“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!

Wel if it doesn't sit well with you that diabetics are struggling to get hold of Ozempic why are you using up supplies just to lose weight?
The hypocrisy of judging other people when you are using it for a purpose it wasn't intended for yourself is laughable.

Todays food:

Small banana and piece whole meal toast before sea swim ( well a dip really) and 40 minutes weights workout

After weights a protein shake ( protein powder, oat milk and spinach)

Lunch: 3 oatcakes with cucumber and houmous

Then a 3 mile walk with a friend

Whilst on walk a cup of tea and a protein bar

Dinner: 2 roast chicken thighs with brocolli and peppers and Thai herbs and coconut milk.

Stuffed now. Zero urge for evening snacks at all

@Twiglets1 I think there is a big difference between needing to lose 5 stone (which on almost any metric would put somebody into the obese/very overweight category) and 1 stone - certainly in terms of the serious health implications of carrying that much excess weight. In any event, the suppliers aren’t actually supposed to prescribe unless somebody has a BMI of 30+.
Like @Peridot1 I have a lot of weight to lose to get into healthy territory and despite rarely eating above 1500-1800 calories have managed to get severely overweight. Some people have something else going on outside of calories in/out and it seems that Ozempic can address the hormonal/chemical/biological issues that lead to weight gain. It is a fairly serious drug and I agree with @Peridot1 that it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Personally only on it as I have genuinely exhausted almost all other options.

No side effects since taking 0.50 this morning and bizarrely I feel hungrier than before! 😵‍💫 I don’t understand why when I had such good appetite suppression on 0.25 but maybe it hasn’t kicked in yet today. At least I’m not craving sugar which is something!

I don’t disagree with that but there was a degree of hypocrisy in her post - criticising others when she herself is doing something that many people would consider wrong ( as am I). Please let’s stop with any holier then thou judgements about who is justified in using this drug for weight loss and who isn’t.
We’re all using a drug that is designed for diabetics. We’ve all got our own reasons that mean we can justify it to ourselves.

I'm due my next dose tomorrow and today I've been peckish, ate all my meals and a bar of chocolate. Roll on tomorrow morning!!

Mairead I also inject on Mondays but was feeling snacky & bingey since Friday so I injected this morning. Perhaps I should've gone up to 0.75mg after all.

@Twiglets1 - my “justification” for using Ozempic is that I had been trying to lose weight for over 30 years. I was at very high risk of becoming a type two diabetic. Current dietary advice did not work for me. All of it. And believe me I have tried. And in my view it doesn’t for a lot of people. Especially those with insulin issues. I do not judge anyone who has a lot,of weight to lose using Ozempic. I think we are all doing the NHS a favour long term. I do however worry that people who only have a stone or so to lose shouldn’t necessarily be on Ozempic. I don’t feel that is hypocritical. I had five stone to lose. I wasn’t trying to lose a stone to feel better in a bikini. I had health issues as result of being obese. And I was obese. Not just a stone overweight. OBESE. And Ozempic is licensed for treatment of obesity. Even in the Uk. It’s just not easy to get unless you buy privately. I met the criteria to have it prescribed but given the current state of things here in the Uk that wasn’t going to happen.

It doesn’t sit right with me that people who have relatively SMALL amounts of weight to lose are using Ozempic. I was obese. I fit the criteria. I just was not able to have it prescribed by a doctor. I had to submit measurements and photos and identification to prove I was obese to have it prescribed online.

I’m not interested in hearing your justification. We all have our own reasons for using it but let’s at least be honest. We are paying for private prescriptions because it wouldn’t currently be prescribed by our doctors in the U.K.
I myself have about 3 stone to lose and I’ve terrified of becoming diabetic. But I don’t kid myself that I’m entitled to the drug right now for any other reason than that I can afford it.

@Twiglets1 The problem though perhaps is the NHS. Even I can see that at +5 stone with slightly high cholesterol, and slightly high blood pressure, repeated attempts to lose weight, that I am heading for diabetes (like my mother!).

The NHS will be brilliant at providing treatment once I am diabetic or have heart failure or a stroke but what about now? Mum is getting fantastic treatment for her diabetes.

Yes I am paying now off label, but you could argue that the NHS should be doing this as it would save them many tens of thousands in diabetic care in the future.

Preventative care in the NHS is poor at best, and it is down to the individual to sort it out. And BTW, I think if it was approved, doctors would prescribe it as they are not idiots, and even they know prevention is better than cure.

@weightymatters73 - as far as I am aware Ozempic HAS been approved in the UK for use for treatment of obesity. And in Europe. I think it’s approved for people with a high BMI. The problem is getting doctors to approve it. It’s expensive. I think you have to be referred to an NHS weight clinic.

@Twiglets1 - I don’t kid my self that I am entitled to the drug either other than that I can afford it. I am not judging you for taking it. I said it didn’t sit right with me that people with SMALL amounts to lose were taking it. Jeremy bloody Clarkson is taking it and wrote a column in The Sunday Times about it last week. He claims he know loads of people on it. Are they all obese and at risk of diabetes? Probably not. It’s that I have a problem with. And various celebrities are taking it apparently.

I took my first dose last night and don’t think I have any side effects yet.

Im not hungry but think that’s because I’m full of cold maybe?!

Maybe so HermioneKipper, I think we do the first injection and just assume we'll not think about food at all again, that was me initially. Then I realised I was planning my meals, but happily planning smaller size ones and putting a little more thought into it than I usually did to make healthier choices. Then I'd eat and that was it until I'd think 'oh I suppose it's dinner time'. My second injection is tomorrow and I noticed I definitely had my breakfast a little earlier today than the rest of the week so I guess it 'wears off' a bit towards the next injection.

Side effect wise I had a couple of days of finding it harder to go to the toilet (not necessarily constipated though), but I have upped my water and fruit content so that's helping a lot.

Good luck!

Thank you! That’s really helpful and good to know.

Yes! I definitely had in the back of my mind that once I injected I’d be like BOOM! no more food obsession.

ill make sure to drink plenty of water and have fruit today

yes, @Peridot1 wrong use of the word "approved"

It is, of course approved for use in weight loss in the UK. My GP's response to my weight loss question was "you're not overweight". There needs to be a wholesale change in focus on preventative medicine....

I was meaning more in the sense "I am a perfect candidate for this, I need to lose 50% of my body weight, my BMI is 35 and I am an age where in 10-20 years my weight may have serious health consequences. I am showing I want to lose weight and am questioning whether minor health symptoms are caused by weight (they are!). I am 100% showing signs of insulin resistance (without being diabetic).

But the GP is not interested and wouldn't even think of referring me to a weightloss clinic.

It might be the cold but I took my 1st dose Friday late afternoon, ate dinner at half 7 and didn't eat again til a full 24 hours later 😲 Did find I was burping a LOT. Sunday same, no food til about 6pm and ate a beef stir fry but felt sick afterwards. No food so far today. I wasn't intending to go one meal a day but finding I'm not really that hungry!

I know @weightymatters73. It’s very short sighted but I suppose the nhs is under such huge financial pressure it can’t do that at the moment. I follow some low carb people on Twitter including Dr David Unwin who has saved his GP practice a fortune by actively taking an interest in his overweight patients and running a low carb clinic. As does his wife. Most doctors however don’t have the knowledge or interest in proper weight loss advice. I know low carb is the way to go especially for those of us with insulin issues. I have tried it in the past with varying rates of success. But I had so much to lose it felt like trying to climb a mountain and constantly slipping back down. It had a huge effect on my mental health for a while. The sheer never ending attempts to lose weight. The constant feeling of failure. I read about Saxenda a few times but never felt it was for me as I didn’t actually eat that much. I used to read articles about people who lost weight and see their before and after menus and think but I eat the way they do after! I never ate the way they did. But when I read about Ozempic and it’s affect on insulin I decided after some research it was worth a try. And it has worked brilliantly. Going forward I know restricting carbs is a must. Having Ozempic as a tool to lose the weight is brilliant but maintaining the loss is just as important.

I used Manual as you can move up to the higher dose quicker. I have a code that gives you 50% off your order which is brilliant value as it can get expensive manual.co/r/U-Q5gZ4aTsmW

@FatandNearlyFifty - that is amazing. It’s amazing how it works. Try to eat something though! I find I feel nauseous if I don’t.

So week 3 was a write off. I felt no effect other than sulphur burps. No appetite suppression at all. However I fix come on my period, so may have contributed. Dose 4 today. Hopefully this week is more fruitful.

So it helps you feel full therefore allowing you to eat less so giving a calorie deficit but also makes your body respond to insulin properly although I’ve read this part of the puzzle doesn’t kick In until 8 weeks...(?)…so it’s multi faceted. Based on my own experience I’m on it due to being slightly overweight and have PCOS and always ate a very balanced, low carb, low sugar & moderately low calorie (1500 a day approx) diet BUT consistently gained weight despite this. I’m due my 4th injection tomorrow and I’ve been tracking my cals and see I’m eating the same things overall but averaging 1100 cals a day so even based on that 500 cal a day deficit to beforehand I should have lost 3lb the past 3 weeks but instead I’ve lost 7lbs! (By the way The last time I lost 7lbs it took me 9 weeks and I was craving & starving the entire time!) so that makes me think there’s more at play than just the calorie deficit. This past week I’ve had a few special occasions so to be honest I’ve drunk quite a lot of alcohol so I’m not expecting a loss essentially this week-maybe 1lb. Im still managing to eat less calories overall but I have found this fourth week my appetites up from the previous 3 weeks so I’m thinking to go up to 0.5 next week as planned. Especially as I have no side effects. Fingers crossed and good luck to everyone x

I agree with everything you say.
What I don’t like is to see some people on here judging other people for taking it. If you don’t want to be judged yourself ( as I don’t, though I know some people would disagree with me using a private prescription to get what I want) then don’t judge others, that’s my point to the other poster. We have no way of knowing why someone with what seems like a small amount of weight to lose would feel driven to taking it but maybe they have a good reason to do with their personal health physical or emotional.

Week 3 on 0.25 seems to be when it wears off for a lot of people. I went up to 0.5 in week 4 and found it worked for me.

I ate my dinner too quickly tonight. Sausage, mash and beans. I had a tiny portion compared to husband and son, still felt stuffed after. It was the first time I've looked forward to a meal since my injection and next injection is tomorrow. Don't know what the scales will say yet.

I’ve found that. May inject 27 clicks worth (half way between 0.25 and 0.5) tomorrow as it’s my 4th injection. If that works I will do that week 5 too then go upto 0.5 after that all being well.