Rosie O'Donnell revealed on a podcast that she took the lowest dose of Mounjaro for a year before gradually increasing it over three years. The 64-year-old actress said she has lost about 60 pounds and never experienced any side effects. She also expressed a wish to lower the drug's price for…
Rosie O'Donnell has shared a detailed account of her Mounjaro dosage regimen, emphasizing that she has taken the weight-loss drug at a deliberate and slow pace. The former talk show host discussed her experience during Monday's episode of the podcast "Bleep With Ana Navarro."
O'Donnell, who is 64 years old, revealed that she has lost approximately 60 pounds over the course of three years while using Mounjaro.
O'Donnell explained that she started with the lowest possible dose of Mounjaro, which is 2.5 milligrams. She remained on that dosage for an entire year. After that, she increased to a 5 milligram dose, again for a full year. Currently, she is finishing a year at 7.5 milligrams.
The former co-host of "The View" stated that she plans to increase the dosage only one more time before keeping it at that level permanently. She deliberately chose a slow progression because she knows that rapid weight loss in the past has caused her distress. "I wanted to go slow because I know that it overwhelms me when I have lost weight quick before," O'Donnell said, referencing "everyone's reaction" to her changing body.
She told listeners, "I like doing it at a slow pace. I like how it feels that I'm not sick, that I've never had any kind of side effects." O'Donnell said her doctor repeatedly encouraged her to increase the dose, but she resisted. "The doctor kept saying, 'I want you to go up,' and I'm like, 'I'm fine as it is.'"
When podcast host Ana Navarro asked O'Donnell if she ever had to rush to the bathroom because of the GLP-1 medication, the Daytime Emmy winner was firm in her response. "Never," O'Donnell replied. She attributed her lack of side effects to her slow titration, noting that she spent a full year on the 2.5 milligram dose before moving up.
O'Donnell first disclosed her use of Mounjaro in January 2023 through a TikTok video. At that time, she said she had been prescribed both Mounjaro and Rapatha two months prior.
In her January 2023 TikTok, O'Donnell described how the medication altered her thinking about food. "It's like it alters something in your thought process. ... It's weird," she explained. She noted that she no longer thought about food "at all" and experienced a "significantly" reduced appetite. She also shared a lifestyle change: "I really stopped drinking like five or six Diet Cokes a day. All I drink is water now. And I'm not eating sugar as much as I can." At that time, she had already lost 10 pounds.
Over the next few years, O'Donnell continued to document her weight loss journey on social media, showing off what she called her "new smaller body."
In a July interview with People magazine, O'Donnell credited the type 2 diabetes drug with saving her life. She expressed a wish that the medication were more affordable. "I really wish I could do commercials for Mounjaro and they would drop the price instead of paying me," she told People. "Because when I see people struggling with obesity, I want to say I know the shame that we carry and the humiliation that is dealt to people who are overweight."
O'Donnell reported feeling "much healthier and more powerful" in her current physical condition.
Peptides referenced: Tirzepatide, GLP-1.
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