“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!

I would have been raging if I'd read that thread by the sounds of it. Ignorance is so tiring!

hi everyone
I tried Saxenda and my body just got used to it.

has anyone been in that position and found Ozempic helped?

Well done everyone on your losses, that's fantastic ☺️

I'm going to try and hold off from weighing for a couple more weeks then hopefully I won't be disappointed, lol. I do feel smaller though, and I think I can see changes, although only a small loss on the scales. Is anyone else finding this?

I have also not read the other thread. It sounds pretty unpleasant, so I'll steer clear!

Hi @EmmaEmerald i did. Was up to the full dose of Saxenda and all it did was make me feel really unwell and tired which led to carb loading. Moved to Ozempic and the horrid side effects have gone.
Have only lost a couple of pounds so far (sigh) after starting in December but moved to the full therapeutic dose last week which is when the scales started moving slightly. The first 2 months at 0.25 and 0.5 had zero impact (assume as I was already used to the Saxenda) but I decided to give it 6 months at the therapeutic dose to give it a chance. I have started logging every single drink and bite on MFP and keeping the calories under 1200. Not really feeling hungry on 1.0 and I was very much so on the lower doses so that is helping. Hopefully a solid couple of pounds a week (very envious of other people’s big losses but figure as long as the scales are moving down that is a good thing) - I have about 5 stone to lose so it may take quite some time!

That’s great! Are you on 0.5 now?

@OzzyOzworn thanks! I moved to 0.5ml for week 4. I’m with Numan and there’s loads still left in the syringe so reckon I can get another couple of weeks at least out of it. Which means it’s over 6 weeks not 4, and so works out at £26 a week. I reckon I’m eating £26 a week less on food now.

Ah great! I’m with numan too and 5th injection due today but there’s 1.5ml in the pen and so there’s six x 0.25 doses in it so I could technically do 2 more weeks of 0.25 to save money but really I need 0.5 now as effects have semi worn off this last week. If I do 0.5 today then it will be empty and then next pen will arrive next week. Pondering which to do 🙈

Thinking I make it last the maximum and do 0.25 again today and next Tues (May even shift it to next mon) then move up to 0.5 the following week so basically staying on 0.25 two weeks longer than suggested but will just have to struggle a bit more I guess. Not in huge rush long as I’m still losing slowly or staying the same at least right…

Yes but at the higher dose of 1mg a week.

ok so I did 5th dose of 0.25 then looked at the amount left and I agree with PP that there seems loads left weirdly so I did a further 9 clicks (so literally half way between 0.25&0.5….I will do 0.25 next week and another 9 clicks assuming that’s left (or 18 if that’s that as that totals upto 0.5 but I’m assuming there won’t be! Then new pen arrives the following week so will do 0.5 weekly from then on, jeez it’s like being on the maths round on university challenge :)

Wondering if I can get some advice from you all, I’ve read both threads but I’m trying to work out if Ozempic will help my issues.

My BMI is 27, so I’ve got around 2st to lose but I am utterly addicted to sugar. I can restrict food volume, I’m never really hungry but sweet food seems to be all I think about from the minute I wake up until I finally stop snaffling biscuits and go to sleep. I’m not so much of an overeater and outside of the sugar cravings I eat quite nutritiously but I can’t get enough sugar. I’m convinced I’m insulin resistant. Do you think Ozempic will help me? I don’t feel like I need appetite suppression more sugar craving suppression

I can vouch for the fact it isn't just calories in calories out, because after so many failed diets I tried just eating 800 cals (much lower than my usual daily intake) of sweet foods for a week. I managed to stick to it, was never hungry either but I gained weight.

I don't feel I know enough to comment but I love your username RRuby

I don’t think anyone here would really know enough to advise really @RotundRuby. I have seen some people say Ozempic seemed to switch off their cravings for sugary things. But it doesn’t work the same way for everyone. I think my advice would be to try to speak to a diabetes nurse at your GP practice if there is one.

I can eat too much sugar and can think about it all day too. I have been on Ozempic since August. I am a believer in the sugar as an addiction model and am always trying to treat it like nicotine and not have any (defined as more than 5% refined sugar in any food). If you want to go down that route I recommend reading The Sweet Poison Quit Plan. It does get easier after the first 3 or 4 days with or without Ozempic.

I am often falling off the wagon though and generally find that once I start eating sugar I rapidly eat more and more of it. It is possible to get into that position on Ozempic and I was eating quite a bit of sugar over Christmas. I think the Ozempic has made it easier however. I didn't really go for quitting sugar again until after Christmas so I have been trying the no sugar route for a bit over a month with the help of Ozempic. I think my lapses have been smaller and I have found it easier to start again the next day without the big cravings that I might have had previously after a bad day. So just speaking from personal experience in terms of sugar cravings I have found that it is not a magic bullet but it helps.

I was losing weight and eating sugar but now that I am trying hard to quit it is coming off faster.

I think your starting BMI has to be 30 to get the Ozempic unless you have a weight related health condition.

Have you ever tried low carbing @RotundRuby? That might help. There is a low carb Bootcamp thread on here in the Big/Slim weight loss section that is pretty good. Lots of help and advice and support. That might be a good way to both lose weight and cut your cravings.

Ozempic is after all a drug with side effects and isn’t really aimed at people who are not obese or have diabetes.

that sounds like a sugar addiction not. Condition? I have PCOS and others have obesity/diabetes etc but you can speak to online pharmacy and let them assess you x

Thanks for the help. I have tried low-carbing but frankly I don't have the willpower. When I last tried to give up sugar I felt so awful I was hallucinating. I've never been able to stick it out! I can restrict food but I'm consumed by sugar obsession and having read how some of you no longer want sweet food I was hoping this will help.

I have a comorbidity and so should be able to get Ozempic with my BMI but not once I start to lose weight. I'm hoping to just use it for a month or two to break my sugar addiction and insulin resistance then I can diet alone.

I would say Ozempic has reduced my sugar craving considerably, though I do still enjoy a small amount of chocolate daily (I can eat half a Twirl bar for example now which I couldn't before due to cravings to finish the whole bar).

Ruby I am trying to cut back slowly. I gave up for about a month and tbh I found it sad but also, I didn't lose any weight! Really interested to hear about your 800 cal experiment. I didn't think that would happen. But we are all different.

I would say I'm a retired sugar addict!
I became aware of this and went sugar free (cold turkey) just before starting Ozempic. I use to have cycles of binging on sugar and I think that caused my weight gain (3stone).
Ozempic has eradicated all cravings and I no longer have the urge to binge.
I've lost 1.4 stone and feeling free at last! 😊

Forgot to add. I will continue to go sugar free when I stop Ozempic as I feel eating it got me to where I was.

Those of you who are going sugar free does that include fruit?

It doesn't include fruit for me. Although I aim to eat more berries and less bananas and grapes. The lower the sugar and the higher the fibre the better.

No I still eat fruit.
However, when I first started quitting sugar I stopped eating very sweet fruit like tropical fruit and definitely not dried fruit as this would trigger sweet cravings. I developed an addiction to figs with peanut butter!
It's really hard at first but I read it takes 30 days to switch off an addiction. I used a chart to tick off the days! Worked for me!