Roxy Jacenko reveals drug overdose horror

Roxy Jacenko is warning people against using Ozempic after she overdosed on the controversial drug that left her feeling like she was dying.

Roxy Jacenko is warning people against using Ozempic after she overdosed on the controversial drug that left her feeling like she was dying.

In an interview with the Saturday Telegraph, the PR guru revealed she had turned to the diabetes medication — which is not authorised for weight loss in Australia — after struggling to lose weight.

She revealed she had gained 15kg as a result of using Tamoxifen which is a hormone therapy used for treating breast cancer, so she tried Ozempic.

Read the full interview in The Daily Telegraph

Jacenko told The Saturday Telegraph she had tried everything from eating less to cutting out alcohol, but nothing worked.

“I tried not eating much, I tried cutting out alcohol and I tried exercising. It didn’t work, I didn’t shed the weight,” she said.

“I thought, ‘I am reading and hearing about Ozempic all the time. I am trying it.”

When she went to her doctor and he refused to give her a prescription for it, she went elsewhere and obtained it with ease.

“You would be blown away by the number of people who will give you scripts for that stuff,” she said.

Jacenko said she searched for Ozempic and resorted to paying someone $2500 to pick it up from Nowra.

Once she got her hands on it, she described acting “like a junkie” due to her desperation to lose the weight she had gained. So much so that she put her life at risk by taking four doses in one go.

In an interview with the Saturday Telegraph, Roxy Jacenko spoke about her bad experience with Ozempic. Image: Roxy Jacenko/Instagram

She spoke candidly about her experience. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“I thought, ‘you know what, I am desperate. I had turned into this person who would only wear leggings, trainers and an oversized T-shirt,” she said.

“I didn’t feel comfortable, I didn’t feel confident. I couldn’t even do my jeans up. I couldn’t wait.”

Jacenko’s body had an adverse reaction to the high dosage as she vomited uncontrollably, along with non-stop shaking commonly seen in epilepsy. Things got so bad that she called an ambulance and was rushed to a hospital.

After her bad experience with the drug, Jacenko is warning others to stay away from it.

“Why am I speaking about this? Because if there is one thing about me, I own it. And if this is a lesson to anyone who is trying to get it, then great. It is not worth the ramifications,” she said.

There’s been a worldwide shortage of the diabetes medication since it gained popularity online, with the shortage in Australia remaining until the end of 2023.

According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the large scale of demand for the drug means it’ll remain in short supply until the end of the year.

In May 2022, the TGA released a joint statement with Novo Nordisk, the company that supplies Ozempic for GPs to prioritise the drug for those with diabetes.

“At this stage there is adequate supply of Ozempic for these patients, but stock shortages may continue with increased demand due to off-label prescribing for use in the management of obesity,” the TGA advised.

“We recognise the importance of Ozempic for patients living with diabetes and the other chronic health conditions it is being used to treat, and we are taking this shortage very seriously.”

In Australia, prescription medications like Ozempic aren’t allowed to be advertised to the public. The reason being is to ensure people make health decisions with their practitioner and not from advertising.

The TGA is now investigating the alleged illegal advertising of Ozempic and are meeting with social platforms, particularly TikTok in order to reinforce the Australian therapeutic goods advertising laws.

Originally published as Roxy Jacenko reveals drug overdose horror