Dolores Catania is thinking about quitting Ozempic.
In a recent interview with Hello!, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 54, opened up about taking the medication for weight loss and being one of the first celebrities to talk openly about it.
“I kind of think I broke the seal on being honest about it,” she told the outlet. “With Ozempic, it has been a life-changer for me and my boyfriend Paul [Connell], who lost 60 pounds. He no longer takes a certain blood pressure medication and it’s been really positive.”
Ozempic is an FDA-approved prescription medication to treat type 2 diabetes. The medication — taken weekly by injection in the thigh, stomach or arm — is a brand name for semaglutide, which works in the brain to impact satiety.
The drug has gained popularity in and out of Hollywood over the last few years as many people turn to it for weight loss, even when not medically necessary.
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Dolores Catania.
John Nacion/Variety via Getty
“I personally like it,” the reality star said of the drug. “I know it’s time for me to wean myself off or go on a lower dose but doctors have said there’s not really anything wrong with staying on it.”
“You must always go through a real doctor though who knows what they are doing,” she added. “Research is everything.”
Catania first revealed that she was taking Ozempic in early 2023, sharing that she lost 20 lbs. by May of that year. The Bravo star has since been vocal about having no shame using the trendy medication and boasted last year that she was back to her “high school weight.”
In April 2023, Catania defended her use of the drugs, emphasizing that “there are layers” to her situation and she’s taking them for medical reasons.
”I’m going through menopause, I have a thyroid issue, I have inflammation and weight is hard to take off,” she explained during an episode of Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. “And I work out, and I don’t eat crazy, and I was gaining weight, and it’s a lot of different layers… Let’s just let everybody know.”
Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen — the physician at New York Endocrinology who prescribed Catania Ozempic — later spoke to Today and explained that no one should be judging whether someone needs to be on a medication like Ozempic simply based on their appearance.
“Whenever we see somebody that we may think they don’t need the medication, unless you’re their doctor, you don’t know their medical history,” she told the outlet. “You don’t know what medications they’re taking, you don’t know their internal health and the reasoning for a patient … to be on this type of medication.”