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.

Rest assured that even if you could afford them you would still have to work out every day and eat a low carb diet. It would just be a bit easier to do so.

'a bit easier'?
All the reports seem to say it's significantly easier to regulate your food intake with these products, in a way that is game changing for many people.

You should do your research. One of the scientists has been doing interviews this week talking about the knock on effects. Ie, very few side effects and showing all kinds of benefits not just associated with weigh loss. These drugs have been 15 years in the making. They're not a flash in the pan. And like any drug there is a strict criteria to be able to get them prescribed.
Obesity is an epidemic with so many health issues attached to it. The reduced burden on the NHS is phenomenal. The scientists involved are touted to win a Nobel prize for this discovery/development.

Were you as worried when the obese people taking drugs for weight loss were formerly taking drugs to prevent an early death due to the comorbidities obesity carries? Shouldn’t a drug that prevents death and seems to cure food addiction and in some instances alcohol addiction be celebrated?
So many slightly overweight people seem to be worried over the more overweight category now having access to a “quick fix”. No to mention the slim ones daring to “take drugs” to become even slimmer! 😱One could almost suspect jealousy.

Yeah, it is game-changing. But it’s not magic.

Not confused no. Muscles in obese people often have different, less powerful muscle fibres and the muscle is often infiltrated with fat. They have poor muscle quality because their muscles are of comparatively poor quality compared to the muscles of lean people. Losing some of this muscle, alongside larger amounts of fat, and replacing it with healthier muscle improves body composition https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-020-03228-y#:~:text=Greater%20levels%20of%20both%20total,individuals%20with%20obesity%20%5B22%5D.

Usernameisnotavailable
Mounjaro was originally created for diabetes then ok'd by the nhs for weight loss as we're all the other injectables. As a diabetic who recently had to change to oral semaglutide (Rybelsus) due to other injectables being hard for the nhs to source, I've had to start on the lowest dose then increase to the optimal over the coming months which isn't great for my blood sugar levels.

I’m on wegovy having been chronically obese for most my adult life. I have PCOS and an under active thyroid. I have had sores, chafing, varicose veins, knee problems, the list is endless. I have been to slimming world, weight watchers, I’ve done noom online and MyFitnessPal. This is the first time in my life that I have felt in control of my weight and diet and I could cry with happiness after only a month. I was facing a future of worsening chronic problems, so please don’t tell me not to use drugs or tell me side effects will kill me - my weight was killing me.

If losing weight was easy it would happen. Many on here will be slim and smug but eat rubbish. It’s complicated.

I think some really benefit from the medication which is great. Of course there’ll be those getting on the cheap or overdosing.
I am more concerned about vaping. The plastic crap, inhaling crap never meant to be inhaled. We’re at the precipice peering at horrible diseases caused by them.

Have been loosely following this thread with interest as someone who has also just taken the leap to start mounjaro.
I'm mid 50's and have been overweight and now obese for the best part of a decade. I too have found that the things I used to do in my 20's and 30's to loose weight just aren't having the same effect anymore.

I'm a doctor. A consultant oncologist to be exact and so you could say I see the effects of obesity every day. I also had cancer years ago so know first hand how hideous it is as a disease.

I chose to take this route after finally acknowledging that exercise and diet are not going to make the changes I need. I have several stone to shift and im currently limited in what exercise I can do due to dodgy knees caused by carrying around my weight.

It's early days for me, first week in fact and I don't mind admitting that I was so nervous I am not sure I even managed to get the full amount in. But I will persist. I knkw that it is not a quick fix and that I need to make changes - as others have said, im fat, not stupid (see above for qualifications).

The endocrinologists I work with are optimistic about the impact of these drugs will have and I know that in my field there is also cautious optimism about the potential reductions we will see in certain cancers.

I feel that there has been a lot of gaslighting of obese peoples real life experiences on this thread which is, sadly, the same as we experience elsewhere on here ans society at large.

To those people here is a simple message..

We are taking it for a medical condition and to prevent further I'll health. We are not responsible for rogue doctors or online pharmacists selling it to people who don't need it.
That's all.

I’m concerned but not for the same reasons as OP. I’ve taken this drug and I don’t anymore. The issues I see with it is that often people do not appropriately use the opportunity it provides to change your lifestyle long term. It is exactly the same as when people have bariatric surgery and find a way to still consume excess calories and junk food in other ways, putting themselves at risk of regain. There is not really enough education or support that comes with the medication and I think people are at risk of running out of money or getting to a healthy weight then just cycling back on and off of it over and over. It does so much of the heavy lifting there is not much onus on the user to be an active participant in learning new habits or coping mechanisms. I liken this to the concept of an alcohol dependent person taking a medication long term that takes away a craving, but never going to AA or completing any therapy or learning new coping strategies. People are so fixated on the goal of not being fat anymore they forget that maintaining it is going to be a lifelong battle that is going to take a huge amount of effort and investment if they are taking a smaller dose, or can no longer access it. Losing the weight is just the start of your journey. I say this as someone who has lost it and kept it off so far but it’s a balancing act for life

it is not that people are stupid, but a theory is different to reality in practice. We all know the theory of weight loss. The reality of it is that its hard and complex

@wisepanda

My understanding was it was created as a rebranded spin off for weightloss use.

Obviously, as it's a rebranded product, it can be used for other medical conditions, and you're not the first to come on here to say you've been prescribed it for diabetes. It sounds sensible if your other medicines have stock issues.

@Corknut well done you for making the decision.
I have recently been treated with a chemo drug for RA. I've had one or two statements about taking the drug away from cancer patients but the risks are high. Not many people accept it for my illness.
I will take mounjaro if my consultant says there are no contraindications. I still have three stone plus to lose and I don't want any future carers struggling to lift me. It's not all about being a size ten (I'd look blinking daft).

Good luck to all on this journey. I recommend a bit of therapy too. And don't forget to donate your too big clothes.

I don’t want this to come across badly either that I am picking this up, but I read many threads over the past year and there is a lot of disordered eating shared/discussed in the GLP ones. People who consistently are still eating takeaways and drinking alcohol despite spending a lot of money on the medication and hand wringing about gaining a lb or having no losses and getting upset about weight loss stalls when they aren’t actually making other changes. It can be so frustrating to read and if I comment about actually counting calories or exercising people jump on you that you don’t understand (I do) and that weight loss is so super complex and hormonal and none of it applies to them and that obesity is not whatever anything psychological.

If you are 40 now and you lose all the weight in a year, you have then got another 40 years to keep it off. Just think about what you are committing to with this drug. It’s a TOOL it’s not magic

@Menora I only have experience of a friend (and another indirectly). My friend lost 5 stones and she's now a size 8 with lots of flabby skin. She intends to take it forever (don't ask me how). She doesn't exercise, she's very sedentary but she eats less. She doesn't care that she hasn't learnt the principles of eating well simply because on the drugs she will probably be fine forever. She's even targeting a size 6 UK (post tummy tuck). So some people will be able to afford these drugs forever and the world will have more slim people. She was one of those with continued food noises. It's a revolution for them and who are we to say no to these drugs when the fda and nice etc have approved them?

Losing some of this muscle, alongside larger amounts of fat, and replacing it with healthier muscle improves body composition
lol, you've completely misunderstood it.
'Poor muscle quality' is not the same thing as 'poor quality muscle'

@heartbroken40 its never a given you can stay on forever. I stopped as I was having gallbladder colic. I also know someone who had a sleeve and gained all the weight back gradually. I think it’s naive to rely on it forever as you might not be able to. You should help yourself as much as possible. What I am shocked of seeing is people asking why they are still hungry on a low dose, or saying they are scared of feeling hungry. Hunger is a survival instinct. I don’t think we should be aiming to build a society who experiences zero hunger. But this is what I mean about lack of support because if you are afraid of hunger, you can learn techniques to manage it. Literally everyone who I ever tell I don’t take ozempic anymore asks me the exact same question, do I get hungry. YES I am human, it’s normal and it’s healthy. I just did the work to manage the sensation appropriately. I’m not sure how anyone can tell me on one hand that obesity isn’t psychological when being scared of feeling hungry and being relieved at not being hungry is what is important to so many people

Do they? I can’t recall but thought there was a home delivery option. Regardless, I didn’t pick up the prescription, my husband did.

@AnitaLoos
We dont need to lose 'bad muscle' & replace it with 'good muscle' we need to properly exercise the muscle so that it improves, gets stronger etc.
Yes we can lose muscle, and then gain muscle, but all skeletal muscle will degenerate without proper use.

Muscle that is infiltrated with fat and is made up of different, less powerful muscle fibres is is fundamentally inferior compared to the muscle found in lean people. It is has less density and less strength and power. And the medications do leave people with a healthier, leaner body composition with a better lean to fat ratio. That’s simply factual information. https://www.ncbi.nl.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579904/ https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-020-03228-y#:~:text=Greater%20levels%20of%20both%20total,individuals%20with%20obesity%20%5B22%5D.

usernameisnotavailable
Not a rebrand.
"Tirzepatide was first approved under the brand name Mounjaro in May 2022 to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus" as per the FDA in the US.

I think this reflects the sheer desperation of people because weight loss has been so impossible to maintain so far.

It's a societal problem, but also an individual one.

I guess an equivalent would be like when they got nicotine replacement patches, it enabled a generation to quit smoking.

This gives us a hope in hell of beating the problem of over appetite. Its one of those where unless you've walked in someone shoes you can't know what it's like for them..

@Menora I don't really know. I am slim, always been thankfully. So it's all second hand. I am just incredibly surprised that my friend lost the weight in her 50s when she's never managed before in her life. Saw this thread in AIBU and I see many ladies who have had success. For the nhs would be good as it could focus on real conditions. So I hope it becomes widely available and finally we can prevent lots of deaths. Good luck to everyone using it, a healthier world would benefit us all

@daliesque thank you for the work you do, I wish you very well.

In the US MJ is only licensed for diabetes. Zepbound is licensed for weight loss. It causes a lot of confusion here where MJ is licensed for weight loss