Britt Jones
A mom who started taking a GLP-1 drug to lose weight for her son’s wedding has revealed a side effect which 'nearly killed her'.
In July of this year, Ali Eastburn was waiting for the moment her son would become a husband when she suffered a terrifying medical emergency she believes was a side-effect of weight loss medication she was taking.
Sharing that it ‘could have killed’ her, the 58-year-old was attempting to lose weight before the big day.
Ali admitted that her ‘post-menopausal’ time was a struggle for her, and she saw a 20 to 25-pound weight gain during those years as a result.
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The mom explained that no matter what she did, she just ‘couldn’t seem to get the weight off’, so she decided to use a weight loss drug to help her shed the pounds.
She used a compounded GLP-1 rather than a brand-name drug. Being 185 pounds, she consulted a healthcare professional in March, stating: "When I said I wanted to lose weight, she mentioned this would be a great option for me.”
After undergoing some tests, Ali was finally prescribed a semaglutide weight loss drug from a compounding pharmacy and by the end of April, she was able to begin her weight loss journey.
However, it wasn’t a fairytale progress story like you hear online, she says.
What began as mild heartburn turned into a nightmare after Ali's weight loss slowed down, and on the advice of her medical provider, she increased her dosage.
From there, she dropped to 165 pounds, but her heartburn began to get worse.
She said: "That is when everything went a little haywire because the heartburn became pretty bad.”
While shopping for her dress to wear to the wedding, she said she started to ‘dry heave’ and if she ‘put something in my mouth and literally have to spit it out because I just wanted to throw up’.
After the second shot of her new dose, her symptoms became even worse. "It was violent diarrhea, crazy to the point that it was nothing but water," she explained.
On July 11, Ali found herself in the emergency room, unable to keep fluids down or eat, as she admitted she felt like she was ‘dying’.
After IVs and a CAT scan, she was diagnosed with gastritis, with medics ruling out the chance of appendicitis.
However, after more issues, she was admitted again, and they told her the same thing.
On the 15th, she boarded a flight from Nashville to Orange County for the week of the wedding, but she began to have so much pain that she was lying on the floor with a trash bag underneath her head.
An ambulance met her at the airport, rushing her to the hospital where she found that her appendix had burst.
She explained that she was so frightened and asked the doctor if she was going to die, to which he responded that he didn’t know.
Having spent four days in the hospital to recover, it was only by luck that she was able to make the July 19 wedding, where her son cried upon seeing her there.
Because of her traumatizing time, which she attributes to the GLP-1 drugs, Ali wants others to know the risks involved, stating: "This is being handed out like candy to everybody who wants to lose 20 pounds but this is not an easy fix.
"This is not a magic pill. And it's not for everybody."
As of right now, she’s ‘still in so much pain’ after her oesophagus was found to be burned due to her acid reflux, but she’s trying to be healthy ‘the right way and the natural way. I've been exercising, walking, portion control.’
GLP-1 drugs have been known to cause side effects which range from mild to severe.
As per Diabetes UK, they include: