Weight loss injections should be advertised as lifelong medications

[weighmoreweighless]

When Ozempic first came out, the guidelines were for usage to be for up to 2 years. I can’t remember if I read the rationale for that but seem to recall it was in the guidelines.
Thinking back it was along the lines of Ozempic was to be used alongside lifestyle and psychological support to address unhealthy eating habits and psychological drivers for overeating. By the end of two years people were expected to be able to maintain these new habits and weight. Happy to be corrected there but that’s meet I remember reading.

Now we have Mounjaro and many users are saying it’s a lifelong medication similar to blood pressure medication or asthma medication.

From reading the weight loss injections topic there are lots of posters who believe they will take the drug for a few months and that will be it, cured of obesity.

Now many of those who have successfully lost several stones are saying that they will remain on these drugs for life because of course they stop working once you stop, just like any other medication.

There are plenty of threads from posters who have regained weight after stopping. A few posters say they have maintained their weight loss but these seem rare on mumsnet at least.

I know diets don’t work and wish that word would disappear beyond being used to describe what we eat eg vegetarian diet, Mediterranean diet etc. I’d love to see diet replaced with another word or phrase such as healthier lifestyle or similar.

The reason diets fail, or one of them, is that so many people drastically cut their food intake for a few weeks, struggle with hunger, lose a little weight and give up because it’s too hard to sustain that low level of calories, food and nutrients.

The focus should always be on eating a healthier diet, achieving a healthier lifestyle by including more exercise within your own capabilities, less alcohol, not smoking, plenty of vitamin D, good sleep and relaxation habits. It should be a holistic approach, not just eat less, move more. Eat better and yes, move more but it’s more than that. It’s a mindset of needing to change habits for life. Sure we all have times and events where we eat and drink more or don’t exercise as much for a variety of reasons but what matters is what we do most of the time.

With this in mind I’m thinking that the advertising should be changed to reflect this. Companies need to be more transparent about the medications so that people are fully informed that these drugs are not going to be a quick fix or magic cure like people seem to think or hope. I’d be so angry if I’d paid out thousands to lose weight and then when I stopped it came back on because the prescriber hadn’t been completely open with me. There’s been posters who have stuck to healthier eating and increased exercise but still gained weight after stopping.

There’ll be arguments for fully researching the drugs before taking but how many people have the time or understanding of research to be fully informed? Most will just trust what they read in the press or on social media and the pharmacist prescribing. Critical thinking isn’t applied or rather thinking about what happens after. It’s the instant gratification and not thinking of the long term consequences or the financial implications of having to pay out indefinitely or at least until they become available for all on the NHS. Not unlike that packet of jam doughnuts I really wanted to buy yesterday instead of eating a healthy lunch . Just to clarify I wouldn’t have eaten them all. Two of the five for sure though and maybe a third after the school run. I’m a terrible sugar fiend.

This has ended up all disjointed because I can’t go back up the page to edit as I’m typing. I’ll try once I get to the edit option. I have ADHD and my thought processes are all over the place and I go off on tangents. Sorry.

TL:DR Should pharmaceutical companies/pharmacies/doctors/pharmacists change their advertising and recommendations to say that WLI (weight loss injections/medications) are likely to be needed to be taken for life to control obesity due to the likelihood of weight being regained once stopping even in cases of maintained healthy diet and lifestyle due to the chronic nature of obesity?

I’m going to try and edit this now into some semblance of order but if it remains chaotic I’m sorry. It at least has paragraphs even if it does jump around like a flea at a fair.

Poll:

YABU: No, people who take these drugs should realise that these aren’t a quick fix and they need to stay on them long term, and be prepared for the financial cost.

YANBU: Pharmaceutical companies/pharmacies/ pharmacists etc should tell people they are likely to need to take this for life and pay for it themselves unless it becomes available to all on the NHS.

Of course you can start any topic/discussion you like - but most of us have seen a gazillion of these ‘concerned’ threads before and what it often boils down to is: stupid fat people should not be allowed to have help in losing weight. They need to do it the hardest way possible. Eat less, move more fatties.

Not saying that’s what this thread is about, of course.

I read it as just one of the jealous and resentful crew, thinking tnis will put people off. 😂

Yep! OP was able to successfully not eat all the jam doughnuts recently so if she can do that, I mean, how hard can it be? 😂

The manufacturers can only issue guidance based on the evidence generated in clinical trials. There is now a lot of long term evidence, but at the time of licensing (which was for diabetes initially, not weight loss), the clinical trials were not that long. A manufacturer can only say a drug should be for life long use if they have conducted life-long clinical trials (which obviously isn't practical).

Every couple of weeks or so we get a WLI thread, under the guise of concern about the drugs and/or concern about some people being able to get them quite easily. Reading between the lines I think the thread starters are people who are only a little bit tubby so haven't been able to access the WLIs, and are therefore jealous of those who can.

Yeah @weighmoreweighless i guess what people want to know what drives you in writing this post. I mean what is your skin in the game here? Why are you interested?

I read it as 'stupid fatties, don't you know there is no magic fix? Aren't you furious that you've been sold a fake solution? Since you're definitely going to get FAT again when you stop, or remain SLAVES to this medication forever?'

I’m not concerned. I was just wondering about this after reading a lot of threads about it over the past however long.

Jealous of what, exactly? Why would people be jealous? I don’t see it as “cheating” as I often read on threads. I think good for you.

Obesity is a major issue for health and if something helps then great. My son’s dad dropped dead 18 months ago from obesity related causes and he’d have been the perfect candidate for WLI although I doubt he’d have tried them.

I think it’s also great that these drugs are having other benefits and might be licensed for other conditions in time.

Most will just trust what they read in the press or on social media and the pharmacist prescribing. Critical thinking isn’t applied or rather thinking about what happens after. It’s the instant gratification and not thinking of the long term consequences or the financial implications of having to pay out indefinitely or at least until they become available for all on the NHS.

”Fat people are thick” you mean?

But yes, I think all medicines should have a big message in red and bold on the front of the packet saying “THIS MEDICINE DOES NOT WORK IF YOU DO NOT TAKE IT”

But aren’t we lucky the op is here to advise us and the pharma companies?

I don’t see WLI as the same as say blood pressure meds. I see them a bit like anti-depressants. For some people, they can recognise a chemical imbalance causing them depression, they get meds a can feel better, no longer need meds. For some people, they need those meds but they also need to go to therapy or change something in their life that is triggering the depression, then come off the anti-depressants. Some will try all the lifestyle changes and still need those anti-depressants. Some will make the lifestyle changes and take the meds and it won’t work. You don’t know which one is you until you try to come off the meds (or the meds don’t work).

I think they should be funded on the NHS as preventative. If you don’t, you reinforce the health outcomes between low and high incomes areas.

As for being annoyed that you’d spent thousands for the weight to go back on. For obese people, this is unlikely. They are more like to feel shame and disgust that once again they have failed another diet. Obese people have very likely dieted at some point and likely been very successful (and then put it back on). They’ve already spent a fortune trying to be slim and it not to work. Buying the recipe books plus membership for SW/WW/5:2/800 kcal whatever they’re doing. The gym memberships, the gym gear. Buying new wardrobes as they slim into each new size and the as they go back up again. The difference with WLI jobs is that if they can get back on the drugs earlier they can maybe keep their yo-yo-ing to 2-3 stones rather than 6, 7, maybe more stones.

Just to add, I happy to carry on taking them for life just for the cardiovascular benefits, whether I need them to maintain my weight or not.

You're not concerned? You've seen lots of discussion about it? So why start a thread yourself raising concerns on our behalf?
If you can't see why this feels weird, you lack empathy. Hopefully the responses have helped you understand a bit.

I started MJ in March 2024. Got to my goal weight by November 2024. There wasn’t much talk at that point about maintenance, or being on them ‘for life’, so I got to goal weight and stopped taking it.
18 months later I’m still at my goal weight. I’m glad I wasn’t told I had to be on them for life, as I’d have wasted a hell of a lot of money in the past 18 months! Surely people can do their own research and decide if and when they want to stop using the medication?

Agree, there will be some people who are able to keep the weight off after stopping WLI, and some people who can’t. People like you are quite capable of deciding for themselves.

Yes, that was exactly my point.

Also I know it is very trendy to be anti pharmaceutical companies, but in the UK and EU they are very heavily regulated and there are very strict rules about how they can be marketed. A manufacturer cannot say that a drug can and should be taken for life if it has not been trialled for that long.

YABU: No, people who take these drugs should realise that these aren’t a quick fix and they need to stay on them long term, and be prepared for the financial cost

To be fair, the patent will expire and then the market will flood with generics that most likely won’t cost anywhere near current price, so I wouldn’t hang your hat on that aspect.

Should people who lose weight by training for a marathon, not bother because they too might put weight back on afterwards? Or should they only sign up for a marathon if they are going to keep running long distances for the rest of their lives?

I think the point you may have missed OP is that people have choices. They can choose to take WLI short or long term, but ultimately it’s their decision. WLI are currently an expensive choice but as patents expire and new products reach the market they will become cheaper. They are also becoming more accessible on the NHS as more conditions are brought into the eligibility criteria. This is a good thing.

Op can you not get them aa you can’t afford them? And think this will put others off as you’re jealous?

I plan to be on them long term, but worth pointing out that the most recent review in the BMJ said more research was needed on long term weight regain with new generation drugs. To me it seems intuitive that a medicine might not work once you stop taking it.

That said, OP I can't tell from your posts whether you know there's no evidence of anything, holistically approached or otherwise, that will make and keep an obese person a healthy BMI. I'm not necessarily against any weight loss tactic that people are sold having to give them this information... but it wouldn't be limited to WLIs.

I think people are just wondering why you give a shit?!
I'm probably on two meds for life - Mounjaro and an anticoagulant. I'm yet to see one post with 'concerns' about people who are on anticoagulants for life, despite the long list of potential side effects they come with. Likewise I haven't seen any concerns about those of us wearing contract lenses for life. Or those on HRT, antidepressants, statins etc for life.
There is something about WLI that really triggers people who aren't using them, and are likely to never need to use them, to discuss them and their users at length.

WLI are not a magic bullet. If you want to stop taking them and keep the weight off then you have to make lifestyle choices.

If you want to have your cake and eat it then you have to keep taking the medication. You cant blame the WLI manufactures for this.

So no warning needed because it’s common sense?
How come other sectors have additional warnings then? If you invest your money « the value can go down ». If you buy a coffee « caution: hot » etc

OP, you say you’re not concerned but clearly you are:

‘Most will just trust what they read in the press or on social media and the pharmacist prescribing. Critical thinking isn’t applied or rather thinking about what happens after. It’s the instant gratification and not thinking of the long term consequences…’

You’re clearly concerned for the stupid fat people who inject themselves with something they haven’t researched and without looking into the long term consequences. Do you really think most of us are that dim? 🙄