Key takeaways:
Some experts say Ozempic and other glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications can lessen the absorption of oral contraceptives and increase fertility levels.
Deb Oliviara was on birth control pills and taking Ozempic (semaglutide) to lose weight when she learned she was pregnant.
Stopping right away instead of weaning off the medication caused intense hunger, and she rapidly regained the weight she’d lost. She says she’ll take Ozempic again after she’s had the baby and finished breastfeeding.
Save on related medications
Deb Oliviara, who is 32 and lives in Michigan, had already been pregnant five times. But after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, she only has two living children.
She says her pregnancies left her with about 20 lbs she couldn’t lose — despite working with a fitness coach, exercising four to five times a week, and seeing a nutritionist.
“Every pregnancy has taken a toll on my body, and that also kind of affects your mental health,” she says. “It’s like this constant reminder of the losses [miscarriages] I’ve had.”
Search and compare options
She watched her now sister-in-law take Wegovy (semaglutide) — a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist and one of a class of medications used to treat both Type 2 diabetes and obesity. She lost 60 lbs in preparation for her wedding.
Deb decided to try another version of semaglutide under the brand name Ozempic, which she took off-label. Wegovy is a higher-dose form of Ozempic approved to help with weight loss. Ozempic is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes but may also lead to weight loss as a side effect.
It was a success. Deb lost 20 lbs in 3 months.
She lost weight but gained something else
The day after Deb reached her target weight, though, she got a shock. As she discusses in this TikTok video, she learned she was pregnant.
She was taking an oral contraceptive when she got pregnant. Though she admits she wasn’t consistently taking the contraceptive, she learned that GLP-1 medications are thought to heighten fertility and may make oral contraceptives less effective.
“I found that out because once I opened up about my GLP-1 journey and how I was surprised that I was pregnant, a bunch of people were like, ‘Oh, yeah, that happened to me,’” she says. “They said, ‘We had a surprise pregnancy we weren’t planning on. Especially after having unidentified fertility issues.’”
There’s anecdotal evidence that some women taking GLP-1 medications, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, experience surprise pregnancies (a Facebook group called “I got pregnant on Ozempic” has 800-plus members). However, it’s an area still being studied. Some experts speculate the medications may interfere with the absorption of oral contraceptives, and others point out that weight loss can affect fertility.
Experts say these weight-loss medications are not safe to take during pregnancy, so Deb immediately stopped taking Ozempic when advised by her doctor. Makers of Ozempic recommend stopping the medication at least 2 months before pregnancy. Studies in animals suggest GLP-1 medications could cause pregnancy loss and birth defects. But there isn’t enough evidence in humans yet to say for sure.
Gaining weight again
Deb says stopping the medication right away, instead of weaning off it, was difficult.
“I had insatiable hunger, and I’m not new to pregnancy, so I know what normal hunger is during pregnancy. This was not normal,” she says. “I’ve talked to other people who had to jump off GLP-1s as well, and they said the same thing. That it was just this insatiable hunger and rapid weight gain.”
In the first 3 months of her pregnancy, Deb regained the 20 lbs she’d just lost. “And it wasn’t because I went off my eating plan, or I was getting cravings or anything like that. I stayed on my eating plan and still gained the weight back so fast — which then, of course, affects your mental health because you’re like, ‘What in the world?’ I just worked so hard to lose this.”
At the end of her third month of pregnancy, she says, her hunger and weight gain finally seemed normal.
“I’m in the second trimester now, and I think it’s been a couple pounds [of weight gain] in the last month, which is normal. Mentally, I’m OK with that.”
Turning attention to a healthy baby
Deb says all reports so far say the baby looks healthy.
“I get checked every 2 weeks because of my pregnancy history, which is awesome,” she says. “We’re just happy that Baby is strong and healthy.”
After she’s had the baby and breastfed for 3 months, she plans to take the medication again. Then, when she’s lost the weight, she plans to wean off the medication. “I know people that have done that and kept the weight off for over a year at this point,” she says.
While some critics on her social media call weight-loss medications a crutch, Deb has a different perspective.
“Combined with proper diet and exercise, it can actually be used as a super helpful tool, which is why I plan to use it again,” she says. “I don’t plan on being on it forever. But I know that some people do decide to be on it long term.”
In the meantime, she and her fiancé are looking forward to their fall 2024 baby, a son who was definitely a surprise.
“We’re super excited,” she says. “I’ve been pregnant now six times, and five of them were girls. This is the first boy.”
Why trust our experts?
