Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik is opening up about the “nightmare” experience she had after taking a single low dose of a GLP-1 medication.
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In an essay for The Free Press, titled My GLP-1 Nightmare, the actress opened up about how trying the medication led to weeks of gastrointestinal symptoms.
“I went on a weight-loss drug because a doctor told me it might help ease symptoms I’ve struggled with for basically my entire adult life,” she explained.
Bialik noted she had been battling the autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease since she was 23 years old. She decided to try a GLP-1 medication after three different doctors advised her to do so. They noted the medication had “shown promise in reducing the systemic inflammation that drives autoimmune conditions.”
After trying different types of treatment, the actress said she was open to trying GLP-1 medication, noting she was hopeful the medication could be a “magic cure.”
However, the experience wasn’t what she was expecting.
“I took one shot of the lowest dose of a synthetic GLP-1, and to say I had an adverse reaction would be somewhat of an understatement,” she recalled. “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.”
Bialik further pointed out the other side effects she experienced. “Cramping. Bloating. Full-body aching, as though I had the flu,” she said. “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.”
The Side Effects Led to Dehydration
As she continued to experience all the side effects, Bialik said she eventually struggled with dehydration.
“For the first two [days], I ate maybe one cup of rice and half a banana,” she explained. “Also, some broth, which promptly left my body. I couldn’t even keep electrolyte drinks down.”
The actress then noted, “Everything exited with a rage that left me weak and debilitated. I was in constant contact with my prescribing doctor throughout — and when I couldn’t keep even a sip of water down, a nurse came to my home to administer IV fluids.”
However, when she sought medication assistance, Bialike admitted to being taken aback by health providers when they told her that severe side effects were not uncommon for GLP-1 medication.
Her gastrologist later warned her of what to expect in the coming months.
“These medications, he said, are extremely disruptive to the body and should not be used outside of a specific, regulated set of serious medical reasons — namely, life-compromising obesity and its related health consequences,” she stated. “I did not meet that bar. He told me to expect a full month of alternating diarrhea and constipation, hopefully at decreasing frequency.”