Ozempic, Mounjaro can ruin or enhance patients’ sex drives
Miranda Shea’s gotta have it. “It” being sex, of course.
But shortly after beginning a regimen of compounded tirzepatide, the generic version of anti-obesity jabs like Mounjaro, in August, her hankering for hanky-panky vanished.
An abrupt aversion to sex is a common, albeit lesser-known, complication of taking GLP-1 medications, such as Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic.
It’s a side effect that can afflict both women and men, leaving some guys with low testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction.
The slimming pharmaceuticals — popularized by A-listers like Oprah Winfrey and “Real Housewives” divas — have varying effects on a person’s dopamine.
It’s the “feel good” hormone that motivates folks to engage in gratifying activities, like scarfing down a box of cookies or indulging in a little nooky.
And while on the shots, some users, such as Shea, suddenly lose their appetites for carnal delights.
“I’m hyper-sexual, so we were having sex pretty often,” Shea, 35, a critical care nurse from Northern California, told The Post of her love life with her husband, Ken.
“But the week I started taking the shots, my libido plummeted.”
It was an odd phenomenon for Shea, who joked that she was once borderline addicted to sex.
Even at her highest weight of 186 pounds, the mom of three could muster up the energy for a few good rolls in the hay at least four times a week — long, hot and steamy sessions with multiple orgasms per romp.
She’d packed on the pounds during her pregnancies over the past decade. And even with diet and exercise, the millennial couldn’t shake the weight.
So, she turned to weekly weight loss jabs — which can cost her between $400 to $500 per month — to help cut the fat and quell her taste for unhealthy treats.
Unfortunately, however, that’s not all the drugs quelled.
“That ‘ick’ some people taking the shots feel toward food is the same ick I felt toward sex,” moaned Shea, who’s down 40 pounds.
Dr. Holly Lofton, director of NYU Langone Health’s medical weight management program, says a sudden disinterest in intercourse can occur when higher doses of the meds are introduced into a patient’s changing body.
“When dopamine is released in the brain, eating is more pleasurable, alcohol is more pleasurable and intimacy is more pleasurable,” Lofton explained. “But GLP-1s cause a decrease in dopamine release.”
“At times, when patients take Ozempic and its counterparts, they’re losing weight, but staying at high doses,” she continued. “So, the medication is working in greater concentration in [the patient] because they’re now a smaller person taking a high dose.”
Tirzepatide users like Shea are advised to start treatment with 2.5 mg, per Mounjaro’s site. After four weeks, it’s recommended they escalate their prescriptions to 5 mg. Consumers are then able to gradually increase their intake up to 15 mg.
But the stronger the meds, the more chance for changes to the libido, Lofton warns.
“Patients may feel too tired [to have sex] because the drug is making them work off of a lower glucose level than they used to,” she said. “They just don’t have the energy to do fun things like be with their partners.”
But everybody responds differently to the injectables.
Lowering her dosages did the trick for Shea, whose sex ick has “totally gone away.”
However, Christine, 43, says increasing the strength of her Zepbound shots was the magic that reignited her inner flame.
“For the first two months I didn’t have excitement for anything in life,” said the mom of two teens.
Christine, who chose not to disclose her last name for privacy purposes, began taking the pricks in February 2024. She’s since shed 73 pounds — and has regained her gusto.
“When I increased my dose, I felt much more energized, and my sex drive started to increase,” said Christine, a sales executive and content creator. “Now I’m up to having sex four times a week.”
Her renewed friskiness isn’t a fluke.
Researchers from the University of Florence in Italy found that some users experience a heightened libido owing to GLP-1 meds.
“Where sexual improvements were reported, various factors were reportedly involved, including a weight loss-related positive effect on perceived body image, the role of insulin control in influencing the sexual hormones, and the overall impact on mental health,” wrote study authors in a report from June.
Caley Svensson credits her three-year journey on Mounjaro with boosting her mental health and skyrocketing her sex drive.
“Prior to taking the shots, my libido was horrendous because I didn’t feel good about myself,” confessed the married mom of three and decor influencer from New Jersey.
Once tipping the scales at 230 pounds, Svensson was diagnosed with depression — a condition she attributes to her lifelong struggle with obesity.
To beat the bulge, she started taking the slenderizing jabs in 2022. With them, the 41-year-old has dropped nearly 100 pounds. It was the pick-me-up that pumped up her passion for pleasure.
“Now I feel sexy and confident,” said Svensson, who’s no longer shy about having sex with hubby Erik. “I blossom in the bedroom.”
