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.

I’m getting mine from Asda and seem to be paying more than some
have said on here. I’m on 5mg. Can I swap provider and stay on same dose or would I have to go back to 2.5 again.

Yeah that would be a good choice. 10 years of known, documented ill health consequences vs…fear of the unknown?

Health Ramifications of 10 Years of Obesity

• High blood pressure (hypertension)

• Atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease

• Increased risk of stroke

• Type 2 diabetes

• Dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol)

• Osteoarthritis

• Lower back pain

• Sleep apnea

• Reduced lung capacity

• Increased risk of certain cancers (e.g., breast, colorectal, kidney, pancreatic)

• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

• Gallstones

• Depression and anxiety

• Cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia

• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

• Infertility in both men and women

• Chronic inflammation, contributing to tissue damage and autoimmune conditions

• Shortened life expectancy

I've recently started on Mounjaro after a life time of yo-yo dieting. I was at my heaviest at 16st and I'm 5ft 4.

Its been amazing for me so far, the fact that I just don't want to snack and choosing healthier foods is so weird for me. But I'm loving it
I don't have the awful guilt and shame that I used to after a late night binge.

But, the fear of judgement from other people is getting to me. I have another thread about this and have decided not to tell anyone apart from my husband.

What is it about weight loss drugs that people are so negative about?

well yes that's in the literature and no decent doctor would prescribe them.

I agree they have made me feel how a normal person must feel. I am still not perfect and my slim friends tell me how they manage their weight and hunger and I feel like I am finally getting to play the game they play when it comes to managing their weight and not the epic mountain climb I always felt it was for me.

Food noise. Obsessive supermarket shops. Craving wine. All diminishing and being able to see a future with consistent change not just a fad.

Fasting also very helpful and beneficial to managing hunger.

What is it about weight loss drugs that people are so negative about?

Jealousy/envy/a self-righteous belief that people should have to ‘suffer’ to lose weight and if they aren’t now, they surely will in the future when we all discover it causes users to turn into green-skinned slug people.

Nice try but not buying it, i agree with the science behind obesity and the health effects I don't agree all the weight loss drugs solves it and what is in them is worse

I've had therapy throughout my life for decades of disordered eating going back to my preteens and I see this a lot on here - oh, you have to address the mental issues that made you obese, the injections are a sticking plaster. All I can say is that therapy isn't a magic bullet either and in my experience it hasn't been a 'cure'. It hasn't been useless either, but therapy alone isn't enough. Therapy plus medication (ie the injections) is a different matter. And to be able to access mental health support while experiencing a medication-induced respite from disordered behaviours actually creates the emotional space and clarity to be able to engage much more effectively.

Yes me too. I thought about it but the warnings scared me off. Gastro side effects I could live with - the unknown longer term stuff worries me.

So you have nothing solid to back up your nebulous belief, got it.

Correct

@Devonchills I'm telling people that I'm on mj and using their response to decide exactly what type of person they are. It's a medication for an illness and I'm absolutely not going to be shamed about being proactive about my health. People's choice to be horrible, especially when it's cloaked in faux 'concern', says tells me everything I need to know about them and hence their opinion doesn't matter a jot to me. It's an excellent filtering device.

They're low enough risk that pharmacists are allowed to prescribe them online. This hysteria feels similar to certain people's responses to the Covid vaccine. How did you feel about that drug?

Until they don't

We live in a world full or risk. I believe individuals have the right to assess the risks and make their own informed decisions. That is what the whole of medicine dictates anyway.

They sound amazing, but I'm far too scared of potential side effects to try unless a doctor prescribed them to me. My BMI is about 38 so I definitely would benefit from them.

It's partly because I had terrible pregnancy sickness and can't face feeling nauseous all the time again. But mainly in just worried they'll cause long-term problems. Or kill me.

Oh right! Well if you don't agree that weight loss drugs solve obesity and you think 'what's in them is worse' (than lifelong obesity?) then we must all be wrong and deluded! Because you are the authority, right?

Why are you even commenting then? Your opinion is less relevant to anyone than a fart in the wind.

They thought this about HRT too, didn't they? But the benefits outweigh risks.

I am not on weight loss drugs so no skin in the game. But from what I can see, it seems to be a gamechanger the way HRT is.

I guess we will find out.

23lb in 2 months is amazing. Thats how much roughly I want to lose.
Ive maintained the same weight for a while but can’t lose any. I’m 5’5 and I’m 12st12. I hovered around the 11st mark for years and while that was still half a stone overweight I was happy and looked good. Just want to get back to there.

But how will you stay on it for the rest of your life?
Are you UK based?
I'm on it, and from all the research I've done, it looks like I can't buy it for the rest of my life. I'm told that once I reach a healthy BMI, I won't be able to buy it anymore.
I'm worried about this.
I've spent 25 years trying to lose weight through SW, WW, keto, fasting, each time dedicating myself for a year or more to the programme only for these plans to never work for me.
I eat healthy, wholegrain, fresh foods. I hate junk food so never eat it. I don't drink alcohol. I'm busy and active.
Yet I've spent my adult life 4 stone overweight.
My DH spends 24 hours a day with me for 2 weeks in he summer and 2 weeks over Xmas and at weekends, and he says he doesn't understand how I'm overweight when I eat so healthily and never once over eat.
My back is covered in huge layers of thick fat, it's so thick its like whale blubber. Most people who are overweight have fat on their tummies or hips, but mine is all over my back. And I also have a massive hump of fat on the base of my neck.
I feel my blood sugars swinging wildly all over the place, yet I'm not diabetic.
I think I have some sort of metabolic or genetic disorder that nobody knows about yet in the world of science.
Anyhow, MJ is working for me. Slowly. It's not the quick fix others report. But I've lost 1.5 stone since May. I have never lost that amount of weight in 25 years of trying.
And it's regulating my blood sugar, it's stopping it from swinging all over the place.
And it's calming me down, it's calming down my rapid thoughts that spin round at 100 miles an hour.
It has treated my anxiety. It's like a switch that has switched off my anxiety.
So the fact that I won't be allowed to buy this anymore once I'm in a healthy BMI is devastating.

As I said in my post, 'Anyone who gets it when they are under 30 bmi, are not using the medication as it was designed'.

Which is a risk with any medication.

They don't cause constant nausea in most people. There are some gastro effects but they pass. Surely you have gastro discomfort already? I know I did when obese. Honestly, your weight is already causing long term problems and might well kill you. I really don't understand the fear of taking a medication that is evidently safe in the vast vast majority of cases when you're already suffering with a life long condition that is already bringing all those risks.

@UncharteredWaters i have learnt to maintain over the last 5 years and now on mounjaro. I haven’t lost much yet but hopefully I will and I feel quite confident I should be able to maintain. I’m eating much less but only 2 lbs down in the scales at the moment!

@SweepingChimneys Quite a few pharmacies support ongoing maintenance with no end date now. Cloud and Oushk are two of them.