Ozempic User Reveals Psychological Weaknesses After Losing 42 Kilos

He missed his comfort zone.

An author who says he lost 42 pounds on Ozempic is sharing “one danger” he “didn’t see coming” — the psychological effect.

“For the first six months I was taking the drug, I was getting what I wanted — I was losing a lot of weight, my back pain went away, all kinds of good things happened,” journalist Johann Hari told Today.com last week.

“But I actually didn’t feel better in my emotions. If anything, I felt a little worse,” Hari continued. “I realized it was about my inability to comfort food and how bad it was making me feel.”

Hari shares the pros and cons of taking Ozempic in his new book, The Magic Pill: The Incredible Benefits and Disturbing Risks of New Weight Loss Drugs.

Harry started taking the injectable drug last year when he hit 32% body fat and was fed up with his family history of heart disease – and eventually lost 42kg on Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy.

Semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — mimics GLP-1, the hormone the body naturally produces after eating, so users feel fuller for longer.

While thrilled with the results, Hari was alarmed by the psychological effects of prescription drugs.

His drastically reduced appetite compromised his ability to use food as a coping mechanism.

“I realized how much of eating was a need to comfort myself – stuffing myself to soothe myself. And I couldn’t do that when I was in Ozempic,” he explained.

Harry compares his experience to that of Aladdin: “You find the lamp, rub it, the genie appears, grants your wishes, and your wish comes true – but never in the way you expected.”

He also sees himself as a subject in two “experiments”.

“I was part of the experiment that made us much fatter,” he said, referring to the popularity of ultra-processed foods, which have fueled the growing obesity epidemic.

“And now I’m part of the experiment that’s turning it around using drugs,” he added.

In addition to the psychological toll, Hari said he experienced an increased heart rate that left him feeling anxious.

He worries about potential problems down the line.

“Semaglutide has only been used for a little over two years now for people with obesity,” Hari reasoned. “We don’t know the long-term effects of taking it [the drugs]. There is a concern that maybe they will have an effect that we just don’t know, in the long term.”

An obesity medicine specialist in North Carolina told Today.com that GLP-1 drugs have been used to treat type 2 diabetes for more than a decade.

However, problems arise – users of anti-obesity drugs have reported side effects including erectile dysfunction, personality changes, unpleasant gastrointestinal problems, an increase in reckless behavior and the frightening and addictive reality of Ozempic buttocks and breasts.

Despite his fears and reservations, Hari said he plans to continue taking Ozempic.

“The benefits of these drugs outweigh my real concerns about long-term effects,” he said.