The horrific side effects of Ozempic left me bedridden. Then I moved to Australia and discovered something that works better for me than any ‘miracle cure’
Ask Sam King if taking Ozempic was worth it in her quest to lose weight and she’ll smile.
Sam, who started gaining weight in her 20s, weighed 19 stone, or 121kg, at her heaviest three years ago.
‘I’ve tried every diet – Slimming World, diet shakes, keto – nothing worked. I would spend two hours in the gym and lose a pound in three weeks and then put it back on. I wore men’s clothes to cover up and I had no self-confidence.’
In 2022, she felt so exhausted that she visited her doctor.
‘I explained that I was overweight and had tried everything. My doctor was sympathetic and told me about this new drug called Ozempic.”
At the time, Ozempic (the active ingredient is semaglutide) was relatively unheard of, a drug used primarily to control blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes.
One side effect is loss of appetite, and at that time doctors were just beginning to prescribe it off-label as a weight-loss drug.
Later, in September 2021, the drug Wegovy, which also contains semaglutide, was approved as a weight management drug.
Sam King, a travel writer from Hampshire, was recommended Ozempic by her GP
“My doctor initially gave me a one-month prescription. They didn’t attribute the fatigue to my weight, but I knew that if I were leaner and could exercise more, I might feel more energetic.”
The drug had to be administered via a daily injection into the stomach. “I wasn’t too keen on that, but I quickly got used to it,” she says.
Sam had read stories of people losing huge amounts of money on Ozempic, with social media stars hailing it as a miracle cure, and she hoped she too would experience this soon.
“I was so excited,” she says. Sam was also so ‘desperate’ to lose weight by then that she ‘would have tried anything’.
Her appetite initially remained unchanged. The doctor advised her to drink less alcohol and ensure she ate a healthy diet that included fruits, vegetables and protein from meat and fish.
But within days she felt sick. ‘It took everything out of me and I found myself unable to leave the house. Luckily I work from home, so I was able to work. But then the nausea got so bad that I had to stay inside all day and couldn’t leave the couch. I felt so nauseous that I actually became nauseous – first once a day, then several times. I felt terrible.’
When Sam went back to her doctor for her next prescription, she was told that these side effects were normal and that she should continue with them.
‘But it got worse. The fatigue – the same fatigue that ironically had caused me to go to the doctor in the first place – got worse. I couldn’t lift my head off my pillow. I knew exercise was part of losing weight, but I couldn’t get up. I was sick all day every day.”
After three months she had lost 2.7kg, ‘but my GP told me this was probably due to my vomiting and dehydration. I was given pills for the disease, but nothing helped. I’ve never felt so sick before.’
“I know Ozempic works for a lot of people and I’m very happy for them,” said Sam, 35, a travel writer from Hampshire, England. ‘But for me the drug only caused bad health and I didn’t lose weight.
‘I was so frustrated and jealous because these people were saying they were losing stones, while I had barely lost anything. My body looked the same. I just looked tired, dark circles under my eyes and shaking and weak from the illness.”
These side effects are not uncommon. “Nausea affects about 15 to 20 percent of people, vomiting occurs in five to nine percent, while diarrhea is eight percent and constipation is three to seven percent,” explains William van Niekerk, a consultant plastic, reconstructive, aesthetic surgeon at De private clinic on Harley Street in London.
As Dr. Semiya Aziz, a London-based GP with a special interest in weight loss and management, explains: ‘Ozempic is a drug prescribed for people with diabetes – it is primarily designed for this, and not as a drug for diabetes. weight loss.
‘The active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy (the version approved for obesity) is semaglutide – and whether or not the drug helps with weight loss varies from person to person.
‘Factors such as genetics, baseline weight, metabolic health and treatment compliance can all influence treatment outcomes.’
Dr. van Niekerk adds: ‘Ozempic is not a free ride to weight loss – you still have to make lifestyle changes and work hard.
Sam King is now said to recommend healthy eating and exercise as the best way to lose weight
‘Another reason may be that the dose is not high enough. To reduce the risk of side effects, people usually start with 0.25 mg for the first four weeks and gradually increase the dose so that it may take longer for the benefits to be noticeable. It is important that dosing decisions are made under the care of an experienced physician.”
Sam decided to stop taking the drug after three months as she felt confused as to why, despite taking it as recommended, it was not working for her. Her weight loss was minimal and, she says, mostly because she felt so sick.
She still suffers from dizziness, which has not gone away.
Sam has since watched videos and read reports of some people keeping the weight off after Ozempic, while others gained it back.
“It made me realize there is no magic wand,” says Sam.
A year ago, Sam went to Australia and decided to lose weight the old-fashioned way.
“It started here with a diet plan, which was basically calorie-controlled meal plans. I stuck with it and went from 14th (89kg) to 12th (76kg) in about a year, which is where I am now.”
She says she’s shocked that a “normal” diet has worked for her after all these years.
‘I thought Ozempic would be a miracle cure and that seems to be the case for some people, but for me it certainly wasn’t.’