Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik reveals 'nightmare' reaction after taking weight-loss drug
The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik has opened up about her ‘nightmare’ experiences using GLP-1s, which left her with cramps, sneezing fits, and ‘explosive diarrhoea’.
The 50-year-old actress shot to fame when she was just 14, playing the titular role in NBC’s Blossom, but is perhaps best known for playing Sheldon Cooper’s other-half Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory.
Bialik says that she grew up ‘blissfully unaware’ of her weight, until her teens years when she was put on medication to ‘manage her moods’ that made her gain weight.
“By my 40s, still actively working as an actress, I acquired a deep sense of shame around my body,” she wrote in a piece on The Free Press.
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She went on to say that she gained ‘20 pounds’ after going through early menopause, but claimed that wasn’t the reason she took the weightloss drug GLP-1.
“I went on a weight-loss drug because a doctor told me it might help ease symptoms I’ve struggled with for basically my entire adult life,” she wrote, revealing she was diagnosed with autoimmune condition Graves’ disease in her early 20s.
Bialik said she was later diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, dysautonomia, connective tissue disease, and mast cell activation syndrome all of which left her with a myriad of symptoms including full-body rashes, severe histamine reactions and crippling depression.
After being suggested GLP-1 by three different doctors to help manage her symptoms, Bialik said she gave it a go, but revealed that taking the weight-loss medication had been a ‘nightmare’.
“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 diarrhoea. 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. 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.”
GLP-1 has been hailed as a revolutionary drug and is taken by millions of people across the globe to help them lose weight, including celebrities like Jeremy Clarkson and Rebel Wilson.
However, Bialik said that while ‘GLP-1s have helped people in serious need’, she wanted to speak out about what can happen when ‘things go wrong’.
In the piece, the mum-of-two said she went back to her doctor who confirmed that the side-effects were caused by the medication and she ultimately decided to come off it.
Topics: Big Bang Theory, Celebrity, TV and Film
Claire Reid