“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!

Thanks all - there is such good support and perspectives here - and honesty!

It is so true that Ozempic isn't going to stop you regaining weight.

Years of dieting have hindered me. Some sensible diets ( our path) some weight watchers, some OMAD, some low carb etc.

My plan is to put protein first, have a small 200-300 deficiency and when I stop Ozempic to basically limit carbs and prioritise protein and use the foundational platform o hope it will provide ( less sugar cravings and insulin resistance) to continue along a healthy trajectory.

Peri menopausal here and stressed by full time work, disabled child and imminent bereavement. It's a bit of a mix.

I do sport ( sea swimming, weights and running) for my mental health - as well as mindfulness. It probably helps me not be even bigger but it's not going to affect my trajectory to the extent it's needed.

Thank you for the honest response! Coming off it and going back into full flight binge mode would be a massive worry for me. I’d like to think I too could reeducate my eating habits in a year but I can’t afford (literally and figuratively!) to experiment on myself like that! Shame, as it does sound like a miraculous weight loss solution!

Read the other thread - unbelievable judgmentalism from some! It really isn't that easy to lose a significant amount of weight, I've tried and struggled with my weight all my life! In the past year I've exercised lots and have tried to eat well, took Slim Fast etc etc, but the hunger pangs and constantly thinking about food proved impossible for me. I was an emotional eater too and felt low when hungry, so ate carbs to feel better. Also drank too much. Ozempic has more or less resolved all of that, emotional overeating AND drinking! I really feels like a miracle.

I'm thinking of continuing on a maintenance dose of maybe 0.25mg once I'm at my target weight. Has anyone done this and does it work? If you buy a 1mg pen and take only 0.25mg doses at a time does the pen's shelf life extend to 12 weeks once in use or does it go off?

@Inkpotlover - it’s like any diet - if you go back to eating the way you ate to gain in the first place then you will gain the weight again. The manufacturer says people should possibly be on it for life a bit like blood pressure medication. I’m not planning that but like @Twiglets1 using it as a tool to lose a large amount of weight and then use low carbing and exercise to maintain.

If bingeing is an issue for you I think I would try to sort that out first or at least alongside Ozempic if you decide to try it. I know there are many different triggers for bingeing - if you figure that out you may be some way to understanding and then controlling it to an extent? For instance if your binges are driven by self loathing as you can’t stick to a diet or lose weight then Ozempic may help as it will help you lose weight and control your appetite. So that trigger may have disappeared if you feel better about yourself. But without knowing much about it it is hard to say.

You’re welcome and yes, it’s more a weight loss tool than a miraculous solution. I have some reason to hope it might work because when I lost a lot of weight a few years ago, I did genuinely find my appetite diminished.
Foolishly, I listened to people who said things like I had lost too much weight, they were worried about my weight loss (went from an 16 to a 10) and actually made a conscious decision to eat more! Then I was back on the same old slippery slope and now I’m a 16 again edging towards size 18.
I’m aiming to get down to a 12 & a healthy BMI. If I get there I will know this time that I need to take advantage of the reduced appetite and reduced weight to carry on eating smaller portions & exercising more.
I don’t know if my plan will work but that’s the goal. I know everyone’s different though so Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thank you for the considered response. My bingeing is 100% emotional-led but I do think hormonal (peri-meonpausal) and insulin-resistance are playing more of a part as I get older. To be honest, I've just spent the past half hour doing some reading up on Ozempic and the pros and cons and I think I'm going to stick with my little portion control plate for now and address the issues like you've suggested. Ozempic is obviously incredibly effective and I wish I could trust myself to go on it, but I don't think I want to risk the rebound weight gain, nor what I've just read about "Ozempic face". 😳😱My jowls are saggy enough as they are!!

Ugh, I hate those 'well-meaning' weight loss saboteurs! There's something about a woman losing weight that seems to trigger others into telling them they've gone too far – I think it's underlying jealousy in a lot of cases. Anyone, I don't mean to derail this thread, good luck to everyone.

I read about Ozempic face too but wondering if it is just weight loss face. Hasn’t it always been said that you can keep your figure or your face as you get older?

I couldn’t resist responding to the judgement on the other thread but as you say people make up their minds about things and it is hard to be persuaded otherwise. Sorry you were upset by it being on your thread MissFliss.

Good luck Inkpotlover - portion control and not binging for whatever reason is a great way to go.

With any weight loss plan you have to keep doing it to avoid the rebound. I see Ozempic as a long term thing for me. It can be done without - look at all those long term target members at Slimming World. Amazing people keeping up the determination, frustration and all the same issues as everyone who is not yet at target. They are very much the exception though.

Slightly worried about the Ozempic face myself tbh. But neither do I want more double chins so it's a fine balance!
Would still be nice if you stuck around on this thread for some general weight loss chat even if you go down another route.

@SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun I think OF is only a risk if you lose weight really, really quickly. I have a lot to lose, so I could see that happening! @Twiglets1 I might stick around. If the critics bothered to drill down, they'd see there's a lot of sensible advice on here besides talking about doses etc.

yes I read that thread and found it very upsetting and also lazy .
The whole reason diabetes are using Ozempic and the like it because they are type 2 diabetics - almost always as a result of being overweight. So they are really the future of many of us here.
In all honesty an NHS preventative programme to provide Ozempic alongside therapy nutrition exercise would be a game changer and would ultimately save a lot of NHS resources in the end. The cost of type two diabetes to society as a whole is incredibly high.
I'm sure I can speak for many of here that we are not just our weight as those comments implied we are people who are contributing to society in many ways as carers tax payers etc and trying to get control
of our weight in the majority of cases here because of valid health concerns.
I like this thread because it feels honest to me and is solution focused.
Let's just keep on helping one another and let them feel good about judging people who they know zero about!
onwards and down wards!
just going to look up ozempic face

Here, here! Let's just carry on helping each other and supporting each other and ignore the trollish types who are here to pour scorn on us.
What's better - to be prescribed Ozempic because we have ignored our weight issues for too long and become diabetic as a result or to self prescribe and self fund to avoid becoming diabetic in the first place? It's not as though we haven't tried normal diets in the past. And the vast majority of diabetic people are type 2 which is linked to obesity so the danger is real.

Also, what the NHS currently offers to those who are pre-diabetic II doesn't work. I self-referred for the Diabetes Prevention Programme and went along to the meetings. While it was nice to be among people in the same situation, the sessions told me nothing I didn't already know - limit carbs to balance blood sugar, do more exercise, drink less booze. It was incredibly basic and surface level and didn't touch on the why people become obese. Yet the NHS is paying private health companies a small fortune to run these very basic programmes and I think it's a total waste of resources.

@Inkpotlover - good luck with it all. And do stick around if you like. I had a portion control plate at one point. No idea what I did with it! If you were thinking of spending the money on Ozempic maybe think about some private counselling with a specialist in food issues to help you get a handle on your binge eating issues? I’m sure it is really hard to just stop bingeing. Otherwise you would! If you think insulin resistance affects you (and I think it affects an awful lot of us) have a read of The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung. Another really good read is Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson.

I read about Ozempic Face too. Well DH did and told me about it quite gleefully! I too suspect it’s just weight loss showing in the face. I definitely look slimmer in the face.

I think a lot of the comments about fat people buying Ozempic equalling diabetics being unable to get their life saving medication are a bit disengenuous. There are other drugs that are used in the treatment of diabetes. What did diabetics get prescribed before Ozempic? Im not being goady I am genuinely curious.

@orangelous I agree that a programme such as you describe would hugely benefit the NHS in the longer term. But it is very unlikely to happen sadly. Even among doctors knowledge of long term obesity, insulin resistance etc is lacking. Some doctors are trying to change that and educate people. Dr David Unwin and his wife Jennifer are both GPs and have helped many of their patients lose weight and come off diabetic medication through a low carb education programme. The nutrition information given to diabetics is quite shocking if my MIL is anything to go buy. Although I think it’s changing now.

I can imagine that the NHS Prevention Programme is a bit lacking, unfortunately. My husband went on an NHS Counselling Programme and similarly found it was very basic and no advice you couldn't find on the internet.

Not meaning to bash the NHS and I am grateful we have it, but I don't think it's the best for preventative medicine.

I’m now craving Findus Crispy Pancakes after reading the other thread! My mum was queen of convenience cooking and we probably had them once a week. And lots of other meals that were accompanied by chips and either peas or beans. Small portions too because she had a very small appetite and then I’d fill up on bread and jam. Bread is a huge reason I put on weight in the first place.

Peridot1 Thank you! I am finding the portion control plate is working, alongside some other small but significant changes I'm making. I think what I've realised is I need to be patient. I'm 50 and this weight didn't appear overnight, so I'm not going to lose it rapidly either. I've read both those books and have found them enormously helpful and what I've based some of my changes on. I've also had counselling/hypnotherapy too and actually my issues aren't that deep – I was made to clear my plate as a child 'because of the starving kids in Africa' so I carry guilt about wasting food and I simply don't know what it feels like to feel full. I'm also tall, so I carry around the baggage of being the 'big girl' next to my small, skinnier sister. Plus, I just bloody love crisps, there isn't any flavour I can't make friends with, and they are one of the worst trigger foods for weight gain. I can eat six packets in one sitting and still want more.

Anyhow, sorry, I don't mean to derail the thread when PP want to talk about Ozempic. I'm not ruling out taking it but I am terrified of trying something that might trigger me to binge and regain the weight (and more) if I stopped. It would have to be for life, I think! So I'm going to hover on the thread if that's okay to see how people get on when they've been on it for a while.

Sorry, that was my fault! 😂

Anyone have a code, I could use?

A quick google tells me that crispy pancakes still exist! Ocado, Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco sell them. I'm going to Asda later so I'll have a look. They do mozzarella ones.

@yellowdaffodils72 me! Pm ing it now

I think you are right to be very cautious @Inkpotlover.

There are so many complex physiological, personal, social, behavioral and environmental reasons for our weight - it's very hard isn't it to know what the best way for sustainable health (mental and physical) is.

Well done though for starting to recognise some of your personal barriers xx

But they are not Findus. They are Bird's Eye or own brand and, frankly, inferior. Believe me, I've done taste tests!

Honestly, right now, I'm so tempted by Ozempic. I woke up alone in the spare room this morning because my weight-related snoring was disturbing my OP's sleep again. My weight impacts everything, from how I feel to how I parent. BUT the rebound weight is such a worry. I can't risk my set point getting any higher. So I want to see how others fare when they come off it.

My DP's sleep!!!!! For the record, I am not sleeping with the OP.