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?

Exactly. If you are obese you risk so many illnesses that will cost NHS way more than WLI. That being said I'm sick of people being irresponsible and feeding their kids crap. If they can't control what they eat themselves- fine. But they sure as hell can control what they give their kids.

It's the reality of managing a chronic condition.

WLI medication doesn't work after you stop taking it. Obese people who lose the weight through diet and exercise are likelier than not to put it back on.

Ive worked in MH in community and hospital settings over the years, I know the research and clinical implications in MH medications, Ive also been the lucky recipient of them myself and wouldnt count out using them again if I got ill again

You were the one that raised the query about comparisons to MH meds and staying on them but only cited those to treat neuroses, I asked you about the psychoses.

WLI are not a social craze or a miracle drug any more than any other medication which is effective for people.

I agree to some extent OP. I think when WLI first came out they were sold as a way to lose weight and reach a target.... but the companies certainly weren't upfront that this would be a long term thing and that a lot of people would feel trapped into staying on them, paying huge amounts of money for years.

It's the perfect drug for a pharmaceutical company, our lifestyles are getting more and more sedentary, our food is getting more calorific, more addictive and much easier to obtain. There is a never ending population of patients who want to start the WLI (far more people asking for WLI than statins or BP meds so it's not only health concerns driving this) and patients starting on them young (compared to statins etc) and staying on them for life! It's a golden cash cow for the pharmaceutical companies.

There's no chance the NHS can afford to provide them to everyone who wants them for long term use. Original cost data was based on 2 years use... and that was already more than NHS could afford so they tightened the restrictions on who would be eligible.

I haven't read the full BMJ analysis myself, though I did read enough to know the review was mostly of older generation WLIs and some of it had to be modelled. But another poster on here did and said the WLI users had lost more overall than the dieters.

I have a chronic condition that requires me to take blood thinners for life. There are side effects.

How is this different?

There are tons of cash cow drugs for Pharma companies and they only have patents for X years before generics come along, which is why they make hay whilst the sun shines.

This is not a new business model we should all be shocked about. It’s just because prejudiced people consider it lifestyle.

One positive of WLI I’ve noticed recently is restaurants offering smaller portions - so pret now sell a baguette sandwich that is half the size

i don’t understand why it always descends - I think they are amazing but we also have to accept that as a society WLI shouldn’t be necessary. So how do we get there? I can’t imagine anyone using WLI would want their kids to need them.

I would much rather people were a healthy weight and I’m happy so many people have found them helpful. To me a lot of the negative press is around the celebs who have become quite gaunt on them

Why would you ask someone you don't know about psychoses? I have no clue about those. I'm not sure what you want from me unless some kind of "gotcha" moment, which says more about you than me.

For my part, I'm not demonizing WLIs but I think all long term meds have their contraindications, side effects, and yes their very real uses. That doesn't mean every Tom, Dick and Harry should take them, does it? Or that they are somehow above review or people thinking through starting something as to whether they actually need it?

And yes, it is a craze, at least in my area. Without medical oversight. What could possibly go wrong.

In the case of obesity, it's descended because humans didn't evolve to always have access to enough food. We get obese easily because for most of our history that would've been helpful, as starvation was a constant threat. Every human society that has become rich enough to feed everyone has ended up with an obesity problem. Even Japan's rate is going up, albeit they held out longer than most.

People have this idea that we 'should' be able to come up with policies that tackle obesity, but there's no reason to suppose that. I think some of it is because there were a few decades in the 20th century when we had enough food and weren't fat, but the smoking rates were massive then, and there was less heating. We might theoretically be able to go back to some of the mid 20th century lifestyle factors, like more walking, but we are not going to replicate either the smoking or the lack of heating. So I'm wary of assuming we can bring back those low obesity rates.

This

trouble is that now i am using wli i have got to just under my top bmi and i am happy with that, but cos of the jabs I am sleeping better and not getting any pain in my hip

thats not the weight loss…its just the jab so those benefits might be what keeps me on the jabs long term

The late lamented Terry Pratchett & the unlamented Neil Gaimen wrote a parody of this is in Good Omens - the horseman of the apocalypse Famine is a businessman who creates CHOW - ready meals designed to make you lose weight due to them having 'the nutritional content of a Sony walkman'.

He follows this with a range called MEALS: 'MEALS was CHOW with added sugar and fat. The theory was that if you ate enough MEALS you would a) get very fat, and b) die of malnutrition.'

The food industry sells us fat then the weight loss industry sells us slim.

If society really wants to tackle obesity we need a calorie tax on the food industry. Tax Just Eat and the like and subsidise fruit and veg. It's not hard to make a healthy ready meal, and if those were substantially cheaper than a high calorie version people will buy the cheap healthy option.

Why do they keep posting on threads if they feel that is the case? No one is blathering on like an expert. I linked to a BBC article.

I don't know you. I am not here to approve or not approve anybody.

i'm stopping after three months

Did you regain? Or did you find you actually were used to the small portions?

Good to know. I can't admit in real life that I would be trying to get them to curb my appetite despite only being 9st10 and 5'6. Food noise has been the bane of my life so if I can afford to get them, I will.

I lost 3st but regained 2st quite quickly

Meh. Here’s another article that might be of interest

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/many-patients-may-keep-off-lost-pounds-after-stopping-glp-1-us-data-suggests-2026-01-22/

i would rather have lost the 11st that I have and risk the possibility of regain than remain obese and repeatedly fail to lose the weight the “correct” way, as had been the case for me in the past.

I don’t care at all to be completely honest about these apparent concerns, from people who aren’t involved, about long term use of GLP1s. I don’t believe the concern is genuinely motivated or well informed, and I don’t think that people who express these apparent concerns have any real interest in the health of people like me who were/are obese.

You lost three stone in three months?!

I’ve stopped taking MJ for just short of a year and kept the weight off, (give or take a few pound around my period but that happened before I lost weight).

You have to completely change your habits but it’s no different to any other diet. I’d be lying if I said it was easy but I’m in my forties now and have had to retrain my brain completely but it can be done. I think the biggest problem is there’s no support as such when taking any WLI, you just buy them online and crack on by yourself so unless you have the right mindset I can understand how people put the weight back on.

I would be interested In evidence that shows that people on WLI gain at 4x the rate of slimming world, keto etc…not from you OP, i know you don’t know

i also dont understand how rapid weight gain is possible if people keep to the diet and exercise they are using to lose the weight

@RufustheFactuaIReindeer it’s in the BBC article in the OP, which reports on the meta study that was done. It’s based on what happened in the various trials when people stopped taking GLP1 medication. They all stopped immediately from whatever dose they were on to nothing or to a placebo.

People who lost weight via GLP1s put 0.8kg a month back on, on average, compared to 0.1kg on average for those just dieting alone. Of course those who just dieted did not lose very much weight to begin with, whereas those on GLP1s lost a lot more.

Thank you silence

i just wonder how it compares to other organised diets…but i do take your point re wli losing more weight….mine has been slow (about 1.5 stone) but i did want it to be slow

It's the reality of managing a chronic condition.

There is nothing in the OP’s posts to suggest that they are being at all critical or even concerned, so your emotional response is entirely related to your own projection.

Weird the way the greater weight loss on WLIs didn't make it into so many headlines, eh?