Why are you taking a weight loss drug?

[ObsidianTree]

After reading the thread on weight loss chat about why people were not taking a weight loss drug, I thought I would create a post to ask why you decided to start on a weight loss drug.

So, why did you decide to take a weight loss drug?

I'll post my reason as a reply (with some back story!)

Because despite being 5ft 6 and under 9 stone, Orlistat is very easy to get online and despite it not being an addictive drug I can't stop taking them even though I eat very little fat and it looks like it's fucked my kidneys up. And makes my hair fall out. There is never any help for my kind of disordered eating and the last 'professional' I went to see literally said he'd no idea what plans to put in place for me and to see how I am in a month. I never went back. I sometimes go weeks with only eating a yogurt and a banana per day but still take Orlistat. I don't think it's Orlistat to blame, but I do think it's too easily obtainable for people with my mentality.

That sounds like a really tough place to be, @sandorschicken. I really think you need to go back for more help.

@WannabeHealthier I agree with you but the way things are run here it tends to be a working in silos mindset rather than finding a holistic solution. It would take governments working with cross party agreement over the long term i.e. several parliaments to effect the changes that would see true improvements to our health care, education and in making our society less obesogenic. The way our democracy is set up works against that and then we have all the vested interests working against the greater good as well.

I am in the same boat as you and was headed for obesity related illness before these medications and I am just lucky they became available before I was diabetic or worse and that I could afford them and other help. Lots of people who would really benefit from these medications will not be getting them and that is very sad indeed.

That really doesn't sound good @sandorschicken

I think you should go back to the doctor. It sounds like you have an eating disorder so you should address that. If you don't eat fat then orlistat probably won't be doing anything anyway, apart from giving you gut issues! I realise saying don't take it is easier said than done...but maybe start trying to come off it. Reduce how often you take it and work towards stopping it. You know it's not doing anything good for you so ideally it's best if you stop.

@tobee I had been referred to GP's social prescriber for yet another diet which I would have to fail at before being referred to NHS weight loss services. Then approx two year wait before seeing someone.

@oomown MyNetDiary The free version is good. I liked it so much that I have an annual subscription. There were a raft of offers, so I got a big discount, I paid £15.99.

I have been overweight since my teens and gained an extra 2 stone since 2020 which I was struggling to lose on my own. My sugar cravings are out of control. I've been on prescribed WL tablets and have lost the 2 stone in 5 months. Had a break to sort out my hormone levels and peri kicked in big time. Now that has been levelled out, I'm back on the tablets to bring my weight back into a healthy range.

I'm at the gym 5x a week and eat 2 small meals a day. The meds stop all the food noise and cravings. I'm not snacking for the sake of it.

@unsync Thank you I will test it out, I am currently trying different apps to try and find which I like best, I don't mind paying for something which works for me!

Because menopause wrecked any attempt at losing weight, and I tried nearly everything! WW/SW, IF, low carb, calorie counting, the lot. I’ve always been active and that wasn’t helping either. I was post menopausal at 42. I was never big enough for surgery that I didn’t, and don’t want so it’s this or bust for me

Because they work.

Too many previous years of yo yo dieting that was not working any more.

The research shows them to be safe and effective - I can tolerate the side effects and I am losing weight.

I'm taking it because before this I was addicted to food. Even if I could keep myself busy enough to not be able to eat, I would spend my entire life thinking about my next fix. I couldn't turn it down if offered. Whenever I had free time planned for the future, I'd be planning what I'd binge eat in that time. Every emotion "justified" food- comfort eating or eating to celebrate.

Since I've been taking Mounjaro, it's like a switch has been flicked. The only time I think about food is when I have absolutely nothing else to occupy my brain. And even then, I don't feel the same intense longing for it. I can have a small treat and be satisfied, rather than multiple different treats in large quantities. And the sheer quantity of food I'm eating in each sitting is dramatically down as well. If I eat a lot at one meal, I'm able to moderate my next one (or snacks). That's something I could never do before- I'd eat until I was full and then still somehow be starving again by the next mealtime.

I started on Mounjaro in March because the only way I can lose weight is by fasting or VLCDs and even then it is slow. I did the Fast 800 with my husband a few years ago. I lost just 8lb over 3 months despite being constantly hungry and he lost 2.5 stone. I lost about 2 stone on lighter life about 12 years ago over several months but put 5 back on. I found VLCDs impossible to sustain in the longer term. The doctor who did my gall bladder offered to put me on the list for bariatric surgery but I turned him down as I was worried about dying and leaving my kids.

So far I have lost about 2 stone. Mounjaro stops me feeling hungry or reaching for wine and crisps at the end of the week. I haven’t experienced any side effects and my mood has been good throughout.

I think my baseline is 1200 or less calories a day. A few years ago I took part in an NHS diet programme. The dietician thought I was eating 1600 calories a day and told me I must be cheating as I was not losing weight. But I wasn’t.

Mounjaro turns the food noise off. I have to actually think about what to eat and make healthy choices. Not just reach for a sandwich for lunch. My plan is to keep going until I am not longer obese or overweight and try and train myself to eat healthy food during that time. No bread, pasta etc. I am on 7.5 and due to go up to 10 this weekend.

I started at 16.5 stone and now I am 14.5. I have 2.5 to go before I leave the obese category and another 2 after that before I am in the normal range. I still look fat and disgusting but I have dropped 2 dress sizes. I am prepared to stay on Mounjaro for the long term if necessary, though I would like to be able to wean myself off it eventually.

Last ditch attempt. Have tried EVERYTHING else. Not holding out much hope though , I thought the cost would encourage me but not sure ☹️

Hold out hope but don't expect miracles. It's a good support but you still have to diet.

To be frank, I'm just very busy and don't have heaps of time to pour into healthy living. Life gets in the way. Lots of people posting on weightloss boards who manage a good diet and vigourous exercise everyday probably don't have young kids, full time jobs and a house to run. It was the 'thinking' aspect of it I struggled with.

I eat fairly healthy and try to go for a walk everyday and gym x2 a week, but I'm very time poor, have a son that has a sleep disorder, so poor sleep too. I just needed to reduce my portion sizes and couldn't manage to do this. As weird as it sounds, I'm on autopilot a lot and couldn't mentally remind myself I was on a diet. Sounds lame, but hard to explain. Mounjaro tooking the thinking aspect away and made it easier to focus.

I will add that most of my adult life I've had a BMI under 24 too. Middle age hasn't helped.

Lost a lot of weight prior to Covid (nearly at goal) and was keeping it off.
Then the lockdowns came and working from home.
I put on about 8 stone and have tried in vain so many times over the last few years to lose the weight. I do alright for a week... a few months at best and it all goes to shit.
My head isn't in the best place at the moment and my willpower is diminished.
I need to lose the weight due to the increasing health risks and to improve my mental wellbeing.
Mounjaro is giving me that beak from the food noise that I definitely need whilst I try and get my weight/life back on track.

I was getting fatter and fatter and didn’t have the energy / motivation to do it though diet and exercise. Things had spiraled and I needed to get back on the straight and narrow so that I could then try to maintain weight rather than lose it.
2 and a half stone in 4 months . Good decision for me.

For me, the most important reason is to silence the mental noise of food (as well as obviously lose weight).

To my dying day I will remember my mother telling me I was fat when I was 11. I can recall the scene and the words she said, like it was yesterday. I look back at photos of myself at that age and I am ever so slightly not slim. You couldn't even call me pudgy, I'm just not exactly slim. So began my 44 year history of dieting, self-loathing and dysfunctional relationship with food.

All diets work for me. Every single one has worked, but as soon as I start them, the food noise in my head goes from fairly noisy (which is why I overeat in the first place) to full-on shouting. On a diet, I am obsessed with the food that I can't have. I then require phenomenal will-power to resist. It is like the battle of my life. I also always put the weight back on again.

I'm hoping that this injection will help me silence the sound of food, diminish the shouting of denial in my head and allow me to lose weight without it feeling like the worst kind of torture and maybe re-educate my brain.

I’ve just signed up for Mountjaro through Voy today. I’ve eaten like an absolute pig today and it’s been the last straw. I had some success on IF, but put most of it back on and I need to do something drastic. My head is not in a good place right now and I cannot seem to summon the willpower to lose weight myself at the moment so I’m trying this more as a kickstart to get myself on a sensible path and back into a more positive mindset. I can’t remember the last time I was happy with my body, and I don’t want to look in the mirror and see a fat alien looking back any more.

@Fourfurrymonsters for many people, weight loss is not about willpower. Sometimes Harare are genetic, hormone, metabolic reasons why we cannot lose weight and it is NOT OUR FAULT! I came to mounjaro with a desperation mindset and a hope it wasn't some fakery that would give me palpitations/kill me etc!

10 weeks later, I plan to stay on this incredible stuff for the rest of my life if I can! Good luck for your first few weeks 😁

I came home from visiting my parents (in another country) and had gained 4 kilos in 4 weeks. I'd spent many months losing those 4 kilos earlier this year. I then looked at my weight logs and I've literally spent the last 5 years gaining and losing the exact same 5-10 kilos.

I've never been a healthy weight. I was hugely obese as a child due to ingrained eating habits from my mother. I lost weight in my teens once I had more control over my own food, but was still only ever mid-overwight BMI at best. So basically, I've never been healthy, and the struggle to get smaller only gets harder with age.

I'm now a few years from 50, my cholesterol and blood sugar are both too high (everyone who thinks they're fat but fit, trust me it catches up with you in time!) and if I were in the USA, my blood sugar would be classed as pre diabetic.

I just had a moment. One of my mates has been taking something for her weight, and I just thought what the hell. I've heard so much about Mounjaro, my fat is killing me, why do I keep thinking that I must only do it the hardest way possible?

Also I will add: I've been doing 35-45 minutes of cardio EVERY DAY since taking those blood tests seriously late last year. I actually eat very healthily, especially during the week. I don't have takeaways, I gave up fast food decades ago, etc. On my usual weeks I lose weight during the week and gain some back at the weekend. Over and over again. Given that I literally weigh all of my food, I do genuinely suspect I have something wrong which is making it so much harder now to lose weight.

So yes, I'm taking these injections now. I don't think it's a morality contest. It's a shame that it seems to be.

Hi All, I have been looking into this and quite interested myself. How are people finding it, I am looking through the comments and sounds like it seems to be helping at keeping weight off and helping with 'not feeling hungry' which is obviously a big part of it. BUT does it actually make you loose weight? Thanks in advance.

I've been on it 6 weeks and have lost 12lbs so far.

@MinervaMcGonagallsCat Thank you that's amazing.

I don't think the injection makes you lose weight as such. It definitely enables me to stick to a calorie controlled diet with ease. I'm not hungry, have no food cravings and get full much more quickly. I'm just going into my 4th week and I've lost 10.5lb.

Can relate to this. I've incorporated exercise into my life okay but I find the thinking and planning aspects of special diet plans too stressful.

I've had some success with fasting previously and thought I'd found my thing but I needed to be very rigid about my eating window and I would fall off the wagon when routine changed happen e.g. going on holiday, Christmas season etc. As soon as the spell was broken I'd find it really difficult to get back to the mindset needed.

Not started yet (waiting for it to arrive) but I'm trying it because I'm nearly 50, carrying most of the weight as belly fat and am increasingly concerned about the health implications of this the longer it stays. As someone above said once it's gone or going I can try to address how to prevent the pounds creeping back on but my risk for things like diabetes should be greatly reduced in the meantime.