Ozempic Has Some Side Effects, but Is There Evidence It Causes Hair Loss?

The use of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs like it has really exploded in the years since they were first introduced to the market. Even as the drug has become more common as a fairly easy way to lose weight, a number of side effects and lawsuits have also become more apparent in those intervening years.

While some people who have taken the drug claim that it has caused them severe health problems (including blindness), others have suggested that it might be responsible for their hair loss. Here's what we know about whether that's the case.

According to Dr. Jesse L. Smith, who wrote a blog post on this topic, Ozempic may cause hair loss in some people, and there are a number of potential reasons why.

One potential explanation is being deficient in key nutrients required for hair.

"Ozempic does decrease appetite; as a result people eat less and smaller quantities," he writes. "For those individuals that do not supplement with vitamins and minerals, the loss of these essential items can cause hair loss, thinning, or delayed growth."

Smith also suggests that changes in hormone levels might play a role. As he explains, Ozempic's regulation of blood sugar can lead to shifts in your hormonal balance. "Hormonal fluctuations, particularly changes in insulin levels, may disrupt the hair growth cycle, leading to hair loss," he explains.

He also points to stress as a potential cause, explaining that managing your weight can be stressful in and of itself.

A healthline article notes that any form of stress, like surgery or a lifestyle change, can contribute to hair loss.

As Smith's blog post gets at, the exact reasons why people lose hair after taking Ozempic are not totally clear, and Ozempic does not list that particular side effect as one of the most common.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most common side effects are mostly related to digestion, and include nausea, diarrhea, stomach (abdominal) pain, constipation, and vomiting.

Hair loss is not even listed in the more extensive list of potential side effects related to Ozempic, but that doesn't mean that people who take the drug and then find themselves losing hair are making things up. Instead, as the lawsuits related to Ozempic have revealed, this is a relatively new medication, and as a result, it's one where the side effects are not totally clear yet.

It might be the case that enough people develop hair loss related to Ozempic that it becomes an official side effect, or it might be the case that, because everyone's body is different, some people react to the drug differently than others. Only time and further study will help us better understand just how many people have lost hair on Ozempic.

For now, the evidence that Ozempic causes hair loss as an official side effect is scattered. That doesn't mean that taking Ozempic might not cause hair loss, only that not enough people have reported that side effect for it to be listed as such.