Why are we not being vocal about the miracle of weight loss jabs. ?

[AboutVattime]

I started Mountjaro in April at 15 stone 10
I am now 11 stone . Which is my goal weight for my 5'10 frame. I have maintained that for 2 months having started regular exercise that I really enjoy - as well as ZOE healthy eating /cooking which I enjoy equally.

When people say to me 'Wow ! You look amazing (I'm not daft - they mean you don't look fat anymore) .. how have you done it . I am truthful and say 'fat jabs' .. and expand if they don't understand.

However , I have noticed on all the gazillion threads in here about weight loss injections, people are reticent to be honest . .. "my DH knows but haven't told anyone else " .. is a common remark . But WHY ???

Obesity is a life threatening condition. Like Dementia , cancer , liver failure etc etc .. if anyone had one of those conditions and found a drug to help , would they keep quiet or shout it from the bloody roof tops . ?

Or is the old adage true . Fat is a feminist (female) issue ? and we need to pretend it isn't ?

@berksandbeyond what's not true? They have been in use for decades. Just because you're using them for a different reason doesn't mean they'll suddenly become deadly!

I'm very lucky to have been a "super responder", I've reacted well to the low doses and lost 10% of my body weight in 8 weeks. If I had to stay on a low dose for the rest of my life I would absolutely do it. You've no idea how they change people's lives.

@berksandbeyond wanting to lose weight to go from being obese to a healthy weight is not a "vanity". It's a health project knowing that the risks to our children of us remaining obese/overweight are far greater than the risks of taking this medication. And many of us taking this journey have done a lot of research before making the decision, rather than base it on scare articles in tabloids. The fact is that this medication represents a breakthrough in the treatment of obesity and is considered by the medical community to be the first time that an effective AND safe medication has been widely available.

Jesus, I’m not sure at this point how much more condescending or ignorant you can get!

Anyone who has ever suffered from thyroid problems knows its not always as simple as calories in and calories out.
When I had an overactive thyroid my weight dropped quickly despite me being less active (because I was so tired) and eating more than normal (because being hyperthyroid makes you feel insanely hungry). It's a bizarre experience and makes you realise how much your metabolism affects your weight.

Vanity? Oh dear. You really don’t understand, do you? That’s ok though. You don’t need to.

I apologise for missing you state that.

Despite acknowledging your bias though you still keep pushing a really judgemental rhetoric that isn't really rooted in fact but rather emotion.

Like people who use it are cheaters, when you know they're not. Just like those with hypertension aren't cheaters for taking blood pressure medications.

Like people you know are buying it from dodgy sources, that must be scary. It must be hard to come from a disordered eating background which is a lifelong battle and see the people you know and love and have kinship with because of similar struggles get so desperate in their need to restrict that they've turned to dodgy online sources.

I also support someone with AN. It's scary and the support we've had hasn't been enough. I don't know what I'd do if they'd turn to dodgy vendors for something that won't benefit them and isn't regulated in a bid to restrict further.

I am all for better regulations, more thorough checks and mandatory medical appointments to continue with the medication to prevent exactly what you have stated is happening with the people you know.

I still think for people like me who have extremely complex lives where there's a lot of grey between the black and white eat less move more, glp-1s have been the missing piece of the puzzle.

For reasons out of my control my diet is not entirely something within my remit of control or decision mostly due to disability. For responsibilities I have toward others I don't really have the time or energy to exercise and because of the current factors in my life I have been in fight or flight mode for decades which means I am not really able to plan ahead, or organise myself in a way that allows eat less move more alone to be effective.

It'd be over 2 years before I qualified for NHS assistance, if we even have much of an NHS left by then, and I can't keep up with my duties and responsibilities for that long at the weight I am. I would probably develop other disabilities like diabetes in that time without it and that means I'd have more barriers to caring for my disabled high needs child and my young person with AN. But I have got an opportunity for a while to make a change so I can be a better carer and support person for them and who knows. Maybe I will manage to keep the weight off.

When you say ‘we don’t know’ do you mean that you don’t know? Because there’s quite a lot of knowledge of this drug and how long term weight maintenance needs to be sustained in the medical and pharmaceutical industry. A newer drug, with even better results, is currently in the last stages of development, and predictions are that within a relatively short period there will be the option to take a regular pill. Bariatric specialists do think that this may well need to be lifelong medication as obesity is a lifelong condition.

Regardless of all of the above, if you don’t want to use these medications, don’t! No one minds. But please don’t assume those of us who do haven’t done research and made an informed decision.

You're being extremely defensive. This isn't a case that only those ON it can have a view. 1) many of us will have family on it - as I do, and 2) as with anything objective, views can be had by anyone.

And perhaps you shouldn't be taking it yourself if you don't acknowledge it's an appetite suppressant. As that's exactly what it is.

@Ozgirl75 https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/mounjaro-work-weight-loss-3570665/

My obesity was kickstarted by pregnancy so I absolutely believe it's hormonal. I ballooned despite not increasing my calories by much. After having children I couldn't get my weight down past a certain point no matter how hard I tried. I was a good 3 stone overweight and my body seemed determined to stay there.

Mounjaro has helped me get to a weight I haven't been for 15 years. My autoimmune skin condition has disappeared and so have my panic attacks and anxiety. I'm no longer on medication for either of those. I also lost the urge to drink alcohol and spend money (I think I had a shopping addiction). I also no longer have knee pain so I have taken up a sport I couldn't previously do.

It leads me to think that there was a lot more to my obesity than the need to 'eat less and move more' and I wish people would try to understand that, rather than have a knee jerk negative reason to this drug.

It’s not a miracle though. It’s laziness.

I’ve got 3 friends currently using jabs and I 100% think they’ll be back to fat by this time next year. They won’t change their lifestyles to maintain a loss.

The government should focus on education about healthy eating and perhaps subsidise fresh food and tax junk more heavily.

I’m annoyed in general about this though. I lost 4 stone this year by keeping my mouth shut every time a malteser flew past 😂 Everyone thinks I used ozempic, which pisses me off!! It’s not a mystery how to lose weight, it just needs research and focus.

Why does it offend you that people think you've used ozempic? Why are you bothered?

I truly don't understand how people can be so judgemental about people they're close to using a medicine to lose weight.

Sigh.

No idea why I ever even read these threads, let alone post on them.

No issue really with people being worried about a new drug they don’t HAVE to take. How it works is complex, it does have some side effects (like all meds), and the media coverage is unhelpful.

But reading post after post about how weight loss is easy and this medication is a lazy option leave me banging my head against the wall.

It isn't simply an appetite suppressant. It's more complex than that.

You may never want to use them (and I hope you never need to). But I do wish people would actually read and educate themselves about what these drugs actually do instead of judging.

I hate to tell you this, but you have the same chance of your diet and exercise alone approach failing and regaining the weight as your mates on Ozempic.

The entire reason Ozempic and other drugs like it exist is because we know dieting often fails and there has been an acknowledgement among the medical community that there are more complex factors at play in obesity and associated conditions (metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, T2D, PCOS, hypothyroidism, menopause, etc) than calories in, calories out and people being too lazy to move.

Of course environment and behaviours play a role, but we can't pretend those happen in a vacuum. Your environment and behaviours interact with your physiology and neurology and your genetic predispositions.

But sure, you carry on feeling superior because you lost your weight by not eating Maltesers.

Fab for you - and I hope your friends won’t gloat when you put the weight back on as well, like you will if they do. I can’t imagine they are true friends if you’re this judgemental with them though!

It is calories in and calories out, but as you say you have to eat to your metabolism. Ive lost 10 stone with an underactive thyroid, if you eat little enough, the weight will come off, the problem is its extremely unnatural to eat this way without help. Everyone should have the help they need for what they need.

Good lord, she’s solved it!! No one has thought of any of these things before, so I guess this rando poster on an internet forum will reverse obesity worldwide through the magic of….(checks notes) “eating less, better and exercising more”
There is not enough room in my skull for how hard I’m rolling my eyes.

You only need to look at a few MN posts on Mounjaro to get an idea as to why some people might be reluctant to share that they used it.

You’ll see comments implying that it’s ‘cheating’ or not as legitimate as traditional methods. People should work hard to achieve results! ‘Move around more and eat less!’ is often spouted, as if most of the people using Mounjaro haven’t been trying to do that for years. These posters are relishing the thought that everyone will re-gain all the weight within a year.

My colleague has been taking it since April. she has lost 5 stone. Her blood sugar is now normal, as is her BP. She no longer has elevated liver markers nor does she suffer from disturbed sleep due to apnea symptoms. She’s a new person.

You see the same sort of spiteful comments on here about Botox. This superiority complex and enjoyment of slagging off someone’s choices.

Same. Interestingly I’ve observed that many people on here against the jabs - not all but the majority - fall into one of two camps - they’re either of the “Overweight? Just stop eating and move more! Depressed? Just think happy thoughts!” camp, because they absolutely cannot comprehend anything outside of their own experience and that there are huge variations in how human bodies work. Or - more disturbingly - being thin is their main attribute, they need fat women around them to feel validated and smug, and they’re not happy that the fatties are finding something that actually helps them get down to a healthy weight. Maybe they need to work on that.

they need fat women around them to feel validated and smug, and they’re not happy that the fatties are finding something that actually helps them get down to a healthy weight

This. With bells on. 🙌

@Fourfurrymonsters they'll deny it again and again but you only have to look at this thread, and how they talk down about overweight women. We're all lazy, gluttonous beasts sat stuffing our faces.

It’s a fair question. You don’t catch obesity you cause it.

I love them and would recommend anyone struggling with weight loss to try them.

Look at Alison from Bake off, she looks much healthier nowadays.

@Silverbook yet these jabs have shown it's not just a matter of eating too much, it's hormonal and genetic.