Mayim Bialik is recalling a nightmarish experience trying a GLP-1 drug for her health.
The 50-year-old The Big Bang Theory alum wrote a piece for The Free Press, called “My GLP-1 Nightmare.”
In the article, Mayim shared her thoughts about using the drug and what happened to her as a result.
“I grew up in the limelight, with my appearance scrutinized weekly from the time I starred in my own NBC show at 14. I was blissfully unaware of my weight back then. I was naturally lanky and athletic, and I ate whatever I wanted with no concern for weight gain,” she began.
Why Mayim Bialik Decided to Try a GLP-1 Drug
Despite anything to do with weight gain, Mayim said she actually went on a GLP-1 because a doctor told her it might help ease inflammation symptoms following a Graves’ disease diagnosis.
“I had spent years trying everything from hyperbaric chambers and infrared saunas to detox medications and infusions. I was exhausted from being sick, from the endless parade of specialists, from the diets, the protocols, and the promises. Maybe this could be the magic cure,” she explained.
Mayim then explained what she knew about the drug and how it has helped people, before revealing how it all went wrong after one shot of the lowest dose.
Mayim Bialik Says She Experienced Severe Side Effects After One Shot
“To say I had an adverse reaction would be somewhat of an understatement. Explosive, uncontrollable diarrhea. Sulfur burps so violent they left me afraid to open my mouth in public. Sneezing attacks every time I tried to eat or drink—which apparently has a name, snatiation. Cramping. Bloating. Full-body aching, as though I had the flu. And an inability to keep down even small sips of water without sprinting to the bathroom with yet more explosive diarrhea. More than three times, I didn’t make it,” she revealed.
Mayim said she experienced something that was similar to a prior adverse reaction to an antibiotic, “which led me to soil myself without warning and cancel a camping trip to spend the weekend on the toilet. This was that, but for three days.”
“What shocked me was how unsurprised my doctor and this nurse seemed. Extreme side effects, they told me, were not unusual. I couldn’t wrap my head around that—and seeing a gastroenterologist at this stage was deemed overly conservative. How could a reaction even half as severe as mine be considered normal?” she reflected.
“I would not blame anyone for pushing through side effects far worse than mine to achieve the relief that has eluded them. But my body made its position clear, and I had learned, after decades of overriding it, to finally listen,” she concluded of the experience.
Mayim Bialik Reveals Her Symptoms Lasted for Weeks
She also revealed that she’s experiencing symptoms still.
“This drug has a very long half-life; my prescribing doctor had told me to expect at least a week of this, if not more. Weeks after I took that single shot, I found myself frantically pulling off the 405—to my law-abiding son’s horror—to lock myself in a convenience store bathroom for an indeterminate amount of time,” she revealed, going on to say she met with a gastroenterologist who said the medications shouldn’t be used “outside of a specific, regulated set of serious medical reasons—namely, life-compromising obesity and its related health consequences,” which she did not qualify for.
“He told me to expect a full month of alternating diarrhea and constipation, hopefully at decreasing frequency. Eat bland foods. Drink water. Don’t get dehydrated…I left his office feeling validated—a real doctor confirming I was not a freak, that the medication really had done this to me—and trepidatious that there was more to deal with in the coming weeks.”
Head to The Free Press to read her full essay.
Find out which star has recently said they’ve stopped using a GLP-1 drug due to side effects.
Posted To:GLP-1 Mayim Bialik
