It’s the miracle drug known to curb appetite, stimulate weight loss and even help kick unhealthy addictions like smoking.
But some men have claimed that taking ‘GLP-1’ injections, more commonly known by brand names including Ozempic and Wegovy, have brought on another surprising – and welcomed – side effect.
Online, the phenomenon has been dubbed ‘Ozempic penis’.
Frank, a 36-year-old man from New Mexico whose name has been changed to protect his privacy, weighed 286 lbs when he began taking weight loss medication two years ago. His doctor had prescribed the medication to help treat his diabetes and hypothyroidism.
His starter dosage of Ozempic – a popular semaglutide injection used to treat type 2 diabetes – came with its usual reported side effects, such as reduced hunger, improved energy and the occasional acid reflux.
Six months into his weight loss journey, however, Frank began noticing a surprising physical difference in his body – one that no one had warned him about.
He was, once again, waking up with ‘morning wood’ – something he’d lost back in 2020 due to complications with his diabetes, he told the Daily Mail.
And not only was Frank once again waking up in a state of arousal, but his penis appeared to have grown by an inch.
Frank whipped out his iPhone and used it as a makeshift ruler.
‘The last time I measured myself, I used my phone which was an iPhone 7 Plus,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘I was about 5.8 inches.’
This time, with his larger iPhone 15 Pro Max, his member appeared to have lengthened to match the device, which is around 6.3 inches.
‘People didn’t seem to believe me,’ he said.
It is already known that shedding fat from around the pubic region can make the penis appear longer than it was before the localized weight loss.
But Frank believes his ‘growth spurt’ was somehow directly related to the Ozempic.
Two months ago, he decided to take his revelation to the Reddit forum r/Ozempic, which is filled with 125,000 fellow users sharing their experiences on GLP-1 medications.
In his post, he asked if other men had experienced a similar change. The responses were mixed.
‘Two and a half months in and I’ve definitely gained length!’ one user wrote back.
‘I believe this is true,’ commented another. ‘Even my wife has noticed the change down there in me. It definitely has that side effect.’
A third man said he gained over an inch after taking tirzepatide – another weight loss medication which is marketed under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound – for seven months.
‘It’s going to make people laugh when I say this but I gotta move the thing and tuck it down the side of my leg when I wear pants now and I NEVER had to do that before,’ he wrote.
The popularity of Americans taking weight loss medications has skyrocketed in just a few years. A 2024 survey from the KFF Health Tracking Poll found about one in eight adults in the US have used a GLP-1 drug at some point in their life – that’s about 6 percent of adults, or more than 15 million Americans.
These drugs work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, to regulate blood sugar levels and slow down the rate at which food leaves the stomach, often creating a feeling of fullness.
The medications have also become infamous for their side effects, which include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, indigestion, dizziness and digestive disorders.
But very little, if nothing at all, has been reported by scientists and researchers about whether it has an effect on genital size.
According to Dr Nidhi Kansal, an internal medicine physician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, that’s because these supposed changes are more likely due to an increase in testosterone, not the medication.
‘I’ve not had any patients report these side effects, but that doesn’t mean they’re not observing it,’ she told the Daily Mail.
Dr Kansal explained that obesity in men has been linked to low levels of testosterone, which can make you feel tired, lower your sex drive and make it harder to lose weight.
Reduced testosterone also affects erection quality. Simply put, a weak erection can make the penis appear smaller.
Just last month, however, researchers at the Endocrine Society reported that men with obesity being treated with GLP-1 medication had boosted their testosterone levels by more than 20 percent.
After 18 months of taking weight loss drugs, these 110 participants – many of whom also had type 2 diabetes – saw their testosterone levels rise from 53 percent to 77 percent.
While early studies on these medications have shown at least some effect on testosterone levels in men, that doesn’t necessarily translate to total penis enlargement.
Unsurprisingly, many people replied to Frank’s Reddit post with the astute observation that the observed additional inches could be the result of his weight loss.
One wrote: ‘It just looks bigger – which doesn’t suck – and probably works better.’
Offering a similar explanation, another said, ‘That’s pretty common when a guy loses weight. My partner lost about 120lbs or so and his definitely looks larger now.
‘I don’t think it actually does get larger, but losing fat around it gives it the appearance of being larger.’
And indeed, Dr Kansal cautions against drawing any direct correlation between weight loss drugs and penis ‘growth’ without proper research.
‘We need objective information to give this observation any clout,’ Dr Kansal said.
But as far as Frank is concerned, he’s convinced his newfound increase in size has at least some connection to the medication, and has welcomed the change with open arms.
‘I’ll continue to use GLP-1s,’ he said. ‘They are definitely a blessing.’
