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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to feel uneasy about what this means long term rather than surprised by the weight regain itself?

682 replies

HazelMember · 28/01/2026 18:03

I’ve just read a BBC article about research into weight loss injections like Ozempic and Wegovy showing that people who stop taking them tend to regain weight quite quickly.

I’m not shocked that weight comes back. That happens after most weight loss attempts whether they involve medication or not.

These drugs are increasingly talked about as something people might take for years or even indefinitely. That raises questions for me about what happens when someone cannot afford them anymore, when supply changes, when side effects become an issue or when a person simply does not want to stay on a medication for life.

If stopping leads not just to regain but to a fairly rapid rebound, it feels less like a temporary aid and more like something that is very hard to step away from once started. That sits oddly with how casually they are sometimes discussed.

AIBU to think the real issue here is not that people regain weight after stopping, but whether we are quietly normalising a treatment that may be difficult to discontinue once begun? Or is this simply the reality of managing a chronic condition?

A woman, wearing bright red nail polish and unbuttoned blue jeans, injects herself into the skin and soft tissue of her lower abdomen with an obesity jab pen.

People coming off weight-loss injections risk fast weight gain

Overweight people shed large amounts on jabs but gain 0.8 kg a month on average once off them, study shows.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c050ljnrv2qo

OP posts:
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14
soupyspoon · 31/01/2026 16:37

SwingTheMonkey · 31/01/2026 12:01

I wonder if op is as concerned about the environmental impact of the first 4 in your list?

Wash your mouth out!!!

(actually dont, I think mouthwash might cause industrial waste)

TheActualQueen · 31/01/2026 16:26

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 13:27

Muscle loss is a factor so can't be ignored.

https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/01/02/weight-loss-drugs-help-with-fat-loss-but-they-cause-bone-and-muscle-loss-too/

A good weight training programme can offset any muscle loss of course.

Why would you not be exercising if you’re trying to lose weight?
Still wondering why you started this thread.

HereIGoOnceMore · 31/01/2026 14:21

thetallfairy · 31/01/2026 14:00

I have been on them for 20 months

So far amazing

6 stone down

I am worried that some of my family members are flagging osteoarthritis 😬😬😬

Lots of people have experienced a decrease in inflammation as an added benefit of taking GLPs and it is likely that arthritic conditions will be added to the co-morbidities that allow prescribing at a BMI of 27 in the near future. It will help people who struggle to exercise to lose weight whilst making it less painful to do so.

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 14:06

thetallfairy · 31/01/2026 14:00

I have been on them for 20 months

So far amazing

6 stone down

I am worried that some of my family members are flagging osteoarthritis 😬😬😬

Well done on your weight loss!

As long as you are doing weight training, you will be fine. That will make up for any muscle or bone loss.

OP posts:
thetallfairy · 31/01/2026 14:00

I have been on them for 20 months

So far amazing

6 stone down

I am worried that some of my family members are flagging osteoarthritis 😬😬😬

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 13:52

Tumbleweed101 · 31/01/2026 08:57

I could probably benefit from using them for a while but I’m always a bit wary of new drugs, especially as
it is too soon for long term side affects to be known. Plus I couldn’t afford to pay for something like this long term. I don’t think I know anyone personally who takes them.

I think you are right to be cautious and cost is also a significant factor.

OP posts:
SilenceInside · 31/01/2026 13:48

That research is not new though, and preserving muscle whilst losing weight is a known issue, regardless of weight loss method. You are told to exercise if you are prescribed WLI, the information is out there and given to people. It is well discussed on the support threads. The majority of people are doing what they personally can to address that.

It’s not a reason not to lose weight or not use WLI.

ButWhysTheRumGone · 31/01/2026 13:47

The injectors have their bingo card but there should be one for the predictable responses they put on these threads.

Wickedlittledancer · 31/01/2026 13:44

HeidiLite · 31/01/2026 13:30

no way!

It’s off the charts isn’t it 😂

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 13:43

There is new research all the time that people may not have come across.

OP posts:
HeidiLite · 31/01/2026 13:30

no way!

Fake Surprised Season 8 GIF by Friends
SilenceInside · 31/01/2026 13:28

Is it ignored though? It's discussed ad nauseum on WLI threads, either the support ones or the ones started elsewhere to "debate" them.

OP posts:
HeidiLite · 31/01/2026 13:24

SwingTheMonkey · 31/01/2026 13:03

What about how old and haggard we look though?!

and how we have lost all muscle.

godmum56 · 31/01/2026 13:19

I still wonder why people "want to debate" things they have no intention of becoming involved with and that affect them minimally if at all? btw, my Gina tablets come in non recyclable inserters and you will prise them from my cold dead fingers.

SwingTheMonkey · 31/01/2026 13:03

SilenceInside · 31/01/2026 12:54

Loose skin is a negative consequence of having been obese, not of losing weight. You’d get it regardless of weight loss approach if you are prone to it. It’s not a reason to avoid losing weight or to avoid using WLI as much as it’s used as threat to obese people contemplating losing the weight.

What about how old and haggard we look though?!

SilenceInside · 31/01/2026 12:54

Loose skin is a negative consequence of having been obese, not of losing weight. You’d get it regardless of weight loss approach if you are prone to it. It’s not a reason to avoid losing weight or to avoid using WLI as much as it’s used as threat to obese people contemplating losing the weight.

Wickedlittledancer · 31/01/2026 12:51

ButWhysTheRumGone · 31/01/2026 12:22

These threads always attract comments such as blood pressure or thyroid medication or asthma inhalers being for life and obesity medication is no different. BP isn’t always a “lifestyle” condition and thyroid problems and asthma aren’t so they are not comparable. My hypertension is genetic. My asthma is genetic. I do everything I can to help both conditions through lifestyle such as keeping a healthy weight, plenty of exercise, healthy diet and not smoking.
These threads are always the same with accusations that “skinny minnies” are just jealous. Jealous of what exactly? Reading threads where posters bemoan the loose skin and other negative consequences is unlikely to make anyone jealous. They are more likely to make people make sure they don’t get fat in the first place. Good for you if you are taking WLI and feel great and are healthier but there’s no need to criticise thinner people as you extol the glories of these medications.

I doubt the op is slim, although she may claim to be. Or as slim as she wishes. No one is criticising skinny Minnie’s, I’m one of them now. And no I don’t have lose skin, what an odd comment. Yes some get it, many don’t.

Binus · 31/01/2026 12:45

Hopefully people calculating the environmental impact of WLIs will ensure they factor in the other medications that are less likely to be needed with a less obese population.

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 12:42

Gingercar · 30/01/2026 12:56

I am fully expecting a bit of a battle when I come off the jabs and to have to work hard, especially initially, to find what I need to do to maintain. From what I’ve read on the WLI threads, a lot of the people who have put on quickly after stopping haven’t really monitored themselves and have had a shock a couple of weeks later when they got on the scales, and gone “omg I must go back on the jabs!” To be honest that is exactly what I did on getting to goal at ww many years ago, didn’t monitor, put a fair bit back on and scared myself! I am always going to have a tendency to put weight on, I’m a human Labrador, and I’m always going to have to watch myself. But now I’m a good few stones lower, and especially when I get to goal, I hope that won’t be as daunting as looking at six stones to lose, like I had last year.

Well done on your weight loss!

OP posts:
Alltheyellowbirds · 31/01/2026 12:37

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 12:32

Report the thread then.

No one is forcing you to participate.

That’s getting REALLY tired, you’ve said it to half a dozen people already.

It’s such a stupid and pointless response, not to mention unpleasant and passive aggressive.

Youre basically saying “if you don’t agree with me go away”. Why would you start a thread asking a question if you only want to hear from people who think the same as you?

HeidiLite · 31/01/2026 12:37

a “lifestyle” condition

Ah, it's their own fault? In the subpopulation of individuals with obesity and severe obesity, genetic component accounts for about 60%-80%, according to Genetics of Obesity: What We Have Learned Over Decades of Research

HazelMember · 31/01/2026 12:33

ButWhysTheRumGone · 31/01/2026 12:22

These threads always attract comments such as blood pressure or thyroid medication or asthma inhalers being for life and obesity medication is no different. BP isn’t always a “lifestyle” condition and thyroid problems and asthma aren’t so they are not comparable. My hypertension is genetic. My asthma is genetic. I do everything I can to help both conditions through lifestyle such as keeping a healthy weight, plenty of exercise, healthy diet and not smoking.
These threads are always the same with accusations that “skinny minnies” are just jealous. Jealous of what exactly? Reading threads where posters bemoan the loose skin and other negative consequences is unlikely to make anyone jealous. They are more likely to make people make sure they don’t get fat in the first place. Good for you if you are taking WLI and feel great and are healthier but there’s no need to criticise thinner people as you extol the glories of these medications.

Well said!!!!!

They start dragging out all other medications. How everything else should be considered the same!

OP posts:
HazelMember · 31/01/2026 12:32

Alltheyellowbirds · 31/01/2026 12:20

You’re only having “a quick look” when something negative is mentioned though aren’t you? You’re not listening to the many positives being mentioned in this thread and going off to find things to back those up.

You definitely didn’t start this thread with an open mind, or a desire to learn.

Edited

Report the thread then.

No one is forcing you to participate.

OP posts:
HereIGoOnceMore · 31/01/2026 12:22

AI also tells me that food production accounts for 25 - 30 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. How virtuous of people to eat less and reduce this impact. Halo

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