HOUSTON — Taking Ozempic has become a trendy weight-loss solution for some but is causing a dangerous shortage for others. Weight loss using the drug comes with dangerous side effects.
At 62 years old, Jacquelyne Smith has had diabetes for most of her life. She was diagnosed at 25.
“This has been my companion for a while," she said.
Through the decades, she's learned to cope with the condition, figuring out what works and what doesn't.
“A lot of things can go array, and in my case it did,” she said. “I actually had a kidney transplant in 2013."
Six months ago, things changed when her doctor, Dr. Archana Sadhu, an endocrinologist at Houston Methodist, put Smith on a new medicine called Ozempic.
“So we've had a lot of experience with the drug class. Ozempic is one of the newer of the agents," Sadhu said.
For Smith, it was life-changing.
“It helps control my insulin perfect. Where, with other insulin, up and down, never stable, until Ozempic," she said.
She was ecstatic, finally feeling like herself for the first time in 40 years.
"It's almost unexplainable, the joy I have just by feeling good," she said. "We like to just feel good. And then you get to a place where it's just snatched away from you,"
However, now and for the past few months, getting her hands on Ozempic has been, at times, impossible.
"We're like vampires. We need this diabetic medicine, you know?" she said. "I think where we really took a real turn in this whole story is when the drug was being used off-label."
Off-label means when a doctor prescribes a drug for a different purpose than what the FDA approved it for.
"If they are getting Ozempic and they're not a BMI (body mass index) of 27 or greater with a chronic medical condition that's related to obesity, or 30 or greater BMI, then they are being used off-label," Sadhu said.
Through TikTok videos and celebrity shoutouts, Ozempic has become widely known as a weight loss drug.
"I think that celebrities are a small population of our society, but certainly when they are promoting a drug for those indications, it legitimizes the rest of the public to use it as well," Sadhu said.
But the reality is that it’s approved for diabetes and the side effects can be serious.
"Make sure your benefits outweigh your risks first and foremost, so you do not harm to yourself," the doctor said.
Those using it just for weight loss may not understand the true risk.
“Nausea, vomiting, severe reflux in some patients,” the doctor said. “More serious side effects, though, are pancreatitis, which require hospitalization, and can be a severe pain in the abdomen. And it can be life-threatening."
Smith is two days away from needing a refill.
"I need it to live. I don't need it to lose weight," she said.
And each month, finding the drug in stock is a struggle.
"I hear backlog from everyone, we're waiting,” she said. “Do you know when? So they can't give me a time."
The shortage has left doctors looking for substitutes.
"So we have to substitute other diabetes drugs immediately for patients because their blood sugar levels will rise and they will rise significantly,” Sadhu said.
The hope is more supply is on its way, but for Smith, it can't come soon enough.
“It's very important that those who are abusing it, please stop."