Amy Schumer warns that the side effects of Ozempic are no joke, and they became a serious impediment to her family life. Schumer appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last week where she admitted that she was one of the many people who “immediately invested” in Ozempic when she heard about its effects for weight loss. However, before long she said she became so sick that she couldn’t even play with her toddler son.
Ozempic is meant to help treat type 2 diabetes, but many people are using it specifically to lose weight. Like all drugs, it affects different people in different ways, and Schumer said she was one of the extreme cases. She said: “I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son. I was so skinny, and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t].” Ultimately, Schumer said that she found the medication was not “livable” for her, and she suspects that others will find the same thing to be true.
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Ozempic is a popular brand name for the drug Semaglutide, also sold as Rybelsus and Wegovy. It triggers the body to increase insulin secretion which increases blood sugar disposal and improves glycemic control, making it useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and theoretically for treating obesity โ though so far it has not been approved for chronic weight management. In the U.S., a prescription is required for Ozempic, but the promise of weight loss looms large in the advertising.
According to Schumer, the drug has become extremely popular in the entertainment industry already and is on its way to becoming more popular with the general public. She said that she hopes other celebrities who have had adverse side effects will come forward, possibly cautioning fans from getting on the drug too hastily.
“Everyone and their mom is gonna try it,” she said. “Everyone has been lying saying, ‘Oh, smaller portions.’ Like, shut the f- up. You are on Ozempic or one of those things, or you got work done. Just stop. Be real with the people. When I got lipo, I said I got lipo.”
Other stars have shared their experience with Ozempic as well, including comedian Chelsea Handler, who said that her “anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody.” During a conversation on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Handler said: “I didn’t even know I was on it. She said, ‘if you ever want to drop five pounds, this is good.’” However, a rep for Novo Nordisk, the company that manufactures Ozempic, emphasized to reporters from E! News that the drug is “not approved for. chronic weight management.”