Page 17 | All these weight loss drugs... surely we are heading towards disaster?

shellswirl · 2024-05-21T08:44:01+00:00

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.

Poppysmom22 · 21/05/2024 19:48

Cityandmakeup · 21/05/2024 19:47

Yes. Any decent doctor can see that taking drugs designed for someone with diabetes will f over a body who doesn’t need them. But well apparently these people don’t want to hear it

But why is that any of your business there’s loads of middle aged housewives with a weekend coke habit not really something that’s my business

User14March · 21/05/2024 19:52

Age makes it much harder for some re: justeatlessmovemore brigade.

I could SO easily drop half a stone in a week in my 20s&30s. Now it takes almost a year.

Otherstories2002 · 21/05/2024 19:53

shellswirl · 21/05/2024 19:29

Goodness me. Some of the comments here are no so unnecessary.

"You do you" it's not really that simple when this stuff we are talking about is at a society level. I'm not comfortable with this crap food industry and the solution being "take a pill".

And the speed at which we've gone from "exercise and diet is the way forward" to "that's too hard for most people so here's a pill" is shocking.

It is clearly being abused (whether people say it is or isn't) as we've heard from several diabetics that can't source it. We've seen that people can lie online to get it. We've seen celebs that are not obese using it.

We've seen that people are not educated enough about what is a healthy diet. So many claim to eat very little and the weight doesn't budge. It just can't be true for most. If you are in a calorie deficit then you will lose weight.

As for the personal digs at me. Like I can't have an opinion because I'm fat too. Wow. I just simply believe that we've opened the door to people abusing it. We don't know side effects fully yet. And there is a perfectly good alternative option which I have had success at, even if it is up and down and slow.

As for those that compare it to other diseases. It's just not the same is it. In cancer we take the drugs because the benefit is so great. Doing nothing will not have the same results. There is no safe alternative to chemo and drugs in cancer.

I’m not that comfortable with endless obese thinking it’s ok. But we are where we are. For those who want to address it there is now a safe and effective medication. Amazing.

DownWithThisKindOfThing · 21/05/2024 19:54

User14March · 21/05/2024 19:22

@DownWithThisKindOfThing do you think obesity itself causes the hunger & cravings? So you won’t have them when off it in healthy weight bracket?

I don’t really know tbh! When I’ve lost weight before my hunger has gone down but obviously I piled it back on 🙄

Tbh I also think I have some sort of food addiction so I am trying to use the time on the meds to sort that too

DownWithThisKindOfThing · 21/05/2024 19:59

kkloo · 21/05/2024 19:37

Yes I haven't lived with it myself but I'm not sure why people don't understand it on some level without experiencing it.

It must be a lack of empathy.

I don't understand the exact feelings that a heroin user feels when they're craving heroin, or an alcoholic craving a drink or someone with obesity craving food, but I do understand that the feeling must be all encompassing, which should be obvious given the amount of drug users/alcoholics/people with obesity who can't resist the drug of choice even though it is causing them harm.

My understanding is that for a lot of people it turns off those addictive thoughts as you said, which is obviously a freedom that those without obesity take for granted because our brains/hormones aren't constantly trying to tell us to eat stuff that we shouldn't or to keep eating more and more.

I've always been slim and can of course crave stuff and I can binge too occasionally but I don't have cravings all day long or the desire to binge very frequently.

I think that's what some people think, that the cravings that people with obesity get are just the same as those who are a normal weight....but that the only difference is that slim people have better self control. No, slim people who have never had food issues just aren't bombarded with cravings constantly. So therefore it's a lot easier to have self control.

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Yes. Good post!

Otherstories2002 · 21/05/2024 19:59

Cityandmakeup · 21/05/2024 19:47

Yes. Any decent doctor can see that taking drugs designed for someone with diabetes will f over a body who doesn’t need them. But well apparently these people don’t want to hear it

You’re aware that it’s quite typical to discover that a drug designed for one thing can be used for something else right…?

BusyMummy001 · 21/05/2024 20:01

Am interested in the fact that ‘obesity’ is seen as something people achieved over a few weeks or months of gorging on UPF whilst watching EastEnders, and their attempts to ‘eat less and move more’ were clearly feeble. I became obesity about 4 years ago. Was a bit overweight at the time, nothing I haven’t cured before with a diet and exercise, but there was this thing… a global pandemic. I got covid very early on and very badly. So was ill for about 6wks.

Through weakness and being an idiot, I tripped over and broke my foot towards the end of this. Another 6wks on my arse, foot up. After this, once we were allowed out of the house to do a bit of exercise, I had chronic acute asthma. I was also going through the menopause, a BFF was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and due to lockdowns/social gathering rules we couldn’t go to see him.

Throughout this time I gained a lot of weight. I was now obese. Only just, but two more years of trying to ‘move more’ with obesity related chronic back pain and residual acute asthma, the weight continued to creep on. I’d lose a bit by literally starving myself (I was hardly able to move, so starving was all that worked); not unnaturally, as soon as I cracked and started eating - moderately - the weight went straight back on, plus a couple more. And the cycle began. And this was despite 20years of managing PCOS/hypothyroidism/insulin resistance.

10 years ago I was fit, size 12, zip lining and bunjy jumping with my kids or brownie and beaver units, walking 8miles a day, fit as a fiddle. Obesity can happen to anyone, it can creep up on you and wrap its arms around you and cling on for dear life when least expect it. Not eating and moving more didn’t help. These drugs did.

I’m no longer obese, I can move again (often without reaching for my inhaler), my joint pain is gone, and all other health indices are optimal. People should be encouraged to use these drugs if dieting and exercise is not helping or they are limited for any reason. Hitting them over the head with the narrative that they are stupid/gluttonous/lazy is deeply insulting.

BruFord · 21/05/2024 20:04

One of DH’s sisters is morbidly obese, only in her 40’s, and if a weight loss drug helped her get back to a healthy weight, it would be wonderful. She’s had one serious health crisis and tbh, we’re expecting another one at some point. 🙁

I don’t know what’s caused the weight gain (and it’s not my place to ask) and while it would be great if she could lose it through diet and exercise alone, it seems unlikely to happen. Personally, I think it would be better for her to try a weight loss drug than carry on as she is.

Cornflakes44 · 21/05/2024 20:10

Moier · 21/05/2024 10:03

@Etincelle
Well said.
They don't just bring them out without years of testing.
Mounjaro is for type 2 diabetes..
It just so happens it helps you loose weight too.
Just like some people have anorexia...some people have the opposite.. it's a serious illness.
Slimming world has been scientifically proven to be more dangerous than mounjaro.

What was the Slimming World stuff? I do it and would really like to know if it's dangerous. Thanks

spuddy4 · 21/05/2024 20:10

I have started on Mounjaro. I pay for it myself so I'm no burden on the taxpayer or NHS and I don't see what business it is of anyone else.

The same people on here bleating about the risks were probably the ones chastising people who wouldn't take the COVID vaccine.

Basically my body my choice.

Original poster

shellswirl · 21/05/2024 20:14

Well let's revisit this thread in 10 years time. AI will have taken our jobs and we will be eating more chemical food than ever and popping pills to make us slim because it's easier than the alternatives. Our lungs are popcorn because of all the vaping but hey, they told us it was safer than smoking.

OP posts:

spuddy4 · 21/05/2024 20:19

Big jump from weight loss jabs to vaping. I think that's a whole new thread.

kkloo · 21/05/2024 20:19

Cityandmakeup · 21/05/2024 19:47

Yes. Any decent doctor can see that taking drugs designed for someone with diabetes will f over a body who doesn’t need them. But well apparently these people don’t want to hear it

🤔Lots of drugs have multiple uses. And it seems that when they were creating/studying this drug that they did see that it could be used for both obesity and diabetes, but they focused more on diabetes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/health/weight-loss-drugs-obesity-ozempic-wegovy.html

Lou573 · 21/05/2024 20:21

shellswirl · 21/05/2024 20:14

Well let's revisit this thread in 10 years time. AI will have taken our jobs and we will be eating more chemical food than ever and popping pills to make us slim because it's easier than the alternatives. Our lungs are popcorn because of all the vaping but hey, they told us it was safer than smoking.

And what qualifications make you think you know more about these medications than the medical community?

NewJobNewMeNewLife · 21/05/2024 20:34

I self fund mounjaro. I’m around 8 stone overweight. I can tell in my mid 40s the weight is starting to affect my joints, and I’m really unfit. I have put on the weight after a life changing event in 2019 led to trauma and consequently poor mental health. I know the science behind losing weight and know i have to lose weight but found it difficult and I don’t want to waste more time. I know it’s not a perfect solution. I know that I risk piling the weight back on once I finish with the jab.
The way I see it is I risk losing years of my years being so overweight so I am willing to risk years of my life by taking a drug where the long term side effects aren’t yet known. It’s not a perfect solution but being fat isn’t perfect either.
My next step was going to be a gastric bypass.

MrsSunshine2b · 21/05/2024 20:38

shellswirl · 21/05/2024 19:29

Goodness me. Some of the comments here are no so unnecessary.

"You do you" it's not really that simple when this stuff we are talking about is at a society level. I'm not comfortable with this crap food industry and the solution being "take a pill".

And the speed at which we've gone from "exercise and diet is the way forward" to "that's too hard for most people so here's a pill" is shocking.

It is clearly being abused (whether people say it is or isn't) as we've heard from several diabetics that can't source it. We've seen that people can lie online to get it. We've seen celebs that are not obese using it.

We've seen that people are not educated enough about what is a healthy diet. So many claim to eat very little and the weight doesn't budge. It just can't be true for most. If you are in a calorie deficit then you will lose weight.

As for the personal digs at me. Like I can't have an opinion because I'm fat too. Wow. I just simply believe that we've opened the door to people abusing it. We don't know side effects fully yet. And there is a perfectly good alternative option which I have had success at, even if it is up and down and slow.

As for those that compare it to other diseases. It's just not the same is it. In cancer we take the drugs because the benefit is so great. Doing nothing will not have the same results. There is no safe alternative to chemo and drugs in cancer.

The "fat acceptance" movement are very quick to tell everyone that people's health are their own business and we don't have a right to make judgements about that from outside appearances.

If you wouldn't appreciate others telling you to eat a salad and go for a run, I'm not sure why you would think your opinions on other people's private health decisions are anything to do with you.

EmbarrassedGardener · 21/05/2024 20:51

peachgreen · 21/05/2024 10:22

I took Saxenda for three months in 2022. It helped break the cycle of yoyo dieting, binging and purging that I’d been on since I was 11. It cancelled out all food noise and genuinely changed my appetite completely. I started eating one meal a day and was able to continue doing that after I came off it. I have since lost 6.5 stone and still going. It changed my life and I have absolutely no regrets about taking it. Without it I would have been morbidly obese for the rest of my life.

Can I ask if you have one meal a day, how are you managing to fit in all your nutritional foods? I’ve tried one meal a day but lack so many vitamins, calcium etc that I worry I’m going to fail long term. I tried fitting everything into one meal but the combination took forever to eat.

mumwheresmyribena · 21/05/2024 20:56

Cityandmakeup · 21/05/2024 19:47

Yes. Any decent doctor can see that taking drugs designed for someone with diabetes will f over a body who doesn’t need them. But well apparently these people don’t want to hear it

The point is that it's affecting people who DO need it, that's part of how and why it works.It decreases blood sugar levels by enhancing insulin secretion. This isn't only beneficial to those that tip over to type 2 diabetes. Regulating the blood sugar (ironing out the peaks and troughs) is the key to getting a grip on the obesity epidemic, cutting cardiac disease, strokes, and reducing your risk of dementia, not to mention GLP-1R's effect on reward pathways helping with binge drinking and other addictions. There's ongoing research into its ability to protect against MS and Parkinson's too. More and more research into blood sugar and inflammation is pointing to them being twin major players in some of the chronic ill health as people get older. A drug that can regulate (not supply) those pathways is invaluable

PurpleFlower1983 · 21/05/2024 21:01

I think they are revolutionary and will hopefully make us a healthier population with less reliance on the NHS moving forward. They have been compared to statins and other similar drugs, those are common place now.

I do agree though, education around food and nutrition needs to be better.

tobee · 21/05/2024 21:01

PosyPrettyToes · 21/05/2024 19:13

So you are a BAD PERSON if you are fat, because you are part of an epidemic and a drain on society blah blah blah

but also a BAD PERSON if you use medication to lose weight because DRUGS?

Are you all thin because you’re clutching your pearls so hard it’s a full body workout?

Great post; well put!

JosiePosey · 21/05/2024 21:04

PurpleFlower1983 · 21/05/2024 21:01

I think they are revolutionary and will hopefully make us a healthier population with less reliance on the NHS moving forward. They have been compared to statins and other similar drugs, those are common place now.

I do agree though, education around food and nutrition needs to be better.

Less reliance on the NHS until the side effects start becoming apparent.

Original poster

shellswirl · 21/05/2024 21:07

What are the side effects? Genuine question? I had read about thyroid cancer, issues with aspiration in operations, nausea, sickness so far. Also issues with bowel?

In the patient leaflet it says: "it is not known if it will cause thyroid tumours"

OP posts:

tennistimetomorrow · 21/05/2024 21:09

JosiePosey · 21/05/2024 21:04

Less reliance on the NHS until the side effects start becoming apparent.

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This. Is. Not. A. New. Drug. Side effects are already well documented.

tennistimetomorrow · 21/05/2024 21:11

If only there was a medication for ignorance.

Retiredearly61 · 21/05/2024 21:11

ClonedSquare · 21/05/2024 11:53

I take a weight loss drug. When I started taking it, the effects were instant. Literally my whole approach to food changed the next morning. It's actually opened my eyes to the fact that actually, I'm not just greedy, lazy and weak. I contributed to my weight gain of course, but actually there was also a medical and biological side to it that I simply couldn't overcome myself.

Before, I'd be fantasising about food constantly. If I wasn't completely occupied or physically unable to get my hands on food, I would be eating. If a food popped into my head, I wouldn't stop thinking about it until I ate it. I never actively noticed any cravings when I was pregnant, because I had that level of craving all the time anyway. Having food in front of me, I was unable to say no. Mounjaro stopped that dead. I can walk around the supermarket and not pick up junk. I can take my son for a treat and not have any myself. If I consider having a treat from sheer habit, I can shrug and say it's not worth it.

And on a purely physical side, I don't feel hunger in the same way. Before, I'd be absolutely starving by 10am if I skipped breakfast. Not a bit hungry, painfully starving. I've always eaten dinner around 5pm because again I'd be painfully starving by then. After taking Mounjaro, I start to feel a little bit hungry around what most people would call normal meal times. It's just not even vaguely comparable to how I felt before.

I've spent 20 years of my life struggling with my weight and eating. The fact I can take an injection and start eating considerably less and considerably better shows that there was more going on than just my lack of effort.

This could have been written by me. I’m taking saxenda and my relationship with food has changed completely.
My obesity was obviously caused by a biological issue, if it wasn’t then it couldn’t possibly have been cured so easily by medicine. It’s not a miracle cure and I’m intermittent fasting and cutting out processed food to lose the weight. I’m doing the work but this drug is making it effortless to stick to the plan.