Many people taking popular weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are reporting an unexpected side effect: having bizarre and vivid dreams, The Wall Street Journal reported April 18.
Many people have turned to social media to document their strange dreams, some of which have involved cabinet shopping at Home Depot with Clint Eastwood or preparing to rob a museum with Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
Novo Nordisk, which sells Ozempic and Wegovy, confirmed that it has received reports of bizarre dreams among users. However, the company doesn’t have enough information to identify whether the medications are causing the dreams, a spokesperson told the Journal. Eli Lilly, which sells Mounjaro, declined to comment on the trend.
The drugs promote the production of a gut hormone that has receptors on the brain, which could be one explanation for the vivid dreams, according to Caroline Apovian, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-director of a weight loss center at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The drugs may also help people remember dreams they would have otherwise had but just not remembered, Deirdre Leigh Barrett, PhD, a dream researcher at Harvard Medical School, told the publication.
Read the full article here.
