JenPlateau said:

Pooled safety analyses have not shown a clear excess of pancreatitis for this class, and the background rate in the population being treated is…

Pancreatitis scare with pancreatitis risk: had severe upper abdominal pain radiating to my back at week 11. Went to the ER — they checked lipase and amylase, both normal. Turned out to be a gallstone.

But I'm glad I went. The risk of pancreatitis, while small (<0.5%), is real. Don't try to tough out severe abdominal pain on a GLP-1 agonist. Get checked.

JenPlateau said:

Pooled safety analyses have not shown a clear excess of pancreatitis for this class, and the background rate in the population being treated is…

Lipase monitoring while on pancreatitis risk: my doctor checks lipase every 3 months given the theoretical pancreatitis risk. All readings have been normal:

• Baseline: 48 U/L
• Month 3: 40 U/L
• Month 6: 36 U/L
• Month 9: 42 U/L

Normal range is 0-160 U/L. While clinical pancreatitis is rare (<0.5%), I find peace of mind in regular monitoring. Worth asking your doctor about if you're on a GLP-1 long-term.

Taking the question as asked, rather than the general version of it. If two explanations both fit, the useful question is which one predicts something the other does not. That is answerable; arguing about which sounds more plausible is not.

Dr.PeteFamMed said:

Pancreatitis scare with pancreatitis risk: had severe upper abdominal pain radiating to my back at week 11.

Mine went the same way, slower.