Ozempic Face — and Now Ozempic Breast and Butt? What's Really Going on with These Side Effects?

Experts talk to PEOPLE about reported side effects of the diabetes drug and trendy weight-loss tool

• Ozempic — the diabetes drug that's become a trendy weight-loss tool — works in the brain to impact satiety

• Patients have reported side effects like sagging breasts and butt, decreased libido and increased fertility

• Experts say that some of these side effects are the result of rapid weight loss and suggest losing weight more gradually to combat any negative effects

A lot has been written about Ozempic, the diabetes drug that’s become a go-to diet tool.

Ozempic and others in its class (marketed under the brand names Wegovy and Mounjaro) work in the brain to impact satiety. While Ozempic is approved by the FDA for people with type 2 diabetes and not necessarily for weight loss, it has become a trendy weight-loss aid.

But for many users, along with weight loss comes a host of reported side effects — from “Ozempic face,” or hollowed-out cheeks, to “Ozempic babies,” kids conceived by women who previously had trouble getting pregnant.

So what’s really going on with Ozempic and other drugs in its class? We checked in with the experts.

OZEMPIC FACE

Thinner cheeks and a slimmed-down appearance will immediately spark cries of “Ozempic face” on social media.

“The faces are saggy, they lose their fat content in their face, there are increased wrinkles,” Dr. Iman Saleh, Northwell Health Clinical Assistant Professor, OB/GYN Department and Director of Obesity Medicine, South Shore University Hospital, tells PEOPLE.

“Some people look a little bit more aged," she continues. "People have noticed that there's more hollowing around their eyes because of the loss of the texture or the fat content that is in the face.”

As Ozempic user Jeniffer Brown told the Los Angeles Times, she turned to plastic surgery and fillers, saying her face looked “like a melted candle.”

But, Saleh tells PEOPLE, this is the result of rapid weight loss in general — not something specific to Ozempic.

“It's related to the significant and the acute weight loss,” she says.

The only way to combat it, she says, is “gradual weight loss rather than a very acute weight loss.”

“So someone that's losing anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds over a few months versus someone that's going to be losing 100 pounds, the person that has a slower weight loss during that course of time will probably less likely have Ozempic face.”

Related: Novo Nordisk Investing $6 Billion to Increase Access to Ozempic and Wegovy amid Nationwide Shortage

OZEMPIC BREASTS

Like Ozempic face, a shrinking and sagging of the breasts comes with the territory of rapid weight loss.

“People who have had weight-loss surgeries will have the same effect. So, it's not the medications itself that are causing this," Saleh tells PEOPLE.

"It's the rapid weight loss that is occurring with the use of these medications that are giving those the Ozempic face and the Ozempic breast and the Ozempic butt."

WAIT, THERE’S OZEMPIC BUTT?

Yes, Saleh tells PEOPLE.

“It's basically just the sagging of the skin at the level of the buttocks because you're losing that fat, and the skin is not taking its time to kind of readjust itself to the new norm.”

“That's where they're losing their contour and having those saggy butts.”

But there are ways to avoid these side effects, Saleh tells PEOPLE.

“Take a slower approach to weight loss rather than a quick one," she tells PEOPLE. “That's number one. The average weight loss is recommended as 1 to 2 pounds a week. I am sure with these medications, people are losing much quicker."

“Increase of protein in their diet is very important. Increase of exercise, resistance bands,” she says. “In terms of the buttocks, [do] more squats, more to increase muscle to compensate really for the fat loss.”

OZEMPIC BABIES

Some women who have struggled with infertility are suddenly becoming pregnant once they start taking the drug — and there’s a medical reason for this.

“Even if it's a 5- or 10-pound weight loss, this can actually have patients resume ovulation and be able to get pregnant,” Saleh tells PEOPLE.

“Our fat cells produce estrogen and estrogen can have a negative effect on our ovaries in terms of decreased or dysfunction of ovulation. It can also have negative effects on our endometrial lining,” Dr. Saleh says.

However, the drug should not purposely be used as a fertility aid, as complications may arise from taking Ozempic or Wegovy while pregnant — and as manufacturer Novo Nordisk told PEOPLE in an earlier statement, “it is recommended to discontinue Wegovy in women at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy due to the long washout period for semaglutide.”

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OZEMPIC PERSONALITY

Can Ozempic increase anxiety — or reduce your libido, as some have said?

“GLP-1s like Ozempic specifically decrease the amount of dopamine the brain releases after people indulge in behaviors like drinking, smoking or even eating a sweet dessert,” Dr. Steven Batash, board-certified gastroenterologist and weight-loss expert at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss, tells PEOPLE.

“Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that ‘reinforces the pleasure’ of doing those activities.” he tells PEOPLE. “When GLP-1s take away that pleasure, they also eliminate the motivation to do those activities.”

As Batash tells PEOPLE, “Studies have shown that GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide, may have an impact on testosterone levels in men. Testosterone is a hormone that plays a crucial role in male sexual function. Reduced testosterone levels can result in a decrease in libido, as well as other sexual concerns such as [erectile dysfunction].”

However, he cautioned, “Reduced libido can be influenced by various factors, including stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, hormonal imbalances, and other health conditions all of which can cause personality changes.”

Related: California Man on Ozempic Dies by Suicide: 'I Know He Didn’t Want to Die’

OZEMPIC REBOUND

Once you're off Ozempic, will you just gain all the weight back?

If you resume your normal pre-medication eating habits, yes.

"Ozempic rebound is them stopping the medication and then getting back to where they were in terms of cravings, in terms of the amount of food," Saleh tells PEOPLE. "These medications work in terms of suppressing and decreasing the intake, right? Right. So when you take them away, if a patient has not fully learned how to do a lifestyle modifications with physical activity, it is very easy for them to gain the weight back. "

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