Exclusive | Women are getting off-label Ozempic to treat a long-misunderstood health issue

At 16 years old, Megan Rappa was missing school for what felt like a full system breakdown.She’d suffered irregular and painful periods for years before a gynecologist finally named her condition — but still, nothing changed.“Even with a diagnosis, my symptoms were just mine to deal with and there was not a solution outside of just trying to lose weight [and] hormonal birth control,” Rappa, now 29, told The Post.For decades, millions of women have been told to lose weight, exercise more or simply “wait and see.” Many left doctors’ appointments feeling unheard, frustrated and still searching for answers.Now, a growing number are turning to off-label GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic in the hope of managing a condition that has long been misunderstood: polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).PCOS — which has recently been renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) — affects an estimated 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, making it one of the most common hormonal disorders in the world. It causes symptoms like unpredictable periods, rapid weight gain, painful cystic acne, coarse facial and body hair, scalp hair thinning, skin issues, difficulty becoming pregnant, debilitating fatigue, anxiety and depression.The condition is often reduced to a fertility condition or a weight problem, but specialists increasingly describe it as a complex metabolic disorder that can affect nearly every part of a woman’s body, hence the recent name change.It’s no wonder, then, that treatment options — which include losing weight and going on medications to address specific symptoms — have been imperfect, leaving many women searching for better options.As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound have exploded in popularity — helping people with diabetes, weight loss and a growing list of other conditions — more and more women are hoping they hold the answers to their PMOS troubles, too.In 2021, 2.4% of women with PMOS were prescribed semaglutide or tirzepa...