Study wrapper · #778
Prolonged Dysesthesia After Massive Accidental Semaglutide Overdose: A Case Report.
Editor's note
This single case report describes a 50-year-old man who accidentally injected 9.6 mg of semaglutide (four times his weekly 2.4 mg dose) through a pen-handling error. Two days later he developed generalised burning dysesthesia and marked fatigue, without the nausea or vomiting usually seen; symptoms resolved within a week without specific treatment and labs were unremarkable. The authors note clinical-trial data hint at a possible dose-related dysesthesia signal with high-dose oral semaglutide. As a case report, this is the weakest evidence tier, one patient, no control, causation inferred from timing, but it is clinically instructive for recognising an unusual, apparently self-limited neurological presentation after supratherapeutic exposure. It should inform vigilance, not general expectations about the drug at normal doses.
Plain-language abstract
Doctors describe one patient, a 50-year-old man using weekly semaglutide for obesity, who accidentally gave himself four times his usual dose because of a mistake with the injection pen. Two days later he developed a widespread burning, tingling sensation and strong tiredness, but without the nausea or vomiting that overdoses usually cause. Blood tests were normal, and his symptoms cleared up on their own within a week without any specific treatment. The authors point out that earlier trial data hinted this kind of nerve sensation might happen at very high doses. Because this is a report of a single person, it cannot prove the overdose caused the symptoms, but the timing is suggestive. It is a useful reminder for emergency doctors that an accidental large dose may show up mainly as odd nerve symptoms that settle by themselves.