Los Angeles, California – Mayim Bialik, known for her role as Amy on The Big Bang Theory, has been living with an autoimmune disease for years. To ease the associated symptoms, several doctors prescribed her a GLP‑1 medication – a disastrous mistake, as it turned out.
Unlike many other Hollywood stars, the 50‑year‑old did not turn to the highly-praised drug to curb her appetite and lose weight quickly – she had an entirely different reason for taking the diabetes medication.
“I went on a weight-loss drug because a doctor told me it might help ease symptoms I’ve struggled with for basically my entire adult life,” Bialik explained in The Free Press.
In the personal essay, the actor described how her condition triggered a distorted self‑image.
Backrooms director says movie was born of “itch to explore” viral horror meme
As a child, she barely thought about her body, but the psychological burden and insecurity grew increasingly with the onset of puberty.
Bialik traced the dramatic physical changes she experienced as a teenager back to the pills prescribed to her at the time.
For decades, the former Jeopardy! host underwent numerous therapies – all without success. Even her most recent treatment failed to deliver the desired effect.
“GLP-1s have helped people in serious need. Of that I am certain. But nobody talks much about what happens when it goes wrong,” she wrote.
Even a small dose of the medication would cause extreme side effects for Bialik, including “explosive, uncontrollable diarrhea,” increased burping, and countless sneezing fits whenever she tried to eat.
“For the first two, I ate maybe one cup of rice and half a banana. Also some broth, which promptly left my body. I couldn’t even keep electrolyte drinks down,” she admitted openly.
Bialik then spoke to her doctor, who emphasized that such extreme side effects are by no means unusual.
She eventually pulled the plug and stopped taking the popular weight‑loss drug because of the massive side effects.
Gov Ball 2026 Day 1: Katseye, Baby Keem, and Lorde kick off NYC’s hottest festival
Given the drug’s growing popularity, the 50‑year‑old criticized the increasing obsession with thinness, especially on the red carpet and on social media.
Nevertheless, she openly admitted that she was temporarily blinded by the medication’s impact on her appearance.
“I caught a glimpse of my reflection, and I did not recoil,” she said. “I did not see under my first chin that second chin on which I had been fixating for months – because it wasn’t there.”
