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?

@wheresmymojo the weight regain rate for gastric surgery can be pretty high too, unfortunately. Worth checking out the rates for the various different operations.

Having an immediate swarm of the same posters appear on every thread to hammer the OP and anyone else wishing to discuss anything other than how miraculous the injections are is not my idea of a discussion.

OP are you using it or planning to? because if not them why does it make you uneasy? Full disclosure, not using it, not planning to, yes I weigh too much.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato offered by who? Private providers? I guess they will offer things like that if there’s a clear need or demand for them and people are willing to pay for them. The NHS barely prescribes WLI for weight loss alone at the moment.

So weird. I have never seen a thread about concerns for diabetes getting out of control if meds are stopped. Any med but WLI. I honestly think people hate that there might be a way out of obesity and so they have to declare 'they don't work'.

Or you could. As part of your research before you started yet another 'concerened' thread./

How many have I started?

So what if they regain you make it sound like they will immediately implode and die. If a weightloss method fails then they will have to decide if thet want to try again to lose the weight, like every other diet in the world. Fat people literally can never win, always scrutinised for what they do and don't do. Just let up,people. Let them the fuck be.

Or how the concern should be for every single medication that ever existed.

i dont understand what you are saying?

The issue of lifelong WLI makes me think of that episode in black mirror where the price of whatever technology was keeping that woman alive just kept being increased and increased to the point of being unaffordable.
Now this is different of course but still similar.
The main issue is that those people on the injection are not medically required to be on this (otherwise i assume the NHS covers it?) and it is therefore their expense and they are at the mercy of the corporations who will have much more leeway over the price of a non medical drug in effect.This and the limited understanding over long term effect is definitely a concern.
I have no issue with people losing weight. I am just glad I don't need to consider this avenue myself.

The comments about other medications are not a request to post about every other medication and show concern about them. It’s to make the point, to highlight, that this one particular medication is picked out above all others for this extra attention and special concern. Surely you understand the point that’s being made?

they sounded quite gleeful about this on the news last week

This is the issue. If it’s not on the nhs most people wont get it and so the cycle of loosing on the injections and gaining once they stop will continue. The injections cost enough so most people who pay privately won’t fork out for the extras that might make weight loss sustainable and the companies who produce the injections don’t care because if people have to stay on them or regain the weight they make more money. It’s a bit of a shame and quite short sighted.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c050ljnrv2qo

There's also no evidence any of it actually works, or that we've got enough spare counsellor capacity for 2 million users knocking about.

Plus, as a pp pointed out, these services exist already and most WLI users pay privately. I like cooking, that's a big part of why I ended up at BMI 30 actually, but if I were in the market for lessons I wouldn't ask a pharmacist for tips.

At last a sensible response! [clap]

If @HazelMember actually read some of the WLI threads on here and understood how people are maintaining their healthy weights then @HazelMember night see that the report does not reflect what is actually happening in the WLI community.

Exactly. Why not try. What do people have to lose other than some weight? Its well worth a try. Every single obese person has once lost weight and regained. Its not new.

I think in 5-10 years the landscape will look totally different. There will be cheaper generics coming on market, pill forms, increased efficacy. GLP-1s already have massive potential for so many diseases and conditions aside from metabolic: neurological, fatty liver, protective against certain cancer types. We are still scratching the surface.

So I think it’s sort of pointless to think about now because in 5-10 years things will likely be radically different financially and in how widespread these are. They are prob the most significant breakthrough since statins, which are now just part of life for many people.

It's always so lovely when people care so much about me maintaining my weight loss through injections. I'm sure you care so much you'll be writing to your mp recommending they're funded by the NHS. I've never had so much caring about the medications I'm prescribed, whether I can afford them, side effects and whether there's enough evidence for them to be allowed at all. I can barely cope with so much caring. There was never nearly so much care when I was obese and at risk of a huge range of life limiting conditions.

Apologies for my poor syntax. I didn't mean that you'd started other threads. But ffs there threads like this every other day.

If you are not on WLIs, or not thinking about taking them, or don't have close family/friends who are taking them, then why are you so concerned?

Lots of people who receive cancer treatment die anyway. They hope for a cure, or some quality of life for longer. But for fat people that's not acceptable, eh?

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato I don’t need to pay for therapy or cooking classes. I exercise at home so don’t pay for a gym and don’t need a PT for it. Gyms and PTs are not the only way to exercise and most people who are obese don’t need therapy or cooking classes. Neither of which has ever been shown to be effective for maintaining weight loss anyway.

I will never have to regain all the weight that I have lost. I can either manage on my own, without medication. Or I can continue to take the medication in the short or longer term, stopping if I want to, restarting if I need to and so on. I won’t ever end up back into a BMI of 35, 40, 50 as I can now prevent that. So the cycle of losing and regaining more can be prevented, thanks to these medications.

No one was worried about the diabetic people who have been on GLP-1s for ages dropping dead in their millions, but are positively rubbing their hands in glee at the hope fat people (former fat people) will end up getting cancer or something from them. Despite the fact they are hugely more likely to get cancer from, you know, being fat.

They now pretend to care about pharma companies make big bugs from a medication and users being out of pocket for something that won't work allegedly.