In the news today 23rd June 2023 (in London England) they mentioned a new drug called Wegovy (which is a semaglutide) given via injection as a means to losing weight.
Apparently the user loses c.12% of their body weight and you must have a BMI of 35+ to be entitled to it and either be a Diabetic, have High Blood Pressure or Heart Disease.
What do you guys think of this as a means to STARTING you off on the right track to a healthier eating lifestyle seeing as weight loss gives one the confidence to keep up the good work they've already started.
Your thoughts on the subject would help me LOADS as you guys have a very clever way of looking at things which I unfortunately simply don't have.
😎
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ToriBlue57
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To be honest, I'm skeptical about how well this drug is likely to work long term. It suppresses appetite, so you feel like eating less, but the drawbacks are:
-When you stop, supposedly your appetite comes back larger than before, so you will end up gaining some weight back. I think I heard most participants of the trial gained back afterwards.
- there is no habit change, you just want to eat less of the foods you were already eating, so you will go back to eating more of the foods you were already eating again, and the weight will come back.
-"weight loss gives one the confidence to keep up the good work" - I think if this were true, people would always succeed on their first diet, and the diet industry would be worth far less money. Especially if you lose all that weight with the drug, have high hopes of continuing, but weight comes back after you stop, it can be enough to make someone give up.
I’ve been on a weight loss journey for as long as I can remember. My problem is impulsive buying. I know I shouldn’t, but whenever I see pizza/chocolate/candy, I can’t help it. Given this, I’m not sure that drug would work for me.
The other issue of losing that much body weight so quickly is loose skin. I’ve seen what loose skin looks like and it’s not pretty. I know the promise of fast weight loss is very appealing, but it can come with some hefty drawbacks. If you don’t feel self-confident now, imagine what you might feel like when you’re 20 pounds lighter but have a lot of excess skin that won’t go away on its own and will require a medical procedure the NHS doesn’t cover.
I suggest doing your research and speaking to your clinical providers about all these things. Don’t let anyone without medical qualifications tempt you.
I self-financed Ozempic for three months, and it completely changed my life. I’m perimenopausal and on HRT and since starting HRT my eating habits and self-control around food are dreadful. Ozempic stopped me thinking about food every nanosecond, I put much more thought into my food choices and lost 22lbs. I felt so much better both physically and mentally. Unfortunately, it wasn’t financially sustainable so I had to stop the injections and the weight went back on. If you do the programme, you continue the injections long-term (including after reaching your goal weight) and have support for all of that time to ensure you embark on a journey of healthy eating and exercise. A close friend of mine was able to finance the injections long-term, and reached her ideal weight six months ago. She still uses the injections and they still work for her. For those three short months, it really was life-changing for me.
Semaglutide works whilst a person is taking it, and it seems to work pretty well. My understanding is it’s been amazing for some T2D patients.
It also causes cancer in rats. Both main manufacturers of semaglutide are very clear that they don’t yet know whether it causes cancer in humans. It’s currently being investigated i.e they are tracking the patients currently taking it and waiting to see how many develop cancer. If you look at the Wegovy website the first piece of important information is;
What is the most important information I should know about Wegovy®?Wegovy® may cause serious side effects, including:Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer.
This on every page of their website in a very prominent position.
Important to note that some of the serious risks are potentially long term so may not go away after the patient has stopped taking the drug. Again, lots is unknown.
For those who are seriously ill or at increased risk of death because of obesity it may be worth it. … all medicines have risks after all, and obesity probably carries more risks than semaglutide. For those who are overweight without having developed serious health complication yet, I wonder if trying different ways of eating might be a better option for some and far more sustainable and this apprioach has far less scary potential side effects.
Also important to note that there are no plans for long term prescribing in the UK for patients using semaglutide for weight loss/obesity (without comorbid T2D). So those who become reliant on semaglutide to manage weight will find themeselves cut off at some point. Absolute max prescription time is 2 years according to NICE. But from reading the NICE guidelines it looks like some may find themselves cut off long before two years, and they will presumably be expected to maintain their new low weight naturally (without appetite suppressants). As someone above has stated, this isn’t normally possible. This really worth thinking about!!! Sustained high weight is sometimes a healthier alternative to massive weight fluctuations that end with being back at the same high weight.
Another downside is that many users report it ruins your enjoyment of food. That might be the lesser of two evils for some very ill people but it would certainly make me think twice if I was in ok health but using the drug to loose a few stone.
Here are the NICE guidelines for usage - this is how it will be implemented in the NHS. Better to read about it here than in the media;
For info on the risks the Wegovy site has them very clearly highlighted in a box on the front page of their website - this large “risk box” also carries through to every other page you look at on their site. Looking at the way their website is designed tells me that they are rather anxious about lawsuits - and understandably so if you read the info in the risk box.
Also…. You question if it can start you off on a track to a healthier eating lifestyle. There is zero evidence for this. For people that the drug works on it makes them inclined to eat less food- not make better food choices. Food choices that lead to sustained weight loss are usually about what one eats rather than the volume of food.
I'm on 7mg of semaglutide and its reduced my blood glucose a bit but has not helped reduce my appetite, in fact its donecthe opposite at times. I'm T2 diabetic and so from that point of view it is working but it's not helping my weight. To be honest if you dont change your eating habits, unless you have the side effects of sickness and diarrhoea then it probably wont work.
Too many people who dont need to take it though are using the injections to lose weight and paying lots of money for it. That has left those who do need it to have problems getting it because it's in short supply.
I think if people want to take that risk then they should be allowed to do so. Personally, I believe food education should be the priority in helping people to lose weight. An injection will last for as long as people are taking it, however, an education will last a lifetime. It is also risk free.
Maybe there is a need for it for people with health complications that require rapid weight loss, but I have to wonder if a carefully managed diet would yield results at a similar pace without the risk attached.
I've a bmi of 40 so mentioned it to gp. He told me they were concentrating on those with bmi of 50 or more so wouldn't be offered it on the NHS. He said to buy it via Boots if I could afford it but that there was a shortage of it for those with type 2 etc
Isn't it better to get on a good track of eating healthier meals and moving more from the start instead of starting with pharmaceuticals?
I would say that lifestyle choice are what you need to start with and then maintain because otherwise you might need to rely on these injections forever.
I'm not suggesting you turn into a gym fanatic and eat nothing but lettuce, but moving a bit more, making time for excercise, eating meals that sustain you and watching that you take things in moderation are going to effective. It will take longer but ultimately and that can be frustrating but you are getting yourself into your 'lane' or mindset about how to continue. Once you start to see results treat yourself to something but not food! For example, each time I lost weight I gave myself a small treat. For me it was a new lipstick or nail polish or book. Something small but positive to reinforce my determination and good work.
It takes time to change long term habits and I don't think the injections would be something that I would choose.
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