Kate Moss’s sister Lottie claims she had a seizure on Ozempic. An expert weighs in on the importance of using these medications properly.

Model Lottie Moss is speaking out against the use of diabetes medication for weight loss after she allegedly had a seizure after taking Ozempic.

The 26-year-old sister of 1990s fashion icon Kate Moss, spoke out on her podcast this week about how she tried Ozempic — which she obtained through a friend — and suffered health consequences.

Moss initially sought out the drug when she was feeling insecure about her weight and hoped to use it to drop pounds. She said that a friend helped her connect with a doctor who could prescribe the medication. "It was kind of below board, not going to lie, it was from a doctor, but it wasn't like you go into a doctor's office and he prescribes it for you, he gets your blood pressure, he takes all these tests, which is what you need when you go on something like Ozempic," Moss said.

Ozempic consists of the active ingredient semaglutide and is used for diabetes management. It’s unclear, however, whether Moss received Ozempic, specifically, or a different version of the drug.

“I took it for two weeks, and you get like, a pen, and then it comes with different doses,” Moss shared. “And you take one injection one week, one injection the next week, and you take it like, every week. And I've never felt so sick in my life. I was throwing up. It was horrible. I took a lower dosage the first time I took it, then I went up higher, and I ended up being in bed for like, two days.”

Moss said she ended up having a seizure in the hospital from “how dehydrated” she was, describing the ordeal as “one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me in my life.”

“I hope that by me talking about this, it can maybe be a lesson to some people that it's so not worth it. It’s for diabetes,” she said.

What an expert says

Dr. Melanie Jay, associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the Comprehensive Program on Obesity, told Yahoo Life that it’s important to note that Moss was not under the supervision of a doctor, and therefore “not a good candidate for the medication.” She also notes that Moss was not taking the medication as intended by the drug manufacturers. For Ozempic, specifically, “you start [on a] 0.25 mg dose weekly for one month before going to the next dose so that your body can get acclimated to it,” Jay says. “Then, you go to the next dose weekly for another month.”

Moss, however, went onto a higher dose the very next week, after which she became very sick.

Jay also said it’s unclear whether Moss was on Ozempic or a different version of a weight loss drug, which could explain the discrepancies in dosing. When you receive a box of Ozempic from a pharmacy, you receive four pens of the same dose for the month.

How common are Ozempic overdoses?

In December 2023, poison control centers reported a 1,500% increase in calls related to injectable weight loss drugs. Earlier this month, Utah Poison Control Center reported a 640% increase in calls since 2020, with more calls in 2024 than years prior.

In July, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about overdoses of semaglutide, which is also the active ingredient in Wegovy, the medication made by pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk that is specifically for weight loss.

The FDA stated that people who took too much semaglutide had symptoms such as:

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Fainting

• Headache

• Migraine

• Dehydration

• Acute pancreatitis

• Gallstones

Some people sought hospitalization for their symptoms, the FDA reported.

The warning, however, was not about the drugs made by Novo Nordisk but about compounded versions of semaglutide. Compounded semaglutide is made by compounding pharmacies, which create customized medications by mixing or altering ingredients to meet the specific needs of a patient. These versions may not meet the same standards as FDA-approved drugs because they are not subject to the same oversight.

In this case, the issue was in the dosing: while Ozempic and Wegovy come in prefilled pens, compounded versions typically come in vials, so patients can mistakenly give themselves a higher dose than recommended.

Joseph Lambson, director of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center, previously explained to Healthline: “Most of these pens will administer only one dose, and you click the pen into action. You inject it like an EpiPen, and you have your dose. But these compounded formulations, what makes them more likely to cause an overdose is that they’re being dispensed commonly in a vial and accompanied with that a needle and syringe.”

If you do choose to use a compounded version of the drugs, be aware that they “pose a higher risk to patients than FDA-approved drugs because compounded drugs do not undergo FDA premarket review for safety, effectiveness or quality,” per the FDA.

“Compounded drugs should only be used to meet a patient’s needs if the patient’s medical needs cannot be met by an available FDA-approved drug,” the federal agency explained.

The bottom line

If you are interested in taking semaglutide for weight loss, it’s important to speak to your doctor, who can help guide you through getting a prescription for one of the medications on the market. They can also assess whether these drugs are truly appropriate for you, since they are supposed to be prescribed only for people who meet certain health criteria, such as having a BMI above a certain target or a weight-related condition such as hypertension.

Compounding pharmacies are a way for people to get access to medication during drug shortages that many people seeking weight loss drugs face. They also may be an option for individuals who could benefit from these drugs but are not able to get them through their insurance due to cost issues. (Out of pocket, Ozempic and Wegovy can cost upwards of $1,000 per month.)

However, it’s important to know that these compounded drugs also come with risks, such as the more complicated dosing. A doctor can guide you through this process, which is why it’s always best to seek medical care before going on your weight loss drug journey.