Tuesday, March 24, 2026
HomeLifestyleIndian Founder Lists Ozempic's Side Effects After Using It For Weight Loss

Indian Founder Lists Ozempic’s Side Effects After Using It For Weight Loss

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By now, you’ve probably heard of Ozempic, the injectable diabetes drug that somehow became the world’s most talked-about weight loss shortcut. From Hollywood to Bollywood, everyone from Elon Musk to your favourite celebrity rumours has been linked to it.

But it was an X/Twitter post by an Indian founder based in the UK that cut right through all the before-and-after noise.

Aakanksha Sadekar Chauhan had lost 30 kg in 8 months on Ozempic. And instead of posting a glow-up photo, she posted a list. Of everything the drug did to her body that she hadn’t signed up for.

No filter. No sponsorship. Just the unedited truth about the drug everyone is quietly googling, but nobody is being fully honest about.

What Did The Founder Actually Say?

UK-based entrepreneur Aakanksha Sadekar Chauhan @scotthakuraaiin took to X (formerly Twitter) to share her unfiltered experience with Ozempic after using it for eight months.

She wrote, “Everyone’s celebrating that Ozempic is about to go generic in India. Cheaper access. Wider reach. More people finally getting help. And yes, part of me is genuinely glad. But I’ve also lived it. And I need to say this before it turns into the next just take this and your life will sort itself out’ trend. Because that’s not what this is.”

She goes on to explain what the process was like for her, writing, “When I started, it wasn’t some cute wellness decision. It was clinical. Measured. Slightly intimidating, if I’m honest.

Blood tests. Doctor consults. Understanding what the drug actually does to your appetite, your gut, your hormones. You don’t just “start Ozempic”.

You enter a contract with your own body. And then it begins. The weight does come down. Slowly at first. Then noticeably enough for people to comment.”

However, the most important part of her post is the side effects that she cautions people about, and that should never be forgotten or dismissed.

Chauhan wrote, “There are days your stomach refuses to cooperate. Meals you used to love suddenly feel like a negotiation.

Energy dips you don’t quite expect.

Moments where you realise this isn’t just fat loss, this is your metabolism being actively rewritten.

No one talks about that part loudly enough.

And the discipline? It doesn’t disappear.

If anything, it becomes more important. Because if you treat it like magic, your body will remind you very quickly that it isn’t.

This is not a shortcut. It’s an intervention. A pharmaceutical one. And like all interventions, it demands respect.”

Concluding her post, she gives some very important advice, stating, “So if you’re in India right now thinking, ‘Great, it’s cheaper now, maybe I should try it. ‘ Pause.

Get your bloodwork done. Speak to a doctor who actually understands it. Ask uncomfortable questions.

Understand the long game, not just the before-after photos. Because what you’re asking your body to do is not small.

It’s powerful. And power, used casually, always comes at a cost. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying don’t walk into it blind.”

She was clear that while the weight loss was real, it came at a cost she hadn’t fully anticipated, and she explicitly warned against using Ozempic without medical supervision, calling it anything but a shortcut.

Her message: this is a serious medical drug, not a lifestyle hack.

Why Her Timing Could Not Be More Relevant

Here’s the thing: Chauhan’s thread landed at the most important possible moment. Because as of this week, Ozempic just became something almost any Indian can afford.

Until recently, Ozempic in India cost anywhere between Rs. 8,800 and Rs. 10,000 per month. Expensive enough that the conversation about who was using it stayed within a fairly small, wealthy circle.

Then, on March 20, 2026, the patent on semaglutide, the molecule behind Novo Nordisk’s drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, expired in India. And everything changed overnight.

With the patent expiry, an estimated 40-plus Indian pharmaceutical companies are now preparing to launch their own generic versions of semaglutide.

Sun Pharmaceutical has already launched a generic at Rs. 750 per weekly injection, roughly Rs. 3,400 per month.

Smaller manufacturers like Natco Pharma and Alkem Laboratories are going even lower, with some brands priced as low as Rs. 325 to Rs. 440 per week

That’s not a price drop. That’s a price demolition.

For the millions of Indians with Type 2 diabetes who couldn’t afford this drug before, this is genuinely life-changing news.

The market for semaglutide in India is estimated to reach $1 billion over the next two years, with over 100 million people in India having diabetes and an additional 136 million being pre-diabetic.

But for everyone else, everyone doing the mental math on whether they can afford a summer body, Chauhan’s thread needs to be required reading before anyone opens a pharmacy app.


Read More: Breakfast Babble: What Made Me Believe ‘Health Is Wealth’


What Are Doctors Actually Saying?

The medical community’s position is consistent and unambiguous: this is not a weight loss drug. It is a serious medication for a serious condition, and using it otherwise is risky.

Dr Jyoti Chabria, a Hyderabad-based dietician and nutritionist, points out that the novelty and expense of the drug make people want to try it even more, and that researchers have yet to fully test it in the Indian context, with no specific norms or regulations certifying its use for weight loss here.

Doctors warn that Ozempic slows down the digestive system, meaning food stays in the stomach longer, which can interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients, leading to gastrointestinal issues and, over the long term, potential malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

The muscle loss concern Hakura flagged is also clinically documented; without adequate protein intake and resistance training, significant muscle mass is lost alongside fat, which has long-term metabolic consequences.

Medical experts also note that Ozempic won’t address underlying factors that lead to disordered eating in the first place, and since stopping use tends to result in weight regain, it can perpetuate a cycle that does more harm than good for people without a genuine clinical need.

The bottom line from the medical community: if you have Type 2 diabetes or clinically diagnosed obesity with comorbidities, this drug, under proper supervision, could genuinely change your life. If you’re trying to drop a few kilos before a wedding, you’re taking risks that simply aren’t worth it.


Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: Hindustan Times, Moneycontrol, The Indian Express

Find the blogger: @chirali_08

This post is tagged under: Ozempic, Ozempic india, Ozempic side effects, Ozempic weight loss, Ozempic face, Ozempic medicine, weight loss, weight loss trend, Ozempic india cost, Ozempic cost, Ozempic caution, Ozempic ingredients, Ozempic trend, Ozempic celebs

Disclaimer: We do not own any rights or copyrights to the images used; these images have been sourced from Google. If you require credits or wish to request removal, please contact us via email.


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Chirali Sharma
Chirali Sharma
Weird. Bookworm. Coffee lover. Fandom expert. Queen of procrastination and as all things go, I'll probably be late to my own funeral. Also, if you're looking for sugar-coated words of happiness and joy in here or my attitude, then stop right there. Raw, direct and brash I am.

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