It was only a few months ago that the story of Celebrities using Ozempic, the medication that prompts pretty drastic weight loss (that Kim Kardashian took to fit into her Marylin Monroe dress at the Met Gala, for instance), broke out of the glitz and glamour of the celebrity media. The drug, which is also known as semaglutide or Wegovy, is a weekly injection that helps diabetes patients control their blood sugar. But it’s become a hotbed for discussion about who should have access to the pill and whether people should be using it as a shortcut to thinness.
For those who take it, Ozempic and Wegovy can lower a person’s appetite by mimicking a gut hormone that signals to the brain a person is full. They’re not meant to be a miracle cure, but they’ve helped many people lose significant amounts of weight — especially in the beginning — and keep it off long-term.
Discovering the Power of Ozempic: Personal Weight Loss Experiences
But for some, that initial success was short-lived. For podcaster Anna Toonk, who started the weekly injections last fall to help her control her type 2 diabetes and get rid of excess weight, she found that by week two she was vomiting everything she ate. She had to be taken off the medication because of it.
Like Toonk, many people have had gastrointestinal side effects when they first start taking the drug and are treated with anti-nausea meds or antacids. But for others, the symptoms persist. And the stigma that accompanies those stories is a big part of why so many who take the drug stop.