To ask doc for ozempic

[Walksbythesea]

I've been battling my weight all my life. Now as a peri menopausal woman, it's just standing still or creeping up no matter what I do.
I eat healthier than I ever have. I exercise. Im 22 stone and it's not budging. It should be easy at this size to shed some. It's impossible. I have a heart condition, pre diabetes (not been tested for over a year) chronic acid reflux, fatty liver and the list goes on. Losing weight would change my life. I just can't seem to do it. Lost 10lb in a year. It's soul destroying.

Have you tried fasting? Check out Eric berg on YouTube - he has loads of informative videos for this kind of issue

OP, you can but try. It seems like a miracle drug for many. It’s easy to say work on this or work on that but so many people have said it was like flicking a switch in their brain so there has to be something to that. I know how much it can cost for the amount of food that could lead you to end you weighing a certain amount and maintaining that weight so maybe it might be worth looking into a private prescription if you’re not successful with the NHS. My concern with the drug is that it can cause thyroid cancer. That’s a very treatable cancer in the main and I realise that obesity also comes with a host of risks and cancer risks etc. a bigger concern was the fact that it’s also associated with a marked increase in the risk of pancreatitis which I find quite frightening but again…obesity and morbid obesity are linked to many health complications. You need to do what you need to do and whatever gets you to where you need to be with the least risks …at 22 stone and please know… there is zero judgment from me because I truly get it… I’d consider it. Xxx

You could try looking for clinical trials, there are a number of companies that are working on competing products that have almost identical active ingredients. A number of these are looking to do 6 month trials. The thing you want to look for is GLP-1 - which is the peptide that semaglutide mimics.

Boots on line has it at £179 per month. I have lost 2 stone since December. I simply am not interested in eating!

@Walksbythesea

It's too early to say for me. I've been gradually reducing the dose down to the lowest and just taken the last one. I'm optimistic about it though.

Ketogenic diet.

It’s free and wildly effective.

There is a different brand you can get through online pharmacies who then write a note to your GP.

It is almost impossible to get GLP-1 medications for weight loss on the NHS at the moment. I think there are currently no new patients to be initiated on it at all the trusts I checked and even if they would it isn't something that would happen quickly as it is usually only prescribed by a weight management clinic. Initially a person would have to go to their GP and get referred to the weight management clinic that usually means having a certain BMI over 30 usually and also have one or two co-morbid conditions so things like diabetes, heart disease, possibly very high blood pressure.

If its the first time seeing your GP about your weight asking for Ozempic or the like it is likely they will ask you to do some weight management with them at the practice or online or offer another scheme they have access to where they would ask you to do that for probably around 6 months before they even consider referring you to the weight management clinic. If by the end of that you are still not losing weight then you have to wait for your referral for the weight clinic to come through which will be months again and even when you get an appointment even if they are allowed by that point to initiate new patients on these drugs they may still want you to try a different medication or programme first again usually for several months. So even if you were to be successful in getting the medication it would likely be at least a year or more before you were able to start it given the way the pathway is set up in the NHS.

There are also shortages of these drugs for diabetics where the drugs are more lucrative when sold privately and so that is where they are going and the NHS can no longer get the supply they need.

The upshot of all this is that if you want to start ozempic anytime soon then you will probably have to go private. This was my experience and seems to be the situation most people are in here in the UK if they want to use it for weight loss.

I really don’t think people who claim to eat 800 calories a day or just leaves and are significantly overweight are being honest and this is part of the condition of obesity in some ways, an inability to objectively view your diet in facts and figures. Today 12:52
I really don’t think people who claim to eat 800 calories a day or just leaves and are significantly overweight are being honest and this is part of the condition of obesity in some ways, an inability to objectively view your diet in facts and figures.

My friend was like this, she was 100% convinced she never ate more than 800 calories per day yet I lost count of the amount of times we went to the cinema and she eat a large portion of popcorn which are over 1200 calories with a large latte or slush puppies type of drink before they were sugar free.

I agree with this 100%

I tried both Saxenda and Ozempic, the weight just goes back on when you stop taking it.

My BMI was 39 and in the end I paid for a private gastric bypass. I’m 4 stone down now in 5 months.

My GP disaproves of keto and/or weight loss meds. Eat less move more is the only way according to them.
I just don't want the aggro

@unsync can you explain what you mean by “fob you off”? Do you mean the GP follows the strict guidelines set out by NICE, based on a balance of benefit, tolerance, and cost to the tax payer?

I have a 50% discount for your first month with Voy inbox me

It's nowhere near any of the prices quoted on here. I'm on my second prescription of Mounjaro, which I get online and I just paid £131 which is four doses.

...stop what?

I've successfully lost weight and kept it off, why is my opinion not valid?

Reminds me of when I first lost the weight and friends would ask 'wow! How did you do it?'

I'd say 'healthy lifestyle changes' and they'd be so disappointed.

Imagine what people have said to me. All I get is how unhealthy fasting is. Like being a Queen Victoria proportions is just so healthy. My dr said it’s more important to get the weight off and fasting is not dangerous for me.

Oh wow I’d 💯 want my gp to know if I was on it. These are serious diabetes medicines. I’d want to know I wasn’t giving myself pancreatitis because that would offset the health benefits of being slimmer, surely.

You do understand why it's fairly important that your GP knows any other medications you're taking, right ?

YANBU.

It’s a life changing drug. Go for it x

@bonzaitree She isn't unreasonable to go on it for weight loss it is amazing and I think most people will not consider taking it until they have serious and lasting obesity with its own major health risks so I don't hold any truck with the idea that it shouldn't be available for weight loss but as many of us have mentioned it is very unlikely she will get it from her GP or via the NHS lots of us have tried and the pathway to getting it would take potentially 2 years or more and that is even if she can get it at all. Most of us end up getting it privately as its the only way here.