Ozempic - For those of us a few months in

[Lndnmummy]

Hi all, thought I would create a designated space outside of the newbie zone for those of us who are in it for the long haul and are a few doses, stone, months down the road.

She's so annoying!

Judgemental twat. Like I haven't tried keto before opting for a drug?!? I did keto for 6 months. I was still constantly hungry, felt deprived, was seconds away from a binge and whilst I did lose some weight (18lbs in 6 months) I gained it all back and more because I couldn't sustain it. I really wish it had worked for me.

I despise all evangelism and one size fits all solutionism though.

Could only get hold of a 0.5 pen from QuickMeds today so that will have to do. They have been good and I can't really be arsed to hunt elsewhere.
This will be my 6th week on 0.5 and I feel a tiny bit more peckish in the evenings, but alcohol cravings (my weakness) are still gone thankfully and I couldn't be happier (I was/am a high functioning alcoholic, looking back).

In my first 10 weeks I have lost over 25lbs and I am no longer obese (!). I'm in calorie deficit (trying to have <1000 kcal/day) and focusing on protein. Not struggling too bad at all.
I'd love to lose another 35-40lbs by autumn and it actually feels viable.
This tread is so lovely and supportive, thank you all!

Chemist told Dh they can't get it. Shall we go back to Gp ask what they suggest?

Don't you know we should all just grill a pork chop?! I feel so silly now all those weeks or research!

I'm just loving all those doctors who know for a fact that people are getting thyroid cancer. And the people who took one or two doses and ended up needing MRIs.

Somehow I have managed to be on it for over a year, lose nearly 6 stone, regain a huge amount of health and mobility and not end up with cancer, debilitating side effects or needing urgent medical care. I must be some sort of unicorn. or maybe these people don't have a clue what they are on about.

Maybe I should have just eaten a vat of butter and cream instead eh?

It's absurd. They also don't seem to realise that this family of meds has been used for years with diabetics and they are not falling down dead from it.

Ah yes but the meds have something in them that differentiates between the diabetics and the fatties and only zaps the fatties 😉

A delivery from Quick Meds today - 6 days after my order which is reasonable. Still waiting on daily chemist 11 days after my order, although they did e mail me some questions after I chased them up by phone yesterday.

I've been on 1mg now for about 5/6 weeks and the food chatter is back. :( . I'm considering injecting every 6 days instead of 7.

I will also use this time to further educate and train my brain to ignore the chatter and fill up only on he sensible stuff. I suppose this is where the hard work starts before warning yourself off and going it alone. I've plateaued too as I've been eating more than before.

Does anyone have any advice please?

Keto made my binging worse than ever it's too restrictive. I have never used ozempic, I went more extreme I just had wls but yeah traditional dieting doesnt work for most obese people getting rid of the hunger does.

@Teddypops - it’s a hard one really. I’m in a similar position. Been on 1mg for quite a while and have yo-yoed quite a bit. Food chatter is there but I’m trying to be sensible. I messed about with the dosing schedule for months and I don’t think it helped. I did I initially find 0.5 twice a week worked well. But having read some posts about how the medication works to get to a steady state and the half life and that the medication has only been trialled using the manufacturer’s recommended dosage I wouldn’t recommend any change to that. I have gone up to 1.5 to see if that helps.

At the end of the day 1mg is quite a low dose when you look at the dosages for Wegovy which is the same drug. I know it’s expensive and difficult now with the shortages to increase but I thought I would try it for a month and see how I go.

Be mindful of what you eat and if things make the food chatter worse. I get it more if I’ve had a carby breakfast. I try to have a pice of fruit and a Babybel in the afternoon if I get hungry. I’ve been having a banana every afternoon lately as I was getting bad leg cramps at night and read that bananas may help. That’s enough to keep me going during the day.

I’ve just started reading the Chris van Tulleken book “Ultra Processed People” which I think will be eye opening on how ultra processed foods (especially those marketed as being healthy!) contribute to obesity.

Dr Andrew Jenkinson’s book “Why We Eat (Too Much) is also a very good read.

It is a very good time to educate ourselves about how and why we gained and how to maintain our loss and I think for me it’s going to be an ongoing effort. At the end of the day it will be an ongoing effort for us all. With or without Ozempic.

Any other Aussies here? Counterfeit semaglutide has been detected here.

https://www.tga.gov.au/news/safety-alerts/counterfeit-semaglutide-vials?fbclid=IwAR1zvvnTN66br236f0UHraMXWEOCIXwbeCZIWxPENEvTVLT6lGb1Sop7ykE

I have been on 1mg for a while too but reached my goal weight. But food chatter was definitely back, and I had to watch my calories, and even going to bed hungry. Unlike before I can finish my plate.
But being at my goal weight I decided it is time to wean off. So I dropped to 0.5 this week and planning to stay there for 12 weeks will carefully monotoring my weight. After the 12 weeks I am planning on dropping to 0.25 for a further 12 weeks. During this time I am increasing strengh training and steps, to support my metabolism.

I increased my dose this week ever so slightly from 0.5 to 0.65 as felt I needed to move up but not to 1mg yet. I get six doses from a 1mg pen at this rate too.

I'm so glad I didn't jump straight to 1mg as after having three months of very limited side effects, I've found this last week that I have really struggled with nausea. All week I have either felt hunger-nausea or overeating nausea (after barely eating anything!)

I haven't been able to find a happy medium at all and my diet has suffered as the only things I can stomach are things like dry toast or salty crisps. My protein intake has absolutely plummeted. I'm completely exhausted and can't sleep at night from heartburn.

Luckily it's half term next week so I'm just focusing on getting through the next few days!

I have been having a strange up and down with my weight.

Last week I had put on 2 Ibs rather than losing anything. 3 days later I weighed myself again and had lost the mystery 2Ibs plus another 1.5Ibs, making me 12 stone 5 Ibs.

I weighed myself yesterday ( 3 days after the last weigh in)and I was 12 stone 8Ibs!

So I'm not sure whether I was ever 12 stone 5! If I'm actually 12 stone 8Ibs it means I've only lost half a pound in a month.

I thought maybe it was water weight. I've been on .5 for 6 weeks now as I can't get the 1mg pen. Manual just automatically sent me another .5 pen.Is that the cause do you think?

Where is everyone getting their 1mg pens from? Or is everyone just paying a premium and getting from Manual? Am so worried - everywhere seems to be sold out. Keep checking Quick Meds etc but there never seems to be any stock. Am I missing something?

I've tried
Juniper - too pricey and 40 days?!
Quick Meds - always out of stock
Health Express - always out of stock
And a million other ones that came up on my many Google searches.

Feeling very anxious!

Manual aren’t shipping 1mg

Oooh thank you @Lostinalibrary that's v useful to know. But also now worrying a bit more!

I got some from Planet Pharmacy - they do a 2 pack of 1mg for £400. (May have gone up). Expensive and took a week to arrive but I now have a couple of months worth.

Was dubious of the site but they were fine.

Thank you @Teddypops, currently out of stock but will keep an eye!

Quick Meds - someone said to keep trying around 6pm (just before and just after) and it worked for me in the end.

Isn't it a strange drug I've just had injection 9 of 0.5mg and I am flattened terrible diarrhoea,nausea and headache. The last three at this dose were fine with no side effects then bam I'm flattened again. It's making me wonder if I could tolerate the 1mg or not. X

Thanks for all the replies! Just ordered through Farmeci, will let you all know if any good!

Hi all - I've been lurking here a while and thought I might offer my experiences whilst on Ozempic.

I've been on Oz since October 22 and have lost 19kg in that time. It's not the quickest I've ever lost weight (tried everything from Slimming world to VLCD) but it's the most consistent.

I titrated up the dose in the usual way and am now at 2mg which I believe is the highest I can go until Wegovy becomes available. I've been on 2mg for 2 months now and am still losing which is great.

I started at a BMI of nearly 36 and am now just over 29. I feel like a new person and whilst I still have a long way to go, I'm so pleased with my progress so far.

In terms of side effects, they're generally fine. Obviously if I try and eat a Dominos, Oz will kick me in the butt. Same with having more than one glass of wine - disaster. But so long as I'm sensible - prioritise protein, drink lots of water, eat fruit and veg, I'm ok. My appetite is very reduced but I wake up hungry which is weird as I've never liked breakfast before. I tend to do most of my eating at breakfast and lunch and I can take or leave dinner. I'm just not hungry in the evening which is so odd as I used to be a serial post dinner grazer.

Sometimes I crave Haribo and I wonder if this is when my blood sugars have dropped too low. I was pre-diabetic before Oz but haven't had a blood test recently but I presume blood sugars are much more under control now.

I've been exercising- have a PT twice a week and get out on my bike and for long walks at the weekend. I think this helps.

I haven't been too affected by the shortage. I've used My BMI from the start and have been really pleased with their support and service.

Like many have said, this has been life changing for me. I feel like the food "noise" is gone. I feel normal. Like I can stop eating when I'm full. I've never had that cue from my body before. I feel in control for the first time ever.

I know everyone's experience is different but hopefully this is helpful to someone. No one in real life knows I'm on it - not even my DH or DD so it's actually quite cathartic writing it all down!