Stephen Fry has revealed he was left violently sick while taking weight-loss drug Ozempic.
The 66-year-old actor said he experienced frequent vomiting, up to five times a day, after trying the medication in a final effort to avoid weight gain.
Being an “early adopter” of the diabetes medication, which has gained popularity in Hollywood, the TV star initially found the results “astonishing” after learning about it in America many years ago.
Appearing on the River Café Table 4 podcast: “The first week or so, I was thinking, ‘This is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don’t want any alcohol of any kind. This is going to be brilliant.’”
However, his feelings towards the drug soon changed when began getting “sicker and sicker” leaving him to ultimately stop taking it for his health.
He recalled: “I started feeling sick, and I started getting sicker and sicker and sicker. I was literally throwing up four, five times a day and I thought, ‘I can’t do this.’ So that’s it.
“The new variant, Tirzepatide Mounjaro it’s called makes it even worse apparently.”
As reported by The Mirror, Fry weighed over 290 pounds in April 2019. By August of the same year, he had shed five-and-a-half stone with the help of Ozempic.
His candour comes as Kate Winslet condemned Ozempic, denouncing the weight-loss medication as “terrible” when she was informed of what it does in an interview with the New York Times earlier this month.
She quipped: “Oh, my God. This sounds terrible. Let’s eat some more things!”
While Rob Lowe expressed concern about the long-term implications with People in February, explaining: ““I see people who are taking all the new weight loss drugs and that's great, and it's really changed their lives.
“But my concern always is, okay, now what? What’s the plan for the longevity of everything? I never ever talk about diets, I talk about lifestyle.”
While many have condemned the drug, others have spoken in favour of it, including Celebrity Big Brother star Sharon Osbourne, 71, said she had “no regrets” about taking the drug while appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Oprah Winfrey has also spoken about utilising similar medication to Ozempic, such as Mounjaro injections, to aid her recent weight-loss.
The American broadcaster addressed the myths surrounding obesity and the growing trend of weight management medication in a TV special titled An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame And The Weight Loss Revolution on the American network ABC.
