I used to drink up to 12 cocktails on a night out – then I started taking Ozempic and stopped!

We had barely been at the club for an hour when I turned to my husband and said, “I’m sorry, I’m going back to the hotel.” I really don’t feel great.’ He seemed as disappointed as I felt.

There we were, in Ibiza, on a child-free mini-break, looking for those heady days when we first met, when we drank late and went out until dawn, but it all seemed hollow. That desire for hedonism had just disappeared. All the things I used to love made me feel. . . Nothing.

It wasn’t until I read Dr. Max’s column last week that I realized what was behind it. Ozempic, the weight-loss drug I had been taking for the past five months, had not only helped me lose weight, but had also affected the pleasure I got from other things. Like Dr. Pemberton, Ozempic had dramatically affected my relationship with both alcohol and food.

Since I started last summer, I pretty much stopped drinking. And as a forty-something who still had a bit of a reputation as a party girl, the impact on my life was enormous.

The decision to take Ozempic – prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes – was not one I took lightly. (Another brand, Wegovy, is now prescribed by the NHS to treat weight loss.)

I was 42 and had had a baby two years earlier. Despite eating healthily and staying fit (I had a personal trainer, had run a marathon and taken on various exercise challenges), I couldn’t lose the weight.

At 6ft tall and over 12 stone, I was classified as obese. I didn’t recognize myself.

I spoke to some friends who were using Ozempic and researched their medical paperwork before sending my details and photos to an online pharmacy who agreed I was a suitable candidate.

Shortly after I started taking it last June, it changed my attitude towards food. Not only does it soothe the hunger pangs, but I also noticed that I didn’t feel like eating anything anymore. I always thought, ‘I really want a pizza.’ Or ‘I would like a Pret sandwich.’ or crave a baked potato.

But none of that was there. It was a strange suppression of my food cravings.

It had the same effect when it came to alcohol. I work in digital marketing and do quite a bit of customer entertainment. I like margaritas, espresso martinis, champagne. . . or did.

But after taking Ozempic, nothing tasted good. It was bitter or sour, and when I drank I didn’t get the buzz from the drink that I did.

In the past, when I was out with a client, we might have a few cocktails and a few bottles of wine over dinner. When I was out with friends, we would drink champagne or margaritas. When I went to the club with my husband and friends at the weekend, we would drink two or three gin and tonics before leaving the house, and at night it wouldn’t be unusual for me to drink eight or nine vodka sodas.

But on Ozempic I stopped drinking alcohol completely.

Most people knew I was on a health kick, even though I hadn’t told them I was taking Ozempic, so it wasn’t hard to explain the change in my behavior. And if anyone wondered where I got the willpower, they didn’t ask. I still went out with clients and friends, but I ordered one drink and nursed it with a bottle of sparkling water all night long.

Of course, ditching the booze undoubtedly helped with weight loss, but I also experienced the other benefits of being sober. I slept better (when I wasn’t in the mood for the little one), and because I wasn’t hungover, my productivity improved and I was better able to deal with toddler tantrums.

While I’m not sure I would have ditched alcohol without Ozempic, I couldn’t really complain about it.

However, that evening in Ibiza surprised me. I had had some sangria earlier that evening and I think the unexpected sugar injection hit me hard. That’s the thing about Ozempic, I don’t know if it’s physiological or psychological, but it makes you want to make healthier choices, live a healthier life.

And when you don’t, you really feel it.

Ozempic – prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes – can help people lose weight

The rest of the trip was the same. We had tickets to some of our favorite clubs, but my heart wasn’t in it. At 1am, with no booze to keep me going, I just didn’t feel like staying up. I also didn’t want to fall into bed for the kind of action we enjoyed pre-baby.

Losing weight with Ozempic has made me much happier with my body – after eight months I’m now close to eight and a half stone, my target weight, so I feel more comfortable wandering around in my underwear or being naked – but that’s not the case. hasn’t set our sex life on fire.

To be honest, I’m not sure I can blame my low libido solely on Ozempic. Having a toddler who doesn’t sleep has a big impact on that front, and my husband doesn’t have a particularly high sex drive, so often I was the one to initiate it.

But lately he’s been the one suggesting an “early night” and I’ve just gone along with it. There’s no doubt that Ozempic has changed the way I feel and respond to things I used to enjoy, but I’m starting to think it’s affecting me in the bedroom too.

If so, I hope I get my libido back when I get off it. Once I reach my target weight, I try to maintain it without the injections.

I feel like my brain has been reprogrammed when it comes to food. I can’t imagine going out and ordering a huge pizza, or craving something sweet like I used to. I’m not sure if the same goes for alcohol, but I know that staying away from booze helps me stay slim.

Until I started taking Ozempic and stopped drinking, I hadn’t realized that a night out would knock back 3,000 calories on drinks alone. And morning workouts (and waking up) are much more fun when you’re not working through a hangover.

I’d like to think the new, sober me is here to stay. But it remains to be seen whether Ozempic has temporarily tamed the party girl in me, or banished her forever.