Does Ozempic cause kidney stones?

Does Ozempic or semaglutide cause kidney stones? Let's talk about that.

Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, the show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Good to see you, Jeff.

Good to see you, as always.

This is a great little topic,?

Yeah, this is It's an interesting time for weight loss, weight loss medication, semaglutide, Ozempic. It's really It's out there.

It's out there. You know, I was walking down the block and they even had, you know, Ozempic injections, you know, in a in a hair salon. You know, somebody's coming in…

I mean, it really is all over the place. Now, this drug has been used for diabetics, as most of us know that, but a lot of people are just taking it to lose weight. Now, I am I am saying this, I'm going to preface this conversation by saying,

Everybody, our motto at Kidney Stone Diet is you do you. There is no judgment here. People need to do what they want to do to lose weight.

So, this isn't This is about does this cause kidney stones. There's no science, by the way, on this, folks. So, that's why, you know, Jeff had said it.

He said, "What about this, Jill, for a topic?" And I'm like, "You know, it's interesting because a lot of my patients are on Ozempic." And that doesn't mean

They make kidney stones now. They're making kidney stones for other reasons, but I'm just saying. So, I have a lot of patients on it for diabetes and/or weight loss.

So, yeah, let's just let's talk about it. So, I'm on Ozempic's website. Again, there's no science on Ozempic and kidney stones, but I'm just going to give my off the cuff, as I usually do, but I have a 25 years of experience of just being off the cuff, this I don't.

So, I thought it would be interesting to talk about today. So, let's talk about the only thing we can figure out here is what are the side effects, the most common ones from Ozempic, and then based upon the knowledge I have and science and everything else, we can say, "Well, we know yes or no, do these side effects, can they increase one's risk of kidney stones?" So, that's what we're going to do.

Okay? So, on their website on ozempic.com,

They list all their side effects. Ozempic may cause serious side effects, including inflammation of your pancreas, okay, changes in vision, that's not going to affect kidney stones, low blood sugar, and kidney problems, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting may cause loss of fluids. So, this will make you dehydrated if you have those side effects,

Which may cause kidney problems to get worse if you have kidney, chronic kidney disease, also known as CKD, kidney stones, of course. So, being nauseous all the time, which is a very common side effect, can cause and also throwing up a lot, can cause you to be dehydrated. Absolutely, that can increase your risk of kidney stones.

So, that's that's a red flag as far as what we're talking about here. So, that could be a big deal as far as kidney stones.

It can cause gallbladder problems. It can cause serious reactions, but mostly, for what we're concerned about here are the side effects that could cause dehydration. So, we have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation.

So, those things could increase your risk of kidney stones. If you're not hungry, if so you're not eating properly, you're not getting your calcium needs met, you're throwing up all the time, you have diarrhea, throwing up and having diarrhea, you're going to lose a lot of fluids. And if you're nauseous, it's going to be really hard to get fluids back in.

So, the dehydration, mainly for me, absolutely can cause an increased risk of kidney stones. Now, there is no science, but we don't need science specifically for Ozempic because the side effects of Ozempic for many people can cause, we know dehydration causes kidney stones. So, you know, my overall feeling, yes, of course, it could increase your risk of kidney stones if you're running around dehydrated because you're not hungry, or you're losing everything because you're nauseous, or having diarrhea, which are the most common side effects from it.

So,

What can you do? You can try your very best. Well, first of all, obviously, if you're dehydrated, you must talk to your doctor about that.

And when people are on Ozempic, I'm sure their doctors are saying, "Let me know if there's any side effects. If things get really bad, let me know." So, make sure that you're really having good conversations with your doctor as you take Ozempic and as side effects come, if they do. Okay?

Most people are not on Ozempic long-term. There are a lot of people that just use it for weight loss.

So, some of the things like the problem I have with weight loss drugs or, you know, elimination diets, or restrictive diets, that's a better way, not elimination diets, that's different, but really restrictive diets, or going under 1,000 calories a day, at some point, you're going to lose weight fast when you do these types of things, for sure.

But you still need to, once you get off the diet, or off the drug, or if you've had a bariatric surgery, you still need

To learn how to eat properly, so you don't regain weight and you don't have the issues that sought out the fix to begin with, whether it's the diet or drugs or whatever. So, that always makes me a little bit nervous. There was a new study, I read it in the New York Times, and there was a researcher that was showing, so far, the research shows that when people get off Ozempic, they tend to gain weight back because no one's really taught them to eat properly.

And so we still have that problem. I think Ozempic is very helpful for a lot of people, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it should be

Abused or misused, is all I'm saying. Because once you get off the drug, and especially you may have to get off the drug if you're having these side effects, you know, you're probably going to gain weight back, which is what often happens to us when we don't learn how to eat properly. And that's a problem, and that always makes my heart break.

And also, when we lose weight really fast, we have to worry about losing muscle mass really quickly. So, that's important, too.

And so, there are many people that need this drug, whether they're morbidly obese or they have diabetes and they need this drug. But what is going to happen to people once they get off the drug because they're done with that cycle, or they just can't tolerate the drug anymore? So, that's what I always that's what I always worry about.

I hope that people are also seeking nutritional advice along with the medication, along with the bariatric surgery, along with, because these are measures that are they're pretty drastic. I mean, you know, it's it's just it I worry about it. That's all I'm saying.

I think everybody should do what they need to do, of course, under the advice of a doctor,

But there are serious side effects, whether you're having a bariatric surgery, whether you're taking weight loss drugs, there are always going to be side effects with everything. There's tons of side effects with the surgeries I've had, abdominal surgeries, and with those kind of things come malnutrition, malabsorption, and those two things can absolutely increase risk of kidney stones.

So, there's a lot of things that could increase your risk of kidney stones for non-stone formers and stone formers alike. So, we'll see. We'll see what kind of studies come out long-term, but, of course, if people are running around dehydrated, that's definitely going to increase your risk of kidney stones, and if you're having malabsorption issues, that will definitely increase your risk of kidney stones.

So, we just have to go in into these things, whether they're bariatric surgeries or drugs, with our eyes wide open. And if you're experiencing really robust side effects from the drug Ozempic, please talk to your doctor so they can understand what to do with you and that you can feel better.

That's all. I think, you know… I mean, this is just off the top of my head, folks.

It's just common sense that if people are going to have drastic side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, they're going to be dehydrated, and they may not be able to eat because they have decreased appetite. So, it could, depending on how long, which is a key factor, you're on the drug or you're having these side effects.

That's key, too. If you're just having those side effects for a week, which usually doesn't happen, but let's just say, you're having those side effects for a week and then you start being able to tolerate it and you're better, that's not causing a kidney stone, so I want to be clear with that. So, it's a time thing.

How long are these side effects going on?

I think that's about it, Jeff. That's just my take. You know, I'd like to hear any comments.

Also, for you guys who are on Ozempic, have you experienced any new kidney stones? Have you been dehydrated? What are your symptoms?

What Has anything increased your risk? Let us know in the comments. Many, many people are on this drug, so don't feel bad about talking about it.

I was telling Jeff, too, you know, there's a lot of shame around taking Ozempic, and there shouldn't be. You're You're having a conversation with your doctor. If you need to be on the drug and it's working for you, then you need to be on the drug.

Don't worry about that. You do you. That's what I always say.

And everybody else mind their own business. I think I mean, that's People are all grown and they can make their own decisions, and no one should have anything to say about it. So, feel free to leave a comment and let us know how that's working for you.

And if you, too, have any had any worries about, "Is this going to increase my risk of kidney stones?" because I've had consults where patients are like, "I'm a little nervous about this." So, I tell them to please talk to their doctor, obviously, because they're on the drug for a reason.

Absolutely. Yeah, and I like there isn't there aren't direct studies, kidney stones and Ozempic, semaglutide, however you want to look at it, but you're able to translate what they have studied, which they say right on their site, which I think is so valuable, like just to sort of just remind everyone like this is the science for that drug.

And now, we're you are interpolating what we could expect when it comes to kidney stones. So, I think that's immensely valuable, but you have so many years of experience, sort of knowing what those side effects could potentially result in.

Yeah, it's very common for people who have, you know, with whatever they're doing in their life, if they're experiencing dehydration, that is definitely going to increase your supersaturations. Your urine will have higher saturations of these crystals, which makes sense. You're not flushing them out constantly because you're not peeing, you're not drinking, you're dehydrated, you're throwing up, you have diarrhea.

So, you know, it makes perfect sense. You're not producing enough urine to flush these crystals out. So, you know, I think Ozempic has done a wonderful job, too.

When you go to their website, they're very upfront about what can happen. And I like that about it. So, that's why I used ozempic.com for this information on what the very common side effects are for this drug.

I went to the mama itself, so. And I do like that about them, you know? So, yeah.

For sure. Yeah, so thank you for tuning in. If you want to dive deep into kidney stones, head over to kidneystonediet.com where you can find everything kidney stone diet related, and we'll see you next week.

Bye, guys.