From ‘Ozempic body’ to ‘Ozempic face’, the weight loss wonder drug has some strange side effects.
But now patients not only notice that old clothes don’t fit, but also report another effect of the medication, namely that their rings no longer fit.
Those who experienced the side effect ? including a 40-year-old teacher in Texas ? must spend more than $100 to shrink the jewelry and fear their valuables could fall off.
A user on TikTok, using the username genesistwilightnoir, posted a video detailing how weight loss made her fingers shrink.
‘My engagement ring hasn’t fit for two years because I’ve gained a lot of weight. I just lost 41 pounds and have a lot more to go,” said the Oklahoma City user.
She showed that she put the ring on her finger and said that it used to go no further than her knuckles.
“Now I’m wearing it.”
In fact, the ring now looks like it could be loose, risking it falling off.
Ozempic is a brand name for the drug semaglutide, which suppresses appetite and causes weight loss. It comes after a scientist who helped develop the drug said it made life “miserably boring” because it took the fun out of eating.
Women on Ozempic have claimed the drug caused their fingers to thin, causing their engagement and wedding rings to fall off
TikTok user genesist wilightnoir said in a video that her engagement ring used to not even go over her knuckles. Now, after losing 41 pounds, it looks like it could be loose on her finger, risking it falling off
Ozempic was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 for type 2 diabetes. It has yet to be approved for weight loss.
The drug binds to the GLP-1 receptor, a protein that activates hormones in the brain that keep the stomach full and tell the body to stop eating and avoid cravings.
2022, more than five million recipes for Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus (for another Novo drug that uses semaglutide), or Wegovy are written for weight management.
This compares to just over 230,000 in 2019 ? an increase of more than 2,000 percent in three years.
As of 2023, doctors have dispensed more than 832,700 prescriptions for Ozempic’s sister drug Wegovy.
Jessica, 40, a part-time kindergarten teacher in Houston, is among those who say she suffers from Ozempic finger.
She lost 17 pounds within her first six weeks on the drug, she said.
But after the dramatic shrinkage, she couldn’t get her ring back on her finger.
“I never realized weight loss happened in your hands too, but my ring suddenly didn’t fit,” Jessica told the New York Post.
?I noticed it freaked out and it almost fell off. I was afraid I’d lose it.’
Having a ring resized can be costly. Depending on the type of ring and how much your fingers have shrunk, it can range from $20 to $150.
In Jessica’s case, it was $75.
In addition, a DailyMail.com contributor who has also taken Ozempic said she has had to shift rings on her fingers because of the weight loss.
“I also have to stack some rings behind others so they don’t fall off now,” she said.
Melanie Fitzpatrick, co-founder of LeMel, the jeweler who resized Jessica’s ring, said women are flocking to downsize their jewelry because of weight loss.
Jewelers in parts of the country have seen an increase of up to 150 percent in the number of people coming to have their rings adjusted compared to last year.
“Usually summer is a very quiet time for jewelry stores, but this year we’re seeing a huge influx of jewelry repairs as customers lose weight,” she told the New York Post.
“Customers come in left and right to have their rings made smaller and bracelets shortened.”
“Weight loss isn’t just happening in your stomach or butt ? it’s your whole body.”
Jessica recently refilled her Ozempic prescription and dropped more pounds. As a result, she lost another half ring size.
“Luckily I haven’t had any side effects from Ozempic,” she said. “If adjusting my jewelry is my only side effect, that’s fine with me!”