Patients using blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy say their hair started falling out in clumps.
An American TikToker who lost 60 pounds while on Ozempic was among those who revealed his receding hairline, which he now covers in makeup.
Another patient was so horrified after losing her hair that she said she would rather be “fat and able to hide behind my hair than skinny with bald spots”.
Hair loss is not listed as a side effect of Ozempic. For Wegovy, the side effect appeared in clinical trials in three percent of patients taking the drug, compared to one percent on placebo.
Ozempic and Wegovy have previously been linked to a host of other nasty side effects, including vivid dreams of Oprah Winfrey riding a go-kart, suddenly getting pushed away by ground beef and losing muscle at an “alarming rate”.
An American from Mounjaro, who calls herself ‘theegeriatricmillennial’ on TikTok, said her hair fell out in clumps when she brushed it or took a shower
Wegovy and Ozempic both use the same drug, semaglutide, which suppresses appetite to trigger weight loss. Wegovy, however, uses a higher dose than Ozempic.
Doctors aren’t sure exactly what causes hair loss, but some doctors say it can be triggered after rapid weight loss.
Temporary thinning of the hair — called telogen effluvium — can be triggered by rapid weight loss disrupting hormones or leading to resources being diverted from the hair, they said.
This causes hair follicles to suddenly shift to the resting or telogen phase of their growth cycle, causing hair loss.
But doctors stress that the loss is temporary, adding that new hair will start to grow later.
According to doctors, temporary hair loss can appear about three months after rapid weight loss and can take up to six months to disappear.
Novo Nordisk, behind Ozempic and Wegovy, did not respond to requests for comment.
Hair loss has also been recorded in patients receiving another drug, Mounjaro, to help them lose weight.
This uses a different drug, tirzepatide, which acts on the same receptors as semaglutide as well as a separate group. It also suppresses feelings of hunger to help patients lose weight.
Eli Lilly, who is behind the drug, says hair loss has been recorded in clinical trials of the drug but has generally been short-lived.
Among the patients who reported hair loss on Ozempic was Becca, from the United States, who had lost 40 pounds on the drug.
She said in a TikTok video: “I feel like my hairline has definitely receded a bit or just thinned out a bit.”
She said she now filled in her hairline before stepping out to hide the fact that she had pulled back slightly.
Other affected patients include a woman from Mounjaro who uses the nickname “theegeriatricmillennial” and is based in the United States.
In a TikTok video, she said, “We need to talk about hair loss.
“All my life I’ve had thick, luxurious hair.
“(But in the) past month I’ve lost so much hair.”
She added: “I know that’s to be expected when you have rapid weight loss…uh…but the speed at which it comes off is terrifying.”
“I would rather be fat and be able to hide behind my good hair than be skinny and have bald spots.”
Another patient called Becca from the USA revealed on TikTok that she lost 60 pounds on Ozempic.
Amanda Staffor from Kentucky, who also uses Mounjaro, posted a video online where she was holding a clump of hair saying it fell out of her hair while she was in the shower. She said it kept happening, which “added up” over time
Becca, from the United States, also said she suffered from hair loss after losing 60 pounds on Ozempic. She said it made her hairline recede
Amanda Staffor of Kentucky, who also uses Mounjaro, also posted photos of herself online holding clumps of her own hair.
She says: ‘But, that, yeah, that’s how much hair I lose every time I shower, aAnd you can imagine it adds up.
‘I need to know, does anyone else have this problem? Do you take supplements for this? Do you have any suggestions? Someone help me, I don’t want to lose all my hair.
More than five million Americans received a prescription for Ozempic in 2022, the data shows, up from 230,000 in 2019.
And the number is only growing, with more than 373,000 prescriptions filed in the last week of February alone, double the number in the same period last year. Analysts say more than half of them were new.
Texas, Florida, California, New York, and Georgia are the states where it is most common for patients to be re-prescribed for drugs.
In Wegovy clinical trials, results showed that approximately three percent of patients reported experiencing hair loss.
For comparison, in the group receiving the placebo, it was only 1%.
Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind Mounjaro, said in a statement to NBC News that hair loss was recorded in Mounjaro’s clinical trials but was generally short-lived.
“Hair loss is a side effect that has been associated with significant weight loss in many previous clinical trials for the treatment of obesity,” a spokesperson said.
Novo Nordisk, behind Ozempic and Wegovy, did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr Susan Massick, a dermatologist at Ohio State University who prescribed the drugs to patients, said: ‘What is really striking for people is that there are no scalp symptoms.
“It doesn’t hurt, there’s no itching, but you can run your hands through your hair and you’ve got a handful of hair.” It can be really disconcerting to see that.