During the COVID pandemic, J. Paul Grayson was hit with an avalanche of health problems — high blood pressure, prediabetes and a heart arrhythmia.
He also gained 40 pounds to his 6-feet 3-inches frame. “I felt like my weight was getting out of control,” says the 73-year-old retiree, who lives on a ranch in Oklahoma. “I had to start taking all these medications that I never had to take before. I actually felt pretty depressed about my health.”
About six months ago, Grayson began taking the popular weight-loss drug Ozempic. He knew the side effects could be rough, including nausea, constipation, and diarrhea. But he thought it would be worth it if he could stave off further heart problems by losing the extra weight.
“Right away, I started eating less and losing weight,” he says. That was expected. But what Grayson hadn’t expected was that the drug also immediately altered one of his other habits.
“I remember going to dinner for the first time [while taking Ozempic],” Grayson explains. “I ordered a beer, took a sip, and I couldn’t finish it,” he says. “You know how sometimes you taste a beer, and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this tastes so good that I want to guzzle it.’ Well, I didn’t feel like guzzling. I just really felt like sipping it.”
And, instead of having several beers with dinner, Grayson stopped at just one drink.
J. Paul Grayson experienced an interesting side effect when he started taking Ozempic: He lost his taste for alcohol.
In the past year, prescriptions…
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