The rise of the trend of GLP-1 and the pressure it brings?

[PiriPiriMenopause]

First of all I just want to say I have nothing against the choice people make for the injections at all, I think they’re great and they obviously work for people who need them! I totally get why someone would want to take it, and it really is transforming lives.

But I worry about the pressure this is bringing so the it. I’m a size 14 and pretty normal. At the moment I don’t have trouble buying clothes or getting stuff to fit. My BMI is about 26 which yes is higher than the recommended but not massively so.

So many people I know are on this drug! Honestly, in my normal every day life, I know of at least 15 people who are taking it. It’s working brilliantly and the results are fantastic they’re happy and it’s great, I love seeing how their confidence has turned on a sixpence. Some of the women were larger than me some were not that much larger than me or the same size.

I’m not sure if my experience is a reflection of what’s going on country wide or not. But AIBU to worry about the knock on effect this will have moving forward. I worry that a size 14 will soon become almost obsolete in the shops because people are no longer requiring larger sizes, I worry about the knock on pressure this will bring to those of us who can’t afford to take it or simply don’t want to or can’t take it. I worry about it becoming a culture for people of my daughter’s age and what it means for their confidence in future.

I’m just interested to see if I’m just being paranoid or if this is something other people worry about. There’s always been a massive pressure on women in particular with their size and appearance but this is the first time I’ve ever really felt it so extreme!

You don't 'just' think it should be advice because you mentioned monitoring as a possibility too.

Does the fact that you don't bring it up once in this post mean you no longer think it's something worth mooting? If so, good. By all means make the WLI providers send out a food diary with every order if you want. As long as you're not trying to place any conditions that would interfere with availability to obese people, I've no quarrel. Just keep your food and exercise monitoring ideas out of it.

Agreed. I know someone who was actually modelling (not as a plus size model, tall and relatively slim) in a size 14. She was over 6 foot, but not remotely overweight, and no jabs are going to ever make her shorter.

We dont yet know if these things bring their own health problems.

Size 14 isn’t that big and will survive for sure. Size 18-22 may not though and will probably move to specialist shops.

Whereas we very much do know that obesity brings it's own problems, and that our existing mechanisms to treat the already obese didn't work.

Surprised so many thinking long term effects unknown, can’t decide if it’s ignorance or wishful thinking to be honest.

the main agonist in these drugs was first discovered in the 1920s. It is simply a synthetic hormone we produce naturally.
it was then developed in the fifties.
it went through 15 years of trials before being approved for diabetics. Inc diabetics who got to a normal weight. That was over 20 years ago.
it was the trialled for weight loss, again, multiple years, that was approved about 3 years ago, I think by the fda first in the USA.
it was then approved by most health care regulators in countries with functioning health care systems.
this year the WHO concluded their research as they didn’t wish to comment earlier as they wished to examine all the long term impacts. They then recommended all countries with a functioning health care system make available for diabetes.
they then subsequently completed their research into long term effects for weight loss and recommended it was made available for obesity as a long term treatment and issued guidance for all countries to now look at affordability and availability, as they were concerned many people are unable to access due to cost and availability restrictions.
when the who puts a medication on its essential meds list, then countries meet the recommendation.
the drug is now in multiple new trials, all seperate, for multiple other uses
cancer reduction
cardio vascular health
kidney and liver health
dementia reduction
alcohol and drug abuse reduction
anti ageing, - not your face but trials have shown that due to the reduction of inflammation our cells are able to regenerate, meaning the scientists are now seeing, ageing either slow, stop or reverse. The fountain of youth is not about appearance, but what’s going on inside but of course if you are healthy inside you look healthy outside,

this is just a peptide, one we produce naturally, but which production of declines with age, or some people never produce enough off, the ability to get a medicine approved is now incredibly onerous, post thalidomide, and these drugs didn’t just do a 15 year initial trial, they have been in trials ever since. So nearly 40 years now.

The global health authorities know the safety of the drugs, they know the global uptake requirements.

me personally I’ve researched it, and I discussed with my gp before starting, who herself had been prescribing for over two decades and had very good results, albeit for diabetes, and actually said she wished she could prescribe. It’s a scandal about the cost for an essential medication, but this will resolve in time. I am staying on a low dose, as I know my body now works optimally, I am staying on primarily for the health benefits, reduced cancers, better cardio vascular , kidney and liver function, optimal blood sugar and insulin control, reduced risk of diabetes, the reduced inflammation, the improvement in my internal organs,

i recently had a full swathe of blood tests and every one came back in peak health, all smack bang in the middle of the healthy range, everything, from blood cell count to kidney, liver etc and my cholesterol is now low and very healthy.

so no, there won’t be any serious class action law suits, long term effects no one knew, they already know. And that’s why they all approved for life time usage.

lets be honest, the scaremongering is not as people think all the global health authorities have suddenly become inefficient, it’s because people are getting slim, or more accurately women are, and those who can’t access feel envy and or resentment.

I have to say I know a lot of people on the jabs too and they weren't even very big to start with, they are now very small.
Im finding it quite difficult to process my feelings around it as im the biggest i have ever been but still a size 14.
After my children I got down to a size 8 but found it hard to sustain. I beating myself up for not being skinny.
There is also constant talk around me about losing weight and clothes sizes ect which is making me feel crap - sorry im not sure of the best words to articulate it.
It almost as though being a skinny women is best thing a women can achieve but its obviously not.

Yeah. Two 'wrongs' dont always make a right

I don’t think skinny is the best a woman an achieve, I think now it’s also about career success, academia, successful relationships; successful parenting. I also don’t think it’s about being skinny, I think it’s about being slim and strong. Weight training, protein consumption is the big thing, huge focus on it.

however if struggling with body weight, then being skinny maybe all consuming to you, when you see others reduce.

But it’s not wrong, read my earlier and factual post and if you can climb out of your resentful envious hole you can also google and educate yourself.

it’s because people are getting slim, or more accurately women are, and those who can’t access feel envy and or resentment.

100% this. I saw some absolute bellend on social media compare using WLI to injecting heroin the other day. If you don’t want to take it,(or don’t need it) don’t. But don’t make out those who are, are stupid and are going to be struck down with some awful affliction in 5 years time! It just reeks of jealousy.

@Raintoday2323 there are always reasons to beat ourselves up if we compare ourselves to others. If it wasn't weight, it might be how our hair looks, what car we drive, what area we live in, how many children we have, what job we do etc etc etc.

If your self-worth comes from what others think about you, then there will always be something. Sounds to me like you are not overweight and do not have weight related health problems, so maybe be kind to yourself and think how well you personally are doing and give yourself credit for not being overweight and obese. That is no mean achievement these days. Don't let others decide how you should feel about yourself.

So basically you have body image issues. That’s for you to deal with not others. Yourself esteem isn’t the responsibility of other women or of fat women.

You touch on a great point there, perhaps unintentionally.

As an obese person, there isn't a 'right' in that every path open to you has some risk. That's the known, certain risks of remaining obese and of following proven ineffective treatments that are more likely than not to see you regain the weight. Plus the known potential side effects of WLIs. But for some reason it's only the last one that seems to concern some people.

I agree with you in some ways, OP. As much as I think the weight loss drugs are absolutely great for those who genuinely need lose weight, and can use medication to help do so, I worry it will be seen as the norm for severe weight loss and the "conventional" weight loss methods ie healthy eating and exercise won't always be a first solution.

And yes, there are always those who will benefit from the drugs, but again I worry about the long term effects on the body, including how it might have different ways of metabolism once the drug is stopped.

I know there will be plenty of people who will say they are absolutely wonderful drugs, so I have my hardest hat on here!

I get where you're coming from, OP. I don't think size 14 will become obsolete but I do think that society will become even more fat phobic as people get slimmer on these drugs. I worry about the impression it gives children, especially girls, that somehow only slimness equates to health.

It's also excruciating for people like me who have or have had eating disorders and cannot be prescribed them. I'm definitely getting triggered about my weight by seeing people I know get skinny on them.

The widespread availability of generics will be a game changer making these drugs affordable to millions more people who are currently unable to afford to purchase the branded drugs.

These jabs have been used for over 20 years, its not a new medication. Peoples view on what is a little chubby now is definitely skewed. Many people with a BMI of 27 are considered normal-ish or a little chubby to look at but in fact are a long way off a healthy BMI. They are prescribed for those people if they have specific conditions so how are they not designed for that? Also if someone obese gets down to that size they are able to continue with them and also stay on a maintenance dose as long as their BMI is within a healthy range.

You dont have to have 30g of fibre, that is nothing to do with WLI, that is a recommended daily amount regardless and would be a good amount to eat. Personally I have never got over about 12g in a day, mostly under 10. Other than fibre I do have a decent balanced diet as regardless of jabs you would be unlikely to lose weight over a long time without that.

Do you have a link to evidence regarding being overweight = living longer?

But they don’t become the fat ones because if they were obese they can get the jabs. If they’re not obese then they don’t need them. Also… obesity isn’t a moral issue so why are you acting like the none obese people who have ‘tried’ harder are more deserving of the treatment for obesity?

@HereforonedayonlytoavoidStrangerThingsspoilers but isn't it even more worrying about the hugely increasing numbers of obese children? Generally speaking not being obese or overweight (so of normal weight and therefore slim) does equate to better health.

If you are triggered by people losing weight, for whatever reason, that is definitely something to address and I have great sympathy for those battling with eating disorders at either end of the spectrum. However, it is not reasonable to deny others the benefits of being not obese or overweight because of the effect that might have on another person.

It's because some people do verrrrry much view obesity and weight as a moral issue. That poster just said the quiet part out loud.

In fairness to her, nobody who's alive today invented any of this. It has a much longer history.

Don’t be fooled.

Yes these people have lost weight quickly (most were very big to begin with) but so did people using Ali and Carblockler and whatever else ‘miracle’ weight loss drugs were sold.

But like other weight loss products, including surgery, this is not a miracle cure and research shows that many people put the weight back on (some put more).

Imagine not feeling hunger for months or years and then all of a sudden feeling it 10x worse - you are going to go mad and eat like there’s no tomorrow.

Not only does your body get used to the dosage and therefore people over time start to over eat - imagine being at the highest dosage and needing to lose weight.

But also, unlike any other methods this one does not require you to consciously change your habits to get results.

In order to get bariatric surgery you have to prove that you can lose weight, even before you get the surgery because else you’ll just put the weight back on.

I think these injections are amazing for people who need to reset their brains but I believe you should sign up for them through your gp and they should come with a realistic timeframe of how long you’ll be on them, therapy, nutritional advice and support when reducing and coming off of them.
It will still be cheaper than treating obesity related diseases and the poorer population will also have the same as the richer.

Of course that won’t happen because the pharma companies get billions.

But don’t ever lose hope or get jealous that you ‘worked harder’ for your weight loss because ultimately you will have much more success at keeping the weight loss off than someone who replies on injections without doing anything else.

The resentment is clear on this thread, it’s mainly from overweight women who can’t access them, either as they are not eligible or can’t afford.

no, there is no prescription medication available for someone as they are a bit chubby and miserable. There is prescription medication now available for life time use for those who have suffered from obesity, or whose weight is causing them health issues, so bmi 30 and 27 respectively, the drug is lifelong to protect against regain, as it is much better for obese people fk maintain on these very safe drugs than yo yo, physically and mentally,

will they every have a prescription medication for the chubby and miserable brigade it is vanishingly unlikely.

Yes, these drugs have been around for 20 years, but for a very specific medical condition. The physiology of a person with TD1 is very different to someone who is obese – the diabetic person needs the medication to stay alive, the obese person doesn't. So of course the side effects might be different for someone who is only taking it to shed weight and that's why some people are cautious about taking them. They were not designed to help obese people diet – the fact they can do that is happenstance.

Where did I say people should be denied them?