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.

Lucky you. I think it’s the exception not the norm these days.

They don't know the full extent of the cons, yet.

Someone upthread said it would be better being prescribed by your doctor and I agree it would. But these drugs are expensive and the NHS doesn’t want to prescribe them. I tried going through my doctor, I’ve begged for help for years and the most I got was a 12 week program on 1200 calories where I attended classes on diet. Like what a calorie was, what a carbohydrate was etc. I’m degree educated and the classes taught me nothing new at all. Living on 1200 calories I was continuously hungry, like ravenously not just a bit. I lost 8 pound but that level of eating was totally unsustainable. I fell off the wagon and ended up with the weight back on plus a bit more.
At my last doctors check up for an obesity related condition my weight had gone up even more despite me watching what I ate. I asked for help again and the most they could do was to give me 12 weeks slimming world membership free. I put on weight last time I tried slimming world. I decided there and then to pay private and to take these drugs. I’m 3 stone down and a different person altogether. Things like Cadbury chocolate now taste disgusting to me and I never thought I’d say that in a million years

But I also wonder, if it's possible to eat shit food, and still stay think with drugs like this (or become think) what will that do to our food culture?

It isn’t. These drugs reduce the desire for food. That makes it easier to make healthy food choices. Unlike some older drugs (eg alli) they don’t reduce calorie intake by preventing the absorption of fat. They make it easier to pick a chicken salad over a hamburger. Taking this drug is helping me to change both my habits and mindset around food.

To have that constant what am I going to eat when am I going to eat regardless of how hungry, how full or what I had eaten is just wonderful

I can’t explain how constant it is and to have it switched off or rather turned right down just gives me some peace I so needed

other medications I take have known side effects that are worse but also support me being healthier but these medications do not get such a reaction

Sorry, but I will never accept that obesity is a ' disease'. I totally accept its a condition created by a number of factors that pp don't have control over, like the amount of cheap, unhealthy food pushed at us everywhere we go, long working hours, advertising etc, all things that have created an obesity crisis. But a ' disease'? NO

Luckily it’s irrelevant to everyone else in the world whether you ‘accept’ it or not.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/12/health/obesity-changes-brain-wellness/index.html

Therapy is unlikely to make things better either.

As for thalidomide, obviously it was awful what happened, but now it's used to treat cancer.
The thing is that this very much is an experiment, but the alternative to not trying it is that the current cohort of people who have obesity are likely to remain obese and have all sorts of health conditions also.

You said

people should consider the cons before rushing to take them

so now people are expected to consider cons that aren’t known about? How do they do that?

I don’t know about you but basically I don’t live a normal life any more due to my weight. It’s not just a bit of an inconvenience or looking a bit shit in a bikini. I am at real risk of all manner of awful illnesses now. All medications are new to market at some point. They have been through clinical trials. Now I am not obsessed with feeding my food addiction I have the mental capacity to seek therapy as well. Because as I said upthread, I’m fat not thick. I know there are side effects including probably some not documented yet. I know I will need to develop strategies and maintain permanent lifestyle change to prevent or minimise regain. But also one of the things I am at risk for is t2 diabetes which mounjaro is also used for so if I don’t get myself sorted I could be on it anyway one day

I agree that they are guinea pigs but then so were people who took the covid vaccine.

It is an experiment but many people have weighed it up and decided they'd take that risk because they believe the outcome from not trying it is not good, or they are currently suffering immensely due to obesity.

We know the drastic cons of being obese and it’s pretty awful…

It’s possible to be obese & only eat whole, nutrient dense foods & fresh fruit & veg. I haven’t touched fast food for decades & I can think of nothing worse than a bucket of KFC. It’s also poss to be obese and work out daily.

For those ‘on it’ is it ‘better’ to be on lowest dose possible?

Hell freezing over wouldn't have got me having a covid vaccine either 🤷‍♀️

Yeah well, the problem with thinking that it's a disease is that you don't have to take any responsibility for ir. And I DID say I understand why it's so hard for pp to be a healthy weight in the society in which shit food is pushed us at every opportunity. I just don't think it's helpful to call it a ' disease ', it's really not. More like an understandable addiction to food created by companies to keep us craving more of their crap food...

For those ‘on it’ is it ‘better’ to be on lowest dose possible?

There’s quite a few threads in the weight-loss section that are worth reading. Personally I’m going to see what the doctors say, but if I’m allowed I will continue on the lowest dose possible while losing healthy amounts (1-2lb per week).

Hell freezing over wouldn't have got me having a covid vaccine either

Whereas I’m proud to have taken the vaccine and helped add to herd immunity for those unable to take them as well as contributing to the end of the lockdowns. Each to their own, I guess.

Well, it's like all the people that say that they just can't possibly lose weight any other way.

If a healthy diet is eaten consistently, weight will come off. It may be slower than people would like, but it will.

I know why I'm fat and there's no excuses about it. It's because I chose not to follow a healthy diet and just eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. You can't do that if you want to be healthy 🤷‍♀️

Everyone is entitled to an opinion of course. My point was just that you ‘accepting’ it or otherwise has absolutely no impact on anyone, so no need to apologise for your opinion (because that’s all it is).
The way I see it is this… thin people feel, in general, vastly superior to fat people. They think they have more self control, are less greedy, more intelligent and more virtuous. They don’t want fat people to have what they see an an easy fix because a) then they can no longer feel superior to them and b) they think fat people should have to suffer for their previous greediness and lack of self control.
But that’s just my opinion 🤷🏻‍♀️.

@Retiredearly61 I really hope you go back to your GP and say 'look what helped' this thing you could have prescribed years ago. Although it would have been off licence. I was working in hospitals when they did the initial tests of metformin to counteract the weight gain associated with antipsychotics. The weight was falling off the patients. They had very little motivation due to poor mental health or ways of exercising or controlling their diet, they had hospital food, vending machines, limited leave to exercise in. I thought if it could work for them it could work for many of us. And here we are.

I just don't think it's helpful to call it a ' disease ', it's really not.

I love the complete certainty here. Like, cos you think it isn’t then it mustn’t be. No space for nuance or additional research or whatever. You’ve decided that fat people bring it on themselves and the world will magically reform itself to your opinions. Except in reality you could well be wrong. Because you are neither a genius nor an expert.

I didn't get the covid vaccine myself so I'm not someone who would sign up to be a guinea pig for just anything.

If I had been suffering however and the vaccine could have somehow helped or if I was in one of the more at risk groups then perhaps I would have made a different decision.

I wouldn't sign up for a weight loss drug myself because I don't need it. If I was obese and suffering daily then there's a high chance I would be considering it.

Some will go on this drug and they'll lose weight and regain some health and regain some quality of life and freedom from addiction, and if they don't go on it the situation for them gets worse.

It will be absolutely devastating if it turns out in years to come that it causes serious health issues of course, but people are prepared to take that risk because the alternative is unbearable for them.

Lots of bullshit responses from the naysayers here. All pure speculation.

I’ve frequented many a fat bashing thread with my story so I’ll not give you the whole thing again. What I do wonder is if it would work for someone like me. (Not that I’ll be having it, I considered and decided against it for me but totally respect anyone who does use it).

My situation is that I developed an ED from years of dieting and pursuing weight loss. I had therapy to ‘fix’ that (though it’s never completely fixed I don’t think) and during that time I learned to eat intuitively. I also gained weight in recovery. So now I’m the fattest I’ve ever been, albeit my weight hasn’t changed for years since that time. I also have the healthiest diet and relationship with food that I’ve ever had.

Because of all of that, I don’t have cravings or food noise. I generally make ‘healthy’ choices, with the exception being on a couple days when I’m premenstrual. So yeah, I wonder what would happen if I did decide to use it.

If you want to say it's just an addiction then surely it has to be one of the worst addictions out there, because less than 1% of obese people get back to a healthy weight. So it's almost impossible to break the addiction, it's easier to get off and stay off crystal meth.

How many times have you attempted to lose weight?

I'm fat, I need to lose about 5st

Ooh I know what kind of issues cancers that causes...