Ozempic - for those of us a few months in - Part 2

[Peridot1]

Just spotted the other thread had filled up so started I new one.

I only prime a pen on first using too. I think this is what it says to do. Not every time.

Hi all, as of this morning I am now in the next stone down 13st 13.5lbs! I haven't been 13 something for a good few years. Four and a half lbs to go before I am just overweight. BMI now 30.7 (starting BMI 44.3).

I have 2 full pens and half a one so I am okay for supplies for a couple of months. Hope you are all well.

Also I never prime the pen, not even on the first use and it's never been an issue.

That is excellent @Athena51 well done.

Inspiring for me to read about others success. That dropping into the next stone bracket is so satisfying. I use that as mini goals.

You're only supposed to prime the pen the first time, not every week. You will have wasted a lot doing it every week!

No, i never do it either, I just thought it had said to do it every week!

Great, so now my kids think I'm on heroin 😭🤣

@AndSoFinally The patient info sheet does only say to do it the first time. It's to check the pen isn't faulty

@SteveBuscemisRheumyEye 😆😀

@Athena51 I'm down 2.5 stones to 13.8 for the first time in many years too! It's definitely easier with ozempic but still needs such a lot of will power and exercise! 2.5 stones to go but for the first time ever I actually think I might get there!

Hi all, hope it’s ok to join the thread 😊I started ozempic at the end of December 2022, it has gone really well and my BMI has gone from 32/33 to 27 on the dot.

That's amazing! Well done. It still needs will power and hard work. It really pisses me off when people act as if Ozempic is a magic weight loss drug and I'm somehow cheating. Losing this amount of weight is bloody hard work especially with a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and disordered eating (in my case) behind it.

Like you, I actually think that I really will get to 11 stone. I'm 2/3 of the way there now

Well done everyone. I’m at a bit of a plateau, I’ve lost the same 4lb twice now! But at 10st 3 another 2lb will put me out of the overweight category and into a normal bmi which I’m delighted with. I’m 5ft 3 so need to lose another 10lb.

Has anyone switched from Ozempic to Rybelsus?
Would I have to start again on the build up dosage process or will OZ have already given me sufficient tolerance if I decide to switch?
I'm 14 weeks in and currently taking 0.75ml dosage and finally free from any side effects at all 🙂. I really don't want to go back to the beginning.
I have one dose left in my last 1mg pen and struggling to find any in stock. I was thinking of just getting a 0.5mg pen and keeping my dose the same but it's really not cost effective at all as would only get maximum of 3 weeks from 1 pen.
Any thoughts?

@Diedre44 AFAIK there isn't an equivalent to 1mg Ozempic in tablet form. Would that be an issue?

@mumwheresmyribena
Ooooh that'll be a no then. I've just found this:

I think it is a magic fat jab. I have not thought about food much at all since starting 2 months ago in April. I have lost 10kg. I’ve stayed on 0.25mg as so don’t like side effects. The first couple of days I get headaches and horrid metallic taste in mouth. The rest of the week I just have a reduced appetite. So easy.

I am stocking up on the pens they send me as I have not upped the dose and just using the click counting thing. If I get too hungry at the end of the week I just take the dose a day or two early.

It really is amazing. I only want to get down to a size 14 though as not been thinner than that since my teens and feel I might look weird. I reckon 5 more kgs will do it.

Then I’ll just see how little I can get away with taking to not pile it all back on.

The highest possible dosage of the tablets is only equal to 0.5, and they are very strict about it. Would that be an issue?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced hunger spikes despite the ozempic?

I am on 0.25 and have had such good results that I decided to stay on 0.25 for a while. I did my 7th jab two days ago.

However, yesterday I got my first day of proper side effects - diarrhoea in the morning followed by ravenous hunger all afternoon. I burned through my calorie allowance. By the time I went to bed I had all the same feelings back pre-ozempic of being annoyed with myself for uncontrolled eating and general gloom about how I will never improve.

I don’t want to go up a dose as I am worried about side effects, but now my hunger is back I think maybe I should. I hated the old feelings. Also making me worry about coming off it at the end.

@greylad
I've bitten the bullet and just ordered the 0.5mg pen, I'm just going to have to take the hit in the bank balance. It's just so annoying that Wegovy is stillllll not available. I've managed to lose almost 3stones in 3.5 months reduced my BMI from 50 to 43 so still classed as morbidly obese. I have no health issues other than being overweight. I have never been to the GP with any weight related issues in the last 15 years. I was prescribed Reductil many, many years ago and lost 10lb in about 5/6 months and then it got banned. I would technically be eligible for WL surgery under NHS guidelines. I wouldn't bother my GP with weight issues, I wouldn't get far. I know what I need to do and I'm happy to continue paying privately for my injections I'm just so frustrated that it seems that it's going to become unobtainable due to such massive shortages.

Wow, a couple of months in and my tastebuds has definitely changed.

Have just eaten 1/3 of my favourite type of Krispy Kreme doughnut (choc iced ring with sprinkles - my DC got it for me) and it tastes all heavy and greasy.

Won't be going back for the other 2/3 that's for sure!

Weigh in day was yesterday and 1lb on this week which I don't think is too bad considering I had 2 days in London eating all fast food and drinking just coffee.

hi all, haven't been able to keep up with the whole thread but have tried to read through much of it.
I've been on ozempic since March and have lost 24lbs which I am pleased with, but I am currently struggling with nausea, since going up to the 0.5 dose two weeks ago. It comes in waves and is unpredictable, doesn't matter if I've eaten or not, and it can come on anywhere - at work, in the car. Have thrown up on a couple of occasions.
What are people finding helpful for the nausea please? Need ideas for something I can eat/take/do quickly when the nausea comes on. Thanks

Fruit tingles work for me or a really weird idea which works for some of us is to sniff an alcohol mediwipe or what Americans call rubbing alcohol. Ginger also worked OK for me.

Hello,
I'm feeling really sorry for myself.
I've been on since March. I've lost 4lbs in all that time (was 6 now 4).
Was on 0.25 for 8 weeks, 0.5 for 6 and now 0.75 for 2.
I cut down carbs, I upped my water intake and exercise.
I've has no side effects.
Does anyone know why it works for some people and not others?
I've got 3 doses left in this pen and then honestly I just have to give up.
It is so expensive, hard to get and simply isnt working for me.
I'd just like to understand why.
Thanks

That’s so frustrating @Btrsun10. I am sorry. Have you listened to the Zoe podcast? They mentioned in there that some people took a lot longer to respond to the medication. The doses you are on are low. Even the 0.75. The Ozempic doses are for blood sugar control with weight loss as a side effect for some. Wegovy is much higher doses and that is what is prescribed in the US for weight loss. Those higher doses are what it can take for some people to lose weight.