Ozempic and Addiction | Shocking New Research

insulin resistance, diabetes, blood sugar, weight loss

Imagine if you could not only lose weight fast but also reduce addictions like nail-biting, food binging, consume less alcohol, and even help with drug addiction recovery. Semaglutide, the weight loss injection drug, also known as Ozempic, Wegovee, and Monjouro, was initially approved for diabetes but is now all the craze for rapid weight loss and addiction reduction.

In this episode of The Chalene Show with Chalene Johnson, learn which celebrities and influencers, such as Rosie O’Donnell, Amy Schumer, Emily Simpson, and Dolores Catania of RHONJ, have openly endorsed semaglutide for their rapid weight loss, insight from addiction expert, Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, the ongoing debates surrounding its efficacy, potential side effects, and long-term outcomes. This drug may offer a viable solution for obesity and addictive behavior, but it is important to make an informed decision with research and consulting medical professionals before considering semaglutide.

Links from the episode:
Watch the Full Rosie O’Donnell Interview

Be sure to check the past episode Miracle Diet Drug or Cancer Causing New Fad

Complete Article from Dr. Lorenzo Leggio information on Addiction

Leave Chalene a message or send a text about your personal experience with weight loss drugs at 949-503-9873
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  • Tracey Ní Breitheamh 🇮🇪 says:

    Love that you are covering this, it is essentially a hormone, it does affect everything in your body, it absolutely has side effects. I too believe there is serious money to be made from this, just as my son needs insulin from his pump which is a hormone, anyone taking this will need it for life. It is not to be compared to Diebetes of course, my son is Type 1 and it crept in 2 years ago and he was in DKA over night, we very nearly lost him. I think like everyting else the side effects should be looked into further before people actually harm themselves. Loved this episode ❤.

  • Chalene Johnson says:

    Do you think that Celebrities who have had a dramatic weight loss owes us the honest truth of how they have been successful and if they are taking these types of drugs?

    • Miranda Parker says:

      Not just Hollywood but influencers. I have seen so many drop weight super quick and credit a supplement they’re selling. No supplement is going to make you drop 50 lbs in 3 months.

    • Iss says:

      Yes. But only is they are also promoting healthy lifestyle because otherwise they’re lying. If you are a Housewife and you’re not preaching about lifestyle, i don’t think it’s anyone’s business.

    • TMac says:

      Like the jab…my concern is side effects. I’m 54…not on any medications. I struggle with weight loss. I eat OMAD…protein focused. My body will not release the fat. I’m a fat hoarder!!!
      Have I been tempted to try these drugs…yes.
      But long term…I don’t think I’m comfortable risking my future health.

    • Jennifer Granger says:

      I don’t think it’s anyones business how someone lost weight or gained weight . I don’t think anyone owes anyone and explanation , however if asked either be honest or politely say you rather keep your personal information private. I don’t see celebrities better than anyone else , they are people too. All people are worthy of love and respect and a right to privacy. Just my opinion. 😊

    • Angela Neale says:

      No.

  • Jessica Ford says:

    Thank you, Chalene, for taking an unbiased approach to your episodes on this medication. There are so many people whose doctors are telling them to go on this medication but are afraid or ashamed to, due to the negativity.

  • Stephanie Rodriguez says:

    Earlier this year I was on Trulicity for weight loss, and I lost down to 140: I’ve had to go off of it for a time for a surgery. I’ve never had a bad relationship with food. I feel like my weight gain was mostly due to hormonal changes and a more sedentary lifestyle. So while I started this medication, I also incorporated healthier eating habits, and I also began to do a regular workout and strength training routine. What I did notice was that I didn’t crave food as much nor did I crave alcohol, but I was very conscious that portion size played a big role in my eating habits before. When I went off the medication during the time to prepare for my surgery, I continued to eat smaller meals and although I could not exercise during this time, I still was able to lose down to 135 pounds, I have recently restarted the trulicity to get down to my goal weight which is between 120 and 130 and I do continue to exercise to maintain and build muscle and also focus on portion control and quality of food. I do feel like that this medication is definitely, life-changing, I won’t be on it for much longer, but it has made me change the way that I view the quality and quantity of food that I put in my body as well as being able to incooperate a healthy exercise and weight-bearing routine into my life.

    • Sarah Hammond says:

      Wow, that’s really great and it sounds like you’re using this drug in the very best way possible – not just to lose the weight but change your habits.
      I’ve heard the hardest part in weight loss is not losing the weight but keeping it off. I feel this has been true for me, but ultimately it is easier to stay at a weight once you’ve stabilized there. Congratulations on your success🎉

    • marzena rongione says:

      I am so happy for you
      My husband is taking Munjaro and has similar experience to yours
      He finally came around and started to eat healthy and exercise
      He would never listen to me before..
      I am very health conscious, exercise every day, eat organic etc… because of my autoimmune issues
      I literally cooked different foods for him and me because he loved certain unhealthy foods which over time made him overweight
      I have not seen him so energetic and lean since we met 30 years ago..!

    • Stephanie Rodriguez says:

      @marzena rongione awesome news! And it’s so much easier to exercise after getting the extra weight off of your joints❤️

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      I’m so glad you are using it to kick off your healthy habits and lifestyle! ❤️❤️❤️

  • Nichole Schlueter says:

    I am on it and down 85 lbs since a year ago. It has been a life saver! No more BP mrds, no more glaucoma. It’s amazing.

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      That’s great!

    • Ruth Devisser says:

      That may have worked great for you ,lucky you .Others went through terrible physical side effects as well as heavy mental issues and you’ll crap yourself stupid .Ozempic blocks the pleasure zone in the brain the brings pleasure from food .And are you a doctor?or a psychologist so this has been YOUR experience,I assure you there’s people who almost died .

    • Jade B says:

      ​@Ruth Devisser common sense says everyone is different. And everyone faces different situations and live differently have different genetics. Hmmmm.

    • Lia Davis says:

      That’s awesome 👏❤️ I have an appointment coming up. I hope i have the same success as you ❤️❤️

  • Elizabeth Reynolds says:

    Here’s the thing every few years we find a miracle weight loss drug and everyone gets on the bus. Only a few months or years later we find out the horrible side effects and then it gets taken off the market. You know never changes? Eating right and exercising. There is no quick fix for any of these problems you just have to do the work. Oh and Rosie doesn’t look like the picture of health in that video

  • Helen Bollinger says:

    I’ve lost 24 pounds in 3 months on semaglutide. I feel great. I used to drink wine most nights and felt like I needed it every night to chill out after the kids. Immediately on the shots, I had no desire to drink alcohol. Even if in a social situation and I have a drink, I rarely want to order a second.

    • JennyP RN says:

      Same! 👍

    • Have a Banana says:

      What happens when you stop taking semiglutide? The cravings to drink come back?

    • Martine Lille says:

      Are you going to take the drug for the rest of your life so as to keep the weight off?

    • DeMona Star says:

      @helenbollinger3764 Congratulations, keep up the positive mindset. I’m pre-diabetic and 295 lbs. My doctor just put me on ozempic. It’s only been a week now, so it’s encouraging to hear so many people having success with this medication. But I want to change my whole relationship and mindset with food. 🙏 Again, congratulations to those who are using it and having success.

  • T D says:

    I’ve been on Ozempic for 5 months. Everybody reacts differently to things. The only side effect I’ve had is getting sick if I overeat. I eat 1/3 of what I used to eat. I don’t care what others say or think about it. I feel and look so much better.

  • Lisa Eccles says:

    One thing for me that was scary sounding was muscle mass loss.
    As a nurse who’s worked almost 30 years with rehab, muscle you need.

    However, for people who struggle it sounds like a positive for them.
    I love the make sure this is for you caution.
    Personally, side effects always scare me but in practice I know people don’t mind as the benefits outweigh the risks for them.
    But also, people can be extremely trusting and just do what the doctor says

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      I couldn’t agree more! That’s why extensive research about this or any other drug is necessary before using it.

    • undertow says:

      It definitely needs to be be studied. At the same time anyone who dramatically decreases calories from what they used to consume and goes into catabolic metabolism mode is prone to lose muscle protein. The content of what you do eat when eating less matters even more. Ie likely need to increase the protein proportion of the calories you do consume.

    • Aivatzidis says:

      For me it changes my character, I feel ill all the time. My nails are long and gorgeous, drink craving less. Weight is coming back though. The worst thing was constipation, to the point of extreme severe pain. If my colon is destroyed and stretched God forbid if I had to have a colostomy or some other gastric damage. If it works for you great just be careful and cautious.

    • erika hutchcraft says:

      It’s great that people with diabetes get the added benefit of weight loss because it will help with their overall health and weight loss helps control diabetes!! If you don’t have diabetes can you imagine the toll on your pancreas and liver that you are exposing yourself to unnecessarily? I mean your body has to process the drug.
      A side affect they say in commercials pancreatitis. If you lose your pancreas you have to be on dialysis the rest of your life. Minimum of twice a week, some people 3 or more times a week.

      It’s not worth the risk except if you are a diabetes patient or your health condition risks are greater than pancreatitis (which I’m sure some people do in fact have).
      It should never be used for casual or vanity weight loss.

  • Zrien Kersh says:

    It totally stopped my OCD hair pulling and ADHD, was shocked, the only downside… projectile vomiting. Real double edged sword.

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      oh my! That sounds horrible!

    • Gigi Armany says:

      😂😂🤣🤣

    • Spero B’s Game Show says:

      Perhaps you are taking too high of a dosage? That’s what happened to me when I first took it. I was sick as a dog but after lowering my dosage it’s much better.

    • Vartan Polad says:

      It literally cleared 85% of my ADHD symptoms. Things I procrastinated for years I started and FINISHED in weeks. The only problem was that after 5 months of being on it I woke up one morning with the worst abdominal pain and I had to go to the ER so I got off, BUT bc it was a miracle drug for my ADHD I’m gonna give it another shot

    • Summer Knight says:

      Lmbo

  • Agnieszka Dygant says:

    This is very interesting to me. I’m from Poland, so we don’t have any medication like that yet and this is the first time I’m hearing about it and I find it crazy. From what I got to know it does something to your hormones and supposedly helps them out (correct me if I’m wrong) and it really seems like a miracle drug. I really would like to know the long term side effects, as I think anybody would like to know, cause it just sounds too good to be true. Other than that I just get really scared for people who say, that they are ready and willing to take it for the rest of their life. It literally just sounds scary. I can’t process that kind of thought, why would you want to make yourself dependent on such a drug, that creates so many changes in your body. I feel like if I heard from a doctor, that I HAVE to take such a drug for the rest of my life in order to live I would be extremely upset to be dependent on it and people are doing it willingly? Doesn’t make sense to me. Personally I will never use that drug unless it becomes actually life saving for me, but I think we already have such drugs, that help you with specific illnesses.

    • Barbara Stasiuk says:

      We have it in Poland. You need a prescription from a doctor and they are reluctant to give it to people without diabetes (since in Poland it’s technically only a diabetes medicine). Even with our country financing part of it, it’s pretty expensive – 400zl a month (but at the begining you need a smaller dose so you can inject less and stretch it to two months). But right now there are shortages so you need to know a pharmacist to get it. Here in Poland you have injections: ozempic and trulicity. There are also daily pills: saxenda and rybelsus

    • Alla Gerussi says:

      Reply to a Polish woman- I totally agree with you!

  • Chelsea Heninger says:

    I’ve been on semaglutide for 6 weeks and have lost 20 lbs! I am also an addict who has been in recovery for 10 years! I feel it takes away my obsessive thoughts over food. I eat when I’m hungry, and that’s it. I don’t have any weird side effects besides getting sick if I eat too much. Which is amazing because I used to never get sick no matter how much I ate, and I felt like food was ruining my life, and honestly my eating habits were starting to effect my kids as well. I am so glad I started taking it! It has been a positive experience for me and my family!

  • Edika Livingston says:

    Wow I had to come back and comment again now that I’m 25 minutes in! I appreciate this video so much as well as your unbiased take on it I just can not thank you enough! I’m morbidly obese 323 pounds today – I was once 420 pounds – I am working hard on myself losing it naturally with giving up sugar and bread and such and doing Intermittent as well as somewhat extended Fasting! I’m post menopausal and I suffer from deep depression and anxiety and it helps so much with that! My Doctor basically wouldn’t take No for an answer asked me to stop fasting and dang near fell on the floor when I said I gave up sugar and gave me a script for Ozempic! My mind was made up before I got the script but as I promised I would research if she would please research the benefits of fasting – I’ve done my part Ma’am I don’t need to go any further – I’m shutting down my own chatter about food – the longer I abstain from sugar the easier it gets – I don’t need a shot and the best part is my body isn’t losing muscle – I can’t be shorted out of my meds once I’m addicted because I’m making my own meds inside of me when I’m fasting 😂 I’m not sure your take but I wanted to share what this absolutely means to me – and the ultimate I won’t have to face ugly side effects because my only side effect is my dern pants keep falling to the floor and I sure am a lot nicer of a person when I’m not depressed and anxious! My goodness I don’t need Ozempic Thankfully I’m blessed enough to still be here ❤and that’s all I need IS ME!! ❤❤❤

    • Lucid Dreamer says:

      I’m menopausal and also IFing 20:4. Keep it up! I’m so happy you stood up to your doctor, fasting has a way of putting you in touch with your body and finally understanding what it needs, and it isn’t drugs.

    • Carole Just Carole says:

      Wow you are a champion! You have already done what so many can’t, using excellent choices and tools. Keep going!

    • zxy atiywariii says:

      That’s how I went from being obese to the healthy BMI I’ve maintained for years now — intermittent fasting and no sugars or simple carbs. (I never had a sweet tooth but I did have a carb tooth, lol, so the second part was difficult for a while.)
      I love that I can maintain this forever now, nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels.

    • E Louise says:

      Great job! You can do it!😊🎉

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      You just don’t know how much inspiration you are giving to all of us!!! You are so AMAZING Edika!! ❤️❤️❤️

  • C Cccc says:

    When I was bartending, I noticed that people who went on the oral semiglutides started living better, basically. I saw a pretty noticeable correlation between getting treatment for their type 2 diabetes and a major decrease in their drinking and even gambling habits. I kind of just noted it as “they got scared because the doctor told them it was serious and now they are trying harder”. I also kind of filed it in my mind that they weren’t binging on drink or foods because they were constantly talking about how they were having some digestive issues that were severe enough to just not want to get caught in a public toilet or their work toilet.

  • erin likes a cornish pasty says:

    I stopped drinking soda, fruit juices, and alcohol about two years ago. I would say I quit, but I’m not a tea totaler about it, and will very, very occasionally have a few sips of soda or an old fashioned. I tried the Keto diet for about three months two years ago as well, and it helped put a lot of things in perspective for me. I realized how much sugar is in fruit, for example, and that I can’t just eat fruit anytime I want cake. I realized how store bought breads and other premade grain based products make my body feel. The biggest thing I learned, the MOST important thing I’d say, is that the only thing that keeps me from doing something destructive to myself is my brain. I have to, every day, several times a day, make a decision to eat certain foods that actually fuel my body and lifestyle. It’s like being married; I have to choose, every day, to show my spouse the love and respect I promised to on the day we married. So, now, I just use my mind. I’m sure walking in the woods helps too though.

    *I have an “addictive personality” and at one point had a difficult time not using various substances. But my most terrible addiction was ALWAYS soda, so the fact that I’ve been able to stop drinking soda AND booze. I mean, I feel great! Clarity and health are better than that small, instant gratification I used to get from either soda or booze.

    • silverpyramid9 says:

      I always crack up when ketoists blame fruit….you didn’t get fat from eating watermelon! Just chose close to the earth, exercise regularly and quit when you are full, cut out snacks….no need to get crazy.

  • Gutten Aug says:

    I think you made a great point about professionals condoning restrictive low caloric diets yet accepting it if the patient is on ozempic. I personally think our obesity epidemic has effected the health care industry so greatly that medical professionals are willing to try anything. I know plenty of doctors who wish they could tell their patients to just close their mouths to food but know they would lose their license if they were honest because it’s not polite or politically correct. So many modern conditions, that didn’t even exist a few years ago are due to being overweight.

  • For the Love of Halloween says:

    my husband is a diabetic, and has trouble getting this drug at times due to the weight loss surge. He still has all his addictive behaviors lol

    • Daurie Schwartz says:

      Don’t expect these people who aren’t willing to put in the work to overcome their addictions or weight issues really care that they are selfishly creating a shortage for people like your husband that really need it.

    • Chalene Johnson says:

      It’s sad to know that those people who need this are having a hard time getting access to it.

  • Kristal Rose says:

    I’ve been on it for 4 weeks now, not only have I lost weight and started working out again, I absolutely don’t want to drink anymore. I didnt even expect that to be a side effect but obviously it’s a great side effect! Use with caution but for me it’s been great!

  • Sarah Connor says:

    Thank you for standing up for people who are overweight because they might have a medical issue. My daughter has struggled with her weight since she developed pcos as a freshman in high school. Her struggle breaks my heart. She works so hard to eat right etc while other girls her age (now in college) eat and drink whatever they want without gaining a pound.

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