My doctor spent 30 seconds on side effects before prescribing Ozempic. Then I was in the ER.
I’m still shaking as I write this. Started Ozempic 3 weeks ago and my doctor literally spent maybe 30 seconds saying “you might feel nauseous, some people get constipated” and that was IT. No mention of pancreatitis, no discussion of gallbladder issues, nothing about dehydration risks.
Last night I ended up in the ER with severe abdominal pain that radiated to my back. Thought I was having a heart attack or something. Turns out it was acute pancreatitis. The ER doc asked if I was on any new meds and when I said Ozempic he literally nodded like he sees this all the time.
I’m not saying Ozempic caused it definitively but the ER doc said it’s a known risk and I should have been told to watch for severe stomach pain. I feel so stupid for not doing my own research but also like… shouldn’t my doctor have spent more than 30 seconds on this?? He was so focused on the weight loss benefits and showing me how to inject.
Anyone else feel like their doctor rushed through the serious stuff? I’m 38F and honestly felt dismissed when I tried to ask questions. Now I’m terrified to continue but also don’t want to give up on something that was actually helping.
That’s really scary and I’m sorry you went through that. My doctor actually spent almost 20 minutes going over potential side effects before prescribing Mounjaro, including the pancreatitis risk. She told me to stop immediately and call if I had severe abdominal pain. It sounds like your doc really dropped the ball here tbh. The informed consent process should be way more thorough especially with these medications. I hope you’re feeling better now. Def find a new doctor who takes this stuff seriously.
This is exactly why I’m hesitant to start even though my A1C is creeping up. My PCP is one of those doctors who sees like 40 patients a day and I just know the conversation would be exactly like what you described. Did they tell you in the ER whether you can continue or is Ozempic completely off the table now? I’ve read somewhere that if you have one pancreatitis episode on GLP-1s you really shouldn’t restart but I’m not a doctor obviously. MikeT_wellness is right though, 30 seconds is negligent imo.
I had a similar experience with the rushed appointment but luckily no ER visit. My doctor gave me a printed handout and said “read this” but didn’t verbally go over anything. I actually didn’t even know about the thyroid cancer warning until I saw someone mention it here on the forum. That said, I do think we have some responsibility to research what we’re putting in our bodies too. Not excusing your doctor at all because that’s terrible, but I spent hours reading studies and forums before my first injection. Hope you recover quickly and please update us on what you decide to do moving forward.