Semaglutide, available as Ozempic and Wegovy, has been hailed as a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity.
But there is growing concern about the number of healthy and underweight patients taking them for cosmetic reasons.
Now the drug is attracting fresh attention after Lottie Moss revealed today that she was rushed to hospital after overdosing on Ozempic using too high a dose.
The 26-year-old model was seriously ill, had a seizure and was severely dehydrated while taking the drug when she weighed around 60kg – just 42 kilos.
She said she received the vaccine from a friend who bought it from a doctor without a prescription.
The drug is attracting fresh attention after Lottie Moss revealed today that she was rushed to hospital after overdosing on Ozempic using too high a dose.
Here, we reveal how the vaccine, when used incorrectly, can wreak havoc on the body within minutes of injection, leaving some users at risk of coma.
Ozempic isseeks to lose weight by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating, called GLP-1.
In addition to signaling the pancreas to produce more insulin, the GLP-1 hormone provides feedback to the brain and makes users feel full.
As a result, semaglutide may prevent users from overeating.
But it is not without side effects: users often complain of nausea, constipation and diarrhea after taking the drug.
Unlike the hormone GLP-1, which is metabolized rapidly by the body, semaglutide has a much longer half-life, meaning the drug can build up inside the body if not enough time passes between doses.
Lottie’s relationship with Kate fractured after she began modelling for OnlyFans, but they have recently rekindled, celebrating her father’s 80th birthday together last week.
This causes an Ozempic overdose. There is limited data available on how deadly this can be.
But according to case reports, the signs of a semaglutide overdose may resemble life-threatening hypoglycemia, also known as dangerously low blood sugar.
Symptoms may begin with increased heart rate, sweating, dizziness and irritability. Most symptoms “last for several days.” According to a reportpublished in the Journal of the American Pharmacists’ Association.
Without prompt treatment, patients experience confusion, delirium, and eventually lose consciousness, sometimes falling into a coma.
To reduce the risk of side effects, people usually start with 0.25 mg for the first four weeks and gradually increase the dose.
Ozempic is not available on the NHS specifically for weight loss, but to help control blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes.
But another semaglutide drug, Wegovy, which like Ozempic is made by Novo Nordisk, was approved last year for weight loss in people with health problems related to body fat.
Semaglutide, the powerful ingredient behind Ozempic, stimulates weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating, called GLP-1.
It’s difficult to overdose using the official Ozempic pens, made by the Danish pharmaceutical giant, because once the dose is set (usually by a doctor) it cannot be changed.
This helps prevent accidental overdoses, although patients may still access pens with an automatic dose that is too high.
Pharmacy-prepared versions are usually distributed in glass vials and patients are then asked to fill the syringes themselves.
That makes it “easy” to overdose, Dr. Joseph Lambson, director of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center, said last year.
Speaking on her podcast, Lottie said she weighed around 60 stone before dropping to 57 stone after her first dose and weighed as low as 53 stone at her lowest point, which equates to just over eight stone.
“I think any time we have to rely on a patient to figure out what the correct dose is, prepare it and then administer it, we’re creating more opportunities for errors,” he added.
Although no trials have been conducted in people who are of a healthy weight, there is also anecdotal evidence that they may be at higher risk.
Dr Vicky Price, from the Society for Acute Medicine, told this website in July that there had been a “real increase” in the number of people abusing the drug and arriving at hospital with vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration.
This comes after Lottie Moss revealed today that she would rather ‘die’ than use Ozempic again.
Her sister, supermodel Kate Moss, 50, was the symbol of “heroin chic” in the 1990s because of her slim figure and once declared: “Nothing tastes as good as feeling thin.”
Speaking on her Dream On podcast, Lottie said the seizure, caused by severe dehydration, was one of the “scariest” experiences she has ever endured.
She also said there were “little things I wish I’d known before taking it” and revealed her weight plummeted from 60kg (giving her a healthy BMI of around 21) to 53kg in just two weeks.
After rushing to the hospital, the podcaster learned that the dose of Ozempic being injected into her leg was meant to be prescribed for someone weighing at least 100 kilos, almost twice her size.
The OnlyFans star said: ‘When I was taking it, the amount I was taking was meant for people who weigh 100 kilos or more and I’m in the 50s range.
‘It’s those little things I wish I’d known before I took it. But I took it, they inject it into your leg, and it was the worst decision I ever made in my life.
‘This is a warning to everyone. Please, if you are thinking of taking it, don’t do it, it’s not worth it.’
He added: ‘I started at about 60 kilos and with the first dose I went down to 57, then I went down to 54.
‘It was crazy, my lowest weight was 53. In terms of a few weeks, that’s not a healthy weight loss, that’s not a healthy drop.
“When I was in bed those two days and it was the end and I just wanted to quit, because it’s not like you can just stop taking it, it’s not like a pill that you don’t take when you wake up in the morning, it’s in your system and it’s there.”
Lottie has spoken in the past about growing up in the “toxic” fashion industry and the time she spent in rehab following her drug addiction.
She began modelling at 16 after being discovered when she was 13 and said she always felt like she was living in her sister Kate’s shadow.
The eligibility criteria for people wishing to obtain Wegovy through the NHS (for the standard prescription fee of £9.90 in England) are strict.
It’s only available if diet and exercise haven’t worked on their own, you have health problems caused by your weight, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and you have a BMI of 35 or higher.
