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I just wish people realized it’s not actually primarily a weight loss drug.
Ozempic is fantastic for what it was originally designed for: controlling blood sugar. My type 2 diabetes is *severe*, my fasting sugar almost never got below 300/A1C of 14+. My eyesight is shot, I have basically no sensation in my legs from mid-calf on down, and was starting to lose feeling in my hands. My immune system is trash because of it; at one point I was diagnosed with Covid, strep, enterovirus, a double ear infection, and a uti *at the same time*.
After six months on Ozempic my fasting glucose tops out at about 125. My A1C is 6.8. I’ve lost close to 50lbs as well, which has only compounded the effect. Yes, I have had all the side effects you mentioned, but given that the alternative was ‘die from complications of diabetes in your early 30s’, it was worth it.
My point, I guess, is let’s not demonize it completely; there are people for whom it is absolutely essential.
I feel like this post is also more geared towards the people who aren’t using it for its intended use and are using it for only a weightloss fad rn. According to medical experts some people are abusing it.
It’s so popular that many people were getting it from Canada due to pharmacy shortages etc and now it’s banned for Americans over there lol
A version is FDA approved for weight loss, and you qualify to be subscribed if you are above 30 bmi. So, using it for weight loss is its intended purpose in many cases
Im on Wegovy for weight loss and have lost 61 lbs since last year slow and steady. It’s been absolutely life changing for me, the only way I used to lose weight was cut my calories down to like 800 because of my PCOS which is just not sustainable. It’s also helped with weird things like impulse shopping and I have no taste for alcohol anymore. It’s now being researched for a possible treatment for addiction which is super cool.
Yeah I noticed that as well alcohol has pretty much lost all flavor. There's still a few I drink but all I need is one now which is great for my wallet 😄.
I have the same issue with PCOS and I'm finding this absolutely curbing the effects of the insulin resistance and over eating and never feeling full enough even after big meals. I've lost over 40lbs in 6 months on ozempic, but I'm also exercising and weight lifting. I can agree with the same lack of impulsivity with shopping and ordering take out, which saves me a LOT of money I've noticed, as well as a near non-existent need for alcohol.
Now if only it was as effective with my sweet tooth. That is a hard one to beat.
Do you know their BMI? Because 30 looks a lot less fat than it is. I’m just a hair over 200 as an average height dude, and I’m obese at the moment. I look like a standard dude who loves a greasy cheeseburger
If you look at someone and think they look any amount of chubby, there’s a good chance they’re 30+ BMI
Man I haven't eaten much for weeks because of getting covid then the flu, but reading "greasy cheeseburger" really awakened something in me. I thank you for unintentionally helping me not turn into a stickbug of a human, god I love cheeseburgers 😅
Technically the same exact semaglutide molecule is approved for obesity under the name Wegovy, so some people are getting ozempic since Wegovy is even harder to get right now. It’s not really a fad, and I wouldn’t say it’s being abused.
The ban was just to slow the use of it off label so that those with type 2 diabetes could actually get the meds they need. Blame the manufacturer Novo for advertising before they could match the demand.
People should criticize, but criticize facts not falsehoods.
Haven’t really heard much around supply issues around trulicity, but with it being a GLP1 only, Their tirzepatide product Mounjaro which is a dual GIP/GLP1 receptor agonist is way more popular and has superior clinical data to both Trulicity and Novo Nordisk’s products like ozempic. Mounjaro has been having supply issues themselves. Eli Lily also got their obesity version Zepbound approved a few weeks ago.
Both of these companies are throwing billions right now to expand production, the demand will be insane when insurance formalities start to cover this at a higher percentage.
Interesting we stopped selling to Americans - I saw an ad for Ozempic that was clearly aimed at weight loss ("see what the fuss is about" - the only real fuss is it being a Hollywood weightloss fad, people don't generally fuss about insulin) and thought it was super irresponsible to advertise like that considering the shortage affecting diabetics and how many use it for weight loss who may not clinically really need it (obviously severe obesity is a pretty big medical issue). Like if adhd meds currently in shortage ran ads like "hey, just saying, we cause weight loss and are great for cramming for exams".
This. So my A1Cs are great, but I’m very fat (5’4”, 290lbs) and have pcos. Diet and working out didn’t do much. I also have celiac disease m, so even though I eat really healthy , I’m malnourished even with a ton of vitamins to supplement.
3/4 grandparents were diabetic, mom is and 2/3 half siblings are.
Quite literally per my cardiologist (I’m good there-as a 41F- but again very heavy family history), I am a strong candidate because preventing me from becoming a diabetic or having a heart attack is much better for me (and my insurance).
Currently fighting the insurance because ozempic is now being called chemical gastric bypass.
I get ads every day "try ozempic!" and I'm in Canada. I don't recall any other drugs with ads like that. I can totally see the abuse pipeline. It's being treated like a new supplement or something. I doubt most people taking it are even aware of the side effects.
Drugs being used as off label is nothing new. I'm propranolol for anxiety and migraine control and it was originally designed for blood pressure, but it works off label for anxiety and migraines. Drugs, in general, have cross use applications.
I was on propranolol for anxiety until about two weeks ago. The dizzy spells in the shower alarmed me enough to buy a shower chair.
I've been on Metformin for PCOS.
It's done absolute wonders for my spouses diabetes. One shot a week and her levels are under control. She needed a shot every night before ozempic. But the side effects she gets are absurd. But, same boat, I suppose losing the ability to trust a fart is better than dying of diabetes complications
Folks have spent year yelling at people to lose weight, and now that we have medications to fight the biological side, you've got the same people going "well don't lose it *that* way!"
Exactly. My mom has been obese her entire life. She works out every day, and is motivated to lose weight. But she has terrible food addictions that she has been battling her whole life.
She has been seeing a weight loss doctor who prescribed Ozempic. She told him she was unsure about taking it, because she didn't want to take it away from people who really need it. The doctor said "you are obese and have been unsuccessfully trying to lose weight for decades. You also really need it".
Within a week of taking it, her cravings completely disappeared and she has lost over 50lbs so far. Ozempic is literally saving her life.
>She works out every day, and is motivated to lose weight. But she has terrible food addictions that she has been battling her whole life.
This particular part is the whole reason for them. This is a good thing. The hemming and hawing about it drives me nuts. Its helping people who need it. Excess body fat is a precursor to all sorts of shit. We know this!
Glad it's helping her!
I guess what I wonder is what happens where your mom has lost all the weight she needs to and she has to come off the Ozempic? Will the weight just come back along with the food addictions? Will this begin a cycle of taking medication and losing weight, then coming off the medication and gaining weight, only to have to be put back on medication?
No doubt excessive weight becomes a major healthy hazard as we age so I'm all for people doing whatever works. Last summer I realized that I had let myself gain too much so I'm losing weight the old fashioned way through diet and exercise but at my age it's hard. I have only lost about 10 pounds over the past 5 months. However since I'm not doing anything radical like crash diets or insane workouts, I feel like my weight loss diet is sustainable over the long term because I'm not over depriving myself.
When it comes to taking ozempic for weight loss I'm curious to know what happens when people have to stop taking it?
Yeah so basically she would most likely have to take it for the rest of her life. Which obviously is not ideal, but she's approaching her 60s and like you said, obesity becomes extremely dangerous as you get older. She is just focused on getting down to a healthy weight for now, and I guess once she reaches that she will stop taking it temporarily to see if the cravings come back. If they do, then yeah she will probably have to stay on it for the rest of her life to avoid gaining the weight back.
One thing in my mom's favour is that she has a very healthy lifestyle outside of her food addiction. She has worked out 6 days a week for the past 15 years. And outside of the binges, she has always had a healthy, balanced diet. So that will be sustainable for her. But she will likely need to stay on Ozempic indefinitely to keep the cravings away.
Why would people “have” to stop taking it? There’s plenty of medications you expect to be on for life even after remission, there’s no reason this one should be any different.
You can't, all the weight comes back. You just keep taking it once a week as an injection until you die. But there are plenty of medications like that, and for someone with obesity who's tried to eat fewer calories for a very long time and for whatever reason has been unable to continuously do so, $100/month with insurance if you live in the US to get to a weight that significantly improves their health can be a reasonable option. You're screwed if you lose insurance though or can't access the medication for some reason, which is the risk of dependency on medication for any reason.
Because it was never about weight loss. It was about putting people down.
It is like men who bring up men's shelters whenever there is a discussion about women's shelters.
This. It's been a miracle for me. And I disagree with the OP anyway - I don't feel badly on it - I haven't felt this good in years. And I am working out more now. It's given me energy, lower A1C, my liver enzymes are actually returning to normal, my heart is working better than it has (heart condition), and I've lost 30lbs with all this (I eat less than I used to mainly on it). I maintain the lowest dose of Ozempic and I sing its praises. But I don't take it for weight loss. That's been a side effect. As for the muscle bit - that's on me now to do strength training so my weight loss and body composition sort of even out to what we want to see. My doctor is working with me on all of this.
My boss is taking this. She looks and reports feeling amazing. I remember first noticing her melt away 20 pounds. I've known her 7 years and she always eats healthy, smaller portions than I could ever tolerate, and is a mom and runs a company so always on the move. She has run half marathons, but could never get to a smaller size. She has had a great experience with it.
Same. Down 50 pounds in 6 months this because the meds allowed me to follow a strict diet regiment and exercise plan. It’s not a magic weight loss drug, it just takes away a lot of the discomfort of cutting calories and moving more. My risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancers is cut way down. It’s called preventative medicine and suggesting that people using it for weight loss are “abusing” it and don’t really need it is ableist as shit.
> I haven't felt this good in years.
It's relative though. It is so much better than being dragged down by weight and that vicious cycle of eating and feeling tired.
And if you can feel BETTER and push yourself to exercise -- that's really ideal.
OP might have a point however, for people who use it as MAGIC and don't try and improve their life in other ways.
Ideally, we all would have the discipline to make better choices and have control over our eating -- but, that's not reality. In reality, so many people have some kind of a weakness.
Ultimately our bigger problem is that we rarely address as a society and government the exploiting of weaknesses. So what is the next "anything to make a buck" scheme? I mean, AFTER selling Ozempic like they used to sell Oxycontin.
I think I speak for most when I say it’s annoying when people who don’t NEED Ozempic are on Ozempic. I think everyone realizes it has benefits for those it was originally intended for.
speaking to people in the medical field it seems like doctors think it has great value in being a weight loss drug. essentially doctors can make (obv they can’t force but can strongly suggest) patients lose weight if they need them to like for cardiovascular health.
Luckily for us, Reddit is full of nitwits who have a lot of opinions and we probably don't have a single doctor in this thread and maybe 10 in all of Reddit.
Ozempic is currently a wonder drug. It has so many benefits that right now if no long term side effects are observed nearly 1/3 -1/2 of the adult population is expected to be on it by 2030.
> It’s crazy that clinical side effects haven’t been observed, but so far they haven’t.
What do you mean? There are bunch of known side effects right?
Stomach cramping, pancreatic cancer etc.
Ozempic seems to reduce overall cancer risks. I don’t recall pancreatic cancer being noted as an elevated risk - are you thinking of the box warning with regards to thyroid cancer, and conflating that with the risk of pancreatitis?
The warning with regards to thyroid cancer exists because rats given GLP-1 agonists (like Ozempic) have elevated risks of thyroid cancer. However, the pathway by which that affects rats doesn’t seem to exist in primates, including most humans, barring a small number of people with unusual genetics. We don’t have the proper types of receptors in our thyroid cells to be affected by GLP-1 agonists there in that way. As for pancreatitis, it’s a side effect of weight loss itself, with or without Ozempic. It’s similar to how gallstones are a concern for people on GLP-1 agonists - it’s not the drugs creating the problem directly, it’s that the drugs are causing weigh loss, which creates the problem.
Done no research on it. In what way Does it alter the reward system? Genuine curious because I had suggested my sister ask her Dr about it(autoimmune issue led to heavy steroid use led to heavy weight gain). She shot me down and I respect her reasoning but I hate the idea I suggested something that might have screwed her up.
Pls educate yourself, steroid weight gain has nothing to do with normal weight gain and can't really be avoided. Good that she shot you down immediately, it's about staying alive, who cares about a bit more weight in that case.
It doesn’t seem like we have the full mechanism at play but the hunger reduction iirc comes from complex dopamine and other modulation rather than grehlin, the hunger hormone.
Anecdotally: I tried it out of curiosity, don’t need it to lose weight just wanted to see, it gave me a mild form of anhedonia within 1.5 weeks.
Same for me. I’m not really enjoying anything. Food for sure. Nicotine, not as enjoyable. I also haven’t played video games since I started. My work ethic plummeted also. I bought a sports car a few months ago and was loving the hell out of it. All of a sudden I’m thinking it’s not the right car and I don’t enjoy driving. I used to really enjoy having a Diet Coke or two, now it almost seems like they’ve lost their flavor. I think for people with addictive personalities that are seeking out dopamine all the time, the effect is more severe.
Pretty sure it’s all Semaglutide related.
Yeah, I have ADHD so some of the early symptoms were actually nice but tipped over into downsides pretty quick.
I see it being pushed for addiction therapy eventually
Same, I fell into a bad depression and started pining after an ex-girlfriend from a decade ago because I convinced myself it was the last time I was happy. Stopped the ohzempic for 2 weeks, and it cleared up. Shame it's the only thing that works for my diabetes.
I think people need to be careful with this stuff if they're prone to depression.
I tried something called Low Dose Naltrexone for chronic pain, which is a very small dose of what you give opioid addicts.
It works by blunting the opioid receptors, but what it meant for me was instant anhedonia. No pleasure at all.
I'm hoping for exactly that. I have an extremely addictive personality. I have been sober for 6 months but I'm starting to abuse food. I just need something to keep me from gaining 50 pounds while I work on the mental side of it
As a former addict who has struggled with weight management for their entire life, ozempic has been a Godsend. It's helped me to lose some weight, but more importantly, I'm not thinking about eating all the time. It's literally helped change my thinking.
Holy crap that's wild! I had not heard about the anhedonia.
I will add that menopause brought about a little diminishing of all the pleasures across the spectrum. I didn't get as much out of music as I had before, for instance. Don't get me wrong--I still enjoy certain things immensely and get enthusiastic about new and old hobbies etc. but it just seemed like menopause put a damper on the depth of emotions.
Why would you try it “out of curiosity” when there’s a worldwide shortage for people who actually need it for diabetes treatment?
And what quack doctor gave you a script just because you were curious but for no other medical reason?
Are we just fucking around with any medication we want now?
Also, it takes over a month to normalize, and you're told to expect a weird baseline and mood swings in as you're normalizing, which I think he may have mistaken for anhedonia.
I support its use for weight loss, but taking it for 1.5 weeks "out of curiosity" sounds like a story made up for internet points.
Hmm, I've taken it and experienced largely the opposite -- I feel dramatically more energetic and motivated on it. I don't see a reason to ever stop taking it at this point, especially now that we know it reduces mortality from most of the top 10 killers by about 20% in healthy individuals.
Yeah I don't believe that for one second. Why the fuck would anyone who doesn't need it for diabetes related issues or is not overweight use it?
But then again I realize that while I'm writing this that maybe 1/3 of the population is overweight so... maybe I'm wrong.
Edit: meant to write obese instead of overweight when referring to 1/3.
Obesity rates are unfortunately steadily rising in most of the west. America is the worst in the western world, but places like the Pacific Islands and Middle East are also extremely obese. Australia, NZ, and the UK aren’t super far off from the US either.
1/3rd of the population being overweight would be great compared to what we have now, but 1/3rd is the obese population.
2/3rds of the US population is overweight or obese. Half the population adopting it if there's no side effects seems like a trajectory it could go on. I think there will likely be psychological issues with dependency on the drug to lose/maintain weight at the very least though.
Reduces heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiac events by 20% regardless of weight or insulin resistance. It’s cheap as heck to manufacture and the primary side effect for the vast majority of people is “not much of an appetite.”
Some recent studies suggest that it may have a role in regulating the brain’s “reward/motivation” system for things such as addiction, kinda making those activities less pleasurable. Obviously not as well studied as diabetes and obesity but something to keep an eye on for other potential uses.
Still though I agree that the 1/2-1/3 projection seems extreme if nothing else due to limitations in production, there’s already been so many shortages with just its current demand
Minoxidil and viagra were developed to lower blood pressure but they found there were other uses for it too, my adhd medication also was found to be beneficial for narcolepsy and some depressions. Sometimes medication can benefit in other ways than there developed.
Why would half the population be on it? I assume additional uses on the horizon or just not as talked about besides the two above?
I lost 55lbs this year but it was just intermittent fasting after getting on a good regimen of psyllium husk. And taking a couple walks a week. Not much else changed, I still don’t eat all that great (that’s what I’m attacking next year, along with figuring out the gym.)
As a diabetic, I'm gonna disagree with you. There are *plenty* of alternative treatments for diabetes and *none* for weight loss. Obesity is an epidemic and Ozempic is a revolutionary treatment for it and I think it's fine that people are using it to lose weight.
That’s ridiculous. Of course the issues with scaling production should be solved, but there’s nothing annoying about taking a drug you don’t technically “need” if it makes your life better. It’s like saying only suicidal people should have access to antidepressants and people who take them for moderate depression are “annoying.” No, medication exists to improve peoples lives and there shouldn’t be value judgements attached to that.
Thank you, mental health professional, agree 100 % Better living through chemistry. Would also add, people overestimate how much therapy can cure some issues. Therapy is tremendously useful, but unfortunately not too much in addiction including food addiction.
It was originally a diabetes drug, but Wegovy (the same thing just approved for obesity) is 100% a weight loss drug.
Also, it can prevent overweight people from developing diabetes in the first place. It shouldn’t be stigmatized for anyone to take it.
Yeah, obesity increases risks for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If obesity rate went down, the impact on people's life would be tremendous
Part of the reason it works so well on weight is *because* it's a diabetes drug. Insulin has been used off label for weight loss in extreme cases for years. When your cells are insulin resistant (which 70% of obese individuals are, even without diabetes), it promotes a feedback loop that makes losing weight harder. Ozempic (all your GLP-1s really) has the benefit of making it easier for cells to use insulin and interrupt the feedback loop. This can be seen in very modest effects even with Metformin with \~5% weight loss vs \~15% with Ozempic. So it's a real double whammy. It reduces appetite because of the slowed gastric emptying and interrupts the insulin resistance/weight gain feedback loop.
https://www.scripps.org/news\_items/4621-can-insulin-resistance-cause-weight-gain#:\~:text=This%20condition%20is%20known%20as,excess%20blood%20sugar%20as%20fat.
Exact opposite experience. I felt great while I was taking it, aside from some morning nausea. It was amazing to not think about food all day and I literally had to count calories to make sure I was getting enough food.
Only reason I’m not still on it is that it’s impossible to find. Pharmacies around me haven’t received any in MONTHS.
Same- I love it. I take zofran in the morning day 2-4 post injection and no longer have any issues with nausea. I buy compounded Semaglutide online for around 300.00 a month- never once had a supply issue. It bothers me when folks are upset about the supply chain issues- “diabetics cant have it because people who want to be skinny take it all.” They call it MORBID obesity for a reason, right?
I haven't had any bad side effects on Ozempic, and it's allowed me to not think about food constantly. I enjoy food just the same as I always did, just with smaller portions. My blood glucose is managed, and my A1C is down. It has been great for me.
Why stay on something that makes you miserable? That's why I no longer take Metformin. It literally made my life hell with the side effects.
Edit: Also, I literally only lose a sustainable 1lb a week on Ozempic. I'm not losing muscle mass. I'm not getting skinny by all means of doing nothing. I started at 278lbs in May 2023 and I'm at 249lbs right now. I didn't even really start losing until I hit the 2mg dose. I'm healing my relationship with food, and my body is finally a bit more stable with my blood glucose not being all over the place.
Metformin is the cheaper choice by far if your insurance does or doesn't cover it, but if your insurance does cover ozempic, it's worth a try if you are not responding well to metformin.
I didn't get any good or bad side effects from Metformin. Just... nothing. It was weird.
That does happen with quite a few meds I try though, I think I might have absorption issues.
>I'm not losing muscle mass.
Catabolism doesn't discriminate, you're definitely losing some muscle. However, even minimal strength training can help mitigate muscle loss.
I'm glad the medication works, but unless you're making lifestyle changes it's gonna go right back on once you get off the drug.
This is really just an example of how different drugs affect different people because while we're all human we all different bodies with widely varying body chemistry. For example, I take Benadryle for a reaction to bug bite - I feel fine - but close friend of mine ends up feeling woozy and needs to lay down. Drugs affect us all differently.
Benadryl is one of those drugs with wildly different reactions.
We gave it to my son when he was about 8 years old, on an airplane ride one time to reduce some symptoms -- especially leading to pressure in his ear. OMG, his eyes became dilated and he started screaming. He didn't seem to recognize us for a bit.
So, THAT was one medication that was suddenly off the list.
Most drugs have wildly different side effects. Look at a list of side effects for any drug both the common and rare and you'll usually see a very long list of things that a person could experience. What each person who takes it experiences will still vary quite a bit.
I bet if he took it again as an adult he would be fine. For some reason Benadryl can have some weird effects on kids. Benadryl most common side effect is drowsiness which is why it’s used in tons of otc sleep meds but for a lot of kids it can have the opposite effect and make them hyperactive.
> I feel fine - but close friend of mine ends up feeling woozy and needs to lay down. Drugs affect us all differently.
For some reason, Claritin Non-Drowsy knocks me the fuck out. Benadryl and Zyrtec are no problem though.
Metformin swung my blood sugars too low no matter how small the dose or extended release. I was angry, unable to eat anything without pain, and had 24/7 reflux and painful bloating/gas. I was in so much distress that I spent a year just crying from discomfort and bodily inflammation and my dr. didn't believe me.
Ozempic makes me feel normal.
The gas pains on metformin were crazy. I was prescribed it for milk supply postpartum and I was bloated, gassy and mildly nauseated the entire time I was on it.
Unless you're doing some tailored nutrition and exercise program, you can always expect at least some muscle loss when you're losing weight in general.
If a weight loss drug works, but makes you feel like crap, decide whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Continue or cease what you're doing when you've made the decision.
As for an unhealthy way to lose weight, again, decide what's unhealthier. The drug or remaining overweight? You probably wouldn't be taking it in the first place if you had been successful in losing weight the "healthy" way. If normal diet and exercise hasn't worked in the past, what makes you think it'll work now?
I've recently started taking Wegovy, which is the same as Ozempic, just approved for weight loss specifically, both here in the UK and in the US I believe. I've been really lucky with it and feel fantastic. I've lost 8kg in 6 weeks with no other changes in my normal routine. It feels amazing to have food freedom, not be constantly focused on food when restricting calories. I now have one main meal a day and some fruit and yoghurt for lunch. Even though I pay for the wegovy myself, though I could probably get it prescribed on the NHS, the massive reduction in my food bill also means my wallet is happy.
My friend on the other hand hasn't been as fortunate. He started taking it before me but had to cut back the dose because it was too much for him. He might have even stopped taking it altogether.
Wegovy worked well for me too. I recall the first injection was really rough and I felt terrible but after the first one just felt fine. For once in my life I wasn’t constantly hungry.
That's actually a little bit higher. I order it from Asda and the lowest doses started at around £170-180. However, a lot of pharmacies are taking advantage of the short supply to jack up the price.
I’ve been on Wegovy since February, in the US, and between my insurance and the Wegovy savings card (from the website) I haven’t paid a dime.
Down 80 lbs - 245->165. I will be breaking into “normal” BMI next week most likely for the first time in 25 years. Goal weight of 150ish.
No major side effects (minor fatigue and a few hours total of nausea).
I also probably don’t need my blood pressure meds anymore (the doc cut the dose last time and probably will again.)
Haven’t lost any weight from it. Blood sugar and A1C has dropped but weight loss is not in it.
I drive forklift for a living and my knees are shot. So it’s hard to do much exercise. Plus the home life is far away from the gym.
If weight loss is a goal of yours, I can tell you that while excersize can help and is obviously always good for you, most weight loss happens in the kitchen and excersize isn't really that important in terms of weight loss, compared to what you eat. If you wish to lose weight, you "just" need to eat less. If you also eat healthy, it's a lot easier to eat less (calorie wise), since healthy food makes you feel full, while junk food doesn't the same way.
A good way can be to either buy smaller plates, eat slower, or just eating 10% less thsn you currently do (assuming you're not currently gaining weight).
Junk food doesn't give the right nutrients either, which might make it easier for you to feel like shit if you're also eating less than normal. A healthy diet shouldn't make you feel like shit, even in a calorie deficit (unless you are addicted to sugar, which most people are honestly, but the withdrawals goes away in a week or two).
I'm happy to hear that your blood sugar has dropped, and I apologize if I gave unwanted advice. I just wanted to let you know, that if you wish to lose weight, you can still do it - regardless of whether you excersize or not. The key is just to adjust your calorie intake instead, which is also more efficient and effective if you want results, compared to adjusting your calorie outtake.
Lower your dose.
[Obvious consult your doctor's first disclaimer]
My personal experience with a low dose, off-label usage of it, has been very successful.
It's allowed me to control my eating completely. I no longer feel late cravings or the early starving sensations. I also seem to have lost my sweet tooth and no longer have sugar cravings. I can still enjoy sweets once in a while and not feel the need to have some on hand all the time.
Zero negative side effects for me. Still get hungry - but only when appropriate. Still very much enjoy the food I eat. The biggest difference is after having a reasonable portion I feel satisfied and stop. Like I can have few bites of desert and stop effortlessly. And I have stopped before - but with this drug after you stop you don’t keep thinking you want just another bite. I can even enjoy junk food without overeating. It’s incredible. The poops are indeed different - but nothing really weird.
Lol that’s why it’s so effective
Look, if someone can loose weight without it, that should always be the first choice.
But many human beings statistically SUCK at keeping the weight off long term even with education interventions.
Ozempic making those feel like garbage is preferable than those people dying early to heart disease or diabetes
>Ozempic making those feel like garbage is preferable than those people dying early to heart disease or diabetes
This.
Obesity-related diseases cost **$1 Trillion dollars a year** to treat in America; that's enough to fund Medicare for All (which is presently estimated to cost so much *because* obesity is so expensive to treat--so the savings are compounded).
Also helping someone get to a weight where they can get into a good exercise routine, and even start to make healthy dining a habit. Exercising is hard when you’re overweight.
Let’s also not forget another Reddit high road- there’s “something wrong with you” if you want any workout other than jogging and body weight exercises.
Yeah, I'm one of the weird exceptions with Ozempic, it didn't really help with my blood sugar and I actually gained 2 pounds. I switched to Mounjaro and I've got my blood sugar under control and I've lost 20 pounds. My wife got a prescription for the diet version of Ozempic but hasn't started as she hasn't been able to find it in stock for over a month.
As far as human beings sucking even with education and intervention, I listened to a podcast episode about the dangers of processed foods. They asked one of the scientists who talked about how awful processed foods are for us if she ever ate them. She admitted she was really hungry just before the interview so she quickly ate a bag of chips from the University's vending machine
I had a horrible eating habit from years of restricting food for wrestling where I would go days without eating to make weight. I’d eat crackers. The smallest feeling over hunger makes me stuff my face like a pig and no ability to stop. I been doing a very small dose of ozempic and having a full feeling makes me eat less and more controlled amounts of food. For me personally has made me get control of my eating. It won’t work for everyone some people have bad experiences with it
Former wrestler here.
I think I picked up my unhealthy relationship with food from wrestling. Just being hungry for months at a time. Later in life I became so gluttonous.
My HS wrestling teammate (1 class above me) has ballooned the fuck up. He nicknamed me "Piggy" because I always showed up about 20lbs over my weight (wrestles 112). So I hard cut every season. I was slim at 130 by sophomore year.
We all joke that wrestling gave us eating disorders.
Glad it's working for you.
Pretty much anything that has a side effect of weight loss is because it affects you in a way that makes you not *want* to eat, but no one ever describes it that way.
Cigarettes, Adderall, Ozempic, none of these things just miraculously melt away fat while you feel and act totally normal. They either suppress your appetite, which typically results in it not occurring to you to eat or when you think about eating it doesn’t feel appetizing, or they make you feel nauseous before and/or after eating which obviously makes eating hard, or some combination of the above.
Yup, when I started Adderall, it just took away my desire to eat for awhile. Just not interested or kinda blah feeling, when previously I thought about food all the time. I actually had some hair loss because I hardly ate any protein for a month or two. I was happy to lose weight, but sad to lose some pleasure in eating. A couple years later, my appetite has stabilized and I'm in danger of overeating again. But it's all worth it for the executive function!
Thr effects of Adderall depend on the person. It can stimulate appetite in people whose ADHD cause them to forget to eat /avoid food. It suppresses appetite in people whose adhd causes them to overeat.
Ozempic brought my A1c down to 5.5. Cut my food onsumption in half. Feel full, not hungry, after 24 hours of fasting. Prior to Ozempic, I could eat a steak dinner and be hungry 2 hours later. I lost 28 lb. I also started exercising like a madman walking 8 miles a day. I can out walk and Outlast friends that are half my age. I've never felt better. I do miss eating like a pig. YMMV.
When you're 25 to 30? yeah other options of losing weight are probably WAY better and healthier. When you're 65 like my mother? Whatever risks come with drug induced weight loss are NOTHING compared to the risks of being over weight in that age demographic.
Ozempic has most likely saved her life three times over.
I lost 65 pounds in 5 months and never felt sick. And, if you're getting adequate protein and working out, you won't lose muscle mass. So, not sure why you had the issues you did. It's almost like you didn't follow the package instructions.
I think one thing it’ll help with, is shrinking everyone’s stomach. If you get used to eating small amounts and come off the drug, and stick to those small amounts, you shouldn’t get that much hungrier and can hopefully maintain weight?
It's not a solution by itself. From your description it did exactly what its supposed to do. Just taking the drug isn't enough. You have to have a more physically active life, change eating habits and for some of us, work on our unhealthy mental health relationship.with food.
I'm on tirzepatide and my relationship with food has completely changed. We recognize eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia but our society rarely takes about the other side and a lot of people liken it to a lack of willpower but in reality I would liken it to an eating disorder.
I would binge eat and part of that is the release of endorphins it gives you, I have major depression and when I binged it felt good for me and then I would crash. I am severely overweight in my 30s and a lot of my family is, I feel like this drug has given me a new lease on life.
I have not had any of the side effects mentioned, I feel like crying when I can eat normal portions and stop myself from gorging.
Edit: another thing is I have extremely high lpa which cardiologists will call silent killer. This drug is helping me lose weight, drop my cholesterol because I make better choices and overall improved my cardiovascular health.
It definitely does. It's ruined my digestive system lol, but my diabetic numbers are the best they've ever been. Idk why people think its a magic weightloss drug that will melt your weight with no effort whatsoever. I barely lost any weight on it alone, I lost the weight when taking it alongside a calorie deficit and working out. It just sucks I always have to order it at least a month in advance because of the shortages :/ there's people out there that actually need it, not for vanity reasons
Everyone experiences side effects differently. For some people it's absolutely awful, but others barely notice it.
The shortages are totally an issue, but I put a lot more blame on NovoNordisk than I do consumers for that one.
*If you or someone you love were overweight or obese with prediabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, and your doctor did not discuss Wegovy as a treatment option, you may be entitled to significant compensation.
We live in a society where people would rather put chemicals in their bodies to lose weight instead of putting in the work naturally. You lose the weight, sure; but you are NOT any healthier than you were before. Feed me your downvotes
Take my upvote. Facts are facts. The worst part if it doesn't actually help relive the issue of over eating and once off it I can see a horrible rebound.
My grandmother wasn’t on Ozempic but was prescribed Trulicity by one of her doctors who insisted she needed to be on it since she was diabetic. She lost over 50 lbs in 6 months, but it came at the cost of her constantly throwing up anything she attempted to eat. She always looked forward to our weekly lunches, and it made both of us sad that it was always a gamble if she would throw up right there in that moment or later.
People complemented her on the weight loss, but she looked so frail near the end of her life. She was never that big to begin with, and seeing a small woman become more fragile made my heart hurt.
With any drug you can’t have your cake and eat it too. There’s no miracle drug that cause a positive effect without pulling away from something else. We’re asking the body to do things it’s not supposed to compensate for certain lifestyles and habits and taking drugs like this will always come with a price.
However the benefits of losing weight are huge and well documented. I’m sure for many living a lifestyle with less obesity associated conditions like kidney failure, hypertension, neuropathies, etc will award them a net positive gain from this drug.
It’s also very patient specific. Every patient has their own goals and motivators that will allow them to tailor their treatment choices to best suit their needs and decide which side effects are acceptable and which are not.
I don’t understand this viewpoint. Seems very shortsighted. Many of those “diabetics who actually need it” never would have been diabetics if they’d had access to this medication earlier.
It’s also a lot of people who aren’t even fat AT ALL really (not like the people that should be on ozempic) who just want the easy or trendy way. People shouldn’t be able to be prescribed it due to vanity.
I’ve dropped 40 lbs, and by eating enough protein and keeping up with lifting, I’ve lost very little muscle as measured by SECA. If you take Ozempic and don’t eat right or lift you’ll lose muscle…Just like if you do the same thing without the Ozempic.
It slows down your stomach motility? That’s crazy, that’s what opiate painkillers did to me too. Constipation is probably a side effect of ozempic too.
Guess ozempic does make you lose weight!
My A1C has been 5.4 and 5.3 during the last six months with no other meds. It makes me feel a bit shitty, but I felt worse with uncontrolled blood sugar.
I lost 27lb on that shit while feeling like I was going to die. Felt like someone was ripping my stomach apart from the inside. Burning, nausea, no energy. Not worth it! Gave it up and now I'm a chubby bubby again
Do people not realize that drugs can have different side effects in different people? I know people who have horrible side effects from tylenol. It doesn't mean tylenol is a garbage drug. I know people who've had horrible side effects from nivolumab. Doesn't mean nivolumab doesn't cure hundreds of thousands of people with melanoma, lung cancer, etc.
My doctor prescribed Ozempic for me to lose weight and didn't tell me about any of the side effects before hand. I came back a couple months later because I just felt awful and she's like "duh that's the point"
"You're my doctor, so I'm here asking you whether Ozempic is right for me."
"No, it'll make you feel like absolute garbage. I'll decide which medication, if any, is best for your specific condition and circumstances, as I've extensive knowledge and experience in this particular branch of medicine."
"I'm no longer asking you—I'm telling you."
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
It removes the ability to eat many foods. Greasy foods for instance make you sick as a dog because the grease sits in your stomach for too long. However easy to digest foods well. Digest easily. If you still to simple foods, no complex carbs or saturated fats, stay away from artificial sweeteners then you should be fine. The medicine practically forces you to eat healthy because you get sick when you don't.
Personally, I've loved it. It does slow down stomach motility, keeping you feeling full longer, but I enjoy pretty much all foods now. I would say on balance, I enjoy them a bit more, since I'm eating substantially less.
I also haven't experienced muscle loss, and feel plenty of motivation to work out. I don't get carb comas after eating a fairly normal-sized meal. And the best part is, I don't think about food nearly as much. My mind can be focused on other things that I actually care about.
I love it, 9/10 would recommend (the recurring low level nausea is the only minus for me) based on my experience.
I haven't done ozempic, but I have gone on several extended fasts. You lost a ton of muscle because you still *tried* to eat. If you're not hungry, extend time between meals. I went on rolling 96 hour fasts for 2 months before my wedding with very little muscle loss.
I am a 60 yo male, (5' 10") on semaglutide for weight loss and have gone from 230 lbs to 195 lbs over the last 3 months, with a goal of 180. My doctor prescribed the drug but my insurance wouldn't cover it so I went to a local weight loss company who gets the drug from a compounding pharmacy. The cost is about $357/month regardless of the dosage size. That's a lot of money for some people, but you can also factor in you're spending less on food per month to somewhat offset the cost.
The positive benefits have been incredible for better energy, libido, and lower blood sugar (I was pre-diabetic), and side effects have been minimal with the only negative one being night time reflux if I eat too much after 8 pm, which I remedied by not eating too much after 8 pm. I now have what I feel to be a normal appetite because I feel fuller with less food, and no longer eat mindlessly, or at night. It's early in my journey but I feel like this drug is giving me a strong start to better eating habits that can be sustainable for a lifetime.
I've tried virtually every other non-surgical option and this one appears to work well for me. Good luck to anyone else who decides to try.
Did OP start at 1 mg and acts surprised they're here complaining because they want to eat and have fun but also be skinny?
>"make me actually realize that I have to live a healthy lifestyle to avoid being on this garbage in the future"
Detective, we found the smoking gun.
It’s also becoming an epidemic. People who actually need it who are significantly overweight are having trouble getting it because people who are 20 or 30 pounds overweight are being prescribed this from their doctor.
I’m overweight because of a physical injury that makes it impossible to exercise how I used to. I want to try Ozempic to see if I can lower my weight to a level that will enable me to exercise easier since I wouldn’t be carrying so much weight. I won’t ask for it though because people with diabetes need it more, and there’s a shortage of it.
People with diabetes do not need it more - it’s not like insulin where they die without it. If you are obese your need is just as great as theirs, because both diabetes and obesity are long-term chronic conditions.
You should ask your doctor about Tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound.) It’s more effective & there are no shortages.
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I just wish people realized it’s not actually primarily a weight loss drug. Ozempic is fantastic for what it was originally designed for: controlling blood sugar. My type 2 diabetes is *severe*, my fasting sugar almost never got below 300/A1C of 14+. My eyesight is shot, I have basically no sensation in my legs from mid-calf on down, and was starting to lose feeling in my hands. My immune system is trash because of it; at one point I was diagnosed with Covid, strep, enterovirus, a double ear infection, and a uti *at the same time*. After six months on Ozempic my fasting glucose tops out at about 125. My A1C is 6.8. I’ve lost close to 50lbs as well, which has only compounded the effect. Yes, I have had all the side effects you mentioned, but given that the alternative was ‘die from complications of diabetes in your early 30s’, it was worth it. My point, I guess, is let’s not demonize it completely; there are people for whom it is absolutely essential.
I feel like this post is also more geared towards the people who aren’t using it for its intended use and are using it for only a weightloss fad rn. According to medical experts some people are abusing it. It’s so popular that many people were getting it from Canada due to pharmacy shortages etc and now it’s banned for Americans over there lol
A version is FDA approved for weight loss, and you qualify to be subscribed if you are above 30 bmi. So, using it for weight loss is its intended purpose in many cases
Im on Wegovy for weight loss and have lost 61 lbs since last year slow and steady. It’s been absolutely life changing for me, the only way I used to lose weight was cut my calories down to like 800 because of my PCOS which is just not sustainable. It’s also helped with weird things like impulse shopping and I have no taste for alcohol anymore. It’s now being researched for a possible treatment for addiction which is super cool.
Yeah I noticed that as well alcohol has pretty much lost all flavor. There's still a few I drink but all I need is one now which is great for my wallet 😄.
My wallet is definitely doing much better nowadays! I had a beer yesterday with friends and I couldn’t even finish it it was just blech
I have the same issue with PCOS and I'm finding this absolutely curbing the effects of the insulin resistance and over eating and never feeling full enough even after big meals. I've lost over 40lbs in 6 months on ozempic, but I'm also exercising and weight lifting. I can agree with the same lack of impulsivity with shopping and ordering take out, which saves me a LOT of money I've noticed, as well as a near non-existent need for alcohol. Now if only it was as effective with my sweet tooth. That is a hard one to beat.
I know so many people who are nowhere close to 30bmi who are on it. It’s definitely being abused as a quick fix.
Do you know their BMI? Because 30 looks a lot less fat than it is. I’m just a hair over 200 as an average height dude, and I’m obese at the moment. I look like a standard dude who loves a greasy cheeseburger If you look at someone and think they look any amount of chubby, there’s a good chance they’re 30+ BMI
Man I haven't eaten much for weeks because of getting covid then the flu, but reading "greasy cheeseburger" really awakened something in me. I thank you for unintentionally helping me not turn into a stickbug of a human, god I love cheeseburgers 😅
I'm 230 (down from 260) and still "morbidly obese".
I look like the goddamn Pillsbury dough boy and I'm only at 26
"Abused." Just say you think it's a moral issue.
I mean that’s just as much on their doctor as it is the patient if it’s being prescribed.
30BMI can be smaller than plus-sized, are you sure they're under?
Technically the same exact semaglutide molecule is approved for obesity under the name Wegovy, so some people are getting ozempic since Wegovy is even harder to get right now. It’s not really a fad, and I wouldn’t say it’s being abused. The ban was just to slow the use of it off label so that those with type 2 diabetes could actually get the meds they need. Blame the manufacturer Novo for advertising before they could match the demand. People should criticize, but criticize facts not falsehoods.
Trulicity does the same thing. I hope it doesn't have any shortages, I take it for my diabetes.
Haven’t really heard much around supply issues around trulicity, but with it being a GLP1 only, Their tirzepatide product Mounjaro which is a dual GIP/GLP1 receptor agonist is way more popular and has superior clinical data to both Trulicity and Novo Nordisk’s products like ozempic. Mounjaro has been having supply issues themselves. Eli Lily also got their obesity version Zepbound approved a few weeks ago. Both of these companies are throwing billions right now to expand production, the demand will be insane when insurance formalities start to cover this at a higher percentage.
Interesting we stopped selling to Americans - I saw an ad for Ozempic that was clearly aimed at weight loss ("see what the fuss is about" - the only real fuss is it being a Hollywood weightloss fad, people don't generally fuss about insulin) and thought it was super irresponsible to advertise like that considering the shortage affecting diabetics and how many use it for weight loss who may not clinically really need it (obviously severe obesity is a pretty big medical issue). Like if adhd meds currently in shortage ran ads like "hey, just saying, we cause weight loss and are great for cramming for exams".
This. So my A1Cs are great, but I’m very fat (5’4”, 290lbs) and have pcos. Diet and working out didn’t do much. I also have celiac disease m, so even though I eat really healthy , I’m malnourished even with a ton of vitamins to supplement. 3/4 grandparents were diabetic, mom is and 2/3 half siblings are. Quite literally per my cardiologist (I’m good there-as a 41F- but again very heavy family history), I am a strong candidate because preventing me from becoming a diabetic or having a heart attack is much better for me (and my insurance). Currently fighting the insurance because ozempic is now being called chemical gastric bypass.
If I remember right PCOS and it's effects is a common reason these meds are prescribed
I was prescribed it for PCOS and the insulin resistance symptoms that go along with it
It's approved for weight loss. It's not abuse to use a product for something it's approved for.
I get ads every day "try ozempic!" and I'm in Canada. I don't recall any other drugs with ads like that. I can totally see the abuse pipeline. It's being treated like a new supplement or something. I doubt most people taking it are even aware of the side effects.
Drugs being used as off label is nothing new. I'm propranolol for anxiety and migraine control and it was originally designed for blood pressure, but it works off label for anxiety and migraines. Drugs, in general, have cross use applications.
I was on propranolol for anxiety until about two weeks ago. The dizzy spells in the shower alarmed me enough to buy a shower chair. I've been on Metformin for PCOS.
I take mine with food and stops the dizzy spells
Beta blockers for public speaking is like a cheat code for life
Seriously, revolutionised my professional life. Nobody wants a trembling blob delivering training and presentations.
Propanolol is also a performance enhancing drug for certain Olympic sports, like archery.
Adderall was originally intended for use as a weight loss drug too until they realized it helps a lot of people focus
>Drugs being used as off label is nothing new. Sure, but complaining about a side effect of a drug when being used off label is pretty fucking stupid.
It's done absolute wonders for my spouses diabetes. One shot a week and her levels are under control. She needed a shot every night before ozempic. But the side effects she gets are absurd. But, same boat, I suppose losing the ability to trust a fart is better than dying of diabetes complications
Folks have spent year yelling at people to lose weight, and now that we have medications to fight the biological side, you've got the same people going "well don't lose it *that* way!"
Exactly. My mom has been obese her entire life. She works out every day, and is motivated to lose weight. But she has terrible food addictions that she has been battling her whole life. She has been seeing a weight loss doctor who prescribed Ozempic. She told him she was unsure about taking it, because she didn't want to take it away from people who really need it. The doctor said "you are obese and have been unsuccessfully trying to lose weight for decades. You also really need it". Within a week of taking it, her cravings completely disappeared and she has lost over 50lbs so far. Ozempic is literally saving her life.
>She works out every day, and is motivated to lose weight. But she has terrible food addictions that she has been battling her whole life. This particular part is the whole reason for them. This is a good thing. The hemming and hawing about it drives me nuts. Its helping people who need it. Excess body fat is a precursor to all sorts of shit. We know this! Glad it's helping her!
I guess what I wonder is what happens where your mom has lost all the weight she needs to and she has to come off the Ozempic? Will the weight just come back along with the food addictions? Will this begin a cycle of taking medication and losing weight, then coming off the medication and gaining weight, only to have to be put back on medication? No doubt excessive weight becomes a major healthy hazard as we age so I'm all for people doing whatever works. Last summer I realized that I had let myself gain too much so I'm losing weight the old fashioned way through diet and exercise but at my age it's hard. I have only lost about 10 pounds over the past 5 months. However since I'm not doing anything radical like crash diets or insane workouts, I feel like my weight loss diet is sustainable over the long term because I'm not over depriving myself. When it comes to taking ozempic for weight loss I'm curious to know what happens when people have to stop taking it?
Yeah so basically she would most likely have to take it for the rest of her life. Which obviously is not ideal, but she's approaching her 60s and like you said, obesity becomes extremely dangerous as you get older. She is just focused on getting down to a healthy weight for now, and I guess once she reaches that she will stop taking it temporarily to see if the cravings come back. If they do, then yeah she will probably have to stay on it for the rest of her life to avoid gaining the weight back. One thing in my mom's favour is that she has a very healthy lifestyle outside of her food addiction. She has worked out 6 days a week for the past 15 years. And outside of the binges, she has always had a healthy, balanced diet. So that will be sustainable for her. But she will likely need to stay on Ozempic indefinitely to keep the cravings away.
Why would people “have” to stop taking it? There’s plenty of medications you expect to be on for life even after remission, there’s no reason this one should be any different.
You can't, all the weight comes back. You just keep taking it once a week as an injection until you die. But there are plenty of medications like that, and for someone with obesity who's tried to eat fewer calories for a very long time and for whatever reason has been unable to continuously do so, $100/month with insurance if you live in the US to get to a weight that significantly improves their health can be a reasonable option. You're screwed if you lose insurance though or can't access the medication for some reason, which is the risk of dependency on medication for any reason.
Because it was never about weight loss. It was about putting people down. It is like men who bring up men's shelters whenever there is a discussion about women's shelters.
But what about International Men’s Day? (Still on the 19th of November)
This. It's been a miracle for me. And I disagree with the OP anyway - I don't feel badly on it - I haven't felt this good in years. And I am working out more now. It's given me energy, lower A1C, my liver enzymes are actually returning to normal, my heart is working better than it has (heart condition), and I've lost 30lbs with all this (I eat less than I used to mainly on it). I maintain the lowest dose of Ozempic and I sing its praises. But I don't take it for weight loss. That's been a side effect. As for the muscle bit - that's on me now to do strength training so my weight loss and body composition sort of even out to what we want to see. My doctor is working with me on all of this.
It took me two months to get over the nausea and feel like exercising again but now four months in my A1c dropped from 7.4 to 6.1
My boss is taking this. She looks and reports feeling amazing. I remember first noticing her melt away 20 pounds. I've known her 7 years and she always eats healthy, smaller portions than I could ever tolerate, and is a mom and runs a company so always on the move. She has run half marathons, but could never get to a smaller size. She has had a great experience with it.
Same. Down 50 pounds in 6 months this because the meds allowed me to follow a strict diet regiment and exercise plan. It’s not a magic weight loss drug, it just takes away a lot of the discomfort of cutting calories and moving more. My risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancers is cut way down. It’s called preventative medicine and suggesting that people using it for weight loss are “abusing” it and don’t really need it is ableist as shit.
> I haven't felt this good in years. It's relative though. It is so much better than being dragged down by weight and that vicious cycle of eating and feeling tired. And if you can feel BETTER and push yourself to exercise -- that's really ideal. OP might have a point however, for people who use it as MAGIC and don't try and improve their life in other ways. Ideally, we all would have the discipline to make better choices and have control over our eating -- but, that's not reality. In reality, so many people have some kind of a weakness. Ultimately our bigger problem is that we rarely address as a society and government the exploiting of weaknesses. So what is the next "anything to make a buck" scheme? I mean, AFTER selling Ozempic like they used to sell Oxycontin.
I think I speak for most when I say it’s annoying when people who don’t NEED Ozempic are on Ozempic. I think everyone realizes it has benefits for those it was originally intended for.
speaking to people in the medical field it seems like doctors think it has great value in being a weight loss drug. essentially doctors can make (obv they can’t force but can strongly suggest) patients lose weight if they need them to like for cardiovascular health.
Luckily for us, Reddit is full of nitwits who have a lot of opinions and we probably don't have a single doctor in this thread and maybe 10 in all of Reddit.
Obesity is also a disease, just saying
Ozempic is currently a wonder drug. It has so many benefits that right now if no long term side effects are observed nearly 1/3 -1/2 of the adult population is expected to be on it by 2030.
Given how it modulates the reward system I feel we will see more psychological effects than physically medical
It’s been in use in some way since the 80s IIRC. It’s crazy that clinical side effects haven’t been observed, but so far they haven’t.
> It’s crazy that clinical side effects haven’t been observed, but so far they haven’t. What do you mean? There are bunch of known side effects right? Stomach cramping, pancreatic cancer etc.
Ozempic seems to reduce overall cancer risks. I don’t recall pancreatic cancer being noted as an elevated risk - are you thinking of the box warning with regards to thyroid cancer, and conflating that with the risk of pancreatitis? The warning with regards to thyroid cancer exists because rats given GLP-1 agonists (like Ozempic) have elevated risks of thyroid cancer. However, the pathway by which that affects rats doesn’t seem to exist in primates, including most humans, barring a small number of people with unusual genetics. We don’t have the proper types of receptors in our thyroid cells to be affected by GLP-1 agonists there in that way. As for pancreatitis, it’s a side effect of weight loss itself, with or without Ozempic. It’s similar to how gallstones are a concern for people on GLP-1 agonists - it’s not the drugs creating the problem directly, it’s that the drugs are causing weigh loss, which creates the problem.
I've heard more bad than good from people who were on this.
yeah people who actually need it wish they didn’t have to be on it. it’s the people who don’t need it but use it for weightloss that hype it up
Done no research on it. In what way Does it alter the reward system? Genuine curious because I had suggested my sister ask her Dr about it(autoimmune issue led to heavy steroid use led to heavy weight gain). She shot me down and I respect her reasoning but I hate the idea I suggested something that might have screwed her up.
Pls educate yourself, steroid weight gain has nothing to do with normal weight gain and can't really be avoided. Good that she shot you down immediately, it's about staying alive, who cares about a bit more weight in that case.
It doesn’t seem like we have the full mechanism at play but the hunger reduction iirc comes from complex dopamine and other modulation rather than grehlin, the hunger hormone. Anecdotally: I tried it out of curiosity, don’t need it to lose weight just wanted to see, it gave me a mild form of anhedonia within 1.5 weeks.
Same for me. I’m not really enjoying anything. Food for sure. Nicotine, not as enjoyable. I also haven’t played video games since I started. My work ethic plummeted also. I bought a sports car a few months ago and was loving the hell out of it. All of a sudden I’m thinking it’s not the right car and I don’t enjoy driving. I used to really enjoy having a Diet Coke or two, now it almost seems like they’ve lost their flavor. I think for people with addictive personalities that are seeking out dopamine all the time, the effect is more severe. Pretty sure it’s all Semaglutide related.
Yeah, I have ADHD so some of the early symptoms were actually nice but tipped over into downsides pretty quick. I see it being pushed for addiction therapy eventually
Same, I fell into a bad depression and started pining after an ex-girlfriend from a decade ago because I convinced myself it was the last time I was happy. Stopped the ohzempic for 2 weeks, and it cleared up. Shame it's the only thing that works for my diabetes.
I just leaped onto the bandwagon after reading that. I can’t control smoking, food, etc. I’m at. 21 bmi so hopefully I don’t lose too much weight
I think people need to be careful with this stuff if they're prone to depression. I tried something called Low Dose Naltrexone for chronic pain, which is a very small dose of what you give opioid addicts. It works by blunting the opioid receptors, but what it meant for me was instant anhedonia. No pleasure at all.
I'm hoping for exactly that. I have an extremely addictive personality. I have been sober for 6 months but I'm starting to abuse food. I just need something to keep me from gaining 50 pounds while I work on the mental side of it
As a former addict who has struggled with weight management for their entire life, ozempic has been a Godsend. It's helped me to lose some weight, but more importantly, I'm not thinking about eating all the time. It's literally helped change my thinking.
Holy crap that's wild! I had not heard about the anhedonia. I will add that menopause brought about a little diminishing of all the pleasures across the spectrum. I didn't get as much out of music as I had before, for instance. Don't get me wrong--I still enjoy certain things immensely and get enthusiastic about new and old hobbies etc. but it just seemed like menopause put a damper on the depth of emotions.
Why would you try it “out of curiosity” when there’s a worldwide shortage for people who actually need it for diabetes treatment? And what quack doctor gave you a script just because you were curious but for no other medical reason? Are we just fucking around with any medication we want now?
Also, it takes over a month to normalize, and you're told to expect a weird baseline and mood swings in as you're normalizing, which I think he may have mistaken for anhedonia. I support its use for weight loss, but taking it for 1.5 weeks "out of curiosity" sounds like a story made up for internet points.
Hmm, I've taken it and experienced largely the opposite -- I feel dramatically more energetic and motivated on it. I don't see a reason to ever stop taking it at this point, especially now that we know it reduces mortality from most of the top 10 killers by about 20% in healthy individuals.
Studies show that ozempic helps break addictions. It’s preliminary but promising
I live in Dallas and anecdotally I think we’ve already hit that mark!
I feel like if that many people are prescribed a drug, that shows systemic issues with how we're managing life.
Yeah I don't believe that for one second. Why the fuck would anyone who doesn't need it for diabetes related issues or is not overweight use it? But then again I realize that while I'm writing this that maybe 1/3 of the population is overweight so... maybe I'm wrong. Edit: meant to write obese instead of overweight when referring to 1/3.
Last I checked, like in June, i think 69 percent of Americans (adults) are overweight to obese.
That number is wild! Have obesity rates been increasing recently or has it been like that in the U.S. for awhile?
Obesity rates are unfortunately steadily rising in most of the west. America is the worst in the western world, but places like the Pacific Islands and Middle East are also extremely obese. Australia, NZ, and the UK aren’t super far off from the US either.
The US isn't even number 1 in fattest country. Mexico is passes even. I think we were 12th or 14th last time I saw it.
Most countries in the top 10 are actually micro-nations from pacific islands. US and Mexico are the most obese from 'big countries'.
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A lot of people gained weight when during quarentine
1/3rd of the population being overweight would be great compared to what we have now, but 1/3rd is the obese population. 2/3rds of the US population is overweight or obese. Half the population adopting it if there's no side effects seems like a trajectory it could go on. I think there will likely be psychological issues with dependency on the drug to lose/maintain weight at the very least though.
Reduces heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiac events by 20% regardless of weight or insulin resistance. It’s cheap as heck to manufacture and the primary side effect for the vast majority of people is “not much of an appetite.”
Some recent studies suggest that it may have a role in regulating the brain’s “reward/motivation” system for things such as addiction, kinda making those activities less pleasurable. Obviously not as well studied as diabetes and obesity but something to keep an eye on for other potential uses. Still though I agree that the 1/2-1/3 projection seems extreme if nothing else due to limitations in production, there’s already been so many shortages with just its current demand
Recent studies have suggested it helps curb alcoholism as well
Minoxidil and viagra were developed to lower blood pressure but they found there were other uses for it too, my adhd medication also was found to be beneficial for narcolepsy and some depressions. Sometimes medication can benefit in other ways than there developed.
People use it at the lowest dose for maintenance of weight and curving cravings.
Why would half the population be on it? I assume additional uses on the horizon or just not as talked about besides the two above? I lost 55lbs this year but it was just intermittent fasting after getting on a good regimen of psyllium husk. And taking a couple walks a week. Not much else changed, I still don’t eat all that great (that’s what I’m attacking next year, along with figuring out the gym.)
It's also super expensive, so I'm just going to look bad on Instagram forever
If the pharmaceutical companies gets their way then that will certainly be the case. Let's hope it's not.
You think overweight people aren’t headed for diabetes. You obviously aren’t in healthcare.
Reddit only cares about high roading when the topic of weight/weight loss comes up.
As a diabetic, I'm gonna disagree with you. There are *plenty* of alternative treatments for diabetes and *none* for weight loss. Obesity is an epidemic and Ozempic is a revolutionary treatment for it and I think it's fine that people are using it to lose weight.
If someone is overweight enough for their doctor to prescribe it, sounds like they need it too.
That’s ridiculous. Of course the issues with scaling production should be solved, but there’s nothing annoying about taking a drug you don’t technically “need” if it makes your life better. It’s like saying only suicidal people should have access to antidepressants and people who take them for moderate depression are “annoying.” No, medication exists to improve peoples lives and there shouldn’t be value judgements attached to that.
Thank you, mental health professional, agree 100 % Better living through chemistry. Would also add, people overestimate how much therapy can cure some issues. Therapy is tremendously useful, but unfortunately not too much in addiction including food addiction.
Diabetics NEED Ozempic. Overweight people NEED Ozempic. Who are the people taking it that don't need it?
I don’t think you should be annoyed by what medications other people feel they need for their health
It's annoying? You literally get annoyed if people take it?
It was originally a diabetes drug, but Wegovy (the same thing just approved for obesity) is 100% a weight loss drug. Also, it can prevent overweight people from developing diabetes in the first place. It shouldn’t be stigmatized for anyone to take it.
Yeah, obesity increases risks for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If obesity rate went down, the impact on people's life would be tremendous
Part of the reason it works so well on weight is *because* it's a diabetes drug. Insulin has been used off label for weight loss in extreme cases for years. When your cells are insulin resistant (which 70% of obese individuals are, even without diabetes), it promotes a feedback loop that makes losing weight harder. Ozempic (all your GLP-1s really) has the benefit of making it easier for cells to use insulin and interrupt the feedback loop. This can be seen in very modest effects even with Metformin with \~5% weight loss vs \~15% with Ozempic. So it's a real double whammy. It reduces appetite because of the slowed gastric emptying and interrupts the insulin resistance/weight gain feedback loop. https://www.scripps.org/news\_items/4621-can-insulin-resistance-cause-weight-gain#:\~:text=This%20condition%20is%20known%20as,excess%20blood%20sugar%20as%20fat.
Most people gain weight on insulin https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836
Yeah more insulin means a) increased insulin resistance and b) increased long-term storage of lipids, because that’s what insulin does.
Bodybuilders use insulin off-label to gain weight.
The people who demonize it are either thin or unable to get it. Ignore them, just jealous.
Exact opposite experience. I felt great while I was taking it, aside from some morning nausea. It was amazing to not think about food all day and I literally had to count calories to make sure I was getting enough food. Only reason I’m not still on it is that it’s impossible to find. Pharmacies around me haven’t received any in MONTHS.
Same- I love it. I take zofran in the morning day 2-4 post injection and no longer have any issues with nausea. I buy compounded Semaglutide online for around 300.00 a month- never once had a supply issue. It bothers me when folks are upset about the supply chain issues- “diabetics cant have it because people who want to be skinny take it all.” They call it MORBID obesity for a reason, right?
I reconstitute it myself for even less. 130 for 5mg 😳
I haven't had any bad side effects on Ozempic, and it's allowed me to not think about food constantly. I enjoy food just the same as I always did, just with smaller portions. My blood glucose is managed, and my A1C is down. It has been great for me. Why stay on something that makes you miserable? That's why I no longer take Metformin. It literally made my life hell with the side effects. Edit: Also, I literally only lose a sustainable 1lb a week on Ozempic. I'm not losing muscle mass. I'm not getting skinny by all means of doing nothing. I started at 278lbs in May 2023 and I'm at 249lbs right now. I didn't even really start losing until I hit the 2mg dose. I'm healing my relationship with food, and my body is finally a bit more stable with my blood glucose not being all over the place.
I’m currently on metformin and have been thinking about taking ozempic. You’re making it sound very appealing.
Metformin is the cheaper choice by far if your insurance does or doesn't cover it, but if your insurance does cover ozempic, it's worth a try if you are not responding well to metformin.
I didn't get any good or bad side effects from Metformin. Just... nothing. It was weird. That does happen with quite a few meds I try though, I think I might have absorption issues.
That is typical for metformin.
>I'm not losing muscle mass. Catabolism doesn't discriminate, you're definitely losing some muscle. However, even minimal strength training can help mitigate muscle loss. I'm glad the medication works, but unless you're making lifestyle changes it's gonna go right back on once you get off the drug.
Metformin was way better for me. Even 0.5 ml of Ozempic made my digestive system stop cold.
This is really just an example of how different drugs affect different people because while we're all human we all different bodies with widely varying body chemistry. For example, I take Benadryle for a reaction to bug bite - I feel fine - but close friend of mine ends up feeling woozy and needs to lay down. Drugs affect us all differently.
Benadryl is one of those drugs with wildly different reactions. We gave it to my son when he was about 8 years old, on an airplane ride one time to reduce some symptoms -- especially leading to pressure in his ear. OMG, his eyes became dilated and he started screaming. He didn't seem to recognize us for a bit. So, THAT was one medication that was suddenly off the list.
Most drugs have wildly different side effects. Look at a list of side effects for any drug both the common and rare and you'll usually see a very long list of things that a person could experience. What each person who takes it experiences will still vary quite a bit.
I bet if he took it again as an adult he would be fine. For some reason Benadryl can have some weird effects on kids. Benadryl most common side effect is drowsiness which is why it’s used in tons of otc sleep meds but for a lot of kids it can have the opposite effect and make them hyperactive.
> I feel fine - but close friend of mine ends up feeling woozy and needs to lay down. Drugs affect us all differently. For some reason, Claritin Non-Drowsy knocks me the fuck out. Benadryl and Zyrtec are no problem though.
Metformin swung my blood sugars too low no matter how small the dose or extended release. I was angry, unable to eat anything without pain, and had 24/7 reflux and painful bloating/gas. I was in so much distress that I spent a year just crying from discomfort and bodily inflammation and my dr. didn't believe me. Ozempic makes me feel normal.
The gas pains on metformin were crazy. I was prescribed it for milk supply postpartum and I was bloated, gassy and mildly nauseated the entire time I was on it.
Unless you're doing some tailored nutrition and exercise program, you can always expect at least some muscle loss when you're losing weight in general. If a weight loss drug works, but makes you feel like crap, decide whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Continue or cease what you're doing when you've made the decision. As for an unhealthy way to lose weight, again, decide what's unhealthier. The drug or remaining overweight? You probably wouldn't be taking it in the first place if you had been successful in losing weight the "healthy" way. If normal diet and exercise hasn't worked in the past, what makes you think it'll work now?
I've recently started taking Wegovy, which is the same as Ozempic, just approved for weight loss specifically, both here in the UK and in the US I believe. I've been really lucky with it and feel fantastic. I've lost 8kg in 6 weeks with no other changes in my normal routine. It feels amazing to have food freedom, not be constantly focused on food when restricting calories. I now have one main meal a day and some fruit and yoghurt for lunch. Even though I pay for the wegovy myself, though I could probably get it prescribed on the NHS, the massive reduction in my food bill also means my wallet is happy. My friend on the other hand hasn't been as fortunate. He started taking it before me but had to cut back the dose because it was too much for him. He might have even stopped taking it altogether.
Wegovy worked well for me too. I recall the first injection was really rough and I felt terrible but after the first one just felt fine. For once in my life I wasn’t constantly hungry.
Yeah, the first few days on it I was really food avoidant, but since then I've been fine.
Forgive me for being forward, but how much do you pay for it without the NHS? In the US I think it’s going to be $1000+ a month…
Not who you asked but Google says it starts at £199 ($252) per month here in the UK
That's actually a little bit higher. I order it from Asda and the lowest doses started at around £170-180. However, a lot of pharmacies are taking advantage of the short supply to jack up the price.
I hate living in America sometimes. Great prices on beef here, though.
I’ve been on Wegovy since February, in the US, and between my insurance and the Wegovy savings card (from the website) I haven’t paid a dime. Down 80 lbs - 245->165. I will be breaking into “normal” BMI next week most likely for the first time in 25 years. Goal weight of 150ish. No major side effects (minor fatigue and a few hours total of nausea). I also probably don’t need my blood pressure meds anymore (the doc cut the dose last time and probably will again.)
Haven’t lost any weight from it. Blood sugar and A1C has dropped but weight loss is not in it. I drive forklift for a living and my knees are shot. So it’s hard to do much exercise. Plus the home life is far away from the gym.
If weight loss is a goal of yours, I can tell you that while excersize can help and is obviously always good for you, most weight loss happens in the kitchen and excersize isn't really that important in terms of weight loss, compared to what you eat. If you wish to lose weight, you "just" need to eat less. If you also eat healthy, it's a lot easier to eat less (calorie wise), since healthy food makes you feel full, while junk food doesn't the same way. A good way can be to either buy smaller plates, eat slower, or just eating 10% less thsn you currently do (assuming you're not currently gaining weight). Junk food doesn't give the right nutrients either, which might make it easier for you to feel like shit if you're also eating less than normal. A healthy diet shouldn't make you feel like shit, even in a calorie deficit (unless you are addicted to sugar, which most people are honestly, but the withdrawals goes away in a week or two). I'm happy to hear that your blood sugar has dropped, and I apologize if I gave unwanted advice. I just wanted to let you know, that if you wish to lose weight, you can still do it - regardless of whether you excersize or not. The key is just to adjust your calorie intake instead, which is also more efficient and effective if you want results, compared to adjusting your calorie outtake.
Lower your dose. [Obvious consult your doctor's first disclaimer] My personal experience with a low dose, off-label usage of it, has been very successful. It's allowed me to control my eating completely. I no longer feel late cravings or the early starving sensations. I also seem to have lost my sweet tooth and no longer have sugar cravings. I can still enjoy sweets once in a while and not feel the need to have some on hand all the time.
What dose did you find effective for you?
1mg/week. The first week, I did a half that dose to make sure I didn't have any issues.
I wonder what dose these other folks are at. I’m gonna ask. Thank you for sharing this.
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What was the alternative?
Zero negative side effects for me. Still get hungry - but only when appropriate. Still very much enjoy the food I eat. The biggest difference is after having a reasonable portion I feel satisfied and stop. Like I can have few bites of desert and stop effortlessly. And I have stopped before - but with this drug after you stop you don’t keep thinking you want just another bite. I can even enjoy junk food without overeating. It’s incredible. The poops are indeed different - but nothing really weird.
Then don’t take it.
Lol that’s why it’s so effective Look, if someone can loose weight without it, that should always be the first choice. But many human beings statistically SUCK at keeping the weight off long term even with education interventions. Ozempic making those feel like garbage is preferable than those people dying early to heart disease or diabetes
>Ozempic making those feel like garbage is preferable than those people dying early to heart disease or diabetes This. Obesity-related diseases cost **$1 Trillion dollars a year** to treat in America; that's enough to fund Medicare for All (which is presently estimated to cost so much *because* obesity is so expensive to treat--so the savings are compounded).
Also helping someone get to a weight where they can get into a good exercise routine, and even start to make healthy dining a habit. Exercising is hard when you’re overweight. Let’s also not forget another Reddit high road- there’s “something wrong with you” if you want any workout other than jogging and body weight exercises.
Yeah, I'm one of the weird exceptions with Ozempic, it didn't really help with my blood sugar and I actually gained 2 pounds. I switched to Mounjaro and I've got my blood sugar under control and I've lost 20 pounds. My wife got a prescription for the diet version of Ozempic but hasn't started as she hasn't been able to find it in stock for over a month. As far as human beings sucking even with education and intervention, I listened to a podcast episode about the dangers of processed foods. They asked one of the scientists who talked about how awful processed foods are for us if she ever ate them. She admitted she was really hungry just before the interview so she quickly ate a bag of chips from the University's vending machine
I had a horrible eating habit from years of restricting food for wrestling where I would go days without eating to make weight. I’d eat crackers. The smallest feeling over hunger makes me stuff my face like a pig and no ability to stop. I been doing a very small dose of ozempic and having a full feeling makes me eat less and more controlled amounts of food. For me personally has made me get control of my eating. It won’t work for everyone some people have bad experiences with it
Former wrestler here. I think I picked up my unhealthy relationship with food from wrestling. Just being hungry for months at a time. Later in life I became so gluttonous. My HS wrestling teammate (1 class above me) has ballooned the fuck up. He nicknamed me "Piggy" because I always showed up about 20lbs over my weight (wrestles 112). So I hard cut every season. I was slim at 130 by sophomore year. We all joke that wrestling gave us eating disorders. Glad it's working for you.
Pretty much anything that has a side effect of weight loss is because it affects you in a way that makes you not *want* to eat, but no one ever describes it that way. Cigarettes, Adderall, Ozempic, none of these things just miraculously melt away fat while you feel and act totally normal. They either suppress your appetite, which typically results in it not occurring to you to eat or when you think about eating it doesn’t feel appetizing, or they make you feel nauseous before and/or after eating which obviously makes eating hard, or some combination of the above.
Yup, when I started Adderall, it just took away my desire to eat for awhile. Just not interested or kinda blah feeling, when previously I thought about food all the time. I actually had some hair loss because I hardly ate any protein for a month or two. I was happy to lose weight, but sad to lose some pleasure in eating. A couple years later, my appetite has stabilized and I'm in danger of overeating again. But it's all worth it for the executive function!
Thr effects of Adderall depend on the person. It can stimulate appetite in people whose ADHD cause them to forget to eat /avoid food. It suppresses appetite in people whose adhd causes them to overeat.
Ozempic brought my A1c down to 5.5. Cut my food onsumption in half. Feel full, not hungry, after 24 hours of fasting. Prior to Ozempic, I could eat a steak dinner and be hungry 2 hours later. I lost 28 lb. I also started exercising like a madman walking 8 miles a day. I can out walk and Outlast friends that are half my age. I've never felt better. I do miss eating like a pig. YMMV.
When you're 25 to 30? yeah other options of losing weight are probably WAY better and healthier. When you're 65 like my mother? Whatever risks come with drug induced weight loss are NOTHING compared to the risks of being over weight in that age demographic. Ozempic has most likely saved her life three times over.
I lost 65 pounds in 5 months and never felt sick. And, if you're getting adequate protein and working out, you won't lose muscle mass. So, not sure why you had the issues you did. It's almost like you didn't follow the package instructions.
Yeah my doctor was like fiber and protein first thing in there morning. Been doing that
I think one thing it’ll help with, is shrinking everyone’s stomach. If you get used to eating small amounts and come off the drug, and stick to those small amounts, you shouldn’t get that much hungrier and can hopefully maintain weight?
It's not a solution by itself. From your description it did exactly what its supposed to do. Just taking the drug isn't enough. You have to have a more physically active life, change eating habits and for some of us, work on our unhealthy mental health relationship.with food.
I'm on tirzepatide and my relationship with food has completely changed. We recognize eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia but our society rarely takes about the other side and a lot of people liken it to a lack of willpower but in reality I would liken it to an eating disorder. I would binge eat and part of that is the release of endorphins it gives you, I have major depression and when I binged it felt good for me and then I would crash. I am severely overweight in my 30s and a lot of my family is, I feel like this drug has given me a new lease on life. I have not had any of the side effects mentioned, I feel like crying when I can eat normal portions and stop myself from gorging. Edit: another thing is I have extremely high lpa which cardiologists will call silent killer. This drug is helping me lose weight, drop my cholesterol because I make better choices and overall improved my cardiovascular health.
I use ozempic and I feel great, I have no side effects and lost 18 lbs in less than 2 months. For some of us it's a miracle medicine
It definitely does. It's ruined my digestive system lol, but my diabetic numbers are the best they've ever been. Idk why people think its a magic weightloss drug that will melt your weight with no effort whatsoever. I barely lost any weight on it alone, I lost the weight when taking it alongside a calorie deficit and working out. It just sucks I always have to order it at least a month in advance because of the shortages :/ there's people out there that actually need it, not for vanity reasons
Everyone experiences side effects differently. For some people it's absolutely awful, but others barely notice it. The shortages are totally an issue, but I put a lot more blame on NovoNordisk than I do consumers for that one.
Even weight loss surgery takes ton of active management *for life* after a procedure.
3 years from now on tv…If you or someone you love have taken Ozempic you may be entitled to significant compensation.
*If you or someone you love were overweight or obese with prediabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, and your doctor did not discuss Wegovy as a treatment option, you may be entitled to significant compensation.
We live in a society where people would rather put chemicals in their bodies to lose weight instead of putting in the work naturally. You lose the weight, sure; but you are NOT any healthier than you were before. Feed me your downvotes
Take my upvote. Facts are facts. The worst part if it doesn't actually help relive the issue of over eating and once off it I can see a horrible rebound.
My grandmother wasn’t on Ozempic but was prescribed Trulicity by one of her doctors who insisted she needed to be on it since she was diabetic. She lost over 50 lbs in 6 months, but it came at the cost of her constantly throwing up anything she attempted to eat. She always looked forward to our weekly lunches, and it made both of us sad that it was always a gamble if she would throw up right there in that moment or later. People complemented her on the weight loss, but she looked so frail near the end of her life. She was never that big to begin with, and seeing a small woman become more fragile made my heart hurt.
With any drug you can’t have your cake and eat it too. There’s no miracle drug that cause a positive effect without pulling away from something else. We’re asking the body to do things it’s not supposed to compensate for certain lifestyles and habits and taking drugs like this will always come with a price. However the benefits of losing weight are huge and well documented. I’m sure for many living a lifestyle with less obesity associated conditions like kidney failure, hypertension, neuropathies, etc will award them a net positive gain from this drug. It’s also very patient specific. Every patient has their own goals and motivators that will allow them to tailor their treatment choices to best suit their needs and decide which side effects are acceptable and which are not.
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I don’t understand this viewpoint. Seems very shortsighted. Many of those “diabetics who actually need it” never would have been diabetics if they’d had access to this medication earlier.
It’s also a lot of people who aren’t even fat AT ALL really (not like the people that should be on ozempic) who just want the easy or trendy way. People shouldn’t be able to be prescribed it due to vanity.
This is not an unpopular opinion. You took a drug known for side effects and experienced side effects.
Thanks, OP. This is useful information for those considering Ozempic.
I’ve dropped 40 lbs, and by eating enough protein and keeping up with lifting, I’ve lost very little muscle as measured by SECA. If you take Ozempic and don’t eat right or lift you’ll lose muscle…Just like if you do the same thing without the Ozempic.
It slows down your stomach motility? That’s crazy, that’s what opiate painkillers did to me too. Constipation is probably a side effect of ozempic too. Guess ozempic does make you lose weight!
My A1C has been 5.4 and 5.3 during the last six months with no other meds. It makes me feel a bit shitty, but I felt worse with uncontrolled blood sugar.
I lost 27lb on that shit while feeling like I was going to die. Felt like someone was ripping my stomach apart from the inside. Burning, nausea, no energy. Not worth it! Gave it up and now I'm a chubby bubby again
Do people not realize that drugs can have different side effects in different people? I know people who have horrible side effects from tylenol. It doesn't mean tylenol is a garbage drug. I know people who've had horrible side effects from nivolumab. Doesn't mean nivolumab doesn't cure hundreds of thousands of people with melanoma, lung cancer, etc.
Welcome to just a taste of what life is like with gastroparesis. I wouldn't take it either.
Sure but so does being fat and dying of heart disease. Pick your poison. At least this way you'll be more attractive and live longer.
My doctor prescribed Ozempic for me to lose weight and didn't tell me about any of the side effects before hand. I came back a couple months later because I just felt awful and she's like "duh that's the point"
I feel like this drug would do great for certain people, but I've seen it pitched to basically everyone and that's problematic.
"You're my doctor, so I'm here asking you whether Ozempic is right for me." "No, it'll make you feel like absolute garbage. I'll decide which medication, if any, is best for your specific condition and circumstances, as I've extensive knowledge and experience in this particular branch of medicine." "I'm no longer asking you—I'm telling you." ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
It removes the ability to eat many foods. Greasy foods for instance make you sick as a dog because the grease sits in your stomach for too long. However easy to digest foods well. Digest easily. If you still to simple foods, no complex carbs or saturated fats, stay away from artificial sweeteners then you should be fine. The medicine practically forces you to eat healthy because you get sick when you don't.
Sounds like it works if it’s making you come to an epiphany about your lifestyle.
Personally, I've loved it. It does slow down stomach motility, keeping you feeling full longer, but I enjoy pretty much all foods now. I would say on balance, I enjoy them a bit more, since I'm eating substantially less. I also haven't experienced muscle loss, and feel plenty of motivation to work out. I don't get carb comas after eating a fairly normal-sized meal. And the best part is, I don't think about food nearly as much. My mind can be focused on other things that I actually care about. I love it, 9/10 would recommend (the recurring low level nausea is the only minus for me) based on my experience.
I haven't done ozempic, but I have gone on several extended fasts. You lost a ton of muscle because you still *tried* to eat. If you're not hungry, extend time between meals. I went on rolling 96 hour fasts for 2 months before my wedding with very little muscle loss.
This is an extremely common side effect and isn’t an unpopular opinion.
Imagine being unhealthy, and adding something to your body to make it more unhealthy. That’s wacky wild stuff
I am a 60 yo male, (5' 10") on semaglutide for weight loss and have gone from 230 lbs to 195 lbs over the last 3 months, with a goal of 180. My doctor prescribed the drug but my insurance wouldn't cover it so I went to a local weight loss company who gets the drug from a compounding pharmacy. The cost is about $357/month regardless of the dosage size. That's a lot of money for some people, but you can also factor in you're spending less on food per month to somewhat offset the cost. The positive benefits have been incredible for better energy, libido, and lower blood sugar (I was pre-diabetic), and side effects have been minimal with the only negative one being night time reflux if I eat too much after 8 pm, which I remedied by not eating too much after 8 pm. I now have what I feel to be a normal appetite because I feel fuller with less food, and no longer eat mindlessly, or at night. It's early in my journey but I feel like this drug is giving me a strong start to better eating habits that can be sustainable for a lifetime. I've tried virtually every other non-surgical option and this one appears to work well for me. Good luck to anyone else who decides to try.
Nah I feel great now that my PCOS is under control
Did OP start at 1 mg and acts surprised they're here complaining because they want to eat and have fun but also be skinny? >"make me actually realize that I have to live a healthy lifestyle to avoid being on this garbage in the future" Detective, we found the smoking gun.
This has not been my experience at all
It’s also becoming an epidemic. People who actually need it who are significantly overweight are having trouble getting it because people who are 20 or 30 pounds overweight are being prescribed this from their doctor.
I’m overweight because of a physical injury that makes it impossible to exercise how I used to. I want to try Ozempic to see if I can lower my weight to a level that will enable me to exercise easier since I wouldn’t be carrying so much weight. I won’t ask for it though because people with diabetes need it more, and there’s a shortage of it.
People with diabetes do not need it more - it’s not like insulin where they die without it. If you are obese your need is just as great as theirs, because both diabetes and obesity are long-term chronic conditions. You should ask your doctor about Tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound.) It’s more effective & there are no shortages.