I Gained Weight on Ozempic, Part 1

“Before we schedule your surgery,” he went on to explain, “you'll need to get your BMI to 35 or lower. My heart sank. The only way I’ve achieved weight loss in the past was with calorie restriction and intensive exercise. I was in his office because my knee pain was hurting so bad that it kept me up at night. The idea of pounding it out for 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical trainer, just wasn’t an option for me at that time.

Then my doctor took out one of his business cards and said, “a lot of my patients have had a lot of success on Ozempic”. I took the card with the word “OZEMPIC” scribbled on the back. I nodded and promised to look into it.

The only problem was that I lied.

I didn’t believe in the magic of a weight loss pill–I didn’t even know that it was an injection at that time. I tucked the card into my purse and got a cortisone shot before checking out at the front desk.

Does anyone remember Fen-Phen, (fenfluramine)? It was all the rage back in the 1990s when I was in college. I had a dear friend who lost a ton of weight on it. I wanted it, but I was a broke college student in an isolated hick town with limited resources; I couldn’t figure out how to get my hands on it. Well thank God, because the FDA would pull it from the shelves in 1997 for leading to heart problems. I always felt there was a cost to pharmaceuticals that promised weight loss. (I would later have weight loss surgery–but that’s a story for another blog.)

Nonetheless, I kept his business card and about 5 months and 15 additional pounds later I was so desperate I was willing to try anything. I was one of the lucky ones, my general practitioner prescribed it and my insurance approved it…but based on the title at the top of your screen, you know this story doesn’t go well.

Stay tuned...

If you are trying to lose weight, even just a few pounds, chances are an omnipotent algorithm has placed an ad for Ozempic on your screen of choice. Back when I watched commercials, I remember the catchy tune “Oooh Oooh Oh, Ozempic” and the narrator mentioning that you might lose weight as a side effect. I have no idea why my ears didn’t perk up back then.

Fast forward five years. I’m sitting in my orthopedic doctor’s office. He provided me with an explanation for why my left knee felt like it was always on fire, he said “your joint is bone-on-bone. The only way to get relief from your chronic pain is to replace your knee”. He went on to explain that he didn’t love the idea of knee replacement in someone my age–the typical person that qualifies for this surgery is in their 60s to 70s.

But I was 45 with a 3-year old daughter who is a runner. I needed to be able to chase her when she darted in the direction of the road. I was on board for surgery.