Nothing can scare Jennifer Fessler away from using Ozempic — even an impacted bowel.
During Monday’s episode of her “Two Jersey Js” podcast with Jackie Goldschneider, the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” newcomer revealed she dealt with a rather uncomfortable side effect after taking the celebrity-loved weight loss drug.
“I have been on, and I’m not going to call it Ozempic — that’s been the umbrella name. But I’ve been on semaglutide for over a year now, and I’ve lost maybe 22 pounds,” Fessler, 55, said during the podcast. (Notably, semaglutide is the active ingredient in drugs like Ozempic.)
Despite admitting to being “a raging hypochondriac,” Fessler says when it comes to things involving her “physical appearance” her anxiety goes “out the window.”
“I’m not afraid of Ozempic and I will tell you I have had an experience that was not good — and I’m pretty positive it was about the semaglutide — where I had to go to the hospital for an impacted bowel … and I’m still not nervous about it.”
Fessler explained that one of the “side effects” of the drug can be “constipation,” which she dealt with for a while but decided to brush off.
“I was drinking no water, eating no vegetables because something that happens, a new experience for me, is being able to eat what I want even when it’s not the most healthy choices and still lose weight,” she explained. “So maybe for the first time in my life, I’m losing weight on pizza and bagels and ice cream.
“Having said that, I noticed there was constipation, I didn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t taking Miralax, that you take every morning, or any kind of stool softener,” she said. “I hadn’t gone in a week, then it was a week and a half.”
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However, she stopped her story mid-way through to admit that she was “to blame” for “ignoring” the signs and has since changed her ways.
“I haven’t had a problem since,” she said.
When Goldschneider brought up that “muscle loss” was another known side effect, Fessler revealed that she did lose some muscle and started going to the doctor “every month” to get it checked.
“Physically, I feel a lot better in clothes,” Fessler said. “When I’m not in clothes I look 90 because I have gone up and down my more than 20 pounds in my life … so there is a lot of skin that exists now when you lose muscle and fat.”
“Again, I have to take responsibility for that in the sense that, you know, you don’t put on muscle when you just lay horizontal on your bed eating chips. It doesn’t work like that,” she continued, noting that she recently hired a personal trainer.
Although Fessler spoke candidly about her decision to go on the weight loss drug, Goldschneider voiced her disdain for the medication, which she claims “more than half” of the “RHONJ” cast is currently on.
“I am an outspoken advocate for eating disorder recovery and a very strong opponent of semaglutides for losing those last 10 pounds,” she explained.
“I think it’s a very dangerous trend but out of respect for each other and our friendship, we have never discussed it,” she continued.
Fessler, who also recently got a facelift and nose job, first hinted that she was taking the popular drug in March while on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
During the taping, the reality TV star admitted that she lost “a lot of weight” by taking “peptides” — but played coy when asked directly if she was on Ozempic.
“You said it, I didn’t. But … whatever works, here I am,” she joked.
