Country Singer’s Wife Reveals Severe Depression After Trial Weight Loss Drug

Bunnie XO, the wife of country singer Jelly Roll, has disclosed that an experimental weight loss medication may have triggered a severe depressive episode that left her feeling suicidal. The 45-year-old podcaster shared her harrowing experience on her “Dumb Blonde” podcast, describing how retatrutide (reta), an unapproved drug currently in late-stage clinical trials, affected her mental health.

According to Bunnie, whose real name is Alyssa DeFord, she obtained the medication from a “reputable wellness center” in Nashville. While she noticed positive physical changes within two weeks, her mental health deteriorated dramatically after she increased her dosage in the fourth week.

“I literally got sent into the worst suicidal depression that I’ve had since 2020,” she revealed. “I’m talking like it scared me so bad. I didn’t think I was going to make it through the two weeks. Like I was praying to God.”

She described experiencing “mental numbness” and a complete lack of emotion, noting that activities that normally brought her joy—like listening to music—became unbearable. “You could see like my eyes were black,” she said. “I just drove in silence because I just couldn’t handle anything.”

After discontinuing the medication, Bunnie reported that her joy is “finally” returning after 20 days without the drug, though she characterized the experience as a “battle.”

Eli Lilly, the Indiana-based pharmaceutical company developing retatrutide, emphasized in a statement to Fox News Digital that the drug is an “investigational molecule that is legally available only to participants in Lilly’s clinical trials.” The company warned that the substance Bunnie took was “not a Lilly product” and cautioned the public about “the potential dangers of fake medicines.”

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, warned that retatrutide should only be taken as part of official clinical trials until it receives FDA approval. He noted that the drug, nicknamed “GLP-3” because it targets three hormones, has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts, similar to other GLP-1 drugs that have shown increased psychiatric risks in some studies.

Retatrutide represents a new generation of weight loss medications. In Lilly’s phase 3 TRIUMPH-4 trial, participants with obesity and knee arthritis who took a 12-mg dose lost an average of 71.8 pounds (28.7% of body weight) over 68 weeks. The company believes the drug “could become an important option for patients with significant weight loss needs and certain complications.”

The drug is not expected to receive FDA approval until 2027, with seven additional phase 3 trials scheduled to conclude in 2026. Beyond weight management, experts suggest retatrutide may eventually be used to treat type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular conditions.

Dr. Peter Balazs, a hormone and weight-loss specialist, cautioned that depressive episodes are typically multifactorial and should not be attributed to a single cause without comprehensive evaluation. “It is essential to understand the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including other medical conditions, precise weight change dynamics, concomitant medications and psychosocial stressors,” he explained.

He noted that Bunnie’s age would place her in the perimenopausal stage, which involves significant hormonal fluctuations that can affect mood. “Estrogen has well-documented neuroprotective and mood-stabilizing effects,” Balazs said. “Its decline can render the brain more vulnerable to stress and dysregulation.”

Experts emphasize that the connection between weight loss drugs and mental health likely stems from their impact on the brain’s reward system, affecting neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine that influence both mood and appetite.

For those experiencing similar symptoms, both doctors stress the importance of seeking immediate professional help and advise against using experimental medications outside of clinical trials.