Stephen Fry Shares Debilitating Ozempic Side Effect: "I Started Getting Sicker and Sicker"
The British actor said he was an "early adopter" of the medication.
We've all heard tell of the wonders that weight-loss drugs like Ozempic can do. There are endless reports and social media posts about people dropping the pounds they've struggled to lose, improving their health and boosting confidence. But on the flip side, there are just as many reports of the side effects that these drugs have been linked to, which can be painful and severe enough for many patients to discontinue the medication. Now, English actor and author Stephen Fry is sharing his experience with Ozempic—and how he ended up "getting sicker and sicker" while taking it.
RELATED: Ozempic Patients Reveal Major Side Effect When You Stop Taking It.
Fry discussed his experience on the March 18 episode of the Ruthie's Table 4 podcast, which is hosted by Ruthie Rogers, British chef and owner of The River Café in London.
During their discussion, which centered around "food memories," Fry and Rogers chatted about eating habits and whether snacking before bed can affect your weight. Rogers said she'd heard timing doesn't actually affect weight, which Fry noted as "interesting," since he's "a bit obsessed about my weight."
Fry conceded that he'd likely be "fitter" and "snore less" if he lost some weight—and at one point, he turned to Ozempic to do so.
"I tried that Ozempic years ago—I'm an early adopter of these things," he told Rogers. "I happened to be in America, and I'd read about it, and I asked my doctor in America—my 'physician,' as they like to call them—and he said, 'I think I can get you some.'"
His doctor was true to his word, and within a week of taking the drug, Fry said he already noticed changes.
"I was thinking, 'This is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don't even want alcohol of any kind. This is going to be brilliant,'" he recalled.
RELATED: Doctor Reveals Surprising New Ozempic Side Effect: "I Noticed Something Really Odd."
But although his appetite was down, negative side effects soon settled in.
"Then I started feeling sick, and I started getting sicker and sicker and sicker," Fry said. "I was literally throwing up four, five times a day, and I thought, 'I can't do this.' So that's it."
He also said he'd heard of other weight-loss drugs, namely Mounjaro, producing side effects that are potentially "worse." So, at the end of the day, Fry believes "it's probably good" he's no longer taking these medications.
Rogers reassured him as well, saying, "I think you look great, I think you just leave it. You are handsome, you are elegant, and you're eating."
While Fry didn't share exactly when he was taking Ozempic, he did discuss weight loss during an Aug. 2019 appearance on BBC Breakfast, People reported.
"I've lost a bit of weight so I'm feeling proud of myself," he said on the show, revealing that he'd lost 5.5 stone, or 77 pounds.
Fry also shared that he was walking more, which he found boosted his mood.
"It's not a guaranteed help for mental stress and anxiety or anything else but it does help me and it means I can listen to audiobooks as I walk, and podcasts, and you eat up the miles that way, and talking of eating up, eating sensibly," he said at the time.
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