaborates closely with regulatory authorities to ensure patient safety and adequate information [for] healthcare professionals,\u201d the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

Evan Nadler, a former head of the Childhood Obesity Program at Children\u2019s National Hospital in the District of Columbia, affirmed that large studies so far do not support complaints of \u201cwidespread mood issues\u201d arising from GLP-1<\/a>s.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with everything with these medications, it gets lots of hype,\u201d Dr. Nadler said. \u201cWhile GLP-1<\/a> agonists definitely have an impact on the brain, the data that [they] cause mood flattening are scarce at best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other experts suggested that some patients could be exaggerating minor GLP-1<\/a> side effects that could be fixed by adjusting their dosage.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may notice a blunted mood, less enthusiasm about things, low libido, less energy or desire to do activities you once enjoyed, and\/or an overall flattening of emotions,\u201d said Dr. James J. Chao, who prescribes GLP-1<\/a>s as part of a metabolic health program at VedaNu Wellness in San Diego, California. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t typically rise to the level of clinical anhedonia but can resemble it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Lieberman, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in New York City, pointed to estimates that roughly 9% of GLP-1<\/a> users experience midfacial volume loss.<\/p>\n

He said that makes \u201cOzempic<\/a> face\u201d far more common than anecdotal reports of \u201cOzempic<\/a> personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minority experiencing emotional flatness is real,\u201d Mr. Lieberman said. \u201cThe broad caricature isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Dr. Jasmine Sawhne, a California psychiatrist specializing in eating disorders, insisted she\u2019s seen \u201cOzempic<\/a> personality\u201d in vulnerable patients.<\/p>\n

She said that could indicate an unforeseen biological side effect and increased psychological risks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients will say, \u2019I still like things, but I don\u2019t feel pulled toward them,\u2019\u201d Dr. Sawhne said in an email. \u201cWhen that \u2019wanting\u2019 system is dampened too much, people can drift into disengagement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Popular GLP-1 drugs prescribed for weight loss are suppressing people\u2019s appetite for more than just food: Health experts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,243],"class_list":["post-617015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}