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Watch Insight’s episode The Ozempic Games, exploring if popular weight loss drugs are a long term solution and how they’re changing our relationship to weight, on Tuesday 8:30pm on SBS or on
Singer Shauna Jensen says she’s always felt the pressure to be thin since childhood and being a performer on stage exacerbated that desire to lose some of her body weight.
Jensen, who is in her late 60s, said she told her doctor that she was dieting too much but still wanted to lose weight.
Her GP said to try the drug Ozempic, so she weighed up the risks and benefits and decided to give it a go after being prescribed it off-label.
“I was taking it for weight loss and I lost about approximately 21 kilos in about 10 or 11 months prior to having knee surgery,” Shauna told Insight.
“But I was sick the entire time. I was nauseous, if I wasn’t nauseous, I was also constipated. If I wasn’t constipated, I had diarrhoea and the nausea was just relentless.
“It wasn’t a fun way to be, but it certainly curbed my appetite,” she said.
Bans on compounding replicas of popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic are coming into effect on 1 October 2024. Source: Moment RF / Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images
The weight-loss ‘wonder drug’
Ozempic is a brand-name medication used to treat type 2 diabetes but is often prescribed ‘off-label’ as a weight-loss drug.
It contains the active ingredient semaglutide — which works by reducing appetite by targeting areas in the body including the brain, pancreas and digestive system.
It reduces appetite in the brain and slows down how quickly the stomach empties — triggering a feeling of feeling ‘full’.
It also helps the pancreas produce insulin, which is how it helps manage type 2 diabetes.
Another medication, Wegovy, which also contains semaglutide, has been developed purely as weight-loss treatment. It became available in Australia last month.
It’s only prescribed for those living with obesity or who are overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol.
Increased demand for Ozempic leads to shortages
The ‘off-label’ prescribing of Ozempic for weight loss is
With the average cost of Ozempic ranging from $130 to $200 for a month’s supply when prescribed off-label for weight loss, many people are turning to compounding pharmacies to access replicas of the drug at a lower price point.
It’s estimated that at least 20,000 Australian patients are injecting compounded replica weight loss drugs with the majority using them for weight loss management.
However, compounded products are not held to the same safety, quality and efficacy standards required for mass produced medicines.
In May this year tit would ban replicas of semaglutides from being compounded in a bid to keep Australians safe from serious adverse side effects.
The ban is set to come into effect on 1 October 2024.
The glamourization of weight-loss drugs on social media
When Jeanette Wilczak saw Hollywood stars losing weight and getting thinner in the media, she thought Ozempic might be the key to solving her worries around her weight as she found losing it got harder as she aged.
“I think there’s a real stigma still about being overweight. People are viewed less worthy,” Jaenette told Insight.
“I thought this has got to be the way for me to go, because I used to go to the gym and I used to work out really, really hard to try to keep my weight down.”
After being prescribed off-label Ozempic by a health practitioner, six hours after taking the medication she reacted badly.
Jeanette suffered extreme side effects shortly after injecting herself with Ozempic. Source: SBS
“I started vomiting and diarrhoea, but when I was vomiting, it was actually really bad sulfuric, like rotten egg gas was coming up, and I had shocking pains to the stomach,” she said.
Wanting to give it another crack, the doctor suggested a lower dose, but she had the same extreme reaction — despite the branded medication being prescribed by her doctor.
“That was a quicker response, and I was just so sick,” she said.
“I was scared. The smell that was coming up was just shocking.”
Though some people have more positive experiences, Jeanette said she won’t be touching injectables that could help with weight loss again.
“There is no quick fix. I would never go down that road again,” she said.
“I think we need to go back to the basics of better diet and exercise and not be relying on these sort of drugs.”
Dr Terri-Lynne South is a metabolic health specialist. Source: Supplied
The experts weigh in
Dr Terri-Lynne South, who is the obesity management chair for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, says side effects from taking these drugs are common but can often be managed under the guidance of a doctor.
“There’s a huge variability in whether someone’s going to suffer the side effects, what those side effects are, and the severity, ” South told Insight.
“But in general, side effects such as nausea, side effects such as changes in bowels are common, usually mild and usually not long-term. But we have individuals with rather extreme ends of average as well.”
South said patients using these drugs for weight loss shouldn’t have to put up with side effects to use these drugs.
“I don’t think they should have to put up with side effects. I think side effects, certainly in my experience, can be well managed.”
“We manage side effects not just by looking at a dose but also by changing what people are eating and drinking and being proactive about bowel management.”
However, South says she has had patients in the past that haven’t been able to manage a side effect, and had to stop the medication. She says patients shouldn’t view weight-loss drugs as a ‘magic pill’ but need to also take into consideration the required lifestyle changes.
“In my experience, it’s about having the appropriate slow and holistic advice about not just the medication, but how to eat well, to manage side effects,” she said.
Shauna says despite not being on Ozempic anymore, the drugs helped her change her mindset when it came to food. Source: Supplied
‘I didn’t want to be a slave to the drug’
As for Shauna, she decided to give Ozempic another go after her scheduled knee surgery.
The second time she didn’t see much weight loss so decided to stop because of the expense.
She gave it one last try but after a few months decided that the cost and side effects of nausea were not worth it. Despite deciding that semaglutide wasn’t for her, Shauna says it has changed her attitude to food.
“Being on that drug did change the way I eat. My mindset is different now. If there’s three tacos on the plate I’ll eat two as I know if I eat three it’s not going to be great,” she said.
“But I stopped using it also because I had a revelation about being a slave to this drug. Being a slave to what was going on in my brain and how I saw myself and my future.
“I just came to a decision that I wasn’t going to be a slave to it any longer, instead accepting that this who I am.”
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