We’d only been in the club for an hour when I turned to my husband and said, ‘Sorry, I’m going back to the hotel.’ I really don’t feel very well.’ He seemed as disappointed as I was.
There we were, in Ibiza, on a kid-free mini-break, looking to recapture those heady days when we first met, when we drank late and clubbed until dawn, but everything seemed empty. That desire for hedonism had just disappeared. All the things I used to love made me feel. . . nothing.
It was only when I read Dr. Max’s column last week that I realized what was behind all this. Ozempic, the weight loss medication I had been taking for the previous five months had not only helped me lose weight, but had also impacted the pleasure I got from other things. Like Dr. Pemberton, Ozempic had dramatically affected my relationship with both alcohol and food.
From the moment I started taking it last summer, I pretty much stopped drinking. And since I was in my forties and still had a bit of a reputation as a party animal, the impact on my life was enormous.
The decision to take Ozempic, prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, was not one I took lightly. (The NHS now prescribes a different brand, Wegovy, to treat weight loss.)
After reading Dr. Max Pemberton’s column last week, the writer understood that Ozempic had affected her relationship with alcohol.
She was 42 years old and had had a baby two years earlier. Despite eating healthy and staying in shape (I had a personal trainer, had run a marathon, and taken on several exercise challenges), the weight didn’t come off.
At 5 feet 3 inches and over 12 kilos, I was classified as obese. I didn’t recognize myself.
I spoke to a couple of friends who were taking Ozempic and researched medical documents about it, before sending my details and photographs to an online pharmacy who agreed that I was a suitable candidate.
Shortly after I started taking it last June, my attitude toward food changed. Not only did it relieve hunger, but I found that I didn’t crave anything like what I had. I used to think, “I really want pizza.” Or “I’d love a Pret sandwich.” or feel like a baked potato.
But there was none of that. It was a strange suppression of my desire to eat.
It had the same effect when it came to alcohol. I work in digital marketing and entertain clients quite a bit. I love margaritas, espresso martinis, and champagne. . . or did.
But after taking Ozempic, nothing tasted good. He was bitter or sour, and when he drank, he didn’t feel the effect of the alcohol he had.
In the old days, if I was out with a client, we’d have a few cocktails and then share a couple bottles of wine over dinner. If I was out with friends, we’d have champagne or margaritas. On the weekends, if I went clubbing with my husband and friends, we would have two or three gin and tonics before leaving the house, and during the night, it wouldn’t be unusual for me to drink eight or nine vodka sodas.
But at Ozempic, I gave up alcohol completely.
Most people knew I was taking a health boost, even if I hadn’t told them I was taking Ozempic, so it wasn’t hard to explain the change in my behavior. And if anyone wondered where I got my willpower from, they didn’t ask me. I still went out with clients and friends, but I would order a drink and drink it all night with a bottle of sparkling water.
Of course, giving up alcohol certainly helped me lose weight, but I also experienced other benefits of being sober. I slept better (when I wasn’t awake for the little one), and not having a hangover improved my productivity and I was better able to cope with toddler tantrums.
While I’m not sure I would have given up alcohol without Ozempic, I couldn’t really complain about it.
Although that night in Ibiza surprised me. That same night I had had some sangria and I think the unexpected injection of sugar affected me a lot. That’s the thing about Ozempic, I don’t know if it’s physiological or psychological, but it makes you want to make healthier decisions, live a healthier life.
And when you don’t, you really feel it.
Ozempic, prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, may help people lose weight
The rest of the trip was the same. We had tickets to some of our favorite clubs, but my heart wasn’t in it. At 1am, with no alcohol to keep me going, I just wasn’t interested in staying up. I also didn’t want to lie in bed and enjoy the kind of action we enjoyed before having the baby.
Losing weight with Ozempic has made me much happier with my body; After eight months, I’m now reaching eight and a half kilos, my ideal weight, so I feel more comfortable walking around in my underwear or being naked, but that hasn’t been the case. It didn’t spark our sex life.
To be fair, I’m not sure I can blame Ozempic alone for my low libido. Having a sleep-deprived toddler wreaks havoc in that regard, and my husband doesn’t have a particularly high sex drive, so I was often the one initiating things.
But recently he was the one who suggested “sleep early” and I just went with it. There’s no doubt that Ozempic has changed how I feel and respond to the things that used to give me pleasure, but I’m starting to believe that he’s affecting me in the bedroom too.
If so, I hope to get my libido back when I quit. Once I reach my goal weight, I try to keep it bump-free.
I feel like my brain has been reprogrammed when it comes to food. I can’t imagine going out and ordering a huge pizza, or craving something sweet like before. I’m not sure if the same thing happens with alcohol, but I know quitting will help me stay slim.
Until I started taking Ozempic and stopped drinking, I hadn’t considered that on a big night out, I was eating 3,000 calories in drinks alone. And morning workouts (and wake-ups) are much more enjoyable when you’re not working out hungover.
I’d like to think my new sober self is here to stay. But it remains to be seen whether Ozempic has temporarily tamed the party girl in me or banished it for good.