Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — Adults whose type 2 diabetes was treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists were more than likely to develop cognitive impairment over 10 years than their counterparts not treated with GLP-1 agents, a propensity-matched retrospective…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – One in six couples worldwide face infertility issues but there is hope for those who are trying for pregnancy. Dr. Rekha Kumar, endocrinologist at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, joins TODAY to break down how long it should take to get pregnant at different age ranges before seeking medical help, why some people saw increased fertility after being on weight loss drugs, and more.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – A new study identified several overlooked side effects of GLP-1 drugs through self-reporting among Reddit users. Image Credit: Fiordaliso/Getty Images

A recent study found various “hidden” side effects of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, including chills, hot flashes, and irregular periods.

The researchers used self-reported Reddit data to examine the real-world effects of these medications. 

An expert weighs in on why hidden side effects, such as Ozempic chills, may occur.

GLP-1 medications, like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, have various known side effects, including nausea, fatigue, constipation, and diarrhea. 

However, a recent study published in Nature Health found that GLP-1 drugs may also come with certain “hidden” side effects. 

The researchers analyzed 410,198 Reddit posts that mentioned either semaglutide or tirzepatide. They found a total of 67,008 users who self-reported using these medications. Of those, 43.5% posted about at least one side effect. 

Reproductive issues, such as menstrual irregularities and temperature-related complaints, like chills and hot flashes, were the most notable unrecognized side effects of GLP-1s. 

Jeffrey Lee, MD, a double board-certified plastic surgeon and founder of JL Plastic Surgery in Boston, MA, who was not involved in the study, spoke to Healthline about these “hidden” side effects, why they may occur, and what people may misunderstand about GLP-1s from social media posts. 

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity and length.

How common are the ‘hidden’ side effects of GLP-1s like Ozempic?

Lee: The most common side effects I see in practice are gastrointestinal, things like nausea, bloating, or constipation.

These are typically temporary and often dose-dependent, meaning they can improve over time or with a dosage adjustment.

Of the lesser-known side effects mentioned in the study, I have occasionally had patients report fatigue, but it’s not something I see frequently.

I have not personally seen most of the other symptoms highlighted in the study in a consistent or clinically significant way.

What’s behind side effects like Ozempic chills, hot flashes?

Lee: GLP-1 agonists primarily affect the gastrointestinal system, but they also act on the brain, particularly the hypothalamus, which regulates many core functions, including hormones, temperature, and appetite.

Because of this, it’s plausible that some patients could experience broader systemic effects, including hormonal or temperature-related symptoms.

That said, these effects are not yet well established clinically, and more research is needed to determine whether they are directly caused by the medication or influenced by factors such as weight loss, metabolic changes, or individual physiology.

What are the effects of GLP-1s on mood shifts, libido? 

Lee: There is growing interest in how GLP-1 medications may influence the brain’s reward system, particularly dopamine signaling.

Clinically, we are seeing that some patients report a reduced sense of reward from certain behaviors.

For example, there have been reports of individuals with alcohol use issues experiencing a decreased urge to drink. This suggests that GLP-1s may blunt the reward response, which could be beneficial in some contexts.

However, that same mechanism may also translate into a dampening of emotional highs and lows, which some patients may interpret as apathy or decreased libido. This is still an emerging area of research, but it’s one of the more interesting potential effects of these medications.

Do ‘hidden’ GLP-1 side effects vary based on individual behaviors? 

Lee: Patient behavior can absolutely play a role.

If someone is actively restricting intake beyond what the medication is already doing, they may experience symptoms like irritability or mood swings.

On the other hand, if a patient is fully reliant on the medication and experiences little to no hunger, those fluctuations may be less noticeable.

So there’s often an interplay between the medication’s effects and the patient’s behavioral response.

How might self-reported GLP-1 side effects be misunderstood? 

Lee: One of the biggest challenges with social media is that it captures anecdotal, self-reported experiences without context.

It can be difficult to determine whether a symptom is directly caused by the medication, related to rapid weight loss, influenced by other medications, or tied to underlying health conditions.

Without that clinical context, it’s easy for associations to be made that aren’t necessarily causal. That’s why it’s important to interpret these reports carefully and in conjunction with clinical data.

A note about self-reported side effects on social media

The study’s researchers note several limitations. These include the potential that people who use weight-loss subreddits may differ from the general population who are prescribed GLP-1s. Reddit users are typically younger and disproportionately from the United States. 

Individuals on Reddit are also not prompted or required to disclose all their side effects. This makes it difficult to estimate their true prevalence. Also, self-reporting can’t always be consistently reliable.

Finally, language processing can overlook or misclassify nuanced context. 

What are the issues with self-reported side effects in studies like these? 

Lee: These limitations are significant. For findings to be broadly applicable, the study population needs to reflect real-world patients in terms of age, gender, medical history, and dosing.

Self-reported data, especially from platforms like Reddit, can introduce bias, as it often captures a narrower or more vocal subset of users.

That said, studies like this can still be valuable as an early signal. They can help generate hypotheses and guide more rigorous, controlled research that allows us to draw more definitive conclusions.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/BravoThe Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is TV’s best soap opera, week after week offering twists more shocking than secret twins and characters returning from the dead. That’s because it’s all real, happening in the most haunted suburb in the continental United States.Where else do two women connect over knowing the long-lost birth father of one’s child? Is there another city where women squabble over body positivity in a parking lot off the side of a snowy mountain? Surely, there’s no other place on Earth where Lisa Barlow could come across anywhere near a voice of reason.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are transforming weight loss, but a new UVA study warns they’re not improving a critical measure of health: cardiorespiratory fitness. While these medications help people shed fat, they also strip away vital muscle mass raising concerns about long-term heart health, physical function, and mortality. The researchers urge combining treatment with exercise, protein intake, and possibly future drugs to avoid hidden downsides of rapid weight loss.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Ozempic’s weight loss benefits might come at the cost of muscle strength, even if muscle size remains relatively stable. This raises significant concerns for older adults, who are already at risk for muscle loss and reduced mobility. Researchers stress the urgent need for human clinical trials to understand these effects fully.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Scientists are racing to improve weight loss treatments beyond drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which are effective but plagued by nausea, bone loss, and weight regain. Tufts University chemists have created a new multi-target compound that goes beyond the usual GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon approaches by adding a fourth hormone, PYY. This “quadruple-action” design aims to deliver weight loss results on par with bariatric surgery—up to 30%—without invasive procedures, and could change the future of obesity treatment.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Some people taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro notice that food suddenly tastes sweeter or saltier, and this subtle shift in flavor perception appears tied to reduced appetite and stronger feelings of fullness. In a study of more than 400 patients, roughly one in five experienced heightened taste sensitivity, and many reported being less hungry and more easily satisfied.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Semaglutide appears to safeguard the heart even when patients lose little weight. In a massive international trial, heart attack and stroke risk dropped by 20% regardless of BMI. The benefit seems tied not just to slimming down but to deeper biological effects on inflammation, blood pressure, and vessel health. Researchers say this could expand who qualifies for the drug.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide 25 mg achieved up to 16.6% weight loss in a landmark study, rivaling injectable Wegovy. The pill also improved cardiovascular risk factors and physical activity levels. With a safety profile consistent with existing treatments, experts see it as a breakthrough for patients preferring oral options.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Scientists are uncovering how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on brain regions that control hunger, nausea, pleasure-based eating, and thirst. These discoveries may help create treatments that keep the benefits of weight loss while reducing unwanted side effects.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Audience: Consumer PLAINSBORO, NJ, December 5, 2025 – FDA recently seized dozens of units of counterfeit Ozempic (semaglutide) injection 1 mg distributed illegally outside of Novo Nordisk’s authorized supply chain. The US Food and Drug…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Monday, April 20 – Deep-brain recordings showed that Mounjaro and Zepbound briefly shut down the craving circuits linked to food noise in a patient with severe obesity. Her obsessive thoughts about food disappeared as the medication quieted the nucleus accumbens, the brain’s reward hub.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Bariatric surgery far outperformed GLP-1 weight loss drugs in a new real-world comparison of more than 50,000 patients. Two years after treatment, surgery patients lost about 58 pounds on average, while those using semaglutide or tirzepatide lost roughly 12 pounds. Even patients who stayed on GLP-1 drugs for a full year saw much smaller results than surgical patients. High dropout rates and real-world challenges appear to blunt the drugs’ effectiveness.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Audience: Health Care Professional, Consumer January 13, 2026

FDA Evaluation Did Not Identify an Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation or Behavior With the Use of GLP-1 RA Medications
This information is an update to the FDA Drug Safety…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can dramatically curb appetite, but experts warn many users are flying blind when it comes to nutrition. New research suggests people taking these medications may not be getting enough guidance on protein, vitamins, and overall diet quality, increasing the risk of muscle loss and nutrient deficiencies.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Could weight-loss drugs shrink the body representation we’ve spent decades seeking?

Monday, April 20, 2026 – INDIANAPOLIS, March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced positive topline results from TRANSCEND-T2D-1, a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of retatrutide, an investigational…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – INDIANAPOLIS, March 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced detailed results from the TOGETHER-PsA open-label Phase 3b clinical trial evaluating the concomitant use of Taltz (ixekizumab) and Zepbound (tirzepatide)…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — A 6-month hiatus in GLP-1 drug use was linked with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with continued use, according to a target trial emulation. (BMJ Medicine)…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – PLAINSBORO, N.J., March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Novo Nordisk today announced a new multi-month subscription program for Wegovy® (semaglutide) that provides eligible self-pay patients who enroll in the program through select telehealth providers…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — GLP-1 medications showed a range of potential benefits and safety concerns in an umbrella review of non-cardiometabolic outcomes, though the data quality for many remained limited.
Across 60 meta-analyses that assessed 116 non…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Eli Lilly and Co. anticipates shipping newly approved Foundayo (orforglipron) within the next week, as the drug becomes the second oral weight-loss glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist to enter the U.S. market following December’s approval of Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy (semaglutide) pill.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — The FDA has approved a second oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for weight loss in adults with obesity or overweight and weight-related comorbidities.
A once-daily tablet, orforglipron (Foundayo) is indicated in conjunction with a…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — As a primary care physician and obesity board-certified specialist, I believe that GLP-1s are one of the best medical interventions of all time, right up there with vaccines, antibiotics, blood thinners, and statins. They really…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – PLAINSBORO, NJ and BAGSVÆRD, Denmark, April 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Novo Nordisk will present the ORION study at the upcoming Obesity Medicine Association’s annual conference in San Diego showing that Wegovy® (semaglutide) tablets 25…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — TTHealthWatch is a weekly podcast from Texas Tech. In it, Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and Rick Lange, MD, president of Texas Tech Health El Paso, look at the top medical…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Originally developed to treat diabetes, a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are now stepping into the spotlight as weight loss drugs. A recent umbrella review draws attention to safety concerns regarding the use of this GLP medication, alongside a mix of potential benefits.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — Novo Nordisk said its semaglutide (Wegovy) pill outperformed recently approved orforglipron (Foundayo) in weight loss and tolerability in an indirect comparison using clinical trial data, and the company launched multi-month…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — Integrating the most effective obesity treatments into cancer survivorship offers “an unprecedented opportunity” to improve long-term outcomes in cancer, including survival, a trio of obesity and oncology specialists argued in…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Adults with overweight or obesity taking the new generation of weight loss drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide tend to eat significantly less, leaving them vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, according to one of the first real-world studies to examine dietary behavior in people using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and dual GLP-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) dual agonists RAs (collectively referred to as GLP-1 RAs) with the help of an AI-powered nutritional tracking app.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – By using AI to analyze more than 400,000 Reddit posts, Penn researchers have identified patient-reported symptoms associated with GLP-1s, the popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide, that may not be fully captured in clinical trials or regulatory documents.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Here’s everything we know so far.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — GLP-1 receptor agonist use may be associated with a modest increase in erectile dysfunction (ED) risk in men with type 2 diabetes, a target trial emulation suggested.
Using U.S. electronic health record data, the incidence of…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – A newly discovered molecule could reshape the future of weight loss treatments by mimicking the powerful appetite-suppressing effects of drugs like Ozempic — but without many of the unpleasant side effects. Identified using artificial intelligence, this tiny peptide, called BRP, appears to act directly on the brain’s appetite-control center, helping animals eat less and lose fat without nausea or muscle loss.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Researchers at Toronto’s Sinai Health have found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimic the gut hormone GLP-1—acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve organ function and does so independently of weight loss. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about how GLP-1 medicines work in the liver and could reshape how physicians treat metabolic liver disease.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – (MedPage Today) — Eating the same meals every day may aid in weight loss, according to a study of real-time food tracking data. (Health Psychology)
The prevalence of youth-onset type 2 diabetes increased substantially from 2013 to 2024, rising…

Monday, April 20, 2026 – If you watched the Super Bowl in 2026, you likely saw Serena Williams share her weight loss journey on GLP-1 medications in a commercial.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Insurance coverage of blockbuster obesity drugs has been spotty at best over the years, and it looks like things are getting worse, not better. Plans are dropping coverage or restricting it further.

Monday, April 20, 2026 – INDIANAPOLIS, April 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced positive topline results from the Phase 3 ACHIEVE-4 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Foundayo (orforglipron), compared to insulin glargine in…