Mama June reveals plans to SELL affordable weight loss drug as she turns to miracle injections after 'packing on' 130lbs - nine years on from gastric sleeve surgery

Mama June Shannon has revealed she will be working with a company to help provide affordable weight loss drugs to the masses, after starting her own journey with miracle diabetes medications.

After previously insisting she had no interest in using weight-loss injections, the reality star, 44, U-turned on her decision back in April when she started taking a form of semaglutide, similar to the popular 'quick-fix,' Ozempic.

Now, the Mama June: Family Crisis star is gearing up to launch a service to help fans get access to affordable game-changing medication loved by stars including Sharon Osborne and Oprah Winfrey.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, she said: 'The medicine is truly, truly, truly expensive, but I found a company that I am starting to work with that very soon the people who are on the weight loss medication [will] have a more affordable way to get their medicine.

'I personally was paying $500 a month for my medicine. Now I only pay $199, and that includes the doctor visit and the medicine - and you can have it shipped right to your door.'

Mama June Shannon has revealed she will be working with a company to help provide affordable weight loss drugs to the masses

After previously insisting she had no interest in using weight-loss injections, the 44-year-old started taking them in April

The reality star had famously shed 355 pounds after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery nine years ago. 

However, she claimed to have gained over 100 pounds from the stress of caring for her daughter Anna Cardwell - who died last year after being diagnosed with stage four adrenal cancer.

The ordeal spurred the TV matriarch to try the appetite suppressant drugs, despite her earlier claims that she would avoid it due to her past addiction struggles.

'I'll be honest, I was that person a year ago that said I would never do Ozempic,' the mother-of-four stated. 'Even three months ago - because I had the medicine in my refrigerator for a month and a half.

'But I went to like a personal physician and ran a bunch of tests to make sure I was gonna be good to use it.'

She continued: 'I first started off as semaglutide, which is like Ozempic. Now I'm on Tirzepatide.'

Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for the medication semaglutide, which suppresses appetite and triggers weight loss. 

Tirzepatide, sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of weight loss and type 2 diabetes.

She claimed to have gained over 100 pounds from the stress of caring for her daughter Anna Cardwell (pictured with her daughter Honey Boo Boo, Pumpkin and Jessica)

Opening up about the results she has seen so far, Mama June boasted: 'I'm nearly nine weeks in and I’ve lost 30 pounds. I'm also in the gym all the time, and being really strict about my eating.'

As for her fears about the side effects some users have encountered, she admitted: 'I was the girl that was worried about the side effects; the diarrhea, the throwing up and all of that stuff that goes with it. 

'Or just getting sick and being in the hospital... but I promise I've not had anything.'

The star explained that she wanted to be as honest about her weight loss journey as possible, compared to other famous names who have been accused of secretly using the weight loss drugs.

'There are celebrities that won’t say anything. But for me, I wanna share my experience, I wanna share my struggles,' Mama June insisted.

The star made it clear that she has her fans in mind as she continued: 'I think that people need to bring more awareness to it. So I use my platform to bring awareness to it and also bring it to people that are spending so much.

'They can't really afford it but want to go on the weight loss medications so I wanna be able to bring them an affordable way to be able to get their medications and not have to worry about it.'

Mama June explained that she wanted to be as honest about her weight loss journey as possible, compared to other famous names 

Shannon pictured L in 2017 and R in 2013, two years before her weight loss surgery 

She continued: 'Because if you go completely off the medication, yes, I heard there's bad side effects. You have to taper yourself back down.. and I want people to be able to do it in a healthier way.

'So I've worked with a company that does it in a healthier form. Instead of going up every week at a med spa, the company I'm working with you stay at the same dose for one month and that's it.'

Mama June admitted she would be making a profit by working with the company but insisted that the main aim is to help others get access. 

She then teased: 'I'm gonna be posting that very soon because if I get a deal, I'm gonna give y'all a deal.'

It comes after she told DailyMail.com last year that she wasn't interested in trying weight loss injections. 

'I don’t want to try Ozempic because, honestly, I've heard about so many bad side effects,' she said at the time.

'It is using a drug that isn't really prescribed to do that. They're using a diabetic drug to take care of weight loss.'

The drugs, which have been used by the likes of Elon Musk, Chelsea Handler and Remi Bader, are approved to manage type II diabetes but prescribed off-label for obesity.

They have active ingredients which mimic the actions of hormones in the brain that govern appetite and feelings of fullness, which can help people cut the number of calories they consume. 

In 2022, more than five million prescriptions for Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus (for another Novo drug that uses semaglutide), or Wegovy were written for weight management.

Mama June explained that using the drug for something other than what it was approved to treat made her feel uncomfortable as a recovering drug addict.

She continued: 'No offense to people out there that are doing it, but it's just not for me. I want to stay clean. I'm not judging anyone but it’s not for me.'

Mama June: Family Crisis premieres at 9pm on WEtv on June 14