Why Dr. Terry Dubrow Quit Using Ozempic to Lose Weight
The celebrity plastic surgeon said he was tired of the side effects he experienced.
Reality TV's favorite plastic surgeon is hopping off the Ozempic bandwagon. Speaking exclusively with Page Six, Terry Dubrow, MD, said he started taking Ozempic—a semaglutide injection primarily used to treat diabetes that has become Hollywood's "it" weight-loss drug—after seeing such positive results in his patients. However, Dubrow said his decrease in appetite and newfound indifference toward food weren't worth the small amount of weight he was hoping to lose.
RELATED: Jillian Michaels' Big Ozempic Warning: It Makes You a "Prisoner for Life."
"I've tried it," Dubrow admitted. "I thought it was amazing."
The Botched star then explained that he "wanted to try it because so many of my patients were on it and I wanted to see what it was like when you're not diabetic and you only have 10-15 pounds to lose."
But despite being a "huge fan" of Ozempic professionally, Dubrow said his weight-loss goal wasn't worth the "low-grade nausea" and other side effects he experienced. And while drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are known to decrease appetite, Dubrow said that for him, the medication took "all the joy of eating away."
"I thought, 'You know what, I kind of want to get my appetite back. The holidays are coming, I want to enjoy myself,'" he shared.
Even so, Dubrow still considers drugs like Ozempic to be a "miracle" and the "biggest breakthrough in medical history."
RELATED: Ozempic Patients Say It "Stops Working" for Weight Loss—How to Prevent That.
It's important to note that research shows taking injections of semaglutide is not a quick or one-time fix for weight loss. Doctors stress that these treatments are meant to be life-long. And according to UC Davis Health, patients on Ozempic or Wegovy may also experience a "plateau" in their weight, meaning they can only lose weight up to a certain point.
For those who do stop taking Ozempic, it's essential to keep up with exercise and healthy eating habits, though some rebound weight gain is expected regardless. There are other concerns as well: As a plastic surgeon, Dubrow is seeing patients whose weight loss has had surprising cosmetic consequences, along with more serious loss of muscle.
"For patients who want to try [Ozempic], you have to realize your skin is going to loosen up a lot faster," he told Page Six. "You are going to lose lean muscle mass. You have to increase your protein, you have to work out."
RELATED: Ozempic Patient Reveals "Crazy and Scary" Side Effects That Made Her Quit.
Dubrow, who appears alongside wife Heather Dubrow on The Real Housewives of Orange County, isn't the only Bravolebrity to talk openly about weight-loss drugs. Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay admitted in Nov. 2023 that she was taking Ozempic, but had yet to see significant results. Around that same time, Real Housewives of New Jersey's Jennifer Fessler revealed that she was on semaglutide, and that the side effects had sent her to the hospital.
"I noticed there was constipation, I didn't do anything about it," Fessler said on her Two Jersey Js podcast with RHONJ co-star Jackie Goldschneider. "I wasn't taking Miralax, that you take every morning, or any kind of stool softener."
Fessler also echoed Dubrow's concerns about muscle loss, saying she was trying to build back her strength after losing 22 pounds on the drug.
"There is a lot of skin that exists now when you lose muscle and fat," she explained. "Again, I have to take responsibility for that in the sense that, you know, you don't put on muscle when you just lay horizontal on your bed eating chips."
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