A top doctor has revealed an alarming new symptom he has seen emerge among Ozempic patients.
Dr Daniel Rosen, who is a surgeon and obesity medicine specialist based out of New York, says a ‘legitimate number’ of his patients have developed a condition called allodynia, or a hypersensitivity to pain.
Dr Rosen says this means that even wearing clothing can feel painful, as can the ‘wind blowing on your skin.’
Some people describe the sensation on their skin as being like bad sunburn, with the sensation of touch triggering a sharp, stinging or burning pain.
The weight loss expert says some patients using GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro have developed extreme sensitivity on their shoulders, thighs and back.
He says he has heard of the condition developing among those using semaglutide (the generic name for Ozempic) in the scientific community, but he has not yet seen reports of it among those on terzepatite (better known by the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro).
From his experience, Dr Rosen says he has seen the most cases of allodynia in patients who were on higher doses of terzepatite.
He suspects that weight loss medication drugs are causing skin nerve sensitivity ‘in some way’ but there is not enough research around this side effect to know exactly why this happens.
Dr Daniel Rosen, who is a surgeon and obesity medicine specialist based out of New York, says a ‘legitimate number’ of his patients have developed a condition called allodynia
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The Cleveland Clinic highlights that there are three types of allodynia.
Dynamic allodynia causes pain from an object moving across your skin, while tactile allodynia causes pain from any amount of pressure applied to the skin.
The third variation is thermal allodynia, where a mild change in temperature – like moving from indoors to outdoors – can cause someone to feel pain.
To help patients who have developed allodynia, Dr Rosen reduced their weight loss medication.
He says this saw the symptoms disappear immediately or in some cases, the condition went away more gradually.
Dr Anastassia Amaro, who is a medical director and weight loss specialist at Penn Medicine, says she has also seen a similar side effect among her patients on weight loss drugs.
In a podcast Q&A session in January 2024, she revealed: ‘One interesting side effect that I’ve seen recently is allodynia.
‘So people develop that unpleasant, painful [tingling or numb] type of skin sensation, specifically on semaglutide.
‘I have not encountered it yet on tirzepatide, but semaglutide, yes. At least two cases are in front of my eyes.
Dr Rosen says allodynia means that even wearing clothing can feel painful, as can the ‘wind blowing on your skin’
‘One responded to dose reduction and another one held it for a little bit, and then I think we switched to tirzepatide, and I’m yet to see how that goes. So, and we will probably see more.’
Currently, there are no studies looking at the link between weight loss drugs and allodynia and it is not listed by the FDA as an official side effect.
While Dr Rosen says allodynia is uncomfortable, he doesn’t think the side effect is something that is ‘very concerning’ unless it becomes ‘bothersome’.
And even then, he says, patients must weigh up if it is ‘worth getting off the meds and sort of sacrificing the positive benefits of the meds’.
He notes that when his patients have reduced their weight loss medication and slowly increased it again, they have not seen their allodynia symptoms return.
For those who are on weight loss drugs, Dr Rosen warns that it is ‘just something to be aware of [and ] if you see it, discuss it with your doctor’.
