to feel uneasy about what this means long term rather than surprised by the weight regain itself?

[HazelMember]

I’ve just read a BBC article about research into weight loss injections like Ozempic and Wegovy showing that people who stop taking them tend to regain weight quite quickly.

I’m not shocked that weight comes back. That happens after most weight loss attempts whether they involve medication or not.

These drugs are increasingly talked about as something people might take for years or even indefinitely. That raises questions for me about what happens when someone cannot afford them anymore, when supply changes, when side effects become an issue or when a person simply does not want to stay on a medication for life.

If stopping leads not just to regain but to a fairly rapid rebound, it feels less like a temporary aid and more like something that is very hard to step away from once started. That sits oddly with how casually they are sometimes discussed.

AIBU to think the real issue here is not that people regain weight after stopping, but whether we are quietly normalising a treatment that may be difficult to discontinue once begun? Or is this simply the reality of managing a chronic condition?

The only reason people seem to be so upset about a medication helping people lose weight is because they secretly thing obesity is a moral issue and people should be punished.

.

I was doing no such thing, and you know it. I shared my own qualms of long term meds based on my own experience in a particular situation and a particular medication which is well known for being over prescribed. I'm careful of any long term meds as a result, especially if or where there is huge public demand and money to be made in getting people hooked.

Where it is actually needed - have at it. In my view anyone who is not obese but wants to either get to or maintain an ultrathin look should be careful. And maybe I'm biased - like I said, worried about my sister who is on them and has lost too much weight (with a historic eating disorder in play) and now my borderline anorexic mother is talking about going on them to get rid of her remaining belly fat. She wants to get down to under 500cals a day. So I see the other side of it.

By all means continue making accusations though. I'm out.

I think it's great that we now have these weight loss meds.
It would be great if we could tackle the underlying causes of weight gain, but that's a very complex issue (imo).
I think part of the problem is that it has become normal to be heavier. I hope that as more people have success with weight loss meds there will be a shift in the 'overtone size window'. That would be a step in the right direction imo.

"worried about my sister who is on them and has lost too much weight (with a historic eating disorder in play) and now my borderline anorexic mother is talking about going on them to get rid of her remaining belly fat. She wants to get down to under 500cals a day. So I see the other side of it."

@ForeverScout I think you are very right to point this out, we should not forget that the WLIs are powerful and could be dangerous for some people.
Our focus tends to be on overweight, we forget that others are prone to becoming obsessive about restricting food intake. It can be dangerous to remove appetite.
I hope your mum & your sister will think carefully about things.

But what does this have to do with the medication? They aren't supposed to be prescribed for what you described about your family. I'd think more stringent checks by prescribers would be necessary and also consequences if they don't do those.

FYI I'm having to submit a video of me on the scales whilst looking in the mirror to mine.

It does actually sound as though your mother and sister would need different kind of help, which is probably also not available.

Same with people who have painkiller addictions. Legitimate drugs are misused all the time

I dont see 'concern' raised on thread after thread after thread about codeine, anti histamines, laxatives etc.

Lots of talk on here about why is no one talking about about other methods so I thought I’d ask AI.

I don’t think the answer is earth shattering, WLI work if combined with long term behavior change. That doesn’t seem like surprising information to me.

WLI are an amazing development in public health and have huge potential but a) are only part of the story / solution and b) it’s early days so it’s important to have these conversations without them being shut down.

And that’s coming from a place of genuine interest not faux concern. I have friends who are on it and I couldn’t be happier for them, I’m not jealous and I never saw them as a ‘fat friend’ before anyone accuses me of any of those things.

I would be interested to know why it thinks WLI combined with Slimming World is one of the most sustainable approaches! SW doesn't work.

I forgot to mention, it is concerning how people can get hold of and use WLI without being overweight.

An acquaintance is already slim but has been using them to lose weight before her wedding, she looks so unwell now. Her face is now so gaunt she's having some sort of fillers and she feels weak all the time.

There must be quite a few people abusing them for eating disorders.

If you feel that way why participate in yet another thread?

Hide it

Report it

Go live your life

I have come across this too. People faking that they are bigger than they actually are in order to get hold of WLI.

You are a top psychologist now?

You are just repeating what Johann Hari said and even he was not silly enough to say it is the only reason.

Why are you all being so spiky? It’s a legitimate concern. I was wondering this myself.

I don’t think it’s wise to police people like this actually.

I had similar dramatic effects with keto.

What is the point in asking me what the point of the thread is when you have already made your mind up?

Did you ask the BBC why it published that article? Is it so they can gloat about how people who spends 1000s of pounds on weight loss injections and lose say, 7 stone, will regain it all all as soon as they come off the jabs? Ha ha ha.

Is it part of posting on MN that we need to declare the object of the threads we post?

I think people have their own issues with trying to stop it being discussed.

Maybe they should get in touch with the BBC and tell them to not publish anything about WLIs.

Yes I know a few with EDs that are on them, one openly talks about it online and says they are rife in the ED community. How the hell are they getting them.

If we had the ear of the BBC, I suspect the most illuminating discussion we could have with them is why their headline writer thought the greater rate of regain was more likely to get attention than WLI users shift much more weight than traditional methods.

Because whoever made that choice knew what they were doing. There's a greater appetite, no pun intended, for one slant over another. It's worth thinking about why.

Not much depth to anything I say? All you’ve done is make excuses as to why you should have the jabs for life and shouldn’t have to make changes to your lifestyle alongside which may help you to maintain a healthier weight without them.

you've also been very dismissive of a cancer patients experience almost trying to make out that you’ve had it harder. Yes the constant cycle of loose and regain must be frustrating and obesity is a risk to health but it is NOT the same as a cancer diagnosis. Loosing weight is hard, but people do it and people keep it off. WLI are a tool but you seem to not want to make the changes that actually make weight loss healthy and sustainable. It’s all just excuses. I’m done.

My understanding is the government will be funding a trial in Manchester for people on benefits so not everyone paying and certainly not diabetics that are prescribed it.

This book due out in March might help.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008805016?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I think we need to bear in mind these injections were not targeted to the masses originally. 2nd if ppl dont use the time they are on the injections to re educate themselves about food (im not talking about anyone with diabetes as I have no knowledge on how food impacts their health) and what they eat then of course as soon as the injections stop theres a chance you will return to over eating. Im not sure why everyone doesn't understand the main concept of these injections is to suppress your appetite therefore you eat less... its about eating less for the average person and sticking to this. Use the time on injections to understand what foods will fill you up, that's healthy and so on...

I have read some but not all of the thread.

One issue is that if you lose weight quickly, there is a risk of losing muscle and if you regain the weight, you regain it as fat.

Muscle has potential to raise your metabolic rate in a way that fat doesn't, so losing the muscle will make it harder to keep your weight down.

It is much better not to have a rapid weight loss- regain -loss cycle, whether or not your are using WLIs.

It does seem that WLI will be life changing at least for some people with morbid obesity etc, but careful thought needs to be given to how they are best used by a wider section of the population.

I agree.
Most people are missing the utter craziness of this situation.

It will be a pill soon and people will just take it lifelong 🤷‍♀️ That will be less risky for them than being obese.