Social media posts uncovering Wegovy side effects

People on social media are reporting side effects to weight loss drugs like Wegovy that doctors didn’t know anything about.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have used an AI system to scan more than 400,000 Reddit posts by 70,000 people and discovered regular posts about unknown side effects from drugs like weight loss and diabetes medications Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide).

Reactions being talked about include menstrual irregularities and temperature-related complaints like chills and hot flashes.

Around 4 percent of the Reddit posts reported menstrual problems—and so the ratio would have been even higher if it had been a female-only platform.

Nausea is another common reaction, and it’s one that is known by the manufacturers, which demonstrates that the others being reported are also genuine, say the researchers.

“Online patient communities work a lot like a neighbourhood grapevine.  People who are living with these medications are swapping notes with each other in real time, sharing experiences that rarely make it into a doctor’s office visit or an official report,” said Lyle Ungar, one of the researchers.

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