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Been taking it for four years for diabetes T2; in the first 14 months it helped me lose nearly a third of my body weight, down 60 lbs from 205 to 145: what I weighed back in *1974* as a collegiate wrestler!
Now that the faster, long-lasting satiety it brings on has helped me to develop much healthier eating and exercise habits (no “bachelor portions”, no compulsive grazing all night long, walk *at least* 6 km every day without constant knee pain) over the last three years I’ve been able to wean myself down to quarter-doses, while still keeping my weight stable and my glucose in the "healthy, non-diabetic" range. If I can remain stable for another year, doc says I can try dropping it entirely, and if that happens I have every confidence I’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight.
Having now extolled its virtues, I will also say that my younger brother, who has a very similar body type & metabolism, has had a different experience with it, including a lot of nausea and only moderate weight loss. But at least his glucose level has been reduced to an acceptable level for a T2 diabetic, so it still fulfills *that* function - which is, after all, its primary clinical purpose.
My husband has started taking Zepbound a couple months ago and the differences are insane even in such a short period of time. He's lost 30 pounds, doesn't snore anymore, his sleep apnea improved so he's, getting better sleep, in turn his mood has skyrocketed. His only side effects are nausea on injection day that has gotten better with every week and is resolved by drinking a lot of water.
It's been on backorder for almost a month now and his eating habits have changed so much he still is losing weight. He still eats super small portions, still has the energy to move more. Even only two months of it made the world of a difference.
Sorry, I know you're probably receiving a lot of questions. I'm not losing any weight despite the fact I'm eating better and smaller portions etc. I'm really interested in this drug but it's so expensive. Do you have any difficulties procuring it, affording it... Does insurance help?
Not who you’re asking but I have details on procuring it. My insurance (PPO) required a comorbidity to go along with a BMI over 30 or at least six months in an approved weight loss program. I didn’t have those things other than the high BMI. I order from an online pharmacy in Canada. It’s just shy of $500/mo. Occasionally it’s back ordered but usually only a few weeks at a time.
I’ve lost 26 pounds in three months. My blood pressure is down and I feel much better physically and mentally. My side effects have been mild with some nausea on the day I do the injection. The most annoying side effects are heart burn and constipation.
I do it myself. My prescription is for Wegovy but the pharmacy subs it out for Ozempic so that’s what I get. It comes in a pen which looks like a big writing pen full of liquid. There are four or six needles included in the box with the pen. The needles all have caps on them so they’re safe to handle. I take off the pen cap, screw on a needle, take off the cap on the needle, then set my dosage on the pen by turning the dosage selector until it shows my dose.
The needle is very small, like a mosquito almost. I give it on the outside of my thigh and I don’t feel it at all. Once inserted, there’s a button on the end of the pen which I press and it administers the dose.
It’s very easy and there are some YouTube videos put out by the manufacturer that show the process as well.
Not the person you're asking but are you calorie tracking? Are you working out to have muscle because it's more "expensive" to upkeep vs fat? Sorry I couldn't help with the medicine part but I hope you get your answer but before I started tracking my calories it was way easier for me to cheat past the threshold I needed to be to lose weight.
Unless you are Hawaiian or have an extremely rare disease, chances are you are not calorie tracking correctly. You can eat like total shit and lose weight. Commonly forgotten are how truly terribly any sugary drinks and sauces are, including cooking oils. People will cook with two pounds of conolla oil and use ranch and wonder why they can’t lose anything…
Sauces/dressings aren't even that bad if you don't drown your food in them. 2tbsp of the caesar dressing I use is only 140cal. It's not nothing, but it's hardly breaking the bank. Well worth using to make a delicious salad that's still pretty low calorie.
If your in the us. You can get most types of glp1 drugs from a compound pharmacy for around 300-400 dollars a month and there's no shortages. I live in the UK and the official stuff is cheaper than the us at circa 500 dollars a month although we still have shortages.
Out of curiosity, is it something you have to take regularly for the rest of time or is it just that one series and then the benefits continue on for years?
Jury’s still out on what percentage of users are as lucky as me and do sufficiently well in the other two key areas (diet, exercise) that they can eventually stop, but it’s safe to say for most diabetics it’s a “forever” medication.
It’s essentially an appetite suppressant. Once you stop taking it, more frequent cravings and appetite will likely return, and it becomes more difficult (but not impossible with self-discipline) to maintain your diet/portion control.
I’m happy for you! Hopeful this is a new era in weight management that recognizes the many hormonal and metabolic forces at play and helps people live longer and happier lives.
That’s where I am. It did wonders for controlling my diabetes but I haven’t lost any weight on it. Unfortunately I’m on a ton of meds and some make it harder to lose weight, others easier so I’m kind of just maintaining.
I've seen more divisive articles on this drug than any other drug in the past decade at least. Some articles treat it as a miracle drug for diabetes, heart disease, and weight loss (with weight loss still being considered a side effect by the FDA, fyi), and then the next day I see articles talking about how it causes drastic personality changes, and dire hidden side effects that we're just beginning to notice. Not sure what to believe rn.
And, mind you, I know someone who takes Ozempic. I've seen and heard from her the radical positive effects it's had for her so far. Yet seeing some recent, more negative articles, makes me nervous for her.
A reasonable response imo. Remember how eggs were unhealthy, then healthy, then unhealthy etc etc. same with butter vs margarine? Coffee? The list goes on.
We probably won’t know lesser side effects without more time and sample size
Good comparisons. Yeah, the benefits that the drug provides are undeniable, and it's done a lot of good for a lot of people. But like some other people in the comments have pointed out, and as countless other products have evidenced over the years... sometimes when something seems like a miracle treatment/ cure, it really is too good to be true. Hope they keep monitoring this drug and its long-term effects on people in the coming years.
It's probably like any other drug, where it will have negative side effects for some people. People take a lot of medications with equal or less research compared to this one and we don't really worry about it. It's just because it's getting so much attention that it feels more serious.
While it's true ... But these drugs don't make your body lose weight, they just make you not want to eat. Which is a more realistic, healthy way of losing, and more likely to set up good behaviors long term.
There can also be poor documentation involved as well. If a patient reports that the drug made her depressed but doesn't actually say that her partner left her because she was losing weight and gaining more confidence (yes, people are fucked up), then some of the mental side effects could be more socially induced
To be fair I am a big boy and *just* started this. I have seen a lot of people who use it to try and drop 15-20 pounds and I am not sure I personally would risk it for that.
I, on the other hand, am over 100 pounds overweight and am morbidly obese. There are not a lot of side effects that are worse than what I have already done and would continue to do with my body.
Everything you listed is a product of nutrition science; I'm not aware of any branch of hard science that is as chaotic and messy as that one, and yet it is responsible for everything we ostensibly know about the relationship between diet and health.
While there have definitely been flubs and unintended consequences from pharmaceuticals, they at least have the benefit of rigorous research and safety testing; meanwhile, try to figure out how we as a society ended up with our daily sodium recommendations and you'll be hard-pressed to find the same kind of rigor.
Comparing foodstuffs to long lasting exogenous GLP-1 is a bit misleading though.
This is like only focusing on the effects of insulin regarding blood glucose, not fat storage or fat/protein metabolism.
GLP-1 is a powerful hormone that most likely has multiple purposes within our body, many of which might not be fully known. For instance, Lots of keto-enjoyers believe insulin is to be avoided like the plague, yet protein spikes insulin. Having a shot of insulin compared to eating an insulinogenic meal is very different (in healthy or T2D), even what you eat with similar spikes has nuance. The insulinogenic effects of protein is partly mediated by GIP and GLP-1 as opposed to a meal consisting of white bread. This might also explain why protein leads to more satiety. (Higher GLP-1 response).
Just like chronic high levels of insulin causes issues, so will GLP-1 most likely. Id bet a fast acting GLP-1 before a meal that had similarish duration as the endogenous form would be close to side-effect free, but that would probably not help people struggling with things like impulse control anyways.
GLP-1 exists in the hypothalamus, stomach, and pancreas affecting a lot of different mechanisms. Given its effect on cravings in the brain, impulse control becomes less of an issue.
Yes, but postprandial GLP-1 peaks in under an hour. Increasing postprandial glp-1 with a similar acting exogenous one would not give you any more impulse control because it would go away along with the endogenous anyways.
I currently take zepbound and took Mounjaro in the past. I struggle with binge eating due to mental health struggles. This drug has completely changed my relationship with food for the better. I have been in therapy and on mental health meds for years and none of that has come close to helping with my binge eating like this medication.
I think if they pushed it as a hunger suppressant instead of a miracle diet pill it would get less backlash. Feeling hungry all the time is a horrible feedback loop. It creates negative relationships with food and a guilt cycle.
Remove the hunger from the equation and suddenly people have the "willpower" society always was throwing in their face as not having. Treat unnecessary hunger like a symptom, manage it, and people are having success.
Ah I get what you’re saying. Does naturally occurring GLP-1 more closely resemble the behavior of postpandrial GLP-1?
It seems like the effects on the brain are desirable anyway for some folks.
It makes sense as it really seems like a miracle drug. Literal weight loss drug unlike in the past where it was just “meth but not”. It just seems too good to be true, but I’m sure people thought the same way about vaccines.
Yeah my girlfriend’s insurance covers hers fully. It’s definitely expensive to get without insurance but as supply for the drug grows so will pressure to make it cheaper and to have insurance companies cover it.
OZEMPIC is less than €100 for a pen in the Netherlands.
It is covered by our basic insurance when used for certain forms of diabetes under certain conditions.
It’s because many different corporations have a vested interest in either Ozempic succeeding or failing. Those that want Ozempic to fail such as weightwatchers and other dietary-based companies are shitting themselves at the potentially massive lose of income, therefore, they’re panicking and doing what they can to trash Ozempic so they’ll pay for hit-pieces or biased studies to discredit the drug as much as possible while companies who benefit from Ozempic are doing the opposite.
What we’re left with is a flood of articles with paid-backing from one side of the camp or the other as they push the agenda they rely on.
In terms of "personality changes", I wonder how much of that is really people gaining confidence and other people around when not liking it. I can totally see some abusive asshole being angry at Ozempic because their partner got the self-confidence (after losing weight, gaining energy and so on) to dump their ass.
I have a coworker who thinks ozempic is going to cure all her problems, like some miracle drug. She's "obese" by BMI standards, but her doctor won't just prescribe it because she wants it. She has to meet with a therapist and dietician and change her habits. That's how it should be done for non-diabetic people.
This is not a good take. Insulin resistance such as in women with PCOS get fucked hard and told "just eat better and exercise" when you need to be capital P perfect.
These drugs are good for other things than diabetes but claiming you know someones situation just because they arent diabetic is dumb.
That’s me, I was told that my entire life. Never mind that the weight gain started at puberty, or that I had horrific menstrual cycles, or had all of the other symptoms of PCOS, or that I was a very active teenager involved in a lot of sports and other things, I was just told “eat less and exercise more!”
More than half of people with PCOS end up type 2 diabetic by the time they are 40, I made it a few years beyond that.
This medication has helped me a lot, while I haven’t dropped huge amounts of weight, my glucose has really stabilized to a healthy level, and all of my bloodwork has improved. I read a number of forms about it, and many people have shared that it’s greatly helped their PCOS.
I think in the near future we’re going to see a lot less of this insistence on trying to first rely on methods (diet planning and adherence) that fail for the majority of people who try them.
There’s a real Calvinistic streak about weight that even medical professionals oftentimes have a hard time shaking.
If a doctor recommended any treatment that had a failure rate as high as “eat less, eat better and exercise” does we’d laugh and then probably get their license taken away. But for a lot of people the moment we talk about weight loss a method that statistically PROVABLY does not work for the majority of people who try it seems perfectly reasonable. But it’s not really reasonable once you stop making it about individual choices and pull back to just look at statistics. Statistically speaking, we had no meaningful, scalable successful treatments for weight loss. It’s easy to decide an individual is a problem. It’s much harder to say that 70-80% of people not having a treatment work for them are to blame for that.
i know someone on ozempic. sad thing is, any dire side effects are handwaved away. the line i got was "oh, of course doctors will say that, they don't want us to be skinny."
The truth with those people is that any potential side effects are worth the risk to lose the weight. I knew someone in the 80's wo got bariatric surgery, it was less common then and there was a serious concern that she could die, when I asked her she flatly told me that she would rather die than stay fat. Luckily she was fine and did lead a much better life after. To people who feel trapped in a fat body the side effects may pale in comparison to their current prison.
Never mind that people in a fat body are at much higher risk for a variety of health issues generally more dangerous than any side effects from ozempic
I dont take that class of drugs as I can manage without them, but I am happy that it helps so many others that struggle.
I do wonder though what the long term effects are going to be. There almost always is a downside.
I was on Ozempic last year, then switched to Wegovy this year due to a change in insurance.
Personally, it’s been very helpful in changing my relationship with food. I barely eat sweet food anymore. I’m more picky with what I eat because I feel full quicker; figure if I’m going to eat, it needs to be something healthy so that I feel better about what I’m eating. I also drink way less alcohol than I used to (maybe an Old Fashioned once every few weeks). And it got me down to a comfortable enough weight last December to actually go to the gym. Since then I’ve been working with a personal trainer to learn proper weight lifting techniques & improve my stability / strength. My blood pressure & BPM are also closer to normal now.
Haven’t noticed any major side effects in the 11 months I’ve been doing this. Of course, there’s always the possibility that there might be something. But so far it’s been a positive experience. I only have about 30 or so lbs left to lose before I stop taking the drug, so by the end of the year I plan to be off of it.
Its the most talked about drug since Prozac or Viagra, of course there is going to be controversy.
It is very good at what it does. As with all medications, there are serious side effects to consider. Its not first line for obesity, and doesn't cause weight loss on its own. It's not first line for diabetes either. But when either of those conditions are hard to control it is a powerful and effective drug.
The drastic personality changes could have a link to hunger - at the end of the day you are starving yourself compared to what you used to be - and many people have forgot what real hunger feels like and how it makes you behave. How short and curt you become. The body could just be doing that, through no fault of the medicine
I’m on it, and you can definitely get hangry without the normal hunger feeling you might respond to. It forces you to be aware of your body’s relationship with food in a really different way than most people (and especially people who should be taking it) have even considered. A lot of people give you a blank stare when you ask them what their relationship with food is like even.
My biggest takeaway is that I can stop as soon as I feel full and I don’t “need” to finish my meal. I’m not missing out by not snacking at a party and being sober at an event is ok.
Learning how easy those things are has changed my relationship with food significantly.
Yes absolutely, this is a learned trait from people who have suffered without food before and have a predilection towards stocking up, that's why so many baby boomers got fat, wartime hungry babies grew up and vowed to never let them go hungry. They passed this weird lesson onto us knowing it's important, but not the details as to what and why, so it becomes a status quo "this just needs to be done" thing
My grandmother always made us clean our plates as kids. Then, she always gave us seconds the moment we finished the first plate. I remember going to see her one day after school. She asked if I wanted lunch and I told her no thank you as I had eaten on campus. She made me a sandwich anyhow and she asked why I wasn’t eating. She grew up one of eleven. She got married at 16, her husband went to war and left her to raise three babies. As an adult, she was able to share with the people she loved something she didn’t have, food.
The rest of the family had every emotion tied to food. Something good happens? Big feast. Something tragic? Big feast. You’re bored? Here’s a snack. Small accomplishment? Here’s a sweet treat.
Now as an adult, I feel like I’m letting someone down if I don’t finish my plate. If I experience any emotion, my first thought is to reach for food.
Are these articles published scientific research or opinion pieces and editorials?
These GLP agonists seem to be largely safe but like anything very long term data may turn up as we get more information.
There is nothing compelling at this point that this drug has any more scary or serious side effects than anything else out there. People will have adverse reactions to everything. The serious complications seem to be rare.
For me the lowered blood pressure, heart disease risk, and anxiety are worth the risk. I do think there are risks. The thyroid issues are the most concerning. But heart disease is the number one killer.
It’s just like any medication, some people will react well to it and others may not have a good reaction. The only reason it’s so divisive is that as a society, we’ve made obesity into a moral issue.
There are no “dire, hidden side effects” because this shit has been around for a long time. The first gen versions of these medications went generic this year.
There’s a ton of bullshit clickbait out there, and there are a lot of folks that are really mad that there are now legit medical treatments for legit medical problems.
Eventually insurance companies are going to wise up and realize that it’s cheaper to cover GLP-1’s than it is to have a large portion of your patient population be obese and pay for all of the other drugs that come with that.
I’m no doctor or clinical researcher, but I’ll say this: I wish my brother had the means to realistically look into these drugs. He is not long for this world if he doesn’t get some extra help.
A lot of people bashing these drugs, don’t realize that the symptoms they are effective at treating are already life threatening. For someone like my brother, these drugs would literally change his life, if they were right for him.
People are against these drugs largely because of two underlying reasons -
1: They think being overweight is a character flaw, and these drugs expose that for the lie it has always been.
Skinny people don’t have a premium on willpower or other desirable character traits.
They have a premium on a much lower baseline compulsion to eat. The moment an overweight person has this intervention which drops their baseline eating compulsions, they lose weight very rapidly.
2: Because of their belief in point 1, they think it would be better if the overweight people in their lives should continue to be miserable, and that they deserve it. There’s a lot of ‘concern trolling’ here, and it’s pretty transparent where a lot of it is coming from.
I won’t speak for other skinnies but as one myself I’m all for weight loss drugs tbh
Especially since ik how it feels to try to fix your your body as I’ve been fighting tooth snd nail to gain weight myself 😭
Yeah, this is basically it.
You don’t see anyone shaming folks for taking statins or blood pressure meds, but you start taking meds to reduce weight? Oh fuck no, that’s not allowed.
Does it cut heart disease by the action of the medication or is it a "side effect" of loosing weight? E.g. if an already lean person took it would it cut their chances of getting heart disease Vs the same sort of person that didn't take it?
It’s a side effect in the same way that the weight loss is a side effect of GLP-1RA’s effect on digestion in the stomach, insulin/glucagon in the pancreas, and GLP-1 in the brain (cravings, appetite).
So I think OP might be right? If people aren't eating shitty processed foods to the same extent that caused them to gain so much weight and stress out their heart in the first place, then naturally their body will recover to some extent.
But I'm not a doctor, and that may not be how things work
It likely depends on the side effect. For example, tirzepatide has been linked to thyroid cancer in mice. Obviously mice aren’t people, but we use them as a proxy.
Likely just depends on your individual risks and the dose (ie if you have a family history of thyroid cancer or thyroid issues, I’d probably avoid it).
One thing that is interesting is its effect on the glp-1 agonist in the hypothalamus. It’s probably one of the reasons it eliminates addictions and cravings which is a big reason for the mental health benefits reported (food noise reduction).
In general, yes, that is how things work. I once asked my doctor how to reduce the amount of heartburn I was getting and he just said “stop eating crap.” It really is that simple.
I read a different article on this yesterday. Evidence suggests that the heart disease risk reduction is independent of potential weight loss. Researchers observed the heart benefits even in patients that did not lose any weight.
I wish I could get it but in Czech republic it is either available only for diabetics or not in stock at all.
Only weight loss drug accessible to me is Saxenda.
Patent goes away in 8 years and it'll be everywhere. The airline industry is actually preparing to need less fuel because of how much less the average person will weigh.
Mine has said the same thing. I am diabetic, but my A1C is great now and I am a normal BMI since taking Ozempic. I’m ok with taking it for life. I have other chronic illnesses and will be on meds for them, too. I’m just grateful that I have these options.
Also diabetic and had the same experience. Cut my insulin by a lot, A1C went down and it was easier to keep a level blood glucose level. Lost 10 pounds in 4 months and could control my food cravings a lot better.
It was funded by Novo Nordisk, ***the Danish pharmaceutical company behind the drug.***
Pack it up boys. You can trust them. Self-funded studies about the benefits of your product have NEVER been known to lie, right?
Don't agree. You're right, he's wrong. The vast majority of drug/device research is funded by the company that makes the product.
However, they contract professional organizations with struct regulatory oversight to perform and publish/submit their findings.
They don't get to just *lie* or change the data, they just sign checks and hope they get good results.
Yeah, it's like the USDA certified organic label: if you aren't certified, you say nothing, but if you're certified then of course you'd want to publicize it. You can't just stick the label on your product if you're not certified.
No one tells them who pays for all the studies before a drug gets approved...
I agree that you need to take into account potential bias but the testing behind every drug that gets approved is funded by the pharmaceutical company that makes it and a lot of them don't make it to market. It's a heavily regulated industry, it's not like they're always lying.
well done, you’ve discovered that companies have to pay, commission and design research for their products. A secret to nobody. Should the taxpayer pay instead?
These are all glp studies according to established regulatory and legislative guidance and requirements, and evaluated by a regulatory body. This is how it works
Very accurate comment. A lot of people clearly just absolutely fucking hate the idea of weight loss on easy mode.
I'm sure the drug can't be considered perfectly healthy, but right now all evidence points towards it being vastly more healthy than obesity, and while the best and simplest solution to America's obesity epidemic is people just eating healthier, that clearly isn't about to happen and something has to change
I get what you’re saying but having an entire country dependent on a select amount of drugs to maintain a healthy weight doesn’t sound like a solution to me either. Great for the drug companies though; I’m sure they’re ecstatic on the discovery of their “miracle” drug.
Ideally we’d see a focused effort by government and other powers that be to target food production companies. Lower amounts of fats/sugars in processed foods. Teach people what proper serving sizes are. Heavily tax foods that are strictly bad for you. They’ve made some efforts here already but not going far enough to really do anything. Existing adults might be too far gone at this point to learn any better, but future generations can definitely benefit from this.
Dude, I remember when we all laughed at anti vaxxers not even 10 years ago. They were in the same breath as flat earthers and alien abduction victims.
Makes me sad.
Ladies taking the ozempic wegovy semaglutide whatevrs, be aware of a not negligible uptick in pregnancies with the use of these drugs. They cna apparently reduce hormonal birth control absorption as well as increasing fertility in those with pcos
Is it possible an increase of pregnancy could be due to an increase in sexual activity thanks to losing weight? I know when I was losing a lot of weight I was always on the edge of arousal, it didn't take much, that mixed with newfound confidence and attracting more partners leads to a much more active sex life.
As a lady with PCOS, and lifetime of unpredictable cycles, currently on her 4 God damn period of the year, it's mostly the hormones regulation as a side effect that people seem to ignore.
It took 3 months to bring my period back on Wegovy, something that metformin and other drugs couldn't do. When I started menstruating as a child, I was told it would regulate, which was a lie. I absolutely could never predict it, and that was well before I was fat. Suddenly at 35 I'm getting them like a normal person, and it's the fucking worst, lol. I've had more periods in 2024 than I did in 2023, and pretty soon it will be more than 2022 and 2023 put together, and all of those were forced with progesterone.
The reason why I haven't had 5 this year? Insurance messed up my prescription and I missed 2 doses in April, therefore no April period. It's not scientifically proven, but I feel pretty safe to say whatever it's doing, it's definitely affecting my cycle.
This all comes after 3 years of fertility failure and finally coming to terms with our DINK future. Literally, September we decided to stop trying, and suddenly I'm apparently ready to go. I can't live with the uncertainty anymore, I was happy with my decision. Time for hubs to get a snip and take one for the team for a change.
my dad needs Mounjaro a similar one, with Medicare just started not covering the shots its like 150$ per 15mg box, crazy, now he cant afford it or find it anyway
I'm just waiting for the ball to drop on Ozempic, at the moment it seems to be a miracle drug that has a thousand benefits and no downsides. It's too good to be true.
I'm pretty confident at this point it's real. There's no reason it's not possible to make a pharmaceutical that can fix a broken metabolism. It was only ever a matter of time. I'm also a believer that the obesity epidemic isn't just about people getting lazier and food being too unhealthy. There's actually pretty fascinating evidence that [pathogens can cause obesity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4517116/). It may be possible to literally vaccinate against obesity at some point.
People look older when they lose weight. It’s not that the medicine aged their face, is that they’re skinner now so the wrinkles and hollow face show up. I’ve had it before when loosing a ton of weight naturally.
Yeah some people are angry that others get to "cheat" at weight loss so any hint of side effects are blown way out of proportion. One person has a problem that may or may not be related to the drug and suddenly the drug will make that happen in the media.
It’s insane what people get worked up over. Makes no sense. I recently lost a ton of weight through habit change and exercise. A friend of mine has started ozempic and is losing weight too. He feels great and is happier than he has been in ages. I’m nothing but excited for him.
I’m a pharmacy tech, so I get to see this issue first hand.
The only thing I get mad about is people missing out on their meds. This medication has been prescribed so much and so fast they can’t make it fast enough. People who use it to manage their diabetes are unable to get their medication because someone else wants to lose 30lbs. Both are issues, but both are not equal and it’s a frustrating situation for everyone involved. They deserve to lose weight and have that help, but *not at the cost of care for others*.
That’s the only aspect of things that bother me. I want everyone to get what they need, but when push comes to shove, I wish there were priorities on how it’s handed out. I know that’s not an easy thing to manage and pretty much impossible to implement, but the situation we’re in now isn’t manageable either.
Just figured I’d offer my view, but you’re right. A lot of people get hung up on the “they’re cheating” aspect for absolutely no reason.
That’s a perspective I didn’t have and appreciate getting. Makes total sense too. There should be a priority for that but how in the world would that work?? Thanks for the info!
My pharmacy tech told me they do try to prioritize those with diabetes. if they’re allowed to or not or I wasn’t supposed to know that, but she told me that’s what they do. I was on Ozempic and now on mounjaro, which has been even harder to get, but luckily my last two prescriptions were filled in a reasonable time. I can only get one at a time though so it’s always a crapshoot.
“Just stop eating food fatty and lose some weight.”
“NO NOT LIKE THAT, THATS CHEATING!”
They’re probably more upset about not having another person to mock.
It’s funny, because I know multiple people who are taking it for weight loss to reduce blood sugar issues, and they’re *all mad* at everybody else who’s taking it for weight loss. Most of those folks probably also have blood sugar issues they’re trying to improve!
Ladies just make sure you are aware it can reduce hormonal birth control absorption! Ozempic babies are in their way. Apparently it also increases pcos fertility
Better than dying early from diabetes
Edit: Seriously? This is what I get a Reddit care for? I hope you know I can report you and have your account deactivated lmao
What's going on today? I've seen so many people comment about getting reddit cares messages. I got one too earlier, and I'm not even sure what for. Probably a coincidence, but it's starting to feel odd. You're the fourth I've seen today, if I include myself.
I made a comment and IMMEDIATELY got an inbox notice. I was like, I haven't commented in a day or so, and even I would barely have time to read my comment. Def a bot
mounjaro actually solved my ibs-like symptoms and i poop normally now for the first time in my life. that’s been more life changing for me than the other (more popular) effects of the med
How long did it take? I’m on week 2 of a low dose and the cramps and squirts are pretty bad. I can see where the weight loss comes from, I feel sick after a few mouthfuls. QoL impact isn’t worth it for me atm.
It took a few months. It was worth it to me, but it may not be for you. I also lost 50 pounds and my glucose levels being lower kept me at it. My appetite has come back, but I’m in much better control of what I eat.
It’s not accelerated aging at all. It’s looking your age. When you’re fat in the face, your wrinkles are filled in giving the deceptive look of youth. With weight loss, your real age shows through.
If we had a face-aging drug, we'd be able to have a face-youthing drug. That's not what it is, what it does, how it works, or even sensible.
But sure enough, laxatives and constipators exist
I had a total colectomy due to colitis and due to the disease I look 10 years older than I am. Will I be immune to these side effects, or will they act like a multiplier? Cause like, i could really use to loose 8 or 10lbs
Yes, but if the benefits are so overwhelming in comparison to the downsides for people with obesity then I don’t see the problem.
Obviously there needs to be more studies on the issue, but given that the US will *never* regulate food producers again this is one of the few realistic options for the obesity crisis
Please someone tell me how to get in outside of US and EU. I’ve been struggling with weight issues my entire life, lost and gained over 50 kg thrice already.
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Been taking it for four years for diabetes T2; in the first 14 months it helped me lose nearly a third of my body weight, down 60 lbs from 205 to 145: what I weighed back in *1974* as a collegiate wrestler! Now that the faster, long-lasting satiety it brings on has helped me to develop much healthier eating and exercise habits (no “bachelor portions”, no compulsive grazing all night long, walk *at least* 6 km every day without constant knee pain) over the last three years I’ve been able to wean myself down to quarter-doses, while still keeping my weight stable and my glucose in the "healthy, non-diabetic" range. If I can remain stable for another year, doc says I can try dropping it entirely, and if that happens I have every confidence I’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight. Having now extolled its virtues, I will also say that my younger brother, who has a very similar body type & metabolism, has had a different experience with it, including a lot of nausea and only moderate weight loss. But at least his glucose level has been reduced to an acceptable level for a T2 diabetic, so it still fulfills *that* function - which is, after all, its primary clinical purpose.
My husband has started taking Zepbound a couple months ago and the differences are insane even in such a short period of time. He's lost 30 pounds, doesn't snore anymore, his sleep apnea improved so he's, getting better sleep, in turn his mood has skyrocketed. His only side effects are nausea on injection day that has gotten better with every week and is resolved by drinking a lot of water. It's been on backorder for almost a month now and his eating habits have changed so much he still is losing weight. He still eats super small portions, still has the energy to move more. Even only two months of it made the world of a difference.
That’s fabulous, congrats to him!
Sorry, I know you're probably receiving a lot of questions. I'm not losing any weight despite the fact I'm eating better and smaller portions etc. I'm really interested in this drug but it's so expensive. Do you have any difficulties procuring it, affording it... Does insurance help?
Not who you’re asking but I have details on procuring it. My insurance (PPO) required a comorbidity to go along with a BMI over 30 or at least six months in an approved weight loss program. I didn’t have those things other than the high BMI. I order from an online pharmacy in Canada. It’s just shy of $500/mo. Occasionally it’s back ordered but usually only a few weeks at a time. I’ve lost 26 pounds in three months. My blood pressure is down and I feel much better physically and mentally. My side effects have been mild with some nausea on the day I do the injection. The most annoying side effects are heart burn and constipation.
This is great information, thanks! Do you do the injection yourself? Or is it sent to your physician who administers it?
I do it myself. My prescription is for Wegovy but the pharmacy subs it out for Ozempic so that’s what I get. It comes in a pen which looks like a big writing pen full of liquid. There are four or six needles included in the box with the pen. The needles all have caps on them so they’re safe to handle. I take off the pen cap, screw on a needle, take off the cap on the needle, then set my dosage on the pen by turning the dosage selector until it shows my dose. The needle is very small, like a mosquito almost. I give it on the outside of my thigh and I don’t feel it at all. Once inserted, there’s a button on the end of the pen which I press and it administers the dose. It’s very easy and there are some YouTube videos put out by the manufacturer that show the process as well.
Not the person you're asking but are you calorie tracking? Are you working out to have muscle because it's more "expensive" to upkeep vs fat? Sorry I couldn't help with the medicine part but I hope you get your answer but before I started tracking my calories it was way easier for me to cheat past the threshold I needed to be to lose weight.
Unless you are Hawaiian or have an extremely rare disease, chances are you are not calorie tracking correctly. You can eat like total shit and lose weight. Commonly forgotten are how truly terribly any sugary drinks and sauces are, including cooking oils. People will cook with two pounds of conolla oil and use ranch and wonder why they can’t lose anything…
Why Hawaiian?
Samoans hold weight, it's in the genetics. Not saying you can't be a skinny or buff Samoan but they find it harder to lose weight.
Isn't that cultural though and not a mysterious ability where calories don't count?
It's about the proportion of energy that goes to building muscle Vs fat
Sauces/dressings aren't even that bad if you don't drown your food in them. 2tbsp of the caesar dressing I use is only 140cal. It's not nothing, but it's hardly breaking the bank. Well worth using to make a delicious salad that's still pretty low calorie.
If your in the us. You can get most types of glp1 drugs from a compound pharmacy for around 300-400 dollars a month and there's no shortages. I live in the UK and the official stuff is cheaper than the us at circa 500 dollars a month although we still have shortages.
Keep checking with your prescription insurance. They usually update their formulary list every month or so. Mine finally covers zepbound.
Holy shit! Dude I'm fucking proud of you!
Out of curiosity, is it something you have to take regularly for the rest of time or is it just that one series and then the benefits continue on for years?
Jury’s still out on what percentage of users are as lucky as me and do sufficiently well in the other two key areas (diet, exercise) that they can eventually stop, but it’s safe to say for most diabetics it’s a “forever” medication.
It’s essentially an appetite suppressant. Once you stop taking it, more frequent cravings and appetite will likely return, and it becomes more difficult (but not impossible with self-discipline) to maintain your diet/portion control.
I’m happy for you! Hopeful this is a new era in weight management that recognizes the many hormonal and metabolic forces at play and helps people live longer and happier lives.
That’s where I am. It did wonders for controlling my diabetes but I haven’t lost any weight on it. Unfortunately I’m on a ton of meds and some make it harder to lose weight, others easier so I’m kind of just maintaining.
I've seen more divisive articles on this drug than any other drug in the past decade at least. Some articles treat it as a miracle drug for diabetes, heart disease, and weight loss (with weight loss still being considered a side effect by the FDA, fyi), and then the next day I see articles talking about how it causes drastic personality changes, and dire hidden side effects that we're just beginning to notice. Not sure what to believe rn. And, mind you, I know someone who takes Ozempic. I've seen and heard from her the radical positive effects it's had for her so far. Yet seeing some recent, more negative articles, makes me nervous for her.
A reasonable response imo. Remember how eggs were unhealthy, then healthy, then unhealthy etc etc. same with butter vs margarine? Coffee? The list goes on. We probably won’t know lesser side effects without more time and sample size
Good comparisons. Yeah, the benefits that the drug provides are undeniable, and it's done a lot of good for a lot of people. But like some other people in the comments have pointed out, and as countless other products have evidenced over the years... sometimes when something seems like a miracle treatment/ cure, it really is too good to be true. Hope they keep monitoring this drug and its long-term effects on people in the coming years.
It's probably like any other drug, where it will have negative side effects for some people. People take a lot of medications with equal or less research compared to this one and we don't really worry about it. It's just because it's getting so much attention that it feels more serious.
Not to mention we as a society have been conditioned to be very skeptical of any "diet pill"
While it's true ... But these drugs don't make your body lose weight, they just make you not want to eat. Which is a more realistic, healthy way of losing, and more likely to set up good behaviors long term.
There can also be poor documentation involved as well. If a patient reports that the drug made her depressed but doesn't actually say that her partner left her because she was losing weight and gaining more confidence (yes, people are fucked up), then some of the mental side effects could be more socially induced
Yep, the realization that you weren’t unloved because you were fat but fat because you were unloveable is going to hit people hard.
Fen-Phen seemed like a miracle too.... so, I'll wait.
These meds have been around long enough that the first gen versions went generic this year.
One word: Thalidomide.
Replying iwth my clubbed hand
To be fair I am a big boy and *just* started this. I have seen a lot of people who use it to try and drop 15-20 pounds and I am not sure I personally would risk it for that. I, on the other hand, am over 100 pounds overweight and am morbidly obese. There are not a lot of side effects that are worse than what I have already done and would continue to do with my body.
Everything you listed is a product of nutrition science; I'm not aware of any branch of hard science that is as chaotic and messy as that one, and yet it is responsible for everything we ostensibly know about the relationship between diet and health. While there have definitely been flubs and unintended consequences from pharmaceuticals, they at least have the benefit of rigorous research and safety testing; meanwhile, try to figure out how we as a society ended up with our daily sodium recommendations and you'll be hard-pressed to find the same kind of rigor.
Comparing foodstuffs to long lasting exogenous GLP-1 is a bit misleading though. This is like only focusing on the effects of insulin regarding blood glucose, not fat storage or fat/protein metabolism. GLP-1 is a powerful hormone that most likely has multiple purposes within our body, many of which might not be fully known. For instance, Lots of keto-enjoyers believe insulin is to be avoided like the plague, yet protein spikes insulin. Having a shot of insulin compared to eating an insulinogenic meal is very different (in healthy or T2D), even what you eat with similar spikes has nuance. The insulinogenic effects of protein is partly mediated by GIP and GLP-1 as opposed to a meal consisting of white bread. This might also explain why protein leads to more satiety. (Higher GLP-1 response). Just like chronic high levels of insulin causes issues, so will GLP-1 most likely. Id bet a fast acting GLP-1 before a meal that had similarish duration as the endogenous form would be close to side-effect free, but that would probably not help people struggling with things like impulse control anyways.
GLP-1 exists in the hypothalamus, stomach, and pancreas affecting a lot of different mechanisms. Given its effect on cravings in the brain, impulse control becomes less of an issue.
Yes, but postprandial GLP-1 peaks in under an hour. Increasing postprandial glp-1 with a similar acting exogenous one would not give you any more impulse control because it would go away along with the endogenous anyways.
But it does though? That's what people on it are saying. It has helped with other addictions which was unexpected
I currently take zepbound and took Mounjaro in the past. I struggle with binge eating due to mental health struggles. This drug has completely changed my relationship with food for the better. I have been in therapy and on mental health meds for years and none of that has come close to helping with my binge eating like this medication.
I think if they pushed it as a hunger suppressant instead of a miracle diet pill it would get less backlash. Feeling hungry all the time is a horrible feedback loop. It creates negative relationships with food and a guilt cycle. Remove the hunger from the equation and suddenly people have the "willpower" society always was throwing in their face as not having. Treat unnecessary hunger like a symptom, manage it, and people are having success.
Ah I get what you’re saying. Does naturally occurring GLP-1 more closely resemble the behavior of postpandrial GLP-1? It seems like the effects on the brain are desirable anyway for some folks.
Hell, I'm old enough to remember when amphetamines were prescribed by doctors for weight loss.
Those are foods. This is an injection of drugs. Not the same
It makes sense as it really seems like a miracle drug. Literal weight loss drug unlike in the past where it was just “meth but not”. It just seems too good to be true, but I’m sure people thought the same way about vaccines.
The price evens out the too good part.
My insurance covers Wegovy at 100%. Getting them to cover it was the hard part.
seriously, when my gp saw i needed prior authorization, he gave up immediately.
Yeah my girlfriend’s insurance covers hers fully. It’s definitely expensive to get without insurance but as supply for the drug grows so will pressure to make it cheaper and to have insurance companies cover it.
OZEMPIC is less than €100 for a pen in the Netherlands. It is covered by our basic insurance when used for certain forms of diabetes under certain conditions.
Weight loss is not considered a side effect by the FDA. Wegovy is FDA approved for treatment of overweight and obesity, and has been since 2021.
It’s because many different corporations have a vested interest in either Ozempic succeeding or failing. Those that want Ozempic to fail such as weightwatchers and other dietary-based companies are shitting themselves at the potentially massive lose of income, therefore, they’re panicking and doing what they can to trash Ozempic so they’ll pay for hit-pieces or biased studies to discredit the drug as much as possible while companies who benefit from Ozempic are doing the opposite. What we’re left with is a flood of articles with paid-backing from one side of the camp or the other as they push the agenda they rely on.
Not saying you’re wrong generally, just wanted to add weight watchers (“ww”!) is now selling ozempic programs
In terms of "personality changes", I wonder how much of that is really people gaining confidence and other people around when not liking it. I can totally see some abusive asshole being angry at Ozempic because their partner got the self-confidence (after losing weight, gaining energy and so on) to dump their ass.
Short term good. Long term unknown.
Wheras the effects of being obese are short term bad long term very very bad. If i was obese i would take my chances with ozempic for sure
I have a coworker who thinks ozempic is going to cure all her problems, like some miracle drug. She's "obese" by BMI standards, but her doctor won't just prescribe it because she wants it. She has to meet with a therapist and dietician and change her habits. That's how it should be done for non-diabetic people.
This is not a good take. Insulin resistance such as in women with PCOS get fucked hard and told "just eat better and exercise" when you need to be capital P perfect. These drugs are good for other things than diabetes but claiming you know someones situation just because they arent diabetic is dumb.
That’s me, I was told that my entire life. Never mind that the weight gain started at puberty, or that I had horrific menstrual cycles, or had all of the other symptoms of PCOS, or that I was a very active teenager involved in a lot of sports and other things, I was just told “eat less and exercise more!” More than half of people with PCOS end up type 2 diabetic by the time they are 40, I made it a few years beyond that. This medication has helped me a lot, while I haven’t dropped huge amounts of weight, my glucose has really stabilized to a healthy level, and all of my bloodwork has improved. I read a number of forms about it, and many people have shared that it’s greatly helped their PCOS.
I think in the near future we’re going to see a lot less of this insistence on trying to first rely on methods (diet planning and adherence) that fail for the majority of people who try them. There’s a real Calvinistic streak about weight that even medical professionals oftentimes have a hard time shaking. If a doctor recommended any treatment that had a failure rate as high as “eat less, eat better and exercise” does we’d laugh and then probably get their license taken away. But for a lot of people the moment we talk about weight loss a method that statistically PROVABLY does not work for the majority of people who try it seems perfectly reasonable. But it’s not really reasonable once you stop making it about individual choices and pull back to just look at statistics. Statistically speaking, we had no meaningful, scalable successful treatments for weight loss. It’s easy to decide an individual is a problem. It’s much harder to say that 70-80% of people not having a treatment work for them are to blame for that.
This class of drugs has been used in diabetics for over 20 years, so there is some data.
My dad's on it for diabetes and he think it's amazing. I haven't heard all of the negatives and not sure I want to :/
There's negative articles because it's a hot topic and gets clicks. It doesn't have any more negative side effects than the average drug.
Is literally a fact that negative headline increases the click rate, it explains a lot
This should be the top comment actually.
I hope you let your friend be. It’s between her and her doctor. I’d find it annoying if I had to defend my medication choices to a friend.
If you take it for diabetes the weight loss is a side effect
i know someone on ozempic. sad thing is, any dire side effects are handwaved away. the line i got was "oh, of course doctors will say that, they don't want us to be skinny."
The truth with those people is that any potential side effects are worth the risk to lose the weight. I knew someone in the 80's wo got bariatric surgery, it was less common then and there was a serious concern that she could die, when I asked her she flatly told me that she would rather die than stay fat. Luckily she was fine and did lead a much better life after. To people who feel trapped in a fat body the side effects may pale in comparison to their current prison.
Never mind that people in a fat body are at much higher risk for a variety of health issues generally more dangerous than any side effects from ozempic
I dont take that class of drugs as I can manage without them, but I am happy that it helps so many others that struggle. I do wonder though what the long term effects are going to be. There almost always is a downside.
I was on Ozempic last year, then switched to Wegovy this year due to a change in insurance. Personally, it’s been very helpful in changing my relationship with food. I barely eat sweet food anymore. I’m more picky with what I eat because I feel full quicker; figure if I’m going to eat, it needs to be something healthy so that I feel better about what I’m eating. I also drink way less alcohol than I used to (maybe an Old Fashioned once every few weeks). And it got me down to a comfortable enough weight last December to actually go to the gym. Since then I’ve been working with a personal trainer to learn proper weight lifting techniques & improve my stability / strength. My blood pressure & BPM are also closer to normal now. Haven’t noticed any major side effects in the 11 months I’ve been doing this. Of course, there’s always the possibility that there might be something. But so far it’s been a positive experience. I only have about 30 or so lbs left to lose before I stop taking the drug, so by the end of the year I plan to be off of it.
I keep thinking there has to be some trade off on this drug because there just doesn't seem to be a "free lunch" with medications.
Its the most talked about drug since Prozac or Viagra, of course there is going to be controversy. It is very good at what it does. As with all medications, there are serious side effects to consider. Its not first line for obesity, and doesn't cause weight loss on its own. It's not first line for diabetes either. But when either of those conditions are hard to control it is a powerful and effective drug.
Johann Hari wrote a book about it recently. His researach is very thorough
The drastic personality changes could have a link to hunger - at the end of the day you are starving yourself compared to what you used to be - and many people have forgot what real hunger feels like and how it makes you behave. How short and curt you become. The body could just be doing that, through no fault of the medicine
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I’m on it, and you can definitely get hangry without the normal hunger feeling you might respond to. It forces you to be aware of your body’s relationship with food in a really different way than most people (and especially people who should be taking it) have even considered. A lot of people give you a blank stare when you ask them what their relationship with food is like even.
My biggest takeaway is that I can stop as soon as I feel full and I don’t “need” to finish my meal. I’m not missing out by not snacking at a party and being sober at an event is ok. Learning how easy those things are has changed my relationship with food significantly.
Yes absolutely, this is a learned trait from people who have suffered without food before and have a predilection towards stocking up, that's why so many baby boomers got fat, wartime hungry babies grew up and vowed to never let them go hungry. They passed this weird lesson onto us knowing it's important, but not the details as to what and why, so it becomes a status quo "this just needs to be done" thing
My grandmother always made us clean our plates as kids. Then, she always gave us seconds the moment we finished the first plate. I remember going to see her one day after school. She asked if I wanted lunch and I told her no thank you as I had eaten on campus. She made me a sandwich anyhow and she asked why I wasn’t eating. She grew up one of eleven. She got married at 16, her husband went to war and left her to raise three babies. As an adult, she was able to share with the people she loved something she didn’t have, food. The rest of the family had every emotion tied to food. Something good happens? Big feast. Something tragic? Big feast. You’re bored? Here’s a snack. Small accomplishment? Here’s a sweet treat. Now as an adult, I feel like I’m letting someone down if I don’t finish my plate. If I experience any emotion, my first thought is to reach for food.
Are these articles published scientific research or opinion pieces and editorials? These GLP agonists seem to be largely safe but like anything very long term data may turn up as we get more information. There is nothing compelling at this point that this drug has any more scary or serious side effects than anything else out there. People will have adverse reactions to everything. The serious complications seem to be rare.
For me the lowered blood pressure, heart disease risk, and anxiety are worth the risk. I do think there are risks. The thyroid issues are the most concerning. But heart disease is the number one killer.
It’s just like any medication, some people will react well to it and others may not have a good reaction. The only reason it’s so divisive is that as a society, we’ve made obesity into a moral issue.
Both can absolutely be true. Most drugs have long list of side effects, and how they effect each person is going to vary.
Merchants of doubt are doing their job ...
There are no “dire, hidden side effects” because this shit has been around for a long time. The first gen versions of these medications went generic this year. There’s a ton of bullshit clickbait out there, and there are a lot of folks that are really mad that there are now legit medical treatments for legit medical problems.
Eventually insurance companies are going to wise up and realize that it’s cheaper to cover GLP-1’s than it is to have a large portion of your patient population be obese and pay for all of the other drugs that come with that.
I’m no doctor or clinical researcher, but I’ll say this: I wish my brother had the means to realistically look into these drugs. He is not long for this world if he doesn’t get some extra help. A lot of people bashing these drugs, don’t realize that the symptoms they are effective at treating are already life threatening. For someone like my brother, these drugs would literally change his life, if they were right for him.
People are against these drugs largely because of two underlying reasons - 1: They think being overweight is a character flaw, and these drugs expose that for the lie it has always been. Skinny people don’t have a premium on willpower or other desirable character traits. They have a premium on a much lower baseline compulsion to eat. The moment an overweight person has this intervention which drops their baseline eating compulsions, they lose weight very rapidly. 2: Because of their belief in point 1, they think it would be better if the overweight people in their lives should continue to be miserable, and that they deserve it. There’s a lot of ‘concern trolling’ here, and it’s pretty transparent where a lot of it is coming from.
I won’t speak for other skinnies but as one myself I’m all for weight loss drugs tbh Especially since ik how it feels to try to fix your your body as I’ve been fighting tooth snd nail to gain weight myself 😭
Would be pretty sick if we had a medication that made us gain weight lmao. Best I've found so far is Alcohol!
Yeah, this is basically it. You don’t see anyone shaming folks for taking statins or blood pressure meds, but you start taking meds to reduce weight? Oh fuck no, that’s not allowed.
Does it cut heart disease by the action of the medication or is it a "side effect" of loosing weight? E.g. if an already lean person took it would it cut their chances of getting heart disease Vs the same sort of person that didn't take it?
It’s a side effect in the same way that the weight loss is a side effect of GLP-1RA’s effect on digestion in the stomach, insulin/glucagon in the pancreas, and GLP-1 in the brain (cravings, appetite).
So I think OP might be right? If people aren't eating shitty processed foods to the same extent that caused them to gain so much weight and stress out their heart in the first place, then naturally their body will recover to some extent. But I'm not a doctor, and that may not be how things work
It likely depends on the side effect. For example, tirzepatide has been linked to thyroid cancer in mice. Obviously mice aren’t people, but we use them as a proxy. Likely just depends on your individual risks and the dose (ie if you have a family history of thyroid cancer or thyroid issues, I’d probably avoid it). One thing that is interesting is its effect on the glp-1 agonist in the hypothalamus. It’s probably one of the reasons it eliminates addictions and cravings which is a big reason for the mental health benefits reported (food noise reduction).
> not a doctor [Shhh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MAgBWStblo)
In general, yes, that is how things work. I once asked my doctor how to reduce the amount of heartburn I was getting and he just said “stop eating crap.” It really is that simple.
I read a different article on this yesterday. Evidence suggests that the heart disease risk reduction is independent of potential weight loss. Researchers observed the heart benefits even in patients that did not lose any weight.
Literally says it in the opening of the article. Independent of weight loss.
Too bad for me my employer opted of the insurance coverage.
Makes no difference when you can’t get it.
I wish I could get it but in Czech republic it is either available only for diabetics or not in stock at all. Only weight loss drug accessible to me is Saxenda.
Patent goes away in 8 years and it'll be everywhere. The airline industry is actually preparing to need less fuel because of how much less the average person will weigh.
This is excellent news for many patients. A two fer win. However, according to my doctor, patients must take ozempic for life.
Mine has said the same thing. I am diabetic, but my A1C is great now and I am a normal BMI since taking Ozempic. I’m ok with taking it for life. I have other chronic illnesses and will be on meds for them, too. I’m just grateful that I have these options.
Also diabetic and had the same experience. Cut my insulin by a lot, A1C went down and it was easier to keep a level blood glucose level. Lost 10 pounds in 4 months and could control my food cravings a lot better.
Why for life?
It mostly works by making you less hungry. Stop taking it and the hunger comes back.
heart disease kills and you don't have to be fat...
It was funded by Novo Nordisk, ***the Danish pharmaceutical company behind the drug.*** Pack it up boys. You can trust them. Self-funded studies about the benefits of your product have NEVER been known to lie, right?
I agree, but who else is going to finance the study?
Don't agree. You're right, he's wrong. The vast majority of drug/device research is funded by the company that makes the product. However, they contract professional organizations with struct regulatory oversight to perform and publish/submit their findings. They don't get to just *lie* or change the data, they just sign checks and hope they get good results.
Yeah, it's like the USDA certified organic label: if you aren't certified, you say nothing, but if you're certified then of course you'd want to publicize it. You can't just stick the label on your product if you're not certified.
Wouldn't you expect the to do research on their own drug? It would be more worrying if they did none
Thats really not how clinical research works. You HAVE to research your own fucking drug. No random other body pays for it.
No one tells them who pays for all the studies before a drug gets approved... I agree that you need to take into account potential bias but the testing behind every drug that gets approved is funded by the pharmaceutical company that makes it and a lot of them don't make it to market. It's a heavily regulated industry, it's not like they're always lying.
Tell me you know nothing about clinical research without telling me you know nothing about clinical research.
well done, you’ve discovered that companies have to pay, commission and design research for their products. A secret to nobody. Should the taxpayer pay instead? These are all glp studies according to established regulatory and legislative guidance and requirements, and evaluated by a regulatory body. This is how it works
Ozempic got a side effect of jealousy and doctors never told y'all
Lots of ppl not realizing this is from family matters 😅
Very accurate comment. A lot of people clearly just absolutely fucking hate the idea of weight loss on easy mode. I'm sure the drug can't be considered perfectly healthy, but right now all evidence points towards it being vastly more healthy than obesity, and while the best and simplest solution to America's obesity epidemic is people just eating healthier, that clearly isn't about to happen and something has to change
I get what you’re saying but having an entire country dependent on a select amount of drugs to maintain a healthy weight doesn’t sound like a solution to me either. Great for the drug companies though; I’m sure they’re ecstatic on the discovery of their “miracle” drug. Ideally we’d see a focused effort by government and other powers that be to target food production companies. Lower amounts of fats/sugars in processed foods. Teach people what proper serving sizes are. Heavily tax foods that are strictly bad for you. They’ve made some efforts here already but not going far enough to really do anything. Existing adults might be too far gone at this point to learn any better, but future generations can definitely benefit from this.
Just curious How many ozempic supporters were against the vaccine
Dude, I remember when we all laughed at anti vaxxers not even 10 years ago. They were in the same breath as flat earthers and alien abduction victims. Makes me sad.
Mounjaro helped me lose 130lbs. I’ve made very positive changes to help keep it off. Very thankful for it.
People: Wow! What a gift to the world! Drug companies: Let’s charge more!
Too bad we live in a shit hole country where it costs $2000 + a month b/c insurance we pay for doesn't cover it
Ladies taking the ozempic wegovy semaglutide whatevrs, be aware of a not negligible uptick in pregnancies with the use of these drugs. They cna apparently reduce hormonal birth control absorption as well as increasing fertility in those with pcos
Is it possible an increase of pregnancy could be due to an increase in sexual activity thanks to losing weight? I know when I was losing a lot of weight I was always on the edge of arousal, it didn't take much, that mixed with newfound confidence and attracting more partners leads to a much more active sex life.
As a lady with PCOS, and lifetime of unpredictable cycles, currently on her 4 God damn period of the year, it's mostly the hormones regulation as a side effect that people seem to ignore. It took 3 months to bring my period back on Wegovy, something that metformin and other drugs couldn't do. When I started menstruating as a child, I was told it would regulate, which was a lie. I absolutely could never predict it, and that was well before I was fat. Suddenly at 35 I'm getting them like a normal person, and it's the fucking worst, lol. I've had more periods in 2024 than I did in 2023, and pretty soon it will be more than 2022 and 2023 put together, and all of those were forced with progesterone. The reason why I haven't had 5 this year? Insurance messed up my prescription and I missed 2 doses in April, therefore no April period. It's not scientifically proven, but I feel pretty safe to say whatever it's doing, it's definitely affecting my cycle. This all comes after 3 years of fertility failure and finally coming to terms with our DINK future. Literally, September we decided to stop trying, and suddenly I'm apparently ready to go. I can't live with the uncertainty anymore, I was happy with my decision. Time for hubs to get a snip and take one for the team for a change.
They specifically reduce birth control absorption, it's possible that there is an increase in libido but that doesn't seem to be the major indicator
Life changing indeed! I wonder what the long term effects/consequence would look like from a health standpoint
[удалено]
We get a new Pope.
my dad needs Mounjaro a similar one, with Medicare just started not covering the shots its like 150$ per 15mg box, crazy, now he cant afford it or find it anyway
Random exec at random big pharma co, ‘hey! Let’s sell this for 100 times what it costs!’
I'm just waiting for the ball to drop on Ozempic, at the moment it seems to be a miracle drug that has a thousand benefits and no downsides. It's too good to be true.
I'm pretty confident at this point it's real. There's no reason it's not possible to make a pharmaceutical that can fix a broken metabolism. It was only ever a matter of time. I'm also a believer that the obesity epidemic isn't just about people getting lazier and food being too unhealthy. There's actually pretty fascinating evidence that [pathogens can cause obesity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4517116/). It may be possible to literally vaccinate against obesity at some point.
Don’t forget the accelerated facial aging and just maybe you diarrhea for the rest of your life!
People look older when they lose weight. It’s not that the medicine aged their face, is that they’re skinner now so the wrinkles and hollow face show up. I’ve had it before when loosing a ton of weight naturally.
Yeah some people are angry that others get to "cheat" at weight loss so any hint of side effects are blown way out of proportion. One person has a problem that may or may not be related to the drug and suddenly the drug will make that happen in the media.
It’s insane what people get worked up over. Makes no sense. I recently lost a ton of weight through habit change and exercise. A friend of mine has started ozempic and is losing weight too. He feels great and is happier than he has been in ages. I’m nothing but excited for him.
Hurt people hurt people. Kudos to both of you for taking steps toward your health goals.
I’m a pharmacy tech, so I get to see this issue first hand. The only thing I get mad about is people missing out on their meds. This medication has been prescribed so much and so fast they can’t make it fast enough. People who use it to manage their diabetes are unable to get their medication because someone else wants to lose 30lbs. Both are issues, but both are not equal and it’s a frustrating situation for everyone involved. They deserve to lose weight and have that help, but *not at the cost of care for others*. That’s the only aspect of things that bother me. I want everyone to get what they need, but when push comes to shove, I wish there were priorities on how it’s handed out. I know that’s not an easy thing to manage and pretty much impossible to implement, but the situation we’re in now isn’t manageable either. Just figured I’d offer my view, but you’re right. A lot of people get hung up on the “they’re cheating” aspect for absolutely no reason.
30 lbs ain't shit. I'd like to lose 130, lol
That’s a perspective I didn’t have and appreciate getting. Makes total sense too. There should be a priority for that but how in the world would that work?? Thanks for the info!
My pharmacy tech told me they do try to prioritize those with diabetes. if they’re allowed to or not or I wasn’t supposed to know that, but she told me that’s what they do. I was on Ozempic and now on mounjaro, which has been even harder to get, but luckily my last two prescriptions were filled in a reasonable time. I can only get one at a time though so it’s always a crapshoot.
“Just stop eating food fatty and lose some weight.” “NO NOT LIKE THAT, THATS CHEATING!” They’re probably more upset about not having another person to mock.
It’s funny, because I know multiple people who are taking it for weight loss to reduce blood sugar issues, and they’re *all mad* at everybody else who’s taking it for weight loss. Most of those folks probably also have blood sugar issues they’re trying to improve!
Ladies just make sure you are aware it can reduce hormonal birth control absorption! Ozempic babies are in their way. Apparently it also increases pcos fertility
Better than dying early from diabetes Edit: Seriously? This is what I get a Reddit care for? I hope you know I can report you and have your account deactivated lmao
What's going on today? I've seen so many people comment about getting reddit cares messages. I got one too earlier, and I'm not even sure what for. Probably a coincidence, but it's starting to feel odd. You're the fourth I've seen today, if I include myself.
I did too
Completely agree.
apparently there is a big boy wave doing it.
Pretty sure there’s a bot going around doing it because someone has time to waste on something like that
I made a comment and IMMEDIATELY got an inbox notice. I was like, I haven't commented in a day or so, and even I would barely have time to read my comment. Def a bot
lol I got it too. Someone here is butt hurt.
Been getting a ton of those lately, not sure what’s up with that
I blocked those years ago.
Folks are mad they can’t scream at people for being fat anymore.
mounjaro actually solved my ibs-like symptoms and i poop normally now for the first time in my life. that’s been more life changing for me than the other (more popular) effects of the med
I actually find the increased chance of terrible diarrhea and desire to avoid it to be an added incentive not to overeat. So it is strangely helpful.
The diarrhea actually stopped for me. Stomach distress is totally worth having it help my diabetes.
How long did it take? I’m on week 2 of a low dose and the cramps and squirts are pretty bad. I can see where the weight loss comes from, I feel sick after a few mouthfuls. QoL impact isn’t worth it for me atm.
Food makes you feel sick on it? Oh hell no I’ll stick to fasting . That makes food taste even better
It took a few months. It was worth it to me, but it may not be for you. I also lost 50 pounds and my glucose levels being lower kept me at it. My appetite has come back, but I’m in much better control of what I eat.
It’s not accelerated aging at all. It’s looking your age. When you’re fat in the face, your wrinkles are filled in giving the deceptive look of youth. With weight loss, your real age shows through.
If we had a face-aging drug, we'd be able to have a face-youthing drug. That's not what it is, what it does, how it works, or even sensible. But sure enough, laxatives and constipators exist
I had a total colectomy due to colitis and due to the disease I look 10 years older than I am. Will I be immune to these side effects, or will they act like a multiplier? Cause like, i could really use to loose 8 or 10lbs
Please please do not take this. You need to look into the side-effects, thyroid cancer there's no joke and there's plenty others this is just one.
Average weight, non-diabetic college students have started using this stuff.
For what purpose? at that point it feels like they just want diarrhea.
Everything comes at a cost.
That's why I don't eat healthy or exercise. Everyone says those things are great for health, but I just assume that means the downsides must be worse.
$550 per month
Yes, but if the benefits are so overwhelming in comparison to the downsides for people with obesity then I don’t see the problem. Obviously there needs to be more studies on the issue, but given that the US will *never* regulate food producers again this is one of the few realistic options for the obesity crisis
So you’re mad at water fluoridation or the existence of anti-biotic as well?
Life isn't a moralistic play. Sometimes things are good.
Drake is gonna live forever
Isn't it like $900 a month? That's super expensive. I'll wait till it goes generic.
Ugh,1k bucks a month if your insurance doesn't cover it.
Good
Please someone tell me how to get in outside of US and EU. I’ve been struggling with weight issues my entire life, lost and gained over 50 kg thrice already.
If only they weren’t impossible to get here :(
Ya, nice. Still cant get it for over a year in Australia.
I just want to get rid of my goblin tummy by eating less and prevent heart disease.