Coming off weight loss injections- Wegovy Ozempic etc

[Superlambaanana]

Keen to hear from anyone who has taken weight loss injections, lost weight, and then stopped taking the injections.

How long did you take the injections?

What dose did you go up to?

How much did you lose?

Have you kept it off? How?

Say it has not stayed off. 1 year since stopping - it has 80% come back.

@justasmalltownmum sorry to hear that - do you mind if I ask what dose did you go up to and why did you decide to stop?

Took for 5-6 months
went up to 0.5mg
felt grim, biliary colic and supply was terrible
lost over 2st
stopped in Aug/Sept 2023

lost a further 2st by myself up till now
lifestyle change completely
track food/exercise
don’t drink much alcohol
have not returned to previous bad habits that I had (not saying everyone has bad habits, I did, I would eat a cake for breakfast regularly)
use mindfulness around food which has been very positive
still 9-12lbs ish to lose

I used ozempic as the opportunity I needed to make changes to my life forever, the noise being gone made me work on my mindset and feelings towards food (food as a reward, binging on food) so when the noise came back I knew it would but I was so determined not to go through the money and feeling rough for nothing. Then now I feel so much better I don’t want to go back to how I felt when I was 5st overweight as I was out of breath all the time and couldn’t fit in some seats. I went to an event and was in agony all the time as my hips were so big

If you look at the regain stats for all weight loss methods, they make for grim reading. Wegovy is not unique in that, it's the same however you do it. Maintenance will always be the toughest fight. I started Wegovy very aware of that and building sustainable habits has always been front and centre of my mind.

I've been on it 22 weeks. I've stuck with 1mg for the last 11 weeks as it's effective for me. I've lost 35.6lbs and need to lose another 8.2lbs to get to my goal of a healthy BMI. I'm taking one more 1mg dose and then tapering down and stopping. So I can't answer your question about maintenance yet. But I know it's something I'm going to have to work at it and actually I'm quietly confident. I'm in a very good healthy routine and increasing my exercise all the time. I just need to keep doing it when I also have hunger to contend with.

its a mistake letting the drug do all the work. I have a colleague who is losing weight but doing nothing consciously apart from injecting. This will not result in long term maintenance of loss and I have tried to tell her this. Don’t mourn to go back to the life you had before with food as the main focus of being a comfort blanket, you need to find new ways to manage your feelings of boredom, stress etc. You can’t go back to how you were before if this involved mindless over eating those days are over. I can still eat cakes/biscuits but just less of them far less often but the more I avoid them in day to day life the less I miss them as a staple part of my diet as they used to be. I would never eat one or 2 I would eat 5 or 6
good luck @AhBiscuits you are on a good track.

I've been making lifestyle changes too.

But I've made lifestyle changes before and then found I fell off the wagon again because I wasn't vigilant enough, or life threw curve balls at me, or I was stressed or unhappy.

I know there isn't a magic bullet. But I'm hoping I can maintain the weight loss without having to keep taking this for the rest of my life!

Unfortunately there seems to be very little evidence of anyone maintaining their weight loss after stopping taking the drug.

Actually there's a recent study that shows people who exercise stand a much better chance of maintaining.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/exercise-helps-keep-the-weight-off-after-stopping-glp-1-drug-treatment

@AhBiscuits that's really interesting! Thank you so much for sharing. This is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for. A small study but hopeful nonetheless. Must go and look out my runners... thanks!

Exercise is the icing on the cake. But I hate exercising soooo much

I took for 4 months and recently had to stop as I fell pregnant. I was actually mainly taking it to lose weight to get pregnant as I'd been trying almost 2 years with no luck. I think it addressed the insulin resistance with my PCOS which was preventing me from falling pregnant and the NHS were refusing to prescribe me metformin. (I do NOT recommend doing this, it was very irresponsible).
Anyway, I came off cold turkey from Wegovy 1mg and instantly I've been eating like a hog. Idk whether pregnancy has something to do with that but I can easily eat five times what I was eating when I was injecting.
I do plan to go back on it once I'm done with maternity leave.

Any more info about what the article says? I probably won't get to see Time magazine.

I can’t see an article today can you link it? Or the title?

@Rennypie03

I'm still on Mounjaro so can't advise on maintenance but I think the secret with exercise is to find something you enjoy so it's not a chore. In the summer when the weather is good (not this year much yet!) I play a lot of badminton in the garden with my husband or daughter. It's a lot of fun so doesn't feel like exercise but doing it several times a week does make a difference.

I love swimming in the sea and can snorkel for hours when on holiday ( as well as paddleboarding and kayaking) but need to go live somewhere warm to do that regularly! (That is a long-term plan)

Some weights is also a very good idea in terms of maintaining weight loss. I haven't really found a way to make that fun but just getting in a regular routine of doing even 20 minutes of it several times a week no matter what isn't too arduous.

Now I just need to find some activity that I enjoy that I can do in winter. I like dancing and music so may try something like Zumba.

There's also a more recent and encouraging study here (although note that they were counting even those who had only lost smaller amounts, 5 pounds was the minimum) that shows only under 18% of people regained all they had lost and over 55% maintained or even lost more a year after ending treatment with semaglutide or liraglutide:

https://www.epicresearch.org/articles/many-patients-maintain-weight-loss-a-year-after-stopping-semaglutide-and-liraglutide#

That sound good @lurkylurk
I've weaned down to 0.25 and been on that for 3 weeks. I have one dose left and then I'm done. Still losing every week, 4lbs from goal. I've been waiting for the hunger to kick in but it hasn't yet. I'm eating very healthily, running and cycling, absolutely determined to be one of those that keeps it off.

@AhBiscuits @Menora @DinoNuggetsRUs @Superlambaanana sorry to resurrect a zombie thread but really interested in how you are all getting on after stopping? I’m about to start and already nervous about stopping.

I have lost over 3 stone since July 24 and maintain now on a low dose. I don’t anticipate ever coming off this whilst I can still get it. My worry is that long term, indefinite, prescribing might not be supported on the future.