A personal account and a cautionary note

I want to be very clear from the start: this is not a theoretical discussion. This is my lived experience.

After a long period of discussion with my doctor, and following encouragement from a diabetes consultant, I was prescribed Ozempic (semaglutide). I did not ask for a miracle drug. I did not ask for weight loss hype. I asked for help managing my condition.

What followed was one of the most physically violent reactions I have ever experienced from a prescribed medication.

Within days, I began suffering from constant nausea and repeated vomiting. My digestive system became completely unpredictable. I experienced severe diarrhea, to the point of losing bodily control. These were not mild side effects. They were debilitating, humiliating, and impossible to ignore.

After three weeks, I stopped taking Ozempic entirely — without consulting the specialist — because my body was clearly rejecting it. Continuing felt dangerous.

“Common side effects” are not always harmless

Supporters of Ozempic often respond with a familiar phrase:

“These are common side effects, and they usually pass.”

That sentence hides an uncomfortable truth.

Yes, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are listed as “common.”

But “common” does not mean “acceptable,” and it certainly does not mean “safe for everyone.”

For some patients, these side effects can lead to:

• dehydration
• electrolyte imbalance
• malnutrition
• worsening overall health
• psychological distress and shame

When a drug disrupts basic bodily functions for weeks, the issue is no longer tolerance, it is harm.

From diabetes medication to lifestyle product

Ozempic was developed for type 2 diabetes. Today, it is aggressively marketed, directly and indirectly, as a lifestyle solution. Weight loss has become the headline, not metabolic health.

Social media, influencers, and glossy articles present it as:

• effortless
• modern
• almost inevitable

What is rarely highlighted:

• discontinuation rates are high
• gastrointestinal intolerance is widespread
• long-term outcomes for non-diabetic use remain uncertain

Medicine should never be driven by trend dynamics. Yet this drug is now embedded in a commercial ecosystem that rewards mass uptake, not careful selection.

Informed consent is quietly eroding

One of the most troubling aspects is not the drug itself, but how it is presented.

Patients are often told:

• “Everyone is on it.”
• “It’s the gold standard now.”
• “If you don’t try it, you’re falling behind.”

That is not informed consent.
That is social pressure wearing a medical coat.

Every body is different. Every nervous system, gut, and metabolism reacts differently. When severe adverse reactions are downplayed as a phase to “push through,” patients are subtly trained to distrust their own physical limits.

Stopping without permission, and why that matters

I stopped Ozempic without consulting the specialist. That fact alone says something important.

When a patient feels physically endangered yet emotionally constrained by authority, something in the system has failed. Medication should never trap someone in silence or obedience.

Listening to your body is not noncompliance.

It is survival.

A call for caution, not silence

This is not an anti-medicine manifesto. It is a call for honesty.

Ozempic may help some people.

It may also seriously harm others.

Both realities must coexist, openly, without marketing filters.

If you are considering this drug:

• ask hard questions
• demand clear risk explanations
• and remember that stopping a medication that harms you is not a failure

It is an act of self-respect.