“I started Ozempic last night” THREAD TWO

[HermioneWeasley]

Here’s a shiny new thread for everyone who’s been sharing their experiences on the original, and of course all new starters are welcome too!

Done @superdupernova

Thank @HermioneWeasley !

I eat cheese and milk no problems.

I have been away for few days at a conference and out for meals, being offered sweets by exhibitors like drug pushers, hotel breakfasts etc. I am so pleased to come back weighing less than when I left. It is like a miracle.

I do think that the full filter sounds about right. I just can't eat a big meal and I stop far before I would have before Ozempic. Eating when bored/tired/emotional etc is a thing but I do think the internal motivation system that is trying to keep our weight at a set point uses all those tools to help it achieve that and the full feeling that Ozempic gives me does reduce the frequency and extent of my binging although it has not been 100% eliminated.

@Wingingit11 - I think it is definitely worth a try for you. Even if I have the most delicious favourite food on my plate now if I’m full I’m full. Ozempic definitely works in a way that diets that rely on willpower don’t.

Can’t quite remember who was disappointed in their 2lb loss this week and if I try to go back to check I’ll lose my reply but I just wanted to say that’s a great loss. And it adds up. I know it’s easy to be impatient but it’s a great loss. I think I’ve averaged about a pound a week. Which sounds pathetic. But I’m down 3 stone in the past year.

I am going to Australia next month and have been going through my summer clothes to get organised and it’s been lovely getting into smaller clothes. Even some of the smaller sizes I bought last summer are now too big. And it turned out I’d bought quite a few ‘aspirational’ items over the years that now fit. It was like a free shopping trip!

Like others I haven’t had any issues with dairy. Except an incident with trifle at Christmas! Think it was more a combo of too much champagne followed by too much wine and then too much trifle and my system went no! But day to day I have milk in tea and things like cheese no problem. Not a lot of it obviously but I use cheese to add extra protein sometimes. Feta to an omelette or a bit of Parmesan on soup.

What’s the best place to get it ? Manual or my Jupiter ?

Over a stone in 4 weeks is amazing. Remember it's only having the effect of reducing the calories you consume so there is a limit to how much fat you can physically lose! I'm losing a lb a week because my daily deficit is around 500 calories give or take. Assuming yours must be a fair bit more but even so there is a limit on how much daily deficit you can create without hiking 20 miles up mountains every day or whatever!

Having read everything on here and done trial and error I would recommend manual for the first month as it's the cheapest at £129 then move to quick meds, buy the 1mg pen and some spare needles from eBay or the pharmacy and titrate yourself to 0.5mg for 4 weeks then up to 1mg. You could go straight to quick meds as per dose it's cheaper than manual but I don't know if the pen is as easy to measure the dose and for your first time it makes sense to go as user friendly as possible.

@OneAndDon3 Thank you. I injected yesterday morning, good advice!

General update -- I already feel bizarrely full, I have just struggled to drink a coffee after breakfast when normally I would have breakfast, coffee, then a cup of tea and a handful of nuts and raisins.

Same last night - no real need to snack after dinner...

I am hoping this has the effect of stopping the feeling of overwhelming hunger I was getting...so far (24 hours!) yes.

UkMeds seem to be out of stock, grr. I just went there as my Juniper one is due to renew in a couple of days. 🤬 Really pricey from Juniper. Oh well. Guess I'm stuck with them for another month.

Thanks for the feedback about increasing the dose - I did my 0.25 this morning, kept the needle in and then did another 0.25 straightaway. I wasn’t sure whether to increase the dose or not this week due to nausea but ate normally yesterday, so the 0.25 was clearly not suppressing my appetite enough anymore.

I dug out my suitcase of outgrown clothes this morning and about half of them now fit nicely. Total NSV!

Funnily enough the clothes I can currently wearing don’t feel as though they are a size too big though. Not sure how that works but I’ll happily accept the fact that my wardrobe choices have just expanded!

Oh no, UK Meds have run out!! I'm trying to order from Manual but it doesn't allow you to specify the dose - will they send you a 0.25mg pen first?

So if not one of those where is the best value now?

Manual will send the first one of 0.25 and after a month will go up to 0.5 and after a further month will go up to 1. I called there customer service to confirm and that's when I ordered

Quickmeds have stock

I have a code with manual manual.co/r/U-Q5gZ4aTsmW your first order will £123

Thanks for your responses. I tried Manual but I need a 1mg pen, not to go back to 0.25mg! I've emailed them to ask. If I don't get anywhere I'll go with Quick Meds, thanks!!

You can call manual, they have a number on Google.

Hi all, took my 2nd dose last night. I'm with Juniper.

The treatment plan Juniper have given me is 2 months at 0.25, then 2 months at 0.5.

I'm really keen to move up to 0.5 as soon as possible. It's definitely having an effect for maybe 2/3 days but not the full week and it's probably the dose. For info bmi 43 so definitely in the right category for this!

Has anyone challenged this with them? Seems so expensive to pay £200 for only 0.25 for 2 months. Thanks and we'll done on great results everyone.

I noticed that with Juniper too which is why I didn’t choose them. All the other providers seem to only keep you on 0.25 for 4 weeks. I went with a company called Mayfair - they were £180 for the first doses at O.25 but will move me onto 0.5 after 4 weeks at the lower dose.
I would definitely challenge them and if they aren’t flexible then consider switching to a different company.

Juniper have put me on 0.25 for one month and then 0.5 for two months. That felt sensible to me.

Can I please ask a more technical question (which nobody might know the answer to!).

Does the weight loss simply come from calorie deficit due to the appetite surpression aspects of Ozempic, or is there some other process going on within our bodies leading to weight loss?

I'm curious as to whether it's best to stick to whichever dose suppresses appetite, or if a higher dose gives additional benefits. I have read many of you are not dosing higher than 0.5mg. That seems to make sense in terms of financial outlay and with the issue of shortages.

If anyone has an opinion or actually knows the answer I'd be very interested to hear! ☺️

I’m no expert @IAmBreathingIn but the Ozempic doses recommended here are generally for diabetes. We are all using Ozempic “off label” for weight loss. The sister drug to Ozempic is Wegovy. Same actual medication - semaglutide - but comes in higher doses and is used in the US for treatment of obesity. It has been approved in the UK but the manufacturer can’t supply it yet due to production issues.

In my experience it is NOT just calorie deficit but the way in which Ozempic works on insulin. Saxenda is probably equally as good for people who ‘just’ need help on appetite. I knew for me here was something else going on as I don’t eat huge amounts. I figured there was an issue with insulin for me which is why I tried Ozempic. And it has worked brilliantly. I’ve lost three stone and have two more to go. I will decrease slowly but will then follow a low carb way of eating for the most part.

I have to say I don’t like the idea that people who just have a stone or so to lose are using Ozempic. It is a drug and all drugs have side effects. And there is the issue that diabetics are now struggling to get hold of it. That doesn’t sit well with me. But the manufacturer will hopefully sort production out this year and the shortages will end.

So I think I would encourage anyone who is finding that 0.25 works well to stick at that as long as possible. Or 0.5. Why wouldn’t you if it’s working?

I'm with manual, for the first month I'm on 0.25 then the next month on 0.5 then finally month three it's 1ml

If you're happy sticking at 0.5, did you just tell your supplier that you didn't want to increase?

For the last two nights, I have woken up in the middle of the night feeling v nauseous. Not sure if it's the increase to 0.5 or just a coincidence.