Ozempic, the type 2 diabetes drug, has been getting tons of press lately, not all of it kind. It has become trendy to take it for an off-label use: weight loss. Hollywood celebrities have even gotten involved, both confessing their usage and speaking out against it.
One nurse opened up about using the drug as a tool to lose weight. Meredith Schorr had an overall good experience with it, but it was not easy. She is telling her story in hopes that others might benefit from it and understand that Ozempic alone does not help you lose weight; a lifestyle change is also in order.
Meredith is one of countless health care professionals who worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of her work in the intensive care unit, Meredith developed PTSD. The combination of stress, long hours, medications to help with her PTSD, and a poor diet led her to gain 50 pounds in a year and a half. She had previously been a relatively healthy person.
"I was pretty uncomfortable with the new weight that I had gained because it wasn't where I normally sat. I didn't feel healthy, I was restricted in doing exercise," Meredith said. A friend suggested she try Ozempic, so Meredith consulted a family nurse practitioner.
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Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide. This drug restores and increases insulin production. It also helps you feel full, regulating appetite.
The nurse practitioner gave Meredith straightforward advice. "She basically made it clear to me that I can use this drug as a tool to help me lose weight, and garner the motivation to improve my lifestyle habits," she recalled. "She made sure that I knew that the drug wasn't just a crutch to rely on, I had to make lifestyle changes as well."
Meredith decided to try the drug. It cost her $150 a month because her insurance did not cover it. For Meredith, using Ozempic came with some difficult side effects, such as nausea, cramping, and gas pains.
"I seemed to have more severe side effects than most, but I later learned how to combat that with all sorts of non-pharmacological interventions, and also had to be prescribed Zofran," she stated.
Meredith got the results she wanted. "And then all of a sudden I started losing weight pretty drastically,” she remembered. She lost 50 pounds in 11 months and could even fit into her wedding dress again.
Meredith decided to go off the drug so she could eventually start a family. "I'm young and I'd rather not be on this medication for a long time. Plus, it's expensive," she explained.
It was also not easy to go off the drug. “Around that five to six week mark, I began to feel super hungry, and almost ravenous for a little bit," Meredith recalled. She gained back 10 of the 50 pounds she lost.
This opened her eyes to the work she needed to put in to maintain her weight. "So after that phase, I was able to kind of see, 'Oh, I gained 10 lbs. I don't want to lose any progress that I had made,'” she explained. “That's the time where I tried to focus on healthier eating, choosing better snacks than what I may have in the past, making those conscientious choices to have a healthier lifestyle and diet, and that seems to have helped."
With so much being said about Ozempic in the news lately, Meredith wanted to make sure that the whole story was told. She is thankful for her time on the drug and what it allowed her to do.
"I feel like [Ozempic] has been so vilified lately but it was a really great tool for me and really changed my life," she stated. "Physically, I've been doing really well. I've been exercising so much more than I used to, eating right. I feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin. I feel really grateful."
