Mama June Shannon has revealed she is teaming up with a company to bring affordable weight loss drugs to the masses, after starting her own journey with wonder drugs for diabetes.
After previously insisting she had no interest in using weight-loss injections, the reality star, 44, reversed her decision in April when she started taking a form of semaglutide, similar to the popular ‘quick-fix ‘, Ozempic.
Now the star of Mama June: Family Crisis is gearing up to launch a service to help fans access affordable breakthrough medications loved by stars like Sharon Osborne and Oprah Winfrey.
She told DailyMail.com exclusively: ‘The drug is really, really, really expensive, but I have found a company with which I will soon be working with the people who use the weight-loss drugs [will] have a cheaper way to obtain their medications.
‘Personally, I paid $500 a month for my medications. Now I pay just $199, which includes the doctor’s visit and the medicine – and you can have it sent straight to your door.”
Mama June Shannon has revealed she is teaming up with a company that aims to bring affordable weight loss drugs to the masses
After previously insisting she had no interest in using weight loss injections, the 44-year-old started using them in April
The reality star famously lost 355 pounds after undergoing stomach surgery nine years ago.
However, she claimed she did gained more than 100 pounds from the stress of caring for her daughter Anna Cardwell – who died last year after being diagnosed with stage four adrenal cancer.
The ordeal spurred the TV matriarch to try the appetite suppressant drugs, despite her previous claims that she would avoid it due to her previous addiction problems.
“I’ll be honest, a year ago I was that person who said I would never do Ozempic,” said the mother of four. “Even three months ago – because I had the medicine in my refrigerator for a month and a half.
“But I liked having a personal doctor and did some tests to make sure I could use it properly.”
She continued, “I was first started on semaglutide, which is similar to Ozempic. Now I use Tirzepatide.’
Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for the drug semaglutide, which suppresses appetite and causes weight loss.
Tirzepatide, sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, is an antidiabetic drug used to treat weight loss and type 2 diabetes.
She claimed to have gained more than 100 pounds from the stress of caring for her daughter Anna Cardwell (pictured with her daughter Honey Boo Boo, Pumpkin and Jessica)
Talking about the results she’s seen so far, Mama June boasted, “I’m almost nine weeks along and I’ve lost 30 pounds. I’m also in the gym all the time and am very strict on my diet.’
As for her fears about the side effects some users have experienced, she admitted, “I was the girl who worried about the side effects; the diarrhea, the vomiting and all the things that come with it.
“Or just get sick and be in the hospital…but I promise I didn’t have anything.”
The star explained that she wanted to be as honest as possible about her weight loss journey, compared to other household names who have been accused of using the weight loss drugs in secret.
‘There are celebrities who don’t want to say anything. But for me, I want to share my experiences, I want to share my struggles,” Mama June insisted.
The star made it clear that she has her fans in mind as she continued: “I think people need to spread the word about it. So I use my platform to create awareness for it and also bring it to the attention of people who spend so much.
“They can’t really afford it but want to continue taking the weight loss medications, so I want to be able to provide them with an affordable way to get their medications without having to worry about it.”
Mama June explained that she wanted to be as honest as possible about her weight loss journey, compared to other household names
Shannon photographed L in 2017 and R in 2013, two years before her weight loss surgery
She continued, “Because if you stop taking the medication completely, yes, I’ve heard there are bad side effects. You have to wean yourself off again… and I want people to be able to do it in a healthier way.
‘So I worked with a company that does it in a healthier form. Instead of going to a med spa every week, the company I work with keeps the same dose for a month and that’s it.”
Mama June admitted that she would make a profit from working with the company, but emphasized that the main goal is to help others gain access.
She then teased, “I’m going to post that real quick because if I get a deal, I’m going to give y’all a deal.”
It comes after she told DailyMail.com last year that she was not interested in trying weight loss injections.
“I don’t want to try Ozempic because, honestly, I’ve heard about so many bad side effects,” she said at the time.
‘A medicine is used that is not really prescribed for this purpose. They use a diabetes drug to cause weight loss.”
The drugs, which have been used by the likes of Elon Musk, Chelsea Handler and Remi Bader, are approved to treat type II diabetes but are prescribed off-label for obesity.
They contain active ingredients that mimic the action of hormones in the brain that regulate appetite and the feeling of fullness, helping people reduce the number of calories they consume.
In 2022, more than five million prescriptions for Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus (for another Novo drug that uses semaglutide) or Wegovy were written for weight management.
Mama June explained that using the drug for something other than what it was approved for made her uncomfortable as a recovering drug addict.
She continued, “No offense to the people who do it, but it’s just not for me. I want to stay clean. I don’t judge anyone, but it’s not for me.’
Mama June: Family Crisis premieres June 14 at 9 p.m. on WEtv