“I started Ozempic last night” THREAD FOUR

[HermioneWeasley]

Can’t believe we’re on thread 4

welcome back to previous posters, and welcome to those who are new or interested.

a few of us have been on Ozempic with a range of experiences for a few months now, so if you’re interested in how it goes in the early days, the earlier threads might be a good place to start.

I’ve been on it for about 6 months now and have lost around 20lbs. It has been effortless. I used to be ravenously hungry all the time, and now I’m not. I had very mild side effects at first (just some nausea), but none now.

most of us have referral codes for various providers, so if you are starting, do ask on the thread and someone will PM you.

I messaged UKmeds asking if they had any news on when they were getting stock in and whether they had an email me when in stock function.

They said that they didn't but that they get ozempic in daily, so just keep checking back.

I have a 20% referral code (and I then get 20% too) if anyone finds it is in stock and wants to get it from there. It's usually listed as £125.

I had first injection of 0.25 today. Nurse made me do blood sugar test too before I got Ozempic jab. I have to keep a food diary, meal plan with Dietician and go back in exactly one month. I'm hoping for a 3 kg weight loss over next month. Had fruit mix for breakfast with a spoonful of Greek yogurt. Lunch was half tin of beans on toast and 2 pieces of bacon. Dinner 2 egg omelette with lean ham and peas. I'm hoping after first week I'll know if I've lost weight then hopefully will know if you carry on the same or to cut back even more.

I ate half a (small supermarket) pizza and some halloumi fries to celebrate some good news and I’m regretting my life now! Stomach hurts a lot. I’m thankful I wfh otherwise I don’t think tomorrow would be fun.

Sadly, it looks like I can eat chocolate. I know I'm only on week one, so not much of it in my system, but I've def succumbed to treats this pm and regret it.

I'm still hungry and although I'm eating smaller meals, it's not made a massive impact. Yet. I've lost a couple of lb maybe so far. So not a waste of time and money, but obv I'd have loved to have suddenly dropped more like some others do.

That may well change as I take my next dose on Sat as I know it takes time to build in your system.

The leaflet that came with my pen says throw away after 6 weeks. I know there's more than 4 doses in a pen, and I'm looking to buy spare needles after checking that the next few doses still agree with me. But all the info I find online says 56 days, which is 8 weeks. Not sure which one to trust.

What I don't feel comfortable with is suddenly doubling the dose to 0.5. If my 0.25 dose suits I'll stay on that. If it's not doing much I'll add some clicks to go to maybe 0.35 first for a week rather than a big jump, in an effort to help avoid side effects. I'll get 4 0.25 doses (at 0.19ml each) then 3 at about 0.35. Then I can always go up to 0.5 on my next pen, and hopefully whoever fills my follow on order will let me buy a 1mg pen and use it for 0.5 doses by counting clicks. I don't choose to afford to pay £149 every month and the 0.5 pen only has 4 doses in it.

@2kidsintow - bear in mind the manufacturer and all suppliers and doctors recommend the dosage and the increases. 0.25 to .5 isn’t a big jump as 0.25 is such a small dose. I started on 0.5. And remember Wegovy (which is the same drug) goes up to 2.4 I think. I haven’t really seen any accredited recommendations to increase doses in the way you are planning. Maybe check with your supplier.

2kidsintow, it's not a bad thing if you still like certain things. Ozempic's job is to help you like less of it, not necessarily to completely stop. If you completely stopped eating lots of different things it's just setting you up for a difficult time when you come off. For me (in my opinion) it's about helping you to learn moderation. Don't stress yourself too much.

Seriously considering jumping in as I want to lose 1.5 stone before summer holidays and just can't motivate myself. I had gained the weight after kids were born, lost it and became a serial runner, and then injury in 2020 plus WFH has meant it has slowly piled back on. Want to lose weight to jump start an excercise habit. (When I run, it's like I'm running whiles carrying a giant bag of charcoal - oof)

I'm going to visit family over Easter holidays and don't want to deal with side effects while dealing with them. If I start now, and get on easily with it, I can keep going, but if not, can I stop for a week (after 2 doses) and then pick back up when i get back?

And where is good now and has supply? If anyone had a code, feel free to message me!

Week 1 done and I’m down 1.4kg! Very happy with that. I’ve not had to cut out everything I enjoy, I’ve just not ‘needed’ to eat loads of it to satisfy my craving/hunger.

I am a bit concerned I might have messed up my injection this morning because I forgot to do the air release thing, it was stingy when I pushed the button and when I took it out a fairly large droplet was still on the top of the needle! Anyone else have this experience-have I made a mistake? I injected into my thigh if that makes a difference.

I'll message you with a code for Juniper 😊

It’s not aimed at people with a stone and a half to lose. It’s a serious drug for diabetics and treatment of obesity. It’s comes with side effects and risks. If I hadn’t been obese and trying to lose weight for over 30 years I wouldn’t be on it. There are easier and cheaper ways to lose a stone and a half.

I had my first 0.25 injection on Wednesday night. I’ve used Saxenda before and it worked but injecting daily didn’t work for me (I often forgot).

As with Saxenda, I’ve found my appetite reduced straight away but I’m also feeling quite nauseous today and had a headache yesterday.

I bought my pen with Manual. I know I’ll get another dose or two from it, based on 0.25. What do people do after that? Cancel with Manual and get a 0.5 pen from Health Express etc? Bonus points if you can explain it in simple terms 😂

@Sleepdeprived42long you only need to prime the pen before first use not every week. I always have a drop remaining on the needle even if I leave it in up to 20 seconds after it goes back to 0.

It’s not aimed at people with a stone and a half to lose.
I'm quite short and carry all of my weight around my middle. Have a bmi that is borderline obese and a history of type-2 diabetes in my family. Thanks though

manual.co/r/U-zssqedIpja

List of us started with manual as your first order arrives very fast and then cancel after the first month and swop to juniper . The coaching with manual is great .
Either give your dr
Or leave that blank and they will
Ask for a photo of your torso before they despatch.

Sorry lots of us not lists

Nobody on here is a doctor or knows about people’s personal medical records. Why not just be supportive? Warn people about side effects and link them to info if it’s clear they’re uniformed, but everyone is an adult and can make their own minds up re risk and reward. Depending on height the difference between your weight medically impacting you or not may only be a stone. I know losing a stone would be the difference between me needing metformin or my pcos being manageable without it. if people are overweight but with pre diabetic blood levels then the drug might do far more for them health wise than someone minorly obese (bmi in the low thirties).

the short time frame may be more of an issue since you’re on quite low doses until two months in. The version designed for weight loss has a recommended dose of 2.4mg so you’re literally taking a tenth of that for the first month.

I found the Manual website so off putting as it seems to be aimed at men but as soon as you join you realise at least half of their customers are female.
Take the weight loss questionnaire and you will be directed to the .25 pen. I have found the staff to be really helpful and there are lots of us who can answer any worries. The first pan has extra doses to allow for mistakes. If you use it correctly it should last at least 6 weeks

Well I'm a full 2 weeks in on the 0.25 now and took my 3rd injection last night.
I started at 12st 10 and now down to 12 st 4 so pretty happy with that.
The morning after taking it absolutely wiped me out and I am so tried, not sure if anyone else gets that! but I'm back to not being hungry again- I notice the food desire starts kicking in after about 4 days for me

Was that message for me @Sameiam? I think I am actually very supportive of people but I worry that people see it as a quick fix to lose a relatively small amount of weight. You are quite correct in that I don’t know people’s medical situation and I am not a doctor but I think I am still allowed to point out that while Ozempic has been written about in the press etc as a bit of a miracle drug it’s actually aimed at diabetics and people who are actually obese. Even if someone is short and carries all their weight around their middle which does put them more at risk for diabetes I am still not convinced they should jump straight into taking Ozempic without proper medical advice. And let’s be honest here most of us haven’t had proper medical advice about taking it. We’ve just bought it online. And yes people are adults and can make their own decisions. I can still point out that there are less risky and cheaper ways of going about losing weight.

FWIF, I could loose 3.5 stone and still be in a healthy weight range, so I really am packing loads of extra weight on, especially for my frame, that's just not my aim... hmm I guess I'll see what the prescriber says when I send me info and photo of my torso (shudder, gonna need the wide angle lens)

Hi everyone, my pen has arrived. I think I'm going to watch more YouTube clips on how to inject before taking the plunge.
I'm feeling quite nervous about the whole process

@UsernameFail I felt the same as you when I did my first one, especially as I hate injections. But honestly it wasn't difficult and it definitely didn't hurt, the actual needle is tiny. Go for it, you'll be fine.

Technically ozempic isn’t aimed at people who are obese, it’s just an upside that it helps with weight loss by targeting issues that a lot of overweight people have re insulin and leptin response and also making you less hungry so you need less willpower. There is almost nobody who wouldn’t lose any weight through any other means.

I do agree with everything you’re saying, I just think it might work better to provide evidence for it to make their own mind up rather than just telling them not to based on your opinion. Yes, some people will take it for the wrong reasons and some will end up with serious side effects/cancer from it. But the same could be said for smoking. It is ridiculously easy to get an ozempic prescription so people will always find a way if they want to. At least being open to people on here gives them a bit of a space to ask questions and realise things aren’t normal, which could help them get help before issues escalate.

The majority of people on here I imagine would never get recommended ozempic by their doctor, even if it was private healthcare and not reliant on what the nhs funds. It’s also a little bit of an arbitrary cut off for ‘obese’ - why is taking it when your bmi is 30.1 fine, but not 29.7? Also suspect people will keep taking it even when their bmi drops below 25 without concern for whether it’s still worth the risk to lose the weight for purely aesthetic reasons, or plan to stay on it forever. If the argument for staying on it is to prevent the shift back to obesity, there’s also an argument to allow people to take it to stop them getting to that point so they don’t do the damage to their bodies in the first place. I’m not saying I agree with it all, just it’s all quite complicated and people probably won’t even appreciate you having their best interests at heart.

I've just done my 2nd injection. Lost 7lbs in the first week so very happy with that. No side effects at all so far. It's strange to not be thinking about food all the time. This must be how "normal" people feel.

I get what you are saying @Sameiam. I think it is too easy to get hold of in some ways. (The thread from a poster who wanted it to lose a stone and then started a thread moaning it hadn’t worked on day 1 springs to mind!) That is a whole other discussion though I suppose! Ultimately people taking Ozempic and regulating their blood sugars and also losing weight will benefit the NHS. So you would hope that ultimately the NHS will prescribe it properly and more widely with proper education.

@KillingEvenings - you will be fine. I’m sure you will get it. Especially when people who do only have a stone to lose manage it! My weight is all around my middle too so I know the feeling. I’ve lost three stone in a year. Keep posting here though with any questions. We are generally supportive!