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Some psychiatrists have begun handing out Ozempic to offset weight gain caused by antipsychotics and antidepressants.
Research conducted at 13 major mental health centers across the country found that nearly half recommended the diabetes drug-turned-fat-loss vaccine to their patients.
Some medications used to treat schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression change the way the brain and hormones work together to control people’s appetite; In extreme cases, they cause patients to gain up to 70 pounds.
But there is growing concern about the side effects of Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy, which have been linked to a small but unproven risk of suicidal thoughts.
At the same time, the enormous enthusiasm for weight-loss injections has led to a dangerous shortage for diabetics, who need them to control their disease.
Dawn Heidlebaugh, a mother of four from Ohio, said taking Ozempic made her feel suicidal (pictured).
Wegovy is a sister medication to Ozempic, originally approved to help treat type 2 diabetes. Wegovy is a higher dose that has been approved specifically to treat overweight and obesity
Seven of the centers reported that their doctors were not prepared to prescribe injectable obesity treatments yet, citing unknowns about safety and side effects, according to the New York Times.
One of the patients her provider prescribed is Amanda Romero, 35, of North Carolina.
She was taking the antidepressant Lexapro before switching to Prozac and said the medications helped her calm her intrusive thoughts about the well-being of her daughter, who was receiving cancer treatment.
But no matter how many miles she logged on her Peloton or on walks around her neighborhood, she couldn’t lose the weight she’d gained on the medication, which ended up at a total of 70 pounds.
She said: ‘I felt like what happened to me?’
The Wegovy she was prescribed in February for medication-related weight gain made her so nauseous that she took a pregnancy test. Despite the discomfort, she ended up losing all the weight.
The clinical trials of Wegovy and Ozempic, both versions of semaglutide but at different doses, evaluated depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts or behaviors, meaning all patients with those conditions were excluded.
At the same time, Wegovy’s Drug Facts label includes a small section that says: ‘Suicidal behavior and ideation have been reported in clinical trials with other weight management products.’ Monitor patients treated with WEGOVY for emergence and worsening of depression, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and/or any unusual changes in mood or behavior.
The label also said that patients should stop taking the medications immediately if they experience these symptoms.
Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, says in its warning leaflet that patients taking the drug may also experience suicidal thoughts.
Reports that the medications increase suicidality are purely anecdotal, but the European Medicines Agency launched an investigation over the summer into the link between obesity medications and suicidality after three patients in Iceland reported suicidal thoughts. or self-harm.
Dr. Ilana Cohen, a psychiatrist at Sheppard Pratt in Maryland, told the New York Times that she and her colleagues will not prescribe the injections to their patients because of the link discovered in Europe, adding that “these drugs really weren’t well studied and designed.” for this population.’
Similar reports in the U.S. have received more attention in recent months and are accumulating in the Food and Drug Administration’s adverse reaction report database.
The FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) has received a total of 265 reports of suicidal thoughts and depression from people taking these or related medications, and 36 of these reports describe a death by suicide or suspected suicide, according to Reuters.
The FDA carefully analyzes the reports to find a possible pattern between suicidality and drugs or whether those symptoms are driven by another factor.
Losing weight usually causes an increase in confidence and pride. Being physically healthy most of the time improves mental health. At the same time, it is estimated that people who suffer from obesity are with a 55 percent higher risk of developing depression throughout their life compared to non-obese people.
Among those patients was Lisa Wood, 22, also from North Carolina. She lost 70 pounds with Wegovy, but she experienced suicidal thoughts all the time.
Mrs Wood said: “I was driving and I thought, ‘What would happen if I just turned the wheel while I was on this bridge?’ “It didn’t occur to me that it was Wegovy.”
Another patient who said the medication made them suicidal was Dawn Heidlebaugh, a 53-year-old mother of four from Ohio.
Heidlebaugh, who works in real estate, revealed that she began taking the medication every Sunday and by Tuesday felt lethargic, depressed and at times suicidal, believing her family would be better off without her.
His symptoms would persist for a few days and then return shortly after the next injection. She stopped experiencing the worrying symptoms only when she missed a dose.
Having no history of depression, Mrs. Heidlebaugh said, “I knew it was the drug.”
Dr. Eric Turner, a former FDA medical officer who reviewed psychiatric drugs, said Ms. Heidlebaugh’s experience was of great concern given her lack of history of mental health problems.
He said: “That makes it harder to explain suicide.” He makes any appearance of those security signals more credible.”
The reason behind weight gain with antidepressants and antipsychotics is not fully understood.
However, researchers believe it is a function of the drugs. increasing appetiteespecially for sweet or fatty foods, because they alter the way the brain and hormones like insulin and leptin work together to control hunger.
There is also evidence that medications alter the body’s metabolic processes, altering the way it stores calories and expends energy. People may also use food as a coping mechanism for their mental health issues, which also contributes to weight gain.
Weight gain can be a major deterrent to people taking their psychiatric medications, resulting in untreated mental illness and disturbing symptoms ranging from hallucinations to mania.
There is also concern about weight rebound when stopping medications.
Many doctors hesitate to prescribe it to those who also take psychiatric medications because they are potentially setting those people up to receive injections throughout their lives. Or at least until the next generation of vaccines comes out in pill form.
Injectable medications are tremendously popular despite their high price (more than $1,000 a month), with more than five million prescriptions written in the United States in 2022 alone.