If you are on weight loss injections, what do you make of this article?

I guess the concern is the same as any unsupervised use of quite powerful medication, it can actually be dangerous without proper monitoring and the research does overwhelmingly seem to be reaching the conclusion that , with no additional support, the weight gain once stopping is rapid

I’ve been off it since Sept when the prices went up…I’m 8lbs heavier not the worst but it’s annoying and I expected it to happen. Now Christmas is out the way (put on about 4lbs over Christmas) then I should be able to get it back off. However I can easily see how people put it back on. My mindset hasn’t fully changed and my sweet tooth is through the roof so I know it’s not a magic cure

Great post @Eyeshadow.

Sorry quoted wrong post

This hasn't been my experience at all - I have 2 children with serious health issues, and so life is very stressful.

I used WLI simply because I have absolutely no capacity to give a diet headspace. But since being on them I am easily able to make healthy choices, and now the stress is taken away I can fit in exercise in, knowing it will make a difference. It has made me feel weightloss is finally possible.

The most amazing thing for me is that it's taken away all the guilt associated with food - I eat chocolate (and can finally moderate!) and don't feel like I've sabotaged myself, and I hope this is what I carry forward.

Exactly.

A period of time at a healthy weight is much better for your health than being consistently obese.

I’ve seen research from a clinical trial on other methods of weightloss which compares written guidance, group weightloss (eg. Weight watchers) for 6 months and no intervention.

The clinical trial participants in the group weightloss intervention lost the most weight over the 6 months. The participants in the other interventions gained weight over the 6 months.

After 5 years, the participants who had lost weight had put some weight back on but much less than the other two interventions.

I imagine it will be the same for weightloss drugs. Just because you gain weight when you come off them doesn’t mean there won’t have been a net benefit in the long term.

@Tessasanderson I can guarantee you I am not in a horrible situation with more negatives than positives. That is a crazy interpretation of how WLI have changed my life. I now weight half what I did before, BMI is 25 down from 50. I feel great, and I am fitter and healthier than I ever have been as an adult. But, sure, it's horrible and negative.

There have been loads of studies about people putting weight back on, usually more than what they were to begin with.

I always get piled on for saying it but it’s true and it’s common sense.

You can’t reduce your appetite and stop food noise and then not expect it to come back 100x worse.

And then you get the posters who claim they’ll just be on them for life 🙈

Not only are they completely dismissing life’s uncertainty - getting pregnant, losing their job, developing illness/side effects, drug shortages etc

But they completely dismiss the main thing - the reason they are overweight to begin with!

If they can hand on heartbeat say they’re obese purely because they’re lazy and greedy and just scoff cakes and chocolate all day whilst doing no exercise and there is absolutely no other reason - then I’d be saying fair enough (I’d first suggest they stop scoffing cakes and chocolate).

But we know that obesity is way more complicated than that.

People will get gastric bypass surgery and have half of their stomachs removed and end up putting the weight back on - because there is a psychological element to it.

The injections create a base level, over time you get used to that base level and you end up overeating due to the psychological elements (emotional eating, tiredness, boredom, stress etc) - even with zero food noise you will end up starting to overeat overtime.

There are studies that show people are putting on weight even whilst on the injections because of this.

The people who use this medication long term for diabetes aren’t walking around emaciated.

That’s why it’s so important to be on the lowest dose you can whilst still losing weight and actually plan on coming off them and actually reduce them and come off them - the last thing you want is to become used to the dosage.

These injections are amazing but there is a limit to what they can do and so many people seem to ignore that.

If you only have a little bit of weight to lose - do not use them at all!
You will likely put more weight on and just waste your money.

If you have a large amount of weight - use them at the lowest dose you can and decrease when at your goal weight to eventually come off them completely (whilst simultaneously figuring out why you overeat and how to eat ‘normally’).

Yep! If any of them could actually define what this support would be and provide evidence that it would work, that would help, but nobody ever does.

Hunger returns massively you can’t go on and off it all the time - it causes a lot of problems. I am on it and on a lifestyle change, diet and exercise - weights is my main thing - I’m trying to strength train. I appreciate now being in my 40s that muscle and building that muscle is so important. Also I’m at a crossroads in my life - and I’ve decided my focus has to be me/my health etc, so that’s what I’m doing, it’s tiring. It’s not easy being on Mounjaro. It’s also expensive of course!

I hope I’ll be on some sort of maintenance - like perhaps half doses? Who knows. But for now I’m focussing on my strength training and the weight lost so far is really helping me with that.

But what are the concerns about this "unsupervised use" of WLI? You yourself say it's no different to other weight loss methods, so why the additional concern? So what is the additional concern with this method?

People are so keen to insist that people like me must have "additional support" but there is no effective long term support for weight loss, as we know with non-WLI approaches. They also don't work, and nearly all people regain all the weight eventually.

I fully expected to be taking them for life so it’s no surprise to me, WLI are a treatment not a cure.

I already take medication for hypothyroidism and PCOS. Since I’ve been taking Mounjaro the symptoms of both conditions have improved a lot (and obviously I’ve lost weight which helps!), Mounjaro is doing something that my body can’t do on its own and I don’t see it as being different to taking synthetic thyroxine because my body doesn’t produce enough on its own.

Whilst we continue to live in an obesegenic environment with very cheap calories available those with genetic predisposition to increased hunger will gain weight.

Weight loss jabs would be like any other medication - although I believe WL pills are coming in now so more tolerable (and hopefully cheaper/less environmental waste).

It is normal for a heavier body to try and regain weight - set point theory. Only a small percentage of people manage to maintain long term weight loss - because they remain someone who gains weight easily.

We either change our food environment (unlikely given big food) or we accept that some people need medical support to maintain a healthy weight and that support will likely be cheaper than the cost of obesity related illnesses.

But I’m assuming your diet changed after coming off it?

That’s the reason you’ve put the weight back on, respectfully.

Who would have thought it.

People who struggle with weight loss (For whatever reason) needing to take drugs to achieve weight loss.

Those same people (majority) struggle to maintain the weight loss when the drugs stop.

Isnt it absolutely fucking obvious that they will either need to return to taking the drugs once they put the weight back on or they will have to remain on some kind of maintenance drug for the foreseeable future.

Its like the old nicotine adverts. Get them hooked and then ramp the price up. Once they have seen the effects they have a huge mental battle to either change their lifestyle (which they have already shown they struggle with) or buy more drugs....

Its a horrible situation. Granted there are positives of course but much much more negatives

Yep, I'm on apixaban for life, I'm far more concerned about the risks from that than i am about the low dose of mounjaro i will take for maintenance.

Isn’t this the whole point about the concerns around unsupervised use of these drugs. Without the appropriate support beyond the actual injection, people rapidly put the weight back on once they stop. It’s no different to any other method employed to use weight, the medication/ diet whatever that causes the weight loss only really works with a change in lifestyle alongside it

There is plenty of evidence about long-term use and risk, and the people taking it for weight loss rather than diabetes are the same people who would have developed diabetes in the future and needed to take it then, they are just taking it earlier, which prevents the horrible damage that diabetes does to the body having a chance to occur.

I've noticed the idea of regaining the weight feels like a bit of a 'gotcha' for those who look down on the medication. Like people who use them aren't well aware. Many medicines are designed for longterm use. I will never come off my asthma inhalers, or the pill I'm on to control endometriosis, etc.

I came off WLI in March and have remained 5lbs under my goal weight. Key things I think have helped:

Understanding that I really like food and enjoying food with others and focusing on how to accommodate that v trying to suppress my natural tendencies.

Exercise has been a huge thing. I am now very fit, I cycle or run almost every day as well as strength training and 10k+ steps a day. That allows me latitude to eat more freely than if I was sedentary.

I only ever got to 3.75mg dose on MJ. I was a very good responder to the medication, and I wonder if there’s any research into the different dosage levels people lose the weight on and subsequent weight management.

I adjust my intake a lot more around what I’m doing. If I’m going for a meal out, I probably won’t eat much the rest of the day. If I’m meeting a friend for coffee and a cake at 11, I won’t bother with breakfast. Before losing weight, those sort of things would be added calories on top of a normal intake, but now I focus on them actually making up the normal intake.

Anyway I’m only at coming up for a year off but my lifestyle is very different than it was. I went from 205lbs to 130lbs, I’ve signed up for a 10k, my vo2 max has gone through the roof. I’m hoping that even with some fluctuations in weight, those things are helping me stay healthy.

I lost five stone last year on Mounjaro so I could try for a baby. Genuinely changed my life and attitude to food, no major side effects but also encouraged lots of other positive changes. I now swim 3 times a week and just feel better in myself. I’ve regained about 5lbs in the last 5 months since stopping which includes weight over Christmas, so I’m not too concerned. Mostly I’ve managed to stay around a specific number but wouldn’t hesitate to go back on a low dose if needed.

I lost 50lb on them last year in a handful of months.

I've decided to stay on them intermittently, so 2.5mg once per month. So for around 10 days of the month my appetite is suppressed. And the other 20 days I obviously try to eat reasonably well. I think these jabs are ultimately designed to be on long term. Realistically speaking, if your appetite/food noise/lack of self control is such that you manage to eat yourself to the point of being overweight, if you come off the jabs completely then the factors that led to the gain will return.

I don't think there's any issue with that and I'm delighted with the jabs and the outcome.

How is that different to any other medication people are on either for life or a very long period?

Anti depressants, hormonal contraception; my brother is on a cocktail of drugs and won’t be coming off them any time soon. Mounjaro is the only thing I take but it’s that which evokes ‘concern.’