“Every time I go to refill her my mother’s prescription, my heart races, wondering if I’ll find it. It’s like playing a lottery with my mother’s life at stake.”

The current surge in demand for the diabetes drug Ozempic has left Qatar grappling with a significant shortage at times that has in turn compromised the treatment of diabetic patients, experts say, pointing to the impact of the drug’s rising off-label use for weight loss.

The drug has catapulted in popularity in recent months due to its drastic weight loss results, with users losing an average of 15% or more of their weight. Driven largely by testimonies by people across the world on social media, the trend has now hit the streets of Qatar, leading to a drastic demand for the drug.

“The Ozempic shortage in Qatar is a genuine and pressing issue,” says Dr. Ola Al Tai, Pharmacy and Operations Manager at Al Tai Medical Center, who also pointed to production shortages, shipping delays and limited deliveries to the main licensed distributor in Qatar.

The shortage, coupled with the rising popularity of the drug, has forced many pharmacies to deplete their supplies within days of receiving them, leaving them waiting anxiously for the next monthly shipment.

While the provision of the drug is good news for those seeking to lose weight, the consequences for diabetic patients have been severe. Many have had no choice but to switch to alternative medication, facing a new set of side effects and an adjustment period to the new prescriptions.

“The demand for Ozempic as a weight loss drug is far greater than its demand for diabetic patients. Most pharmacies encounter patients daily, requesting it for weight loss,” said Dr. Al Tai, who says this trend is consistent with the staggering 43% prevalence of obesity among Qatar’s adult population, as reported by the 2018/19 Qatar BioBank.

However, the introduction of alternatives such as Rybelsus tablets, Trulicity, Victosa, and Mounjaro to respond to the Ozempic shortage, has provided some relief.

“The availability of alternatives is a welcomed relief for diabetic patients and healthcare professionals alike,” Dr. Al Tai noted.

Still, the shortage crisis has taken a heavy emotional toll on the families of diabetic patients. Mona Silawy, whose mother depends on Ozempic for her diabetes treatment, grapples with the anxiety of not knowing whether she’ll be able to procure her mother’s medication.

“I have been running from one pharmacy to another looking for Ozempic for my mother,” Silawy says. “Every time I go to refill her prescription, my heart races, wondering if I’ll find it. It’s like playing a lottery with my mother’s life at stake.”

On one occasion, Silawy said she was forced to travel to Dubai to procure her mother’s medication -a stress-inducing journey she never thought she would have to make.

Speaking to Doha News, Dr. Al Tai said the drug has become a go-to for those eager for quick results.

“The issue at hand is that patients who only have a small amount of weight to lose are turning to Ozempic as well, as opposed to lifestyle modifications,” explained Dr. Al Tai.

Despite this, a large number of people have found hope in Ozempic. Maryam Kamal said she has struggled with weight loss and binge eating for years, and the drug has now helped her control her food intake.

“I really struggled for around like a year to two years even to lose three kilos. I tried working out, I tried several diets but nothing really worked and I had a really big problem with binge eating. I felt like Ozempic was the right choice for me personally because my problem has been just inconsistent food intake. so I started taking it a month ago.”

Despite experiencing severe nausea as an initial side effect, she found it beneficial.

“I feel like it’s definitely very effective. It does suppress your appetite. You just have to be very smart in terms of eating consistently and not just going the whole day without eating or drinking. So I feel like it’s done right. And you just like to take care of what you’re eating, kind of like fix your food intake. It will be very, very beneficial for me personally.”

“It hasn’t worked miraculously where I lost so many kilos, like the people have said on social media, but I did lose in a consistent way. I lost around 1 kg per week, or even less than that. So in, in the full one month, I so far I lost 3 kg in a half or around 3 kg and a half, which I feel like it, it is very healthy, like in terms of like just losing this much weight in the span of a month when you haven’t been dieting for a very long time.”

However, she too was affected by the shortage, and was forced to import Ozempic from Saudi Arabia. The nationwide Ozempic shortage underscores the impact of trends on consumer choices and its ripple effects on public health.

Pharmacies, including Al Tai Medical Center, say they are working tirelessly with patients taking the medication to ensure they have steady access to it and are using it safely. “We always prioritise our diabetic patients and ensure that their prescriptions are filled,” said Dr. Al Tai.

Sustainability of using Ozempic for weight loss

In an era where pharmaceutical miracles such as Wegovy and Ozempic offer tantalising solutions to those wrestling with diabetes and obesity, a sobering reality persists: the benefits of semaglutide-based medications only endure for the duration of their consumption.

A study published in April 2022 that sought to examine changes in body weight and cardiometabolic risk factors following the drug’s discontinuation discovered that people had regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost after a year.

Positive changes in cardiometabolic risk factors such as blood pressure, blood lipids, HbA1c, and C-reactive protein had also reversed.

According to the study’s authors, these findings emphasise the importance of continuing treatment in order to maintain the medication’s benefits.

However, Kamal believes that it all comes down to the person at the end of the day.

“You just have to be very smart in terms of eating consistently and not just going the whole day without eating or drinking. I feel like if it’s done right while fixing the quality of your food intake, it will be very beneficial”.