When people hear that Shaquille O’Neal is taking Zepbound, they probably think it’s just for cutting extra weight because it is widely known as a once-weekly injectable prescription medication used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and exercise to help adults lose weight.
But the 54-year-old former NBA center actually has a completely different reason.
The former NBA center is the face of a new Eli Lilly campaign for Zepbound that launched on Wednesday. In the campaign rollout, O'Neal explicitly revealed that he recently started taking Zepbound. But unlike others, the NBA legend was prescribed the medication to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
After retiring in June 2011, O'Neal did an overnight sleep study at Harvard Medical School and was diagnosed with moderate obstructive sleep apnea. The condition causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly during sleep, but he didn't take it seriously at first.
"The doctors told me what to do, but I ignored it because I thought I was superhuman," O'Neal [told Healthline](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/shaquille-oneal-zepbound-sleep-apnea).
He tried a CPAP machine but could not stick with it, and his symptoms got worse.
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Eventually, his snoring became so loud that friends started filming it. And the daytime fatigue and lack of focus became impossible to ignore for him. His doctor then recommended Zepbound, which is the first FDA-approved prescription medication for moderate-to-severe sleep apnea in adults with obesity.
O'Neal went public with his diagnosis and treatment in a recent GQ interview, making clear he wasn't here to sell a weight-loss story. He came forward specifically because OSA doesn't get the attention it deserves.
"I chose to share my experience because OSA is a serious but often overlooked condition," O'Neal [told GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/shaquille-oneal-is-on-a-glp-1). "I want to help people if I can, because I can remember, especially when I stopped playing, the snoring, the daytime tiredness, a lot of fatigue, and being unable to focus. So this is very personal to me."
Unlike many celebrity health disclosures, Shaq's story was less a cosmetic glow-up and more a warning, and it makes sense because, according to the AASM, the condition affects roughly 25 million adults in the U.S. Obesity is widely documented by medical experts as a leading physical driver of the condition.
He also mentioned making lifestyle changes like walking and clean eating, jokingly adding that his only remaining indulgence is his candy brand, "Shaq-A-Licious gummies." And he confirmed that he is finally getting much better sleep and has noticed a dramatic shift in his energy levels.
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