Woman–Who Once Weighed 414lbs–Explains How Ozempic Has Changed Her Life

Rebekah Schwitz had struggled with weight her entire life and was so desperate to drop the pounds she had signed up for weight-loss surgery. While on the waiting list, the 56-year-old started taking Ozempic, an injectable semaglutide medication that was developed to manage Type 2 diabetes. Schwitz says it has helped her shed weight with such ease she no longer needs surgery.

"My whole life has been about food and my weight and suddenly I'm like, 'Oh, I should remember to eat,'" she said. "The difference is, now that I don't have the cravings, I can nourish myself with beneficial foods instead of just eating to be full."

Ozempic is the weight loss industry's hottest topic—and its popularity and notoriety show no sign of abating.

The drug has become a TikTok sensation and been linked to celebrities from Elon Musk to Khloe Kardashian.

Prescriptions for Ozempic reached an all-time high in the final week of February, according to CNN. More than 373,000 prescriptions were filled in that period, an 111 percent increase on the same week in 2022.

Other semaglutide brands include Rybelsus and Wegovy—which is the only one of the three approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a weight-loss medication. Although the FDA and the drug's maker Novo Nordisk say Ozempic is for diabetes, it has become the weight-loss aid of choice for many Americans.

One of those is Schwitz, who has polycystic ovary syndrome and is insulin resistant. She has been taking Ozempic since January and told Newsweek that her experience had been life-changing.

"I have struggled with my weight my entire life," Schwitz said. "I've tried every diet ever since I was a child, from Atkins to intermittent fasting. You name it, I've tried it. I've had some success, getting down from 414 pounds in 2014 to 285 pounds in 2014, just through dieting, but it never lasted very long."

Schwitz weighed 309 pounds when she started the Ozempic injections in January. Her weight is now 292 pounds.

'I Just Felt So Flat and Hopeless'

After struggling to lose weight for decades and a short spell of bulimia nervosa, Schwitz hit the menopause, which brought extra difficulties. "It was incredibly draining thinking about my weight every second of every day all my life," she said. "I was either thinking about it all the time, or forcing myself not to think about it and be in complete denial."

Finally, she signed up for weight-loss surgery. "It's an incredibly long process," she said. "I had seen all the specialists and was in the process of getting the all-clears. I just felt so flat and hopeless that nothing else had worked."

Schwitz was on the waiting list for a duodenal switch, one of the most extreme weight loss surgeries. It combines a gastrectomy—removal of part of the stomach—with an intestinal bypass, which shortens the path food takes through your intestines.

It is less commonly performed than other surgeries, according to the Cleveland Clinic. "It involves more cutting and stitching in your digestive system and takes out or bypasses more of your gastrointestinal tract than other procedures do. This makes it somewhat riskier for complications, both during the procedure and afterward," the clinic states on its website.

While Schwitz was waiting for her duodenal switch, her doctor mentioned Ozempic and, so far, it has enabled her to avoid the potentially risky surgery. "I am extremely grateful to the medication that it's not only working, but I don't have to have surgery," she said. "It's an amazing sense of relief."

Semaglutide works by suppressing appetite and making the user feel full. When prescribed by a weight-loss professional, it can be an effective way to lose weight slowly and safely—contrary to the claims of dramatic, fat-melting change on TikTok.

As with most medications, there are side effects associated with Ozempic. Schwitz said these have been minimal, thanks to her low starting dose and gradual increase, and nowhere near severe enough to stop her taking it.

"I've been a little drowsy," she said, "but I've also given up coffee so that could be why. I've also felt a little nauseous at times, but that's just my body getting used to the drug and the symptoms will go away in time."

Why Ozempic Is Controversial

When talk about a "miracle drug" began to spread on social media last year, there were concerns about supply and whether diabetics would still be able to access their medication. Last summer, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration issued a statement urging doctors to prescribe Ozempic only for its intended use after "an unexpected increase in consumer demand." At that time, Wegovy had not been approved for use in Australia.

Dr Rocio Salas Whalen, an endocrinologist based in New York, told Newsweek that some U.S. doctors began prescribing Ozempic for weight loss when production of Wegovy "ran into problems." She said Novo Nordisk, which makes both semaglutide drugs, had told doctors to stop prescribing Wegovy.

Patients "that started on Wegovy had to be switched to Ozempic, and that's why many people stayed with Ozempic as a weight-loss drug," she added.

Novo Nordisk told Newsweek in a statement: "Novo Nordisk has never instructed healthcare providers to switch patients from Wegovy to Ozempic … While we respect every healthcare provider's expertise and their right to prescribe medications based on their clinical judgment, we ask that healthcare providers only prescribe semaglutide medicines consistent with their FDA-approved indications."

It added: "In 2022, following a manufacturing issue at one of our CMO sites, Novo Nordisk did temporarily ask healthcare providers to hold off initiating new patients on Wegovy due to supply challenges, to prioritize continuity of care for patients already being treated."

The company said Ozempic and Wegovy "are not interchangeable."

Despite this, "Ozempic has become a household name now like Botox and Viagra," said Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, a cosmetic dermatologist from New York City who coined the term "Ozempic face" to describe its ageing effect on skin.

Asked whether Ozempic was being prescribed and taken irresponsibly by some, Jarrod replied: "Absolutely. Unfortunately, as amazing as these drugs are—and they're going to change the health of the American people as 30 to 40 percent of our country is obese—with anything successful you are going to see an over-commoditization where people will be abusing it.

"This drug should not be being used by people that only want to lose 30 pounds."

Jarrod added that misuse of Ozempic by "those who don't need it" should not take away from its potential to "change the lives of those living with obesity."

Salas Whalen said stigma around obesity had also contributed to the problem. "I haven't met a single person with obesity that has come in to my practice that hasn't tried absolutely everything to lose weight before I meet them," she said.

"We still associate obesity with a lifestyle problem but it's not. It's a multifactorial disease and we have to learn that it can go beyond the patient's control. Hormones, age, menopause, genetics, and social and environmental factors all play a part in this disease."

To qualify for weight-loss drugs, a person would have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 27 and suffer from one or more other diseases, or have a BMI of 30-plus and no comorbidities, according to Salas Whalen.

She added: "Unfortunately there are going to be many doctors prescribing this drug for people that only want to lose 10 to 15 pounds."

As for celebrities taking Ozempic for weight loss, she pointed out that we don't know their medical histories or their BMI. "People come in all shapes in sizes. Everyone can struggle with their weight and we never know what non-sustainable things celebrities are doing to maintain a lower weight that could be causing them harm."

Both medics believe bad prescribers are damaging the reputation of these drugs. They urge anyone considering semaglutide to consult a reputable weight loss specialist.

Salas Whalen said: "With these drugs we will see in the coming decades less diabetes, less obesity, less cancers, heart problems, and all the conditions attached to obesity. And when managed by a licensed professional, that can only be a good thing."

Correction 05/31/23, 5:20 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the misspelling of Dr Rocio Salas Whalen's name.