Had to stop

61F, SW 183, GW 140.

Started semaglutide in February of this year and had lost most of the weight I wanted to lose by mid-August. My Dr. started discussing maintenance dosing.

Then, a week or so after that, all pooping stopped. Water, MiraLAX, high fiber didn’t budge anything. Prior to that, I had constipation all the time, but drinking a lot of water helped. This time, no deal.

After 5 days, I called my Dr., and he prescribed 4 Dulcolax in the morning and 2 caps of MiraLAX at night. Well, that worked, but didn’t fix anything. I mean, it emptied me out, but nothing else came out after that. I started taking laxatives every few days.

I started to think there was an obstruction that liquid could bypass (sorry to be gross), but not solids. I finally got an x-ray that showed no obstruction, however. The Dr. wants me to take laxatives on a daily basis, and in his mind, the weight loss was worth it.

What I think is happening is that my colon is paralyzed. Like it’s not moving anything along. If I take Dulcolax, it all comes out, but that is very unpleasant and inconvenient. MiraLAX does nothing. High fiber does nothing. It’s like my bowel won’t do anything without chemical stimulation.

I stopped taking semaglutide about a month ago, hoping my bowels would get back to normal, but so far, no luck. I’m going overseas in a few weeks and I’m not sure how that’s going to work. I do have an appointment with a gastroenterologist tomorrow.

Anyway, I’m happy to have lost the weight, of course. I wouldn’t have taken semaglutide if I had known this would happen. I’m not advising anyone about anything, by the way. Just sharing my experience.

I hit my goal after the first purge, and have not gained any weight back. That’s partially because not pooping for days really kills my appetite. Also because I know that the more I eat, the more I will have to chemically expel. Finally, I tracked my food from Day 1 and am still tracking. I know people gain weight when they stop these meds, and I’m no different from anyone else, but I have to try!