Mayim Bialik, star of The Big Bang Theory, has come forward to reveal the severe reaction she suffered for two scary weeks after taking one shot of the popular GLP-1 weight loss drug.
Bialik discussed her terrifying trauma in an article for The Free Press that she entitled, “My GLP-1 Nightmare.”
The 50-year-old actress told readers that she has struggled with her weight as an adult — especially as an actress in image-obsesses Hollywood. And at one point her doctor told her that GLP-1 “might help ease symptoms I’ve struggled with for basically my entire adult life.”
The one-time child star added that when she was 23, she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder Grave’s disease. Years later, she was also diagnosed with connective tissue disease, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), Sjögren’s syndrome and dysautonomia.
She went on to say that she decided to take GLP-1 because several doctors told her “the drugs have shown promise in reducing the systemic inflammation that drives autoimmune conditions.”
She added that she had tried several other therapies and drugs to ease her various conditions, but none had worked. So trying GLP-1 was just one more step in the search to ease her symptoms. But instead of a “magic cure,” her life was turned upside down after taking the first dose of GLP-1.
“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 wrote. “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,” she continued. “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 went on to say that she could not eat or drink and ended up having to be put on an IV so she didn’t totally dehydrate.
“For the first two [days], I ate maybe one cup of rice and half a banana,” she said. “Also some broth, which promptly left my body. I couldn’t even keep electrolyte drinks down.”
“Everything exited with a rage that left me weak and debilitated,” Bialik explained. “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.”
One thing that shocked her was that her doctors seemed unsurprised by her reaction because her symptoms were not at all uncommon and that nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are common reactions to the drug.
Still, she noted that the dream of quick weight loss is so attractive that she is not surprised that so many people are willing to risk the side effects and even continue to suffer through them to “chase that dragon” of their weight loss goals.
But it’s just not for her, she said. “But my body made its position clear, and I had learned, after decades of overriding it, to finally listen.”
Ultimately, she warned that these drugs are not for casual use and her gastroenterologist told her that her severe reaction was not uncommon.
“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,” Bialik said. “I did not meet that bar. He told me to expect a full month of alternating diarrhea and constipation, hopefully at decreasing frequency.”
“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,” she said as she came to her conclusion.
“And then, on my way out, I caught a glimpse of my reflection, and I did not recoil,” Bialik added. “I did not see under my first chin that second chin on which I had been fixating for months — because it wasn’t there.”
“My cheekbones were visible. I gazed for a moment, flashed a Mona Lisa smile, and headed to the parking lot, stopping briefly to hike up my skirt, which had started to sag at my hips ever so slightly.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston