Slimmers were today warned that weight loss jabs could trigger a bizarre and potentially deadly side effect: feeling drunk without having touched a drop alcohol.
Once aimed at diabetes patients, drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are now famous for bringing about rapid weight loss by reducing appetite.
But the injections often come with side effects, from nausea and constipation and, in most severe cases, life-threatening organ damage.
Now, experts have warned the medication may help trigger the ultra-rare condition auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) in some users.
Also known as gut fermentation syndrome, it sees the body produce alcohol internally, often due to an imbalance in the gut microbiome.
Drug specialists believe this may because the drug dramatically reduces the time it takes food to empty from the stomach, allowing a fungus to grow that triggers the condition.
But some experts say there is not yet enough proof that the condition is definitely caused by the injections, rather than other factors.
Meanwhile, injectors have taken to online forums to complain of the ‘awful’ condition that made them feel like they’d ‘had a few gins’, which they say was triggered by a combination of skinny jabs and antibiotics.
According to experts, weight loss jabs could contribute to triggering the rare condition auto-brewery syndrome in some users—a rare condition where the body produces alcohol internally, often due to an imbalance in the gut microbiome
Antibiotics have long been known to be a risk factor for developing ABS because the medicine can disrupt the gut’s microbial balance.
Medical case reports have also reported cases where the condition followed prolonged antibiotic use.
Often, patients who develop the illness have high levels of a fungus called saccharomyces cerevisiae in their faeces or gut.
The fungus is also known as brewer’s yeast because it’s used by beer-makers to convert carbohydrates in grains into alcohol.
Studies suggest around one in 50,000 people may have auto-brewery syndrome but less than 100 documented cases currently exist worldwide.
Experts say, however, the true figure is likely much higher than 100 because cases may go undiagnosed or are mistakenly attributed to problems like anxiety or substance abuse.
Taking to Reddit, one anonymous user who was on Mounjaro claimed they had to take laxatives to get the condition under control.
In a group, which boasts more than 34,000 members, they wrote: ‘This really needs to be in the leaflets for Mounjaro.
‘If you are taking antibiotics like penicillin and are on Mounjaro you can get auto-brewery syndrome where your high carb foods stay in the gut longer due to the Mounjaro.
Taking to Reddit, one anonymous user who was on Mounjaro claimed they had to take laxatives to get the condition under control
‘The penicillin increases yeast growth and kills healthy bacteria, so the yeast begins to produce ethanol [alcohol]. This has happened to me.
‘I was on penicillin due to reoccurring tonsillitis and had some high carb bready foods. I regret it due to the painful bloating. So if you must take antibiotics go low carb.
‘I’ve had to have laxatives. Intoxicated whilst in drug recovery isn’t wonderful.
‘It feels awful. Here are my symptoms in case this helps someone.
‘Brain feels off and out of it. Drowsy. Nausea. Constipated and in pain because of it. I feel identical to when I’ve had a few gins.’
Responding to the thread, another user responded: ‘It’s important to note that ABS is an incredibly rare medical condition and is usually connected with chronic antibiotic use rather than occasional.
‘However having type 2 diabetes and being obese are all risk factors so [the condition] is one to be aware of.’
The injection, as well as other weight loss jabs like Ozempic, spurs weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating—GLP-1.
The jabs spur weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating—GLP-1
As well as telling the pancreas to make more insulin, GLP-1 feeds back to the brain and makes us feel full—stopping patients from over-eating—and delaying the stomach from being emptied.
Professor Penny Ward, a pharmaceutical expert at King’s College London, said that, while it is not known whether taking antibiotics with Mounjaro triggers the condition, weight loss jabs alone may do.
‘Delayed stomach emptying might enhance absorption of alcohol and delay transit of carbohydrate through the gut.’
This, she added, gives the booze-like fungus more time to ferment in the bowel.
Auto-brewery syndrome is ‘rare and not well understood’, she also told MailOnline.
‘It is most frequently associated with antibiotic use which can disturb the gut microbiome.
‘Treatment is to switch to a low carb high, protein diet together with anti-fungal medication to eradicate or reduce the organisms.
‘It is slightly more frequent in diabetics and of course Mounjaro is also a treatment for type two diabetes as well as a weight loss agent.’
Other experts, however, claimed the condition was unlikely to have triggered by the jab—instead the patients may have experienced symptoms similar to auto-brewery syndrome.
Professor Alex Miras, an expert in endocrinology at Ulster University, told MailOnline: ‘Some of the common side effects of Mounjaro or even the consumption of antibiotics are similar to those of the syndrome.
‘It is much more likely that people have had those side effects rather than an actual occurrence of the syndrome.’
In the patient information leaflet inside the medication box, drug firm Eli Lilly already warn users that Mounjaro may affect the absorption of other medications that you take by mouth.
However, penicillin is not believed to currently trigger a reaction with the drug.
There is, however, evidence that prolonged antibiotic use can trigger the auto brewery syndrome.
One 2019 case report published in the BMJ found a healthy-46-year-old developed the condition following a prolonged course of antibiotics that he took in early 2011 for a thumb injury.
Researchers said these antibiotics likely disrupted the man’s balance of gut microbes, causing abnormal growth of saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The abundant yeast then converted any carbohydrates he ate into a beer-like substance.
The symptoms, which were repeatedly misdiagnosed by doctors as depression, forced him to give up his job.
It was only after visiting a separate clinic that he was treated with anti-fungal medication, probiotics, and a strict low-carbohydrate diet to get rid of the excess brewer’s yeast in his gut.
