I took Ozempic and it almost killed me… so I lost 100kg naturally in a year instead. This is the side effect I want everyone to know about – and how doing it the ‘old fashioned’ way is best

Sarah Parker, 36, weighed 375 pounds when she decided to take the plunge and try Ozempic to lose weight.

Two months later, however, the cheerful mother from Victoria was a shadow of her former self. HHer cheerful attitude gave way to suicidal thoughts and feelings of despair.

She told FEMAIL that she was terrified that she would take on the feeling of worthlessness and give up fighting for her life.

“I really thought everyone would be better off without me,” she cried.

‘I felt helpless and alone and like no one understood me. I hadn’t had thoughts like that since I was a teenager and it scared the hell out of me.’

Her 12-year-old son kept her anchored – she knew in her heart that he would not be better off without his mother. Her husband stood by her and let her know that he would support her forever.

“So I went to the doctor, I told them about the thoughts I was having. I knew something wasn’t right because I was in a good place. I have good support and good friends. Life was so good at that time,” she said.

Alarmed, doctors immediately took her off the medication, which is used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.

“The pain went away quickly, but I didn’t feel like myself for two months afterward,” she said.

The mother believes Ozempic triggered her PTSD and trauma around food.

“When I was little, there were times when I wouldn’t eat for two or three days because there wasn’t enough food,” she said.

“That fear has haunted me into adulthood. I overeat because I subconsciously believed that I had to eat as much as possible in case we ran out of food.”

The mother of one, who lost 100 kilos the ‘old fashioned way’, said that at her worst she ‘easily ate a loaf of bread a day’.

“It really disgusts me when I think about how much I used to eat,” she said.

The mother woke up in the morning and ate a large bowl of cereal with a sugary coffee and two slices of toast with strawberry jam or peanut butter.

Before taking her son to school, she had two more cups of coffee and a cigarette.

Mid-morning she might eat some candy, chips, or some more toast.

“White toast was it for me. My favorite treat,” she said.

For lunch she ate two toasted sandwiches made of white bread with butter, topped with salami, baked beans and cheese.

“I didn’t drink water. During the day I would drink at least two energy drinks and a coke or some other soda. I don’t even like soda, so I don’t know why I was drinking it.”

She stayed up until dinner eating toast, chips and candy.

“We had a healthy dinner. But I had a big plate full and would often go back for seconds. Then I would have dessert later and maybe some toast before bed,” she said.

Sarah, who was a size 30 at her heaviest, realised she had gained too much weight when daily tasks became a nightmare.

“I couldn’t even tie my shoelaces because my belly was in the way,” she said.

‘I remember thinking, this isn’t right, this isn’t normal.’

She also became out of breath when she took a shower or got out of bed.

“I cried when I saw 175kg on the scale at the doctor’s. I thought I weighed 130kg, so it was a huge shock. Luckily I didn’t have anything that looked like diabetes,” she said.

Sarah lost about 13 pounds during her terrifying performance at Ozempic, but gained them back after she stopped taking the drugs.

“They put me on the waiting list for weight loss surgery. But my girlfriend got really sick when she had it – so I was scared. I decided to try again, on my own.”

She ordered Lite n’ Easy and started with the 1,200-calorie meal plan, then switched to the 1,500-calorie option.

“I was too hungry for 1200. I remember being afraid I was going to starve when I first saw the portion sizes,” she said.

“I realized how much I was overeating every day.”

Sarah still gets some bread with her meals, which she is grateful for, as it would be very hard for her to give it up altogether.

“But I don’t put sugar in my coffee anymore and I don’t drink soda or energy drinks anymore,” she said.

Sarah started her training regime by signing up for netball and taking short walks.

She slowly built it up to walking 5km on her own and then decided to join a gym after losing 30kg. She ‘clicked’ with a personal trainer there who told her that diet and exercise would only be half the battle.

“He told me that I had to address the source of my trauma to really break my bad habits,” she said.

She therefore went to a psychologist and began a healing journey, through which she was able to identify moments from her traumatic past that affected her daily life.

Then the itch really started.

“I can’t believe I lost 200 pounds in a year. I didn’t even know that was possible,” she said.

Nowadays she runs 15 km almost every day and goes to the gym four times a week.

‘I want to go to university and become a physiotherapist. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do, but I didn’t think I could do it because I thought no one would take me seriously in that space.

“Nobody wants health advice from someone who isn’t healthy.”

Sarah is on the waiting list for skin reduction surgery, which she is very much looking forward to.

“I don’t have as much loose skin as I thought. And it doesn’t bother me that much, but I’ll be glad when it’s gone,” she said.

She has weighed 75 kg for a few months now, but hopes to get under 70 kg after her transformation.

“I think I’ll be on Lite n’ Easy forever. I’m too scared to stop. It’s a great safety net for me,” she said.

“I know I can go out for dinner, have a nice evening with my husband and friends, and then go back to my prepared meal routine the next day.”

She is now shocked by the size of the meals.

“I don’t know how people eat them, or how I used to. Now I never eat them anymore – usually my husband takes my plate clean when I’m done,” she said.

Sarah says she put off losing weight for years because “nothing really helped,” but she wants others doing the same to “persevere.”

“If I can lose that weight, anyone can. For years, nothing worked for me and then I thought I was a big girl. I’m only 36, I have a long life ahead of me, but now I can do it healthy,” she said.

Sarah was overweight after leaving school and says she had been seriously overweight for at least ten years.

She ‘still looks in the plus-size section out of habit’ and is shocked when she can grab ‘something’ off the shelf.

And her son loves it.

“He lets me go out there with him all the time and kick the ball. He’s never had a mom to run around with him before, so that’s great,” she said.

If you or someone you know is in trouble, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.