IT was April 2023 and I wasn’t feeling well for a few months. We arrived at Dr. Wendydening’s private practice in London and talked about Ozempic. As a 50-year-old beauty journalist, in charge of the business of advising women (and increasingly more and more men) to the best cosmetic surgery and practitioners, I have always prioritized trying to show my best. Towards menopause, this was becoming increasingly challenging. My health was nose digging as my hormones fluctuate. I gained weight and suffered from lower back pain and a certain amount of back pain from blood tests.
To lose weight, I spent about 3,000 pounds with a functional medical doctor. supplement. At one point I was taking about 45 tablets per day and it was pretty difficult to swallow. Despite exercising with my trainer three times a week and raising my steps, I ended up having annoyed cycles. I lost a few kilometres, and then my busy life derailed me – working dinner, computer deadlines and long stints, juggling my kids’ school holidays at work, leaving me 24/7, 7 days a year, leaving me with little time left for my maintenance self-care routine, weight piled up behind.
On the day I walked to Denning’s office, I weighed 70.5kg (1 kg or 2 kg or 2 pieces of shy, weighing it while explaining my back pain). After a full medical consultation, my blood pressure and more blood tests, Denning said I would be a good candidate to try Ozempic with a private prescription. I read out the side effects (nausea, constipation, explosive diarrhea, and worse, pancreatitis or thyroid cancer) and didn’t underestimate it.
As a mother of two, I desperately wanted to regain my health and lost vitality. Most importantly, I didn’t want to venture further into the diabetes zone, so I gradually increased to 0.5mg after 4 months as my body was slowly adjusted to medication.
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Thanks to this low slow approach, I was able to dodge most of the common medical side effects of Ozempic. But four months later, I was down 5kg when I realized something strange was beginning to happen to my face. The first red flag was a photo of a friend texting us at a party. There I was shining in an Alice Temperry dress that I couldn’t wear for years, but the horror under my eyes was two sausage-shaped bumps.
It was Katherine DeNuve who once said that a woman of a certain age had to choose between a face and a butt, but I decided that I didn’t have to make this choice. So, after 100 selfies, I arrived at the Dr. Medispa Clinic to try the sausage face to see the aesthetic doctor, Munir Somji. After ultrasound in the area under my eyes, he said I looked like I had lost fat under the eyes, there were signs of depressions and the bumps were chunks of old filler (I was shocked because I only had a few drops under each eye three years ago).
“Thanks to some subtle tweaks, I’m one step ahead of the scary Ozempic face.”
John Angel for the Times
Somji explained that the fat pads under the eyes naturally descend with age, but my recent weight loss has turbo boost fat atrophy and southward movement, with unattractive cavities and fillers moving down. He quickly dissolved the mass with an injection of hyaluronidase, an enzyme that dissolves hyaluronic acid (the water attractant that makes up most fillers). The procedure costs 500 pounds, but it quickly improved as the lump flattened, but I still looked like a haggard.
I have not been eager to go down the filler route under the eyes again, so I have done some research and chose to take the most Prince polynucleotide injection course. Plinest has been producing Polynuxleotides since 1952 (by extracting and purifying DNA from freshwater trout) for many medical issues such as wound healing, joint regeneration and cartilage. It has only recently been possible to gain traction as a treatment applied to facial tissue and skin. The idea is to stimulate fibroblasts, cells that produce collagen and elastin. Importantly, it is less likely to have puffy eyes as it does not attract water like hyaluronic acid fillers.
I saw Dr. Ashwin Soni, who owns a clinic in London, and Dr. Ashwin Soni, near my home in Ascot for treatment. The polynucleotides were not an immediate fix, but after a top-up treatment a month later (it’s not cheap as each session costs £500), my skin texture was smooth and slightly provocative, removing the tired grey tint that had been hiding under my eyes. This is a continuous treatment that is performed twice a year at Soni, as it will last for about six months.
That’s not the only thing I’ve worked on “The Face of Ozempic.” After a chat with a doctor I saw for bioidentical hormone therapy, I decided to try the normative 0.05% estradiol-based cream prepared with Boswellia extract (a plant-based anti-inflammatory agent).
In the spring of 2024, after taking Ozempic for a year, I was underweight so I administered it to 1mg to shift my last kilo under medical supervision. Last summer I hit my target weight of 60kg, but I was worried that my face might be starting to gaze despite most of my adult life.
One of my main concerns was my thread-like neck. This showed off the necklace-like platis marquee lines and crepe skin, which made me feel more self-conscious about the points I was shopping for neck shirts and dresses. Last August, I went to see Dr. Bibigare on Harrace Street to see another Plinest treatment (called Plinest Newest) that combines polynucleotides with hyaluronic acid. It is a thicker product than an eye treatment and costs £1,500. Gully injected my neck and decolete, leaving behind a lump necklace that had not subsided for about three days. However, my skin looked stiffer and fresher, so I felt the treatment was worth a little downtime. Now, when I do a pinch test with my neck, my skin quickly snaps back the snapback back, before it continues to wrinkle like an iron-like shirt.
I’m not going to give me weight loss injections forever, but I’m trying to maintain my current weight of 62kg. I stopped taking Ozempic before Christmas, but realized I was gaining weight, so I’m now a micro-stop mounjaro. This is a slightly different medication that is sold specifically for weight loss (takes a minimum of 2.5mg doses every 12 days). I will probably continue this for the next few months before trying to pull myself apart completely.
I’m worried about things like muscle loss. One of the best finds I’ve had recently was the Luco protein powder. This helps to increase protein intake and muscle volume (essential when using weight loss jabs in middle age). Load 2 teaspoons into a green smoothie that you will drink in the morning. I love the fact that it’s slightly sweetened with organic dating powder rather than artificial sweeteners. This is suitable for blood sugar levels.
People may criticize me, but these injections have changed my health and I never felt better. My blood tests show that I am no longer in the dangerous prediabetic zone. My cholesterol has dropped from 6.6 and I’m currently sitting at 5.7. I feel really energetic, confident and happy. And thanks to some subtle tweaks I’m one step ahead of the scary Ozempic face.
Olivia Falcon is the founder of the Editors list @theeditorslist
