Life-threatening GLP-1s overdoses are on the rise whats behind the scary increase
Uncontrollable vomiting.Seizures.
Throwing up blood.These are some of the horrifying symptoms people have reported after overdosing on GLP-1 drugs.Though the drugs have been around since 2005 to manage diabetes, they exploded in use after 2021, when Wegovy was approved by the FDA to treat obesity.Since then, GLP-1 use has quadrupled to as many as 1 in 8 adults taking the medications.And with increased use, calls to poison centers for GLP-1 exposures also sky rocketed.
In 2021, they were managing around 100 related calls a month.It’s steadily increased to around 1000 related calls a month in 2025.Part of the reason is that GLP-1s are easier to get than ever via telehealth, which is often a one-stop shop that bypasses an in-person doctor’s visit and a trip to the pharmacy.
While that makes things dramatically cheaper and faster, it also unleashes largely unregulated medication onto folks looking for help with weight loss.For some, an overdose starts with uncontrollable vomiting, as it did with Karleigh McClain.A month after she was diagnosed with a GLP-1 overdose, she told NBC News, she was dealing with residual side effects of elevated heart rate and vision problems.Lottie Moss, younger sister of model Kate Moss, also spoke about getting hospitalized for a GLP-1 overdose.
She couldn’t keep water or food down, she said, and while in the hospital, she had a seizure due to dehydration.Leigh-Anne Lagden, a content creator, was also hospitalized after vomiting blood.With more GLP-1s out in the world, kids can get ahold of them too.
A 7-year-old in Indiana injected herself with her mom’s medication, causing her to be hospitalized twice, her family told WTHR News.She was vomiting so often, she also couldn’t keep water down and stopped urinating.At one point, her parents said she started throwing up “brown chunks,” which doctors said could’ve been her stomach’s lining.
The family feared for her life, but she ultimately made a full recovery.Shawn Rose,...