All these weight loss drugs... surely we are heading towards disaster?

[shellswirl]

So as we all know there are various weight loss drugs that have become very popular in recent months.

It seems like the whole of Hollywood is using it.

Even regular people are spending huge amounts of money on it from online pharmacies.

I get that these drugs might be useful for certain people with real medical conditions, but really a lot of people are using it as a quick fix to be thin.

With no consideration to side effects or future health. And without thinking about what happens when you stop it?

Surely the best way to lose weight involves no drugs. No fad diets. But exercising more, moving more, eating a balanced diet. Retraining your brain and finding food and exercise you enjoy.

I say this as an overweight person too! Surely there are other ways.

If every other person is taking these drugs won't there be a huge pool of people to monitor side effects etc?

Aibu to say the whole thing makes me feel very uneasy.

For the sake of argument let's say you're correct and the pill is the easy option. Why is that inherently wrong? Why on earth would someone not take the easy option rather than spend their life hungry and miserable?

Is it a moral judgment you're making here, I.e you genuinely believe that someone should suffer to reach a normal weight or do you have other concerns?

I am very likely to develop diabetes and feel like I have been on a diet for the last 20 years. The bottom line is it doesn't matter how much I excercise my brain constantly thinks about food and tells me I'm hungry.

I weighed 16st and am on mounjaro and have lost 2st so far. (Paying privately) The best thing is just not having 'food noise' I genuinely don't care about food at the moment for the first time ever. If this helps me get to a health weight and avoid diabetes and all the complications that will bring then I will do it and happy to pay for the health benefits

Urgh what a hideous lunch

I follow some Americans on instagram who have pcos/insulin resistance.
One lost 100lb naturally with zero sugar/keto. Her bmi is still obese in 27 ish bracket despite food restriction/wight training/loose skin removal. Others have found they can lose first big chunk that way with extreme diet modification but have needed Glp-1 medication to get to healthy bmi.

Maybe a dodgy London in person clinic?
The onlines prescribe at 30 plus but then keep prescribing. I’m a bmi 28 now I think. It’s all on my stomach from my big peri weight gain so it’s not just vanity wanting to be back bmi under 25.

@Investinmyself no judgement from me. What’s wrong with wanting to be in the BMI healthy range?

Many at BMI 30 are going to fall to 25 on their journey too, etc.

OP, you're choosing to be overweight by not doing the things you're telling other people they should do instead of taking drugs. Being overweight carries risks. So you are choosing those risks. So why can't someone else choose the risk of drugs?

And it's laughable that you cite the USA and australia as a good example for spending more of sport when they have a greater obesity rate.

Fgs please actually do a quick Google before you preach type.

If there was a pill with an allowance for 20 cigs and 6 pints a day I'd be all over it

How do you get them if you go private?

To clarify for those who seem concerned about people taking medication instead of a healthy diet: The medication does not enable people to eat whatever they like and loose weight. It works as when people are not giving in to cravings, overeating and binge eating they can make healthy choices. I would wager that the vast majority of people taking these medications have a hugely improved diet whilst doing so.

If you follow that logic, then the best way to treat depression is not to take medication but to eat better, move more and get outside … and yet that completely overlooks the fact that there is a biochemical issue underlying it (serotonin production and uptake), likely triggered by life events/stress/other organic illness.

I’ve been using these drugs as I am pre-diabetic, hypothyroid and have PCOS. I had to near starve myself before to lose weight, and as I was ravenously hungry all the time with fluctuating low sugar levels, I found VLC diets hard to maintain and was pretty unbearable to live with (have two ND teens, so menopausal hangry woman was no fun for DH).

I am not sure they really understand how/why these meds work fully, but I genuinely do not feel hungry and as a result find following a LC diet easy and sustainable. As I’ve lost weight, I’ve become more active, so am burning more calories; my back pain and other joint pain has eased, as have my migraines and my mood has improved. My cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease has dropped from 7x the ‘man on the street’ when obese to less than half that ‘man’s’ risk, according to my GP. My post baby/prolapse incontinence has improved as have my menopausal symptoms.

Not being hungry - and the side effect of taste buds changing so many foods I previously loved are minging now - means I have finally reverted to the healthy eating habits and choices I had before kids, marriage, menopause. It is all these things (diet, exercise, renegotiating my relationship with both) that actually cause the weight loss - and it is these things that will need to be maintained to keep it off - but it was the medication that broke the cycle. Just like antidepressant medication has done in the past.

Obesity related illness costs the NHS - and therefore the taxpayer - more than pretty much any other disease. And disease it is. Just like diabetes, just like depression - often co-morbidities.

It is in everyone’s interests to encourage Novo and Lilly to bring down the costs of these drugs so that they can be routinely prescribed - along with counselling and dietary advice where needed - rather than taking the easy option to vilify those who are obese.

My concerns are 20 yrs down the line, and the effect on children living in the household.
Right now for those who need it I’m glad there is help, but I’m still not convinced it good on a societal level.

I love it. I'm about 2 stone down and haven't felt this good in years.

Must be better than being at risk of a heart attack etc from being fat.

Order from online pharmacy - Boots , Asda, pharmacy2u.
You need a bmi of 30 plus (possibly high 20s if certain medical conditions or particular ethnic heritage)

You complete paper work online, some require photos. A qualified Dr must approve. They notify your Gp.
There’s active threads on weight loss boards which are helpful if you are considering it.

Baffled by these threads. The OP would prefer the tax payer to stump up the cost of treating obesity related illnesses and related disabilities (or for them to have a gastric band operation), than for someone to buy a weight loss drug out of their pocket and lose weight on their own accord.

The mind boggles.

The only people who should be concerned about these drugs are the fast food companies chugging out UPF crap. Hopefully this will kick them up the arse. I bet they are shitting themselves 😂

As mentioned upthread, I was able to get right through to the payment page by blagging my way through on pharmacyonline
No GP input needed. No photo needed.

What effect do you think it's going to have on children?

This is like saying people who suffer from depression shouldn't take ADs, that it's just a question of 'pulling themselves together'.

DH had a friend who was very overweight to the point where her health was at serious risk. Her doctor recommended she have her jaw wired. This wasn't even that long ago and it was that brutal.

The doctor said that there were many issues they needed to address - psychological, emotional issues, lifestyle and diet - but that the most important thing was to get as much weight off asap. They wired her teeth together for a whole year, and I think how much kinder and gentler it would have been if she could have been given this drug.

The use of this drug for people who are dangerously overweight will save lives, they are not being given a free pass, and unless they also address the other problems which have led them to be overweight in the first place, they will risk putting weight back on again. It gives them the opportunity for a genuine chance to make the changes they need.

I'm overweight. We had a very stressful 2 years dealing with family crises and I let my regime go and piled on weight. I need to lose over a stone, I know what I need to do and how to do it and by the end of the summer I should be where I want to be. I wouldn't dream of taking semaglutide for this, in my case it really is eat less move more. For many people it just isn't that simple.

Don't know if you've ever ordered prescription meds online but you do all that bit, and fill it all in, pay etc, and then they can reject it anyway and tell you to go to your doctor. Not saying they definitely would but you won't know for sure until you pull the trigger

Not ordered weight loss stuff but have had this experience ordering other medication

I know, all of that protein and those vitamins and antioxidents, hideous 😉

My point though was that saying you 'have' to only eat one meal a day is completely meaningless when your meal could be like mine, it could eggs and toast or it could be a family size lasagne with garlic bread. A 'meal' varies considerably depending on who you are talking to.

I've tried semaglutide, and I know several people on it/mounjaro alternatives.

As others here have said, it has completely taken away the food noise. I am nearly 40. I exercise 5-6 days a week, eat low carb, don't drink much if at all. It makes me want water much more, and I think before that I would snack when thirsty, bored, procrastinating, walking near a kitchen, thinking about food. Generally my whole day before circled around food. It makes me want fruit or nuts, not the chocolate kind :). I have energy. As long as you eat small, healthy amounts throughout the day the side effects are minimal. I'm short, busty, and have muscle from working out (and clearly enough fat to put me in the overweight, but I am not in the obese category). I plan to use it until I am just out of the overweight category, and use my hopefully refined understanding of snacking to continue working out, eating more moderately, and maintain a healthy weight unmedicated. Yes, it is a quick fix, but I really do feel as though I have been on a plateau for a year despite doing everything to fix it.

The two people I know who have had complete success on it drink a lot, and it severely reduces their desire for wine.

There is going to be a giant healthcare crisis when our generation becomes geriatric due to our poor diets and alcohol consumption leading to health issues linked to diabetes and obesity. How do you think that the struggling NHS will possibly handle issues like that? They can't on their funding. This is a way to assist without bariatric surgery. I think the move to the daily pill will be common place a year now. For those that don't like it, don't take it. But stop criticising people who are trying to positively impact their health.

Yes process is you pay then it’s referred to their Dr. If you are approved by Dr it’s dispatched and your gp informed. If you don’t pass approval you are refused - some on weight loss thread have been refused if switching supplier and bmi is now under 30 and needed to supply evidence of past prescriptions to get approval.
Not saying it couldn’t be abused but just because you could pay doesn’t mean you’ll get it.

@costahotchocolatesaremyweakness does hunger rage up more than before after weaned off? Thing is if people build muscle on it this should help burn more calories at this stage? Can palate be reeducated?

How will it harm kids to grow up with a parent who is able to eat normal meals and be more able to play with them and less likely to become chronically ill or disabled or even drop down dead? GLP-1 meds have been researched since the 1980s and available for the last 20 years.

I don't see it as anything different to nicotine patches etc