He missed his comfort zone.
The author, who lost 42 pounds on Ozempic, describes only one risk he “didn’t expect”: the psychological effects.
“In the first six months after I started taking the medicine, everything I wanted happened: I lost a lot of weight, my back pain went away and many other good things happened,” says journalist Johan Hari. He told Today.com last week.
“But emotionally, it didn’t make me feel any better – if anything, I felt a little worse,” Hari continued. “I realized I wasn’t finding comfort in food and how bad it was making me feel.”
In his new book, “Magic Pill: The Surprising Benefits and Disturbing Risks of a New Weight-Loss Drug,” Hari details the joys and sorrows of taking Ozempic.
Hari started taking the injectable drugs last year when her body fat reached 32 percent and she grew concerned about her family history of heart disease, eventually losing 42 pounds with Ozempic and its sister drug, Wegovi.
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovi, mimics GLP-1, a hormone the body naturally produces after a meal, helping users feel fuller for longer.
Although Hari was ecstatic with his results, he was concerned about the psychological effects of the prescription drugs.
My appetite was significantly reduced, which impaired my ability to use food as a coping mechanism.
“I realized that a lot of the time I was eating was because I was overeating to comfort myself – to calm myself down – and when I was on Ozempic I couldn’t do that,” he explained.
Hari likens his experience to that of Aladdin: “He finds the lamp, rubs it, and a genie appears who grants him wishes, but never in the way he expects.”
He also considers himself a subject in two “experiments.”
“I was part of an experiment that made us more obese,” he said, referring to the popularity of ultra-processed foods that are fuelling the obesity epidemic.
“And now I’m participating in an experiment to reverse that using drugs,” he added.
In addition to the psychological strain, Hari said he experienced an increased heart rate and felt anxious.
He is worried about possible problems in the future.
“Semaglutide has only been used in obese people for just over two years,” Hari explains, “and the long-term effects of taking it are unknown.” [the drugs]”There are concerns that in the long term there may be some effects that we don’t know about.”
A North Carolina obesity medicine specialist told Today.com that GLP-1 drugs have been used to treat type 2 diabetes for more than a decade.
Still, problems do occur: users of anti-obesity drugs report side effects including erectile dysfunction, personality changes, gastrointestinal discomfort, increased reckless behavior and the dreaded saggy buttocks and breasts.
Hari said he plans to continue taking Ozempic despite his fears and concerns.
“The benefits of these drugs outweigh my very real concerns about the long-term effects,” he said.