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Weight loss injections/treatments

Discuss weight-loss injections and treatments, including personal experiences. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any treatments.

Sustainability. An outsiders question

170 replies

Itcostshowmuchnow · 06/02/2025 13:00

I am curious what happens when you lose all the weight. If no lessons about adequate nutrition have been learned do you need to be taking these injections for life?

OP posts:
Scams · 07/02/2025 20:15

85reasons · 07/02/2025 17:20

OP it might be worth reflecting on why your thread mysteriously went off piste and ask yourself whether it might have been something about what you asked, or the way you asked it, in a chat area on Mumsnet specifically dedicated to WLI.

Can I suggest that you'll get very informative answers to your questions by asking ChatGPT? You can ask what you like, and be directed to the very latest academic studies which will let you in on the latest thinking on the science of obesity and whether or not there's a case for taking these injections for life.

Nobody will get offended, you can ask whatever you like, and there's a whole heap of fascinating information right at your fingertips.

Well said.

In my case OP, after a lifetime of never having to worry about my weight I woke up one morning as a size 18. The really wonderful thing about waking up as a size 18 was that I was still alive. You see, I wasn’t greedy or uneducated as you seem to think us larger people must be, I’d had a two year journey through cancer treatment and diagnosis.

I stand by my previous comment entirely.

lovealongbath · 08/02/2025 05:53

I will answer your question… Yes, I intend to take this for life.

This drug is bloody amazing and life changing for us lazy, fat, gross individuals that need to eat less and move more.

Further more, Obesity is a chronic complex disease recognised by the World Health Organisation .

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:25

PinkArt · 07/02/2025 14:50

That wasn't what you asked though @Itcostshowmuchnow. You asked about maintenance 'If no lessons about adequate nutrition...', so clearly you assumed any obese people didn't understand nutrition on the first place. It was goady AF and you surely knew that. You can't be surprised people answered in the tone you asked.
You then went on to suggest you know better than the WHO that obesity isn't a disease.
You also managed to pop in the old chestnut about how we all just need to eat less and move more.
And now you are back to say that people losing weight is 'making themselves better', which again is goady AF of you. Because thin people are better than obese people?
Nobody would be offended if you weren't being so fucking offensive.
If you want to know the stats about maintaining weight loss following use of the jabs - and I'm curious about why that specifically is your burning question - why not go and do some reading? There so plenty out there but on the spirit of 'peace': https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2812936?

i personally do not think that they do else they would not be that big. But then we are getting off topic again.

Are we not able to have different opinions?

OP posts:
Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:30

Finallydoingit24 · 07/02/2025 15:43

Okay well the evidence suggests that you’re more likely to keep weight off (maybe not all the weight but a decent amount) than on calorie control and exercise. The studies are not conclusive and more work needs to be done but it’s not impossible.
An alternative is a low dose to maintain the loss - these drugs have been around for 20 years so it’s not a total unknown how they work long term. Presumably the pharmaceutical companies will create some sort of maintenance product as there will definitely be a market for it.

Out of interest, do you also go on the “traditional” weight loss boards where people are doing diet and exercise and ask them how they will sustain it? Because they have a 95% chance of regaining all of the weight.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the question.

I do not tend to venture on to the weight loss boards much. It's purely these injections making the news of late that have captured my interest.

That is why I suggested that any pharma approach rather than conventional changing of eating habits might be difficult to sustain - My personal opinion before anybody jumps down my throat again lol.

Interesting times ahead.

OP posts:
Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:39

PrettyTiredReally · 07/02/2025 15:41

If these kinds of issues interest you OP, even to a tiny degree, you’ll know that the ‘eat less, move more’ thinking is so last century.

The most recent podcast episode of Zoe Science and Nutrition discusses how lack of adequate sleep can cause weight gain, even when eating exactly the same as someone who sleeps well (yes, controlled studies). This is just one of a range of contributing factors that can have an impact. It’s a very complex issue.

As others have said, your posts are goady. And smug. But also pretty lacking in knowledge and insight.

Yes there will be all kinds of things chat can contribute to weight gain. Sleep patterns, hormone changes, stress, medical etc etc. However I personally think these are all too readily used as excuses, and from experience SOME of these can be mitigated by some physical exertion and trying to eat well when possible.

My own genetics are not great, I cannot always fine time to cook nutritious meals and I certainly do not get enough sleep. I can relate! But I get the impression focus is often spent on the 20% of the cause rather than the 80% of the cause. Again - personal opinion.

Anyway enough of going off topic. Some of us will clearly never agree on this.

OP posts:
PinkArt · 09/02/2025 00:50

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:25

i personally do not think that they do else they would not be that big. But then we are getting off topic again.

Are we not able to have different opinions?

I'd leave it here if I was you. You come across as being as stupid as you are rude and that's embarrassing for you.
If you'd come here with any suggestion of genuine interest in this fascinating area of scientific advancement, then people might be up for the sharing of options you pretend to be interested in. I'm off to google carrots though. They're these orange things and are better for me than cake apparently. Who knew?! Obviously not me as an obese person, because I gained weight because I'm thick and it was nothing to do with my digestive or mental health. But now I can be 'better' too - yay!

Scams · 09/02/2025 02:00

Still a twat.

Finallydoingit24 · 09/02/2025 04:49

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:30

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the question.

I do not tend to venture on to the weight loss boards much. It's purely these injections making the news of late that have captured my interest.

That is why I suggested that any pharma approach rather than conventional changing of eating habits might be difficult to sustain - My personal opinion before anybody jumps down my throat again lol.

Interesting times ahead.

Well the natural/changing lifestyle approach has been proven time and time again to be doomed to failure once a person has been obese. Obese people’s bodies will fight to try to return them to their original weight even if they are extremely committed to sustaining changes. The views you are espousing are ones that were common 30-40 years ago. The research has moved on now. It used to be that if you were severely obese, your best bet was bariatric surgery if you wanted long term reduction. Now there is an easier route.

MsRumpole · 09/02/2025 05:28

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:39

Yes there will be all kinds of things chat can contribute to weight gain. Sleep patterns, hormone changes, stress, medical etc etc. However I personally think these are all too readily used as excuses, and from experience SOME of these can be mitigated by some physical exertion and trying to eat well when possible.

My own genetics are not great, I cannot always fine time to cook nutritious meals and I certainly do not get enough sleep. I can relate! But I get the impression focus is often spent on the 20% of the cause rather than the 80% of the cause. Again - personal opinion.

Anyway enough of going off topic. Some of us will clearly never agree on this.

Edited

Your personal opinion is wrong, as you would learn if you actually read the links/found the sources that the posters you are repeatedly insulting with your ignorant and stereotyped views have taken the trouble to put here for you 😊

TwirlyPineapple · 09/02/2025 06:02

Do you really think that everyone who is obese hasn't reheard every "lesson about nutrition" there is? I don't think I know anyone overweight who doesn't understand how weight gain and maintenance work. It's not a difficult concept intellectually.

What is difficult is resisting the urge to overeat when your body is begging you to do it in a variety of ways. I overate because my body sent stronger signals to than other people's bodies do- my food noise was stronger, I physically felt hungrier more often and my stomach took longer to realise it was full. None of that can be overridden by theoretical knowledge.

The fact that a medication can stop my overeating stone dead shows that something medical was causing the overeating in the first place. And if I have a medical issue, why would I stop taking the medication that fixes the issue?

Styleislost · 09/02/2025 06:53

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:39

Yes there will be all kinds of things chat can contribute to weight gain. Sleep patterns, hormone changes, stress, medical etc etc. However I personally think these are all too readily used as excuses, and from experience SOME of these can be mitigated by some physical exertion and trying to eat well when possible.

My own genetics are not great, I cannot always fine time to cook nutritious meals and I certainly do not get enough sleep. I can relate! But I get the impression focus is often spent on the 20% of the cause rather than the 80% of the cause. Again - personal opinion.

Anyway enough of going off topic. Some of us will clearly never agree on this.

Edited

What do you mean some of us will never agree?

Why do we need to agree? Why do you think your agreement is needed or even wanted? Why do you need people to agree with you?

Do you need people who have problems with alcohol to agree with you on how it should be treated? Or do you believe that different things work for different people? That’s there’s different reasons people drink and it’s a complex issue? Do you believe people telling people they should just not drink and go for a walk to distract themselves actually works as a treatment plan?

I don’t drink. No reason, just never liked it. I don’t need have a conversation with someone who is alcohol dependent and have them agree they could just not drink. I don’t need to them agree that it’s just that simple. Because I can do it. So they should be able to, aswell. I did it. I come from a family with several members who have problems with alcohol. On both my mother and father’s side. I live the same life as many people who are alcoholics. Many of the same challenges. Many of the same traumas or life experiences. But I don’t drink so I should get them to agree it should be that simple for them?

I don’t understand alcohol dependence from the perspective of someone experiencing it. So why would I think my opinion on the causes and why they need medical support or medication is in anyway valid?

Do you believe because one thing worked for one person, it should work for all? My grand father could go cold turkey, not drink at all for years. That’s also how he quit for good. No medical support needed. He managed it. That’s extremely dangerous for some people. So it would be very silly and narrow minded of me to believe that because one person did it that way it’s the same for very alcohol dependent person.

I am confused about why you have an opinion on them or on people’s weight and the causes of it at all. What do you get out of this? Why do you need them to agree?

You can call people defensive or attempt to be patronising. But this thread says far more about you, as a person than anyone else.

RoseGoldenGlow · 09/02/2025 07:08

That is why I suggested that any pharma approach rather than conventional changing of eating habits might be difficult to sustain

@Itcostshowmuchnow how much have you tried to learn about the way WLIs work and how much do you understand about other existing diets aka 'conventional changing of eating habits'?

Firstly, how do you think people on the drugs lose weight? They change their eating habits. The drugs facilitate that change. Someone on the drugs will eat differently for the time it takes to lose the weight. They will eat less than before because the drugs affect appetite and satiety. Anyone prescribed the drugs is advised to follow healthy eating guidelines, and many people find that if they do attempt to eat very processed, sugary or fatty foods that it causes side effects. So someone taking the drugs for say, six months, will have the experience of eating differently for that period of time. Coming off the drugs, they can continue that way of eating or not - just like any other diet.

Do you think these injections are likely to be most obese people's first attempt to lose weight? The drugs cost around £150 per month and can cause some unpleasant side effects. They are also newly available. Most obese people have tried to lose weight in the past through other routes. If you've done that, then you understand the principles of eg Slimming World, low carb, intermittent fasting, Weight Watchers, Noom, tracking calories etc. What you might not understand, OP, is that 95% of people who lose weight through these methods regain all the weight they lose plus more within a few years of losing it. You can read high quality studies about this; the research and conclusions are freely available online. So when you look at an obese person, you are likely to be looking at someone who has experience of losing weight and an understanding of how it works. But they haven't been successful at maintaining it. Most people who lose weight are not successful at maintaining it.

The injections might turn out to be the same as those other weight-loss methods; people might regain the weight plus more when they come off. But maybe the pharmaceutical element will change the outcome. Maybe it won't. Maybe people will stay on them for life and maintain their weight loss. Maybe people will be able to come off them and do it without the drugs. I imagine it will vary from person to person. But I don't think the injections can have a worse success rate than current 'conventional changing of eating habits' which see 95% of people regaining more weight than they lost. And if they do, what does it matter to you, OP?

People are taking these injections because they don't want to be obese anymore. Paying the cost, accepting the side effects, because they want to lose the weight. No one has satisfactory answers to the 'obesity crisis' and stating what is true or not 'in your book', OP, isn't all that helpful to most people. People taking these drugs may or may not regain the weight. The same is true for anyone on the calorie-counting boards, the fasting boards, the low-carb boards etc. Anyone on these forums is trying, and I can't see what you think you're contributing when you come on and tell these people that they're stupid (don't understand anything about nutrition) and doomed to failure (will put the weight back on).

If you want to understand more, then you need to let go of your existing assumptions and prejudices. You need to accept that what you think you know about obesity might not be a well-informed and knowledgeable perspective and that it might be more complicated than you believe, and that your personal experience in life might not be the same as everyone else's. That's if you actually do want to learn something rather than just tell obese people they're getting it wrong.

BigSilly · 09/02/2025 07:41

Some people's bodies do not respond to the hormone that signals satiety.
The WLI mimics these hormones, so they can experience satiety in the same way you do.

Shrinkingrose · 09/02/2025 07:58

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:39

Yes there will be all kinds of things chat can contribute to weight gain. Sleep patterns, hormone changes, stress, medical etc etc. However I personally think these are all too readily used as excuses, and from experience SOME of these can be mitigated by some physical exertion and trying to eat well when possible.

My own genetics are not great, I cannot always fine time to cook nutritious meals and I certainly do not get enough sleep. I can relate! But I get the impression focus is often spent on the 20% of the cause rather than the 80% of the cause. Again - personal opinion.

Anyway enough of going off topic. Some of us will clearly never agree on this.

Edited

Oh I see you reverted back and chose goady again.

how embarrassing for you.

Seaitoverthere · 09/02/2025 08:25

@Itcostshowmuchnow I’m interested in your thoughts on a situation I found myself in. I successfully lost 107lbs by eating to a deficit using Nutracheck and Fitbit to monitor calorie deficit and maintained the loss for 2 years.

I then had an injection of Prostap to induce menopause pre hysterectomy and gained 33lbs in 11 weeks. Had horrific joint pain so in desperation tried HRT for 2 months and ended up a further stone and a half heavier and triggered a huge flare of what I now know is psoriatic arthritis,

Everytime I start the DMARD I take for the arthritis or increase a dose my weight increases a bit and I don’t lose for around 6 to 8 weeks despite being in a calorie deficit.

Styleislost · 09/02/2025 08:30

Out of interest @Itcostshowmuchnow whats your professional back ground? Doctor? nurse? Therapist? Personal trainer? Nutritionist?

Shrinkingrose · 09/02/2025 08:32

Seaitoverthere · 09/02/2025 08:25

@Itcostshowmuchnow I’m interested in your thoughts on a situation I found myself in. I successfully lost 107lbs by eating to a deficit using Nutracheck and Fitbit to monitor calorie deficit and maintained the loss for 2 years.

I then had an injection of Prostap to induce menopause pre hysterectomy and gained 33lbs in 11 weeks. Had horrific joint pain so in desperation tried HRT for 2 months and ended up a further stone and a half heavier and triggered a huge flare of what I now know is psoriatic arthritis,

Everytime I start the DMARD I take for the arthritis or increase a dose my weight increases a bit and I don’t lose for around 6 to 8 weeks despite being in a calorie deficit.

Well they clearly think you’re just making an excuse aren’t you, eat less move more. You will be grand. The poster is very keen to tell us all this on repeat.

wtf they are getting out of it, their bitter little posts, is anyone’s guess.

RoseGoldenGlow · 09/02/2025 08:38

Shrinkingrose · 09/02/2025 08:32

Well they clearly think you’re just making an excuse aren’t you, eat less move more. You will be grand. The poster is very keen to tell us all this on repeat.

wtf they are getting out of it, their bitter little posts, is anyone’s guess.

Unfair to the OP, she might generously allow this poster into her 2% category of fatties who haven't brought it on themselves and have a medical 'excuse' - the 2% (at a push!) figure that the OP has of course arrived at through the solid scientific method of giving it half a second's thought and then spouting out a number that feels right to her based on zero knowledge, understanding or research.

Finallydoingit24 · 09/02/2025 08:47

Itcostshowmuchnow · 09/02/2025 00:25

i personally do not think that they do else they would not be that big. But then we are getting off topic again.

Are we not able to have different opinions?

You don’t think they know about nutrition? What’s your next big take? Drug addicts and alcoholics don’t know that alcohol and drugs are bad for them because if they did, they wouldn’t still drink or take drugs.

MsRumpole · 09/02/2025 08:56

I wonder what OP's getting out of this

RoseGoldenGlow · 09/02/2025 09:02

Styleislost · 09/02/2025 08:30

Out of interest @Itcostshowmuchnow whats your professional back ground? Doctor? nurse? Therapist? Personal trainer? Nutritionist?

The OP must have very impressive credentials; after all, she (or he) knows better than the WHO when it comes to defining whether or not obesity is a disease.

Shrinkingrose · 09/02/2025 09:06

I suspect this isn’t the ops first rodeo at this and she’s name changed so she can have another go at people taking wli again. That she’s been on other threads doing this before under a different name.

lovealongbath · 09/02/2025 09:14

MsRumpole · 09/02/2025 08:56

I wonder what OP's getting out of this

The op is getting a ride on their sanctimonious high horse!

FlappingMadly · 09/02/2025 09:22

OP is bang on trend - opinion vs fact
OP, your framing gives you away. You don't want answers as you have them already. Go away.

nebular · 09/02/2025 09:24

"That is why I suggested that any pharma approach rather than conventional changing of eating habits might be difficult to sustain - My personal opinion before anybody jumps down my throat again lol."

I think we probably have vastly different life experiences in relation to this topic, but when I read this my mind jumped to contraception, a medication approach to this area has proven vastly more effective than traditional methods and isn't that the point of all medicine?

In answer to your question, at this point I am open to taking the medication long term, I didn't anticipate this before I started. On taking the medication, I had this massive WTF moment, because if my thoughts on medicine were the same as someone who hasn't even had a weight issue, what was going on was something else, not driven by laziness, poor willpower etc and something physiological.
You say you are curious, but maybe it's only something you can experience, because the change in thought process was monumental from day 1.

As a poster said above to actually get good results on this medication you need to eat in a calorie deficit and get well.

Swipe left for the next trending thread