Ozempic new starters thread

[MedievalMadness]

Wondering if anyone would like to join me starting Ozempic. I’m doing my first injection tonight and am very nervous about reactions/side effects. I’m 5’ and 10.5 stones with very high blood pressure which medication is struggling yo bring down, high cholesterol and arthritis.

I would like to get to 9 stones realistically and ideally 8.5. I do seem to have unusual reactions to some medication so am really hoping I can take this without too many problems as I’m sure I’d be far healthier minus a couple stones.

I’ve noticed today (2nd injection due Wednesday) that I have felt hungry and even absentmindedly grabbed a chocolate digestive as I passed through the kitchen. I hadn’t done that at all since taking the first dose last week. Ready to get into number 2.

@BellsandSmells Great result! How is week 2 going?

@belbabe I quite like these ones below…. You can get them in lots of places and there are sales all the time. (I prefer the lemonade flavours, but I don’t have a very sweet tooth.) I like having sachets to chuck into my handbag. They’re convenient and don’t get messy.
Of course there are millions of other brands and flavours. They all do kind of the same thing and contain the same electrolytes so I would recommend just buying small quantities until you find what you like

https://au.iherb.com/pr/ultima-replenisher-electrolyte-drink-mix-raspberry-20-packets-0-11-oz-3-2-g-each/71019?rcode=AMB8895&utm_medium=appshare

Hi, can I ask if anyone has purposely missed a week? My 3rd jab is due Wednesday but I've been feeling so utterly tired and nauseous since last Wednesday even before I took 2nd dose. I had a longstanding engagement yesterday which was completely ruined because I just felt ill all day and ended up coming home early. I have a weekend away this coming weekend and I just don't want it to be ruined by being too scared to wander away from the loo or have a glass of wine. I don't want to miss the dose so I can eat or drink more, just so I might have the energy to enjoy the weekend. Any thoughts?

@Fortheloveofus In another Ozempic forum I'm in, where a lot of the people are further along, this is done all the time, for the reason you mentioned, i.e. they don't want to feel awful during an important event or holiday.

@Cabbage4eva ah thank uou I'm on that forum too and that was the one I meant to post on! I might pop over there and see what they say. But thank you for replying or I might not have realised I'd posted in wrong one

Hi can I join?

I've ordered through Juniper and it has arrived but I'm nervous to start! Not sure why..... maybe worried about side effects.

Also, I'm off on holiday abroad in June for a fortnight, what are people doing about these sort of situations? I'm thinking about injecting just before going and then as soon as we get back as I don't want the rigmarole of travelling with medication..... do you think missing a week would matter?

I have been so poorly since Saturday with last night being the worst

Have decided i will not carry on with the injection - whilst i have no evidence to confirm it is the ozempic making me ill i feel its for the best.

I wanted to wish you all luck on your journeys

Is anyone around?

I did the injection last night. Today all day I have had a boiled egg for breakfast and an apple. A glass of water.

I feel so full. Like there is so much food in my tummy and I don't want to eat anything. Is that normal? As I should surely still be eating all be it smaller portions.

@justasmalltownmum I'm on saxenda - but what you describe is pretty much how it feels to me. Feel like I've over eaten after a pretty small portion ...

@justasmalltownmum It's working.

@justasmalltownmum yes I had that but it’s very important you drink enough water. One glass isn’t enough.

overitalready that’s so disappointing for you. Sorry to hear you’ve felt so grim. With something like this we have no way of knowing how we will react till we’ve tried it. Hope you are feeling much better soon.

Thanks!

Does this bloated feeling go?

Yes it went after a few days for me but I get it after eating.

Hi all, wondering if I can join. I started ozempic and calorie counting today via my juniper. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little annoyed with them as I used the 50.00 discount code and have still been charged 195.00. I’ve emailed them to try and sort it.

my starting stats are

5ft4 and 13st 3 with a BMI of 31.6😭😭
my weigh day is a Monday and I’d like to be 10st.

My first goal is 12:5 by my birthday on 1st June which may be a little bit hopeful as that would be a loss of 12 pound in 5 weeks!

Daisy this happened to me too - or so I thought. They knocked off the discount when I initially ordered them it seemed to change back to £195 after being approved. When I emailed them they confirmed I’d still been charged £145.

Welcome DaisyDieter,. Good luck and I hope today is one step nearer your goal.

I went out for lunch and had a posh chicken and lemon mayo sandwich with fresh coleslaw. Last week id probably not have been able to eat it all. This week after 2nd injection the appetite suppression doesn't seem to be as strong for some reason. 3rd is this Fri so hoping as it starts to build up the decrease in appetite will also increase if that makes sense. I has chocolate for the first time too today. No side effects after but def was ok to stop well before I would have before, so that's a plus.

Just did my 2nd shot two days early because I have been symptom free and suspect that as it accumulates, the symptoms will begin. I have a huge weekend at work coming up so I thought I had better prepare. I have meds for migraines which would help with nausea so not too worried at the time.

I spoke at length with both women at the compounding pharmacy I go to (for another medication also)….. One has been symptom-free and lost lots of weight. The other has lost too many sick days and stopped the medication for a while. She has lost a little weight but not as much. The first woman did a very subtle eyeroll at me to give the impression that it was perhaps not too out of character, and if I were to make assumptions, perhaps wasn’t compliant about adjusting her lifestyle. (Hence the worse side effects). I understand that everyone’s different though.

@overitalready I’m sorry you feel so vile. I know the nausea is real for some. Have you tried electrolytes? Also, maybe lower the dose for a while before you stop if you need to shift a bit of weight. Or try some anti-nausea meds for a couple of days if you can take them without symptoms.

It's not reasonable to assume that people who suffer worse side effects do so through non compliance with changing lifestyle (as the woman in the pharmacy may have been implying with her eye roll).
I think it's chance who suffers bad side effects and who doesn't and some people who don't get them initially may get them after a few weeks. As you say, everyone's different. I too would have taken more sick days if I had continued with Ozempic, for some people it is genuinely hard to combine with a job due to side effects. Whereas for other people it's fine so I think the woman in the pharmacy was being judgemental with her eye roll.

The first woman did a very subtle eyeroll at me to give the impression that it was perhaps not too out of character, and if I were to make assumptions, perhaps wasn’t compliant about adjusting her lifestyle.

Very unprofessional and unfair. None of us know how we will react to any new medication and unless you are going against advice on how to use it, nothing to do with anything you are doing or not doing properly. Many people would be unable to function on some of the drugs I’m on whereas I’m fine. Some antibiotics are generally well tolerated make me throw up after one dose.

Our bodies are all so different. I think it was on the Zoe podcast that the Dr said he suspects we will end up with types of obesity rather than it’s being its current homogenous term. Not quite comparable but why do some women get horrific morning sickness and others don’t? There’s a lot we don’t know about these things currently.

One absolutely has to change their diet in order for it to work, for me ozempic makes it easier to eat smaller portions and not ‘binge’ on sugary crap- prior to starting I could eat multiple bags of haribo a day. A friend is planning to start on it but refuses to calorie count/ change her diet/ increase activity so I tried to gently say that it may not be that effective for her.

What counts as a good weight loss is subjective too. I lost 2.2lb/1 kg in my first week which I’m thrilled with and the scales indicate I’ve lost at least that again in week 2 (proper weigh in on Thurs). But some people expect to lose more so would be disappointed. Personally in the past I’ve put in huge efforts to lose 0.5lb in a week so 2.2lb feels wonderful!

Your friend has yet to start Ozempic though, so presumably does not yet realise how easy it is to change your diet when you feel full most of the time and are no longer craving sugary snacks. The calories they ingest will be reducing whether they choose to count them or not, once their appetite has reduced.

I have seen people on these threads say it does still work even if they don't increase their activity. Exercise will help but you can still lose weight if you're not eating much even without exercising, just at a slower rate. Same with any diet.

I have basically no side effects and good weight loss. I’ve also been eating a takeaway a week, oven pizza sometimes, deep fried halloumi for lunch occasionally, had a McDonald’s and a whole milkshake, probably close to 2l of Coke Zero every day, and not a huge amount of veg and zero fruit. None of those things have made me have any side effects. I know I need to get my meals healthier so it’s sustainable when I come off the injection, but I can promise you that the fact it’s working for me is more luck/genetics than any diet superiority.

Maybe I read her wrong. Maybe she has form for taking sick days anyway? It could be that woman.