Moving on from Wegovy

[Candyfloss99]

I've lost 4 and a half stone on wegovy. I've gone from an obese BMI to BMI of 21. I'm so happy. It took me a year. So now I'm going to taper down and stop. Has anyone else stopped yet? I'm going to keep up the calorie counting and exercise of course to keep the weight off.

Everyone is doing great. You can't expect your weight to never go up again or to eat perfectly forever more. I think the best you can do is know when to cut back so it never gets out of control again.

This is true.
My weekend gain has already gone so no harm done.

This is very true and good to learn. My gain is also already gone because I got back to the plan quite quickly.

Under BMI 30 & they stop prescribing. A BMI of 29 is still obese and I still have a big ring of fat around my waist.
I can maintain my new lower weight with my exercise and diet but still need the help to reduce the food intake /calories to get to a better weight/ BMI. My doctor still tells me to loose weight.

@VictoriaSpongeForBreakfast

If you were prescribed it when you were over BMI 30 you usually can continue being prescribed it until BMI 25 though?

Thanks all- quite right. Watching myself and keeping the step count up set me right again.

I'm down to 0.25mg now and will do 2 more weeks of that before stopping completely. I've noticed this week that when it's getting close to mealtimes I am hungry, my stomach might be a bit rumbly. I never had that on Wegovy previously. It's obviously no bad thing, food is more enjoyable when you're hungry.
The other thing is when I've finished my meal I feel like I want to keep eating and have the urge to start poking round the kitchen. I have resisted and need to ensure I continue to do so. I'm tracking food on Nutracheck to help keep me on the straight and narrow.
I'm having a maintenance day today. I'm going out for lunch then to the theatre so will have a few extra calories.

Im 2lbs short of a BMI of 25. Was hoping to get below 25 but I cannot take much longer with the low mood and zero energy.

In many ways this is a wonder drug but it does have side effects. Cannot imagine being on it long term

I have read all the messages and I've been on Wegovy for nearly a year and have lost over 5 stones but I suddenly got severe gastro intestinal issues and it is horrible. I at my healthy BMI but don't feel prepared or ready to come off it so I've decided to try and reduce my dose from 2.4mg to 1.7mg to see if that helps. I know if I stop taking it the food noise and hunger will come back and I'm petrified at putting back on the weight I lost and more!

What are your symptoms? once my stomach was so sore and the diarrhoea so bad that I fainted on the bathroom floor. Soon after I stopped taking it.

I also got so sick of stomach problems. Throwing up on holiday and so constipated I had such bad piles. Bad gallbladder pains etc.

can I inspire you ladies you do not have to gain it all back, I have not. You just have to put in the work to monitor what you are eating and how much you are moving. I am not even at my total goal yet a few lbs to go now, but I can maintain my current weight just fine without being miserable, it’s cutting more calories to reach my final goal that’s proving hard and slow. I’ve been on a holiday recently and just maintained my weight perfectly fine for weeks cos I keep really active and watch what I eat, which now I am very used to doing!

Symptoms were bad

• really bad acid reflux so loads of burping and the taste of acid in my mouth making me feel sick
• bad diarrhea
• bad bloating
• loads of gas
• stomach pain that kept me up all night

All these symptoms were at the same time and made worse when I ate food. It was truly awful. They seem to be a bit better now. I have ordered the lower dose which should be coming today so will see how that goes.

How have you been since you stopped taking it?

How long have you been off the drug for? Has the hunger come back as strong or stronger?

Yeah....I do not think prescribers are very clear with what happens when you meet your target weight/BMI. They do not make it clear that they will stop prescribing and it's not like you can just start again because your BMI has to be over 30. So you do feel abandoned really. It's hard and if you do feel you need to be on the medication for life then they won't let you in the UK. So you end up jumping from prescriber to prescriber using old pictures and lying about your weight and height etc. But I think they should give you the choice to taper down and maintain for as long as you want because obesity is a disease and some people need medication for life and I'm one of those people. It's a very hard situation. I have a friend who plans on staying on it for life by moving providers when needed as there are a lot of providers out there.

@Stel83 i haven’t taken it since September 2023

I really don’t want this to sound patronising so this is not my intention but it’s normal to get hungry. The drug is not making you into a ‘normal’ person who doesn’t get hungry. All humans and animals get hungry. If we didn’t the species wouldn’t survive! It’s a false state as it’s suppressing your appetite in various ways when you take this drug it’s to help you learn better habits for life.

Once you are no longer eating as many UPF’s and carb heavy diets, you can manage hunger by eating more protein based meals. Yes I still get hungry the feeling came back but I have also invested a huge amount of time effort and money to improve my health so I am making a conscious effort not to revert back to my old habits of eating 4000 calories a day and never exercising. I have taught myself not to be afraid of being hungry. I have to plan my meals/day.

FYI even patients who have had bariatric surgery have to do all these things. And that really is a more permanent thing

Obesity is a disease but it can be managed like many diseases that require elements of self management. Alcoholism is a disease that requires a degree of abstinence and compliance with coping mechanisms. Not all diseases will or can be medicated for life, there is a clear element of requirement of the patient/person to learn new coping mechanisms to maintain a satisfactory sustainable outcome. Such as mindfulness, practicing self control, undergoing therapy for underlying issues, learning new habits, finding ways of sustaining motivation.

I completely get what you're saying. How has your weight been since you came off the drug?

@Stel83 I have lost more weight since I stopped.

started 100kg in April 2023
84kg when I came off ozempic in Sept 23
I am now 71kg
I am aiming for 67kg. I am maintaining more often than I am losing now but that’s on me and my own decisions/choices.

I've been absolutely fine. Stomach problems all gone and have my energy back. Lost a couple more pounds.

I'm grateful that the online pharmacy I used was prepared to continue prescribing once my BMI was below 30. Mine's now 25 and I have one 0.25 shot left to take and then I'm done. I feel like I needed the 6 months to really reset but I'm ready now to go alone.

I never had awful side effects, but my energy is returning and I just feel better. Food tastes really good again. I can enjoy a glass of wine. So far I've had no problem sticking to my diet after 3 weeks on 0.25. I just need to keep on going.

Sounds great and you give me hope!!

Most providers will prescribe the drug until your BMI is 25 as 25 is the start of a healthy BMI so they wouldn't stop before that as a BMI of 30-25 is still classed as overweight.

Ideally yes, but there are people on here saying that their prescriber wouldn't continue once they got below 30 as the guidelines say it's for people with BMI over 30.

Wow really.....swap to a provider who will like Asda online pharmacy

How is everyone? It's a month today since my last jab of 0.25 and I think I now have a routine I can stick to. I've maintained at around 68kg which is 23.8 BMI. Feeling quite positive that I can keep this change in place. I'm a lot hungrier of course but am not craving sugar or junk in the way I did before. Would love to hear from others .