Permanent Vision Loss: A Mom of Three’s Unexpected Complication After Taking Ozempic

Nancy, a social worker and mom of three, was hopeful when she began taking Ozempic (semaglutide) for diabetes and weight loss. Before Ozempic, Nancy had managed her diabetes by taking Trulicity, and she had started to work on losing weight.

“I have diabetes, and so I had been taking Trulicity and began a weight loss journey. After talking to my doctor [about Ozempic], I thought, Why not kill two birds with one stone, and treat the diabetes and maybe help with weight loss?” Nancy told Drugwatch.

At first, everything was going well. Nancy even lost 30 pounds. But her experience would take a drastic and frightening turn. Ultimately, Nancy lost about 50% of her vision in one eye. The vision loss was caused by a disease called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).

NAION is the loss of blood flow to the optic nerve, causing sudden vision loss. The vision problem is usually only in one eye. People often notice it as soon as they wake up in the morning.

Studies have shown a possible association between GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Saxenda (liraglutide) and an increased risk of NAION. For example, a 2024 study in the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous found that people who used semaglutide once a week had more than double the risk of NAION compared to those who didn’t use the medication.

This risk does not appear on these medications’ labels.

Nancy, who is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, shared her story with Drugwatch. She hopes to promote awareness of this risk and prevent others from experiencing what she has gone through.

It all started when Nancy was at church and thought one of the congregation members seemed a little blurry. But she didn’t think anything of it.

The next morning, she woke up and noticed something was wrong with her vision in her left eye. At first, she blamed her contact lens.

“After I got home for the day, I took my contact out, and I couldn’t see. But I thought, Oh, it’s because I’ve been messing with my eye all day. It’s irritated. And it wasn’t until the next morning when I woke up and I realized, I can’t see out of this eye.”

Nancy scheduled an urgent appointment with her eye doctor. He told her, “There’s something really wrong.”

The eye doctor told Nancy that he had heard about these issues with Ozempic, but he hadn’t had time to research it. So, he referred her to a specialist.

The specialist diagnosed Nancy with NAION.

“I was his third case, but I was his worst case. And when I went back three weeks later, he had three other cases. One young girl had it in both eyes,” Nancy said.

People with diabetes already have a higher risk for vision loss. However, diabetic vision loss tends to be gradual and usually impacts both eyes. Nancy was experiencing sudden vision problems in just one eye. Because of this, the specialist determined that Ozempic had caused NAION to develop.

The specialist told Nancy that the pool of blood behind her eye was significant enough to have strangled her optic nerve to death. It can never come back to life or regenerate.

The impact on Nancy’s daily life was immediate. As a woman who values her independence, it’s difficult for her to depend on other people.

“My kids and husband are great, but I like to be able to just be independent, and so not being able to drive at night limits that independence a little bit,” she said.

Other everyday tasks, like paperwork, reading, and even watching her son on the lacrosse field, have also become enormous challenges.

“For my work, I have to fill out paperwork every day. I’m a social worker, and so that part is really difficult. Just sitting down and being able to see — sometimes I have to pull out my phone and use my flashlight to make whatever I’m reading brighter.”

She got emotional, holding back tears, when she talked about watching her younger son play lacrosse.

“My husband had to narrate a lot of the game because I couldn’t see the numbers well enough to see where he was on the field.”

Missing the details at her oldest son’s wedding hit her especially hard.

The diagnosis was a shock. Then, when Nancy realized the condition was permanent, the sadness set in.

“I thought originally this was just an eye issue, and they gave me steroid drops that I’d use every day. I thought it would get better. And it wasn’t until my second visit that I realized that this is a permanent thing,” she recalled.

Then, her emotions turned to anger. If she had known about the risk of NAION with Ozempic, she wouldn’t have taken it.

“Trulicity was working just fine. Now I can’t even take Trulicity because it’s in the same drug class [as Ozempic]. I would have never gone on [Ozempic] if I had known that this was an issue.”

Nancy’s doctor advised against any exercise because he worried a high heart rate could further harm the blood vessels in her eye. Inactivity helped erase most of her hard-won weight loss.

She had lost 30 pounds, but she has gained at least 20 back despite doing her best to live healthfully.

Nancy has since consulted attorneys about her case. Not motivated by money, she wants accountability and hopes no one else will endure what she has.

“I’m not looking to be a millionaire. I just don’t want anyone else to suffer the way I am,” she explained.

Nancy urges those considering Ozempic or similar drugs to research carefully and ask about other treatment options.

To other patients facing NAION, her message is simple: You’re not alone.

Nancy’s story, like those of many others, highlights how side effects can strike without warning and change lives forever. She hopes that sharing her experience will help others make more informed decisions and be aware of the risks Ozempic carries — no matter how unlikely they might seem.