Reality star panics after gaining 20lbs when weight loss drug stopped working
The use of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has surged in recent years.
But the medications are not foolproof, as evidenced by a reality television star who just revealed hers 'stopped working.'
Dolores Catania, 54, appeared on the June 6 episode of Jeff Lewis' eponymous SiriusXM show, where she revealed she's gained 20lbs.
'I'm having a really hard time right now. My Mounjaro stopped working. I gained 20 lbs,' the Real Housewives of New Jersey personality shared.
'I've been looking for therapy for all my friends. I'm really having a bad time with this,' she said while on the show with co-star Margaret Josephs.
GLP-1 prescriptions are FDA-approved and are often prescribed to people with diabetes.
Mounjaro's main component is tirzepatide, while Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for semaglutide. The drugs improve satiety, reducing appetite and optimizing how the body processes sugar and fat, according to MayoClinic.
Catania initially dropped weight using the medication, but has now gained it back.
When asked if switching her medicine could be helpful, she replied, 'I did it all.'
She explained that she's no longer taking Mounjaro due to having a cardiac ablation to correct her abnormal heart rhythm.
The Bravo star said she's doing 'fine' now: 'I'm on a bunch of medicine, like, 10 pills a day. It's just a formality now. I have to take it for the next 90 days, then I should be done.'
And she added, 'Maybe that's why I gained weight. I'm hoping maybe that's why.'
Catania was among the first crop of celebrities who openly admitted to using one of the three popular weight loss drugs.
After two years of taking it, she said in a February Hello! magazine interview: 'I know it's time for me to wean myself off or go on a lower dose.'
Catania weighed 157lbs when she started taking the GLP-1 medication, starting with Ozempic before switching to Mounjaro.
She cautioned that anyone considering the medications 'must always go through a real doctor, who knows what they are doing.'
'Research is everything,' she emphasized.
The mother-of-two added that the medicine was 'a life changer' for her and boyfriend Paul Connell, who lost 60 pounds.
She shared: 'He no longer takes a certain blood pressure medication, and it's been really positive. There are side effects like nausea, but you take a pill for that.'
Other stars who have been candid about turning to the weight loss support of Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy include Amy Schumer, Oprah, and Eric Stonestreet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Evening Standard
21 minutes ago
- Evening Standard
Three teenagers appear in court over rioting in Ballymena
Fern Britton reveals what she did to lose five stone - without using Ozempic Fern Britton reveals how she lost five stone without using Ozempic
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Trump's top doctor exposes government's autism cover-up: 'It's dangerous to ask questions'
America's top doctor claims US government scientists don't know what causes autism because they are afraid of being branded antivaxxers. Dr Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health, is leading research to pinpoint the cause of autism spectrum disorder, which is soaring in the US. Autism rates have increased from one in 150 to one per 31 in the past two decades, according to the CDC, but there is some debate as to why. The consensus is it's because of improved screening tools and doctor awareness, but Dr Bhattacharya told podcaster Dr Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist, what is really needed to find answers is an 'open-minded deep investigation.' However, he said there aren't many scientists in his department willing to probe the cause of autism. Dr Bhattacharya said: 'I think the reason we have not had the kind of open-minded deep investigation by science, the scientific community at large, on the etiology [of autism] that the parents deserve, the kids deserve, is because it's dangerous to ask that question. 'If you're a scientist, all of a sudden you're going to be accused, often incorrectly, of being an antivaxxer, and that's the end of your scientific career. That kind of suppression of scientific curiosity means that we don't have an answer to this question [of what causes autism].' Dr Bhattacharya said vaccines are unlikely to be the cause of autism, and he will investigate 'many other potential hypotheses for the rise,' including changes to the gut's collection of beneficial bacteria. The graph above from a Rutgers University study displays autism prevalence per 1,000 eight-year-old children in New Jersey, separated by intellectual ability. It shows that the rate of autism diagnoses without intellectual disabilities (blue line) has increased more sharply over time compared to those with intellectual disabilities (green line) Dr Bhattacharya said: 'I think that if you have an honest evaluation, you're not going to find that the vaccines are the primary cause of the rise in autism. 'It's going to be something much more fundamental and complicated.' But now, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr, who has pushed the debunked link, has tasked the NIH leader to recruit the nation's best scientists to research potential environmental causes, including pollution and environmental toxins. Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again Initiative aims to tackle what he calls an 'epidemic' of autism, a developmental condition resulting in anything from mild social challenges to severe cases involving nonverbal individuals and significant impairments. Dr Bhattacharya noted that, historically, questioning any potential link between vaccines and autism has been a death sentence for a person's scientific career. Autism and vaccines were first linked in a 1998 study by Dr Andrew Wakefield. In the study, Dr Wakefield concluded a causal link between the measles vaccine (MMR) and autism. After it was revealed that Wakefield fabricated data to support his claim, performed unnecessary invasive procedures, and had previously filed a patent for a rival measles vaccine from which he gained to profit, his study was retracted and his medical license was revoked. Last year, scientists uncovered 26 types of gut bacteria linked to autism by comparing children with ASD to their siblings. Levels of a probiotic called bifidobacterium, which has been linked to severity of autism symptoms, were lower in children with ASD. ther types, including clostridia and sarcina were higher in those with ASD, which have previously been associated with brain inflammation and behavioral symptoms. The researchers' findings suggest that the gut microbiome could play a crucial role in autism and potentially shape its severity. RFK Jr has also stated environmental 'toxins' could be fueling a rise in autism, including exposure to mold, pesticides, food chemicals, and ultrasound scans, though several studies have found no link between exposure to ultrasound waves in the womb and autism. Recent research has suggested a potential link between environmental pesticides and an increased risk of ASD, particularly in utero and during childhood. And while the exact link between ASD and food additives and dyes is not completely understood, researchers at the University of Central Florida found that when pregnant women eat a lot of processed foods, levels of a naturally occurring enzyme in the digestive tract spike. Those elevated levels can impact fetal brain development and brain cells' ability to communicate with other parts of the body. RFK Jr said in April: 'This is a preventable disease. We know it's an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. They can provide a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin.' Dr Bhattacharya has made it clear that, as NIH director, he will not influence the conclusions researchers reach in this initiative. 'I don't want the results to be disbelieved because I put my thumb on the scale,' he said. 'I eagerly await the results of the unbiased studies.' He said that by September, the NIH will begin dispersing funding to answer questions about autism's origins. Dr Bhattacharya added: 'You can't rush science, but I'm hoping within a relatively short period of time, who knows how long exactly, depends on how science works, we'll have a much better understanding of the [cause] of autism than we had at this current moment.'
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Game changing' fat jabs WON'T help you lose as much weight as you think, scientists discover
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SO-CALLED 'miracle' weight-loss jabs are far less effective in the real world than in clinical trials, a major study has revealed. The new findings could have big implications for Brits considering the injections, which have soared in popularity across the UK in recent years. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 In a 'real-world' setting people might lose less weight in a regular clinical setting than during clinical trials Credit: Alamy 2 The drugs work best when people stick to them and take the full recommended dose Credit: Reuters Until now, the jabs have been hailed as an easier alternative to classic weight loss methods like calorie counting, weight watchers and the gym. But researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in the US found average weight loss on the jabs in the 'real world' is just 6.9 per cent after a year. This is less than half the amount typically seen in clinical trials, where patients often lose 15 per cent with semaglutide, the ingredient in Wegovy, and up to 22.5 per cent with tirzepatide, found in Mounjaro. The study, published on Tuesday in Obesity, followed 7,881 adults with severe obesity who started semaglutide or tirzepatide between 2021 and 2023. It discovered the drugs worked best when people stuck to them and took the full recommended dose, but in the real world, that rarely happened. More than one in five patients (21 per cent) stopped taking the jabs within the first three months, and another 32 per cent quit between three and 12 months. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent were on lower-than-recommended maintenance doses, needed to keep the weight off. Those who quit early lost just 3.6 per cent of their body weight. Patients who stayed on the treatment for a full year lost 11.9 per cent on average. The best results were seen in people who stayed on full doses, who lost 13.7 per cent with semaglutide and 18 per cent with tirzepatide. GP-approved tips to really lose weight safely - and keep it off 'Our findings could inform the decisions of healthcare providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions," Dr Hamlet Gasoyan, lead author of the study, said. Among the 1,320 people with prediabetes, the precursor to type 2 diabetes, at the start of the study, those who stayed on the jabs were also far more likely to reverse the condition. Don't stop the drugs early These medications work by copying a natural hormone found in the body called GLP-1. This hormone helps people feel fuller for longer, which reduces appetite and helps with weight loss. It also helps control blood sugar by telling the pancreas to make more insulin and slowing down how quickly sugar from food gets into the bloodstream. That's why these drugs are effective at both preventing type 2 diabetes and helping people shed pounds. Just 33 per cent of early quitters returned to normal blood sugar levels, compared with 68 per cent of those who stayed on the medication. 'Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common complications of obesity, so diabetes prevention is very important,' Dr Gasoyan said. 'This study highlights that treatment discontinuation, especially early, negatively affects both weight and glycemic control outcomes.' The most common reasons for stopping the jabs were cost, insurance issues, side effects and shortages, it said, The experts said a follow-up study is planned to dig deeper into why patients quit, and what happens to their weight afterwards.
