OK I'm convinced, weight-loss drugs are Incredible and will change the world

[AliceAbsolum]

DH has been on them for a couple of months and they've changed our lives for the better. He's an over eater/ mild binger and generally quite obsessed with food. Never managed to keep weight off.

Now he's happy, calm, doesn't think about food, eats like a 'normal person' and it's freed up so much space and joy in our lives.

Apparently in the future it'll be a pill you can either take that day or not, e.g. Most days but not Christmas day. Incredible!

Yes I know people get side effects and they don't work for everyone, etc. But I'm very impressed.
Apparently they also help alcoholics and other addicts as they work on the reward centre's of the brain. Amazing.

My comment was balanced and fair while explaining my worries about taking it, so I think your response with laughing emojis is a bit twattish, tbh.

I am happy to be proven wrong, because as I said, it would be helpful for us all if we could be absolutely certain about the longer term safety of these drugs on non-diabetics.

Ignoring the fact you’ve been a bit of an arse in response, the point you’re making about new information becoming available with the wider use is a fair one. I think what worries me is that doctors don’t really seem to know or agree how these WLI effect the body long-term, which for me seems fairly fundamental. It feels different to discovering a new, hitherto-unknown, benefit to a compound.

Medics are describing these as “powerful drugs” and they certainly seem to have a very significant effect on the body in many different ways. I feel uncomfortable that we don’t have long-term data on non-diabetics at the higher doses (compared to the lower diabetic dose).

As I said previously, I completely understand why people think the risks are worth it. Certainly at the moment lots of people are having positive experiences which is brilliant.

It’s also a very personal decision for each of us. I developed a blood clot from the COVID jab so that’s probably why I’m adopting a cautious stance. I completely understand that my reservations might not be an issue for someone else.

It’s frustrating that so many responses are tribal. I’d love nothing more than to have an informed, honest discussion and I’m absolutely open to learning but that seems impossible on here.

So on the days that I am ‘dieting’, and obsessing about snacks (but not eating too much of it), is this what people call ‘food noise’? It’s something have only read about over the last year.

Yup.

This is another of those clever biological mechanisms that work to discourage body weight changes.

In response to weight loss, your body increases the hormones that make you feel hungry and decreases those that make you feel satiated after eating. In short, you are hungrier than ever and less able to feel like you've eaten enough. Indirectly, this drives your brain to think about food more. A brilliant tactic if you are having to scavenge/hunt/grow to survive: when times are lean, your brain automatically puts food as a higher priority to ensure you spend more time sourcing it. Great.

Pretty annoying when you want to lose weight, though! And the longer you fight against it and persist in weight loss, the further your body tweaks those hormones to make it harder and harder to ignore the calorie deficit it is experiencing. These drugs counter those processes.

Also see insulin production which for many people is turned down when in weight loss. Insulin plays a vital role in the body's utilisation of fat as an energy source - a downturn means your body is less likely to use fat to produce energy (and more likely just to use less energy, through various mechanisms). Again, these drugs counter that.

Sure, but people weren't losing the same amount of weight (fat + muscle) over these kind of short time frames, so the effects may not be well understood. If 'everyone' understands that massive weight loss needs to be offset by upping proportionate protein and increasing weight bearing exercise, that is great. I'm really not convinced that is true though. Like I said, I have no vested interest - I would love a sustainable solution to individual and societal obesity, but the history of medicine suggests caution is a good idea. And widespread direct-to-consumer marketing is not a good model for caution.

If 'everyone' understands that massive weight loss needs to be offset by upping proportionate protein and increasing weight bearing exercise, that is great. I'm really not convinced that is true though

TBF that's not quite what I said. I said anyone who had listened to serious weight loss advice will have heard this.

Several people have challenged me on this.
My understanding is that the medication works by controlling your blood sugar and reducing your appetite.
So I was just thinking that if you’re a food developer you’re not going to feel any pressure to reduce the sugar or hydrogenated fats in your foods, because the medication will mitigate the effects.

I’m not claiming to be a scientist, I’m not even claiming to be right, I’m just sharing my thoughts. By all means share the scientific facts if you want to?

Apparently they also help alcoholics and other addicts as they work on the reward centre's of the brain. Amazing.

Alcohol is full of sugar.

My DH was interested in the effects of Mounjaro on ADHD but as he's on the low end of healthy BMI and has gastro issues as often goes along with ADHD I told him it would not be suitable for him anyway. I doubt they will be able to prescribe mj for ADHD in patients of a healthy weight as the physical effects would be too risky.

Don't a lot of people get obesity in childhood? I wonder how it'll effect young obese people

I have diagnosed ADHD and no issues with prescribing or side effects.

Not everyone is losing weight at massively rapid rates on WLI. Plenty of people are having slower rates of loss. I'm losing around 3lbs a month on average. There is always a contingent of dieters who want and expect the fastest weight loss possible. The drugs are expensive and people may have budgeted for a certain number of months and want the most bang for their buck. However over time an attitude shift will be needed. Obesity isn't likely to be 'cured' with 6 months of rapid weight loss. It's a chronic condition and needs a long term cure. I'm happy with slow loss, I want to maintain my muscle, have energy for the gym and enjoy meals. I'm also fortunate enough to be able to afford mj indefinitely. As the price comes down (🤞🏼) and longer term use effects are better known, I think usage will change too and people be on the whole less keen for such rapid loss.

Yes but presumably you're also obese? I was talking about use of mj to treat ADHD in people who aren't obese, like the pp who asked the question.

I had been trying to lose weight for 17 years... nothing worked, i couldnt eat little enought for long enough. i lost it all on that too

Thank you ever so much for your reply. It's really helpful of you.😊

Weight loss drugs are worrying in my opinion. I know obesity is considered a disease, but in my opinion there is some control possible and that’s what makes it different to other diseases. I mean I’m fat because I sit at my desk all day and make poor food choices.

nobody can “write down what they eat, replace choc with apples and do a few exercise classes” and cure cystic fibrosis or cure type 1 diabetes or cure muscular dystrophy.

there are a few cases where I think the drug can be useful. Very very obese people, diabetes patients

of course it makes sense that we’ve been fed this narrative that obesity is a disease… the pharma industry can then make money out of curing it.

the side effects (death in some cases) are awful when there is an alternative safe viable option out there

the fact that here alone there’s tonnes of normal sized people wishing they could obtain it

the fact that we know people obtain counterfeit versions or lie about bmi

the fact you need to stay on a maintenance dose forever in a lot of cases.

the unknown effect on our young people… we are telling them that skinny is back. We are saying “just take a pill to fix fatness” I’m not sure that’s going to help create healthy habits

im not feeling these drugs. I think they are not good news for society.

it’s not how we are supposed to work as humans

Dude, being obese is not how we are supposed to work as humans! If you'd rather stay obese that's your shout but in terms of health and quality of life these drugs are a flipping miracle for millions of people.

I'm on week 3 and loving it. Symptoms have settled and I'm eating like a normal person, it is so freeing and I really do hope that it becomes something I can continue to use long term as maintenance as I do worry about what happens when I stop taking it.

Everyone assesses their own risks, and if you’re feeling more comfortable with a significantly increased risk, of heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc associated with obesity, rather than take a drug that’s been actually used for 20 odd years and decades in trials before that, with the min risks associated, then that’s ok. We are all different.

im on them, and wow, im so much healthier, so much more energy, its life changing for me. But we all assess risk differently.

The long term health effects of being obese far outweigh the risk of any side effects of weight loss medication.

As for the impact on young people- skinny healthy never went away, we just normalise a lot of obesity under the guise of ‘body positivity’ which for many is a green light to eat whatever you want without judgment- that’s fine but the implications from a health perspective can be far reaching.

Obesity is linked to many factors from lifestyle, mental health, genetics, diet etc many things which cannot always be controlled by simply saying eat less move more, but now the ability to simply switch off the temptation in the form of these injections is offering a chance of real change for those who have battled for so long.

I get mine from asda and they said they will
prescribe maintenance doses

I think they'll be life-changing for millions of people. I think they will change the method of delivery first though.

I was always a normal weight until about 45 and perimenopause. I then became a stone overweight, and lost it through a calorie restrictive diet, Kept it off until about 54 when I was done with menopause. Regained 10 pounds all around my belly. Never took HRT. I exercise, restrict calories, cut out most sugar, etc, but it is really stubborn. I’m hoping research will continue for those of us that aren’t obese, but whose BMI is higher than we’d like.

Yeah I hear you all but you speak like there are only two options: a) take the miracle drugs at £150 a month b) be fat and die of a stroke

in the vast majority of people there is an option c) eat sensibly, eat good quality food, move more, calorie count, avoid alcohol

now I know it’s hard but i think we can all agree that doing option c would result in weight loss. In most cases. Appreciate that there are a few cases where it doesn’t work eg some steroid medication users

you are all justifying the drugs by saying “yeah but at least I won’t die of a stoke like you fatties”

option c above is very cheap, very safe and proven effective if you keep it up.

long term, I still think we would be better off improving food industry and educating people.

you will likely all come back and say yeah option c doesn’t work long term. Well it does and it will but when you are presented with an easy pill to fix things, that diminishes any will power. It is hard work to diet but I don’t think we’ve fully identified options for improving the effectiveness of option c… holding food industry accountable, why are we still serving shit food in hospitals (after I gave birth they gave me a breakfast of a Frosties bar WTF), why does the Tesco cupcakes I got for Halloween have 800 ingredients in it? Why does my curry sauce I ate the other day have loads of sugar in it?…I can think of a million ways to make option c better but the drive is gone now as we are lining lots of people’s pockets pushing WLI

Surely drug companies want to continue giving out maintenance doses long-term? It’s in their financial interest. I am sure anyone who wants to stay on them will be able to.

They go far beyond just weight loss too - completely transformative when it comes to cardio vascular risk (strokes, heart attacks etc) and type 2 diabetes - it’s a huge turning point from a public health perspective. I’m a very supportive other half of a weight loss injection user.

Yes 8 more drugs in trials. And they are all racing to develop a pill. Which they think by 26 , and that will change things again. As cost will drop significantly when no one needs to deal with cold storage and delivery, and the cost of injections. I suspect by then the nhs will widen it totally. Albeit in stages, as surgeries do not have the capacity to deal with all the millions of people who will want them,

it also looks like mounjaro will shortly be approved by the nhs for both cardiovascular and kidney disease, on top of the current diabetes, and weight loss under Nice guidelines. The very cinal test results are now in.