The content of this podcast is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended as,

nor should it be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.

Hello everyone. This is Karen Nicol, Family nurse practitioner, and you are listening to Itchy and Bitchie,

a podcast that provides answers to your many unanswered health questions.

The use of diabetes and weight loss medications like Ozympic or Wagovi called GLP 1 drugs, many of you out there may have used them,

has absolutely exploded in recent years. As a matter of fact, the use of these meds is up 600%

in the last six years, according to a June 2024 poll. The poll shows that 12% of U.S. adults have used one despite of the cost. That's almost 41 million people.

Holy cow. What we don't talk about is the fact that 50 to 75% of people who start taking these drugs stop using them within a year.

It is not clear why this is true, but it is thought that it could be due to the high cost of the meds,

due to people stopping the med when they have reached their weight loss goal and due to medication side effects.

The most common side effects with GLP-1 medications are gastrointestinal problems like

reflux, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and or vomiting, and they can be quite severe.

Another side effect that may lead people to stop the med is hair loss, and that's what I want to talk to you about today. I had a couple of patients

who had this complaint when they used a GLP1 medication like Wagovi for weight loss. They would say to me,

Karen, this medication really works,

but I don't want to be skinny and bald. That's not the goal. And fair enough, I understood

their concern. It's not an ideal trade-off. We have several different GLP-1 medications currently

available for treatment of type 2 diabetes or obesity, including

Ozympic, Wagovi, Rebelsis, Munjarro, Zepbound, Tullicity, Victosa, and Saxenda.

Hair loss, medically known as alopecia, can be a distressing side effect of certain medications, including

these GLP-1 medications. While these meds are highly effective in managing diabetes and in achieving

weight loss, some people may experience hair loss as a very much unwanted side effect. So why do GLP1 meds cause hair loss? Well, of course, like so many things in

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