Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#51

Post by thomascgalvin » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:14 PM UTC

mym1990 wrote: post #5

A drug that promotes weight loss, lessens the desire to smoke, drink, etc...sounds too good to be true? From what I have heard, all of these issues come back as soon as someone comes off the drug. So either a person is committing to a lifetime of being dependent on this drug, or a person is committing to some period of time of ideal living, followed by a possible time of depression after reverting to the status quo.

> A drug that promotes weight loss, lessens the desire to smoke, drink, etc...sounds too good to be true?

It does sound too good to be true. However, it's possible that the drug is working on all of these through the same mechanism: by altering the brain's reward system.

If that's true, the drug doesn't make you not want to eat, it makes you not want stuff, in general. That could potentially suppress a wide array of addictive behaviors. I also wonder if that suppression might look a lot like clinical depression, though.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#52

Post by spondylosaurus » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:28 PM UTC

ortusdux wrote: post #44

lumb63 wrote: post #23

I’m glad people are enjoying Ozempic. My experience from seeing a family member on it, is I would not touch it if I were a 500-pound alcoholic smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. That’s an exaggeration since it probably outweighs the health issues there, but only slightly. The person I know taking Ozempic has only lost weight (35 lbs) due to the fact that eating now makes her sick. She has been sapped of all energ…

>>due to the fact that eating now makes her sick. Reminds me of the first FDA approved weight loss drug, Alli, that basically just gastrointestinally punishes you if you eat more than a few grams of fat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlistat#Side_effects

> The manual for Alli makes it clear that orlistat treatment involves aversion therapy, encouraging the user to associate eating fat with unpleasant treatment effects.

Christ. This is like Crohn's disease in pill form. One too many teaspoons of olive oil and you're in for an unpleasant evening...

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#53

Post by yamazakiwi » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:30 PM UTC

justinbaker84 wrote: post #33

standardUser wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first days, weeks and months are often the hardest time when quitting a substance. If this drug helps a smoker not smoke for 3 months, by that time the nicotine addiction has weakened considerably. They've gotten past the hardest part. I see no downside to that. Similarly, if a person loses 30 pounds on this drug, then stops using the drug and reverts to normal habits, it will take a while to regain those 30 poun…

That is not what happened to me. I took it for 2 months and then I wanted to get off. I did not go back to normal. Mentally I felt like I needed more food and more junk food than I ever did before using the drug. My hypothesis is that it supressed my body's natural production of whatever chemical in my brain helps me not go overboard with food. With that supressed by the drug I had an uncontrollable desire for food a…

This same thing happened to me when I quit smoking without assistance from a drug.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#54

Post by iwanttocomment » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:30 PM UTC

mym1990 wrote: post #5

A drug that promotes weight loss, lessens the desire to smoke, drink, etc...sounds too good to be true? From what I have heard, all of these issues come back as soon as someone comes off the drug. So either a person is committing to a lifetime of being dependent on this drug, or a person is committing to some period of time of ideal living, followed by a possible time of depression after reverting to the status quo.

I'm not sure why "it stops working when you stop taking it" is used as an argument against these new peptides. This is the way almost every medication we encounter works.

Tylenol might get rid of your headache, but that headache can come back tomorrow. Stop taking birth control and you might get pregnant. Stop taking Claritin and your allergies return. Stop taking insulin, and, as with these new peptides, you lose control over your blood sugar. Stop taking Adderall, and not only will your ADHD symptoms come back, you'll also experience withdrawal.

Almost no medications are "one and done", and I'm not sure why Ozempic or Mounjaro are being held to needing to be a cure when it's clear that they're effective, repeatable treatments for blood sugar control and (likely related) weight gain.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#55

Post by rektide » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:33 PM UTC

EthicalSimilar wrote: post #43

rektide wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not that afraid of swallowing random chemicals but self injecting is a bit hardcore for me.

FWIW, SubQ injections are pretty much completely unnoticeable in terms of pain / feeling at all. It’s more the mental barrier of doing it to yourself but once you’ve done it for the first time you soon realise it’s fine.

The actual doing it seems wild/absurd, but I don't think that would hold me back.

This is ignorant/uniformed, but, taking research chemical by ingestion feels like I have some natural barriers still. Where-as I feel like there's a much more raw exposure to risk with injection. Also there's dumb risks like infection, if I don't attend well enough to injections.

In spite of these protests, I think you are probably much closer to the truth here. Thanks for writing. These reactions I have are, I suspect, not really significant.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#56

Post by iwanttocomment » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:33 PM UTC

iwanttocomment wrote: post #54

mym1990 wrote: post #5

A drug that promotes weight loss, lessens the desire to smoke, drink, etc...sounds too good to be true? From what I have heard, all of these issues come back as soon as someone comes off the drug. So either a person is committing to a lifetime of being dependent on this drug, or a person is committing to some period of time of ideal living, followed by a possible time of depression after reverting to the status quo.

I'm not sure why "it stops working when you stop taking it" is used as an argument against these new peptides. This is the way almost every medication we encounter works. Tylenol might get rid of your headache, but that headache can come back tomorrow. Stop taking birth control and you might get pregnant. Stop taking Claritin and your allergies return. Stop taking insulin, and, as with these new peptides, you lose co…

(If the answer is "because you'll learn to eat less or eat in a more healthy fashion", it may well be that the metabolic issues that are creating heightened blood sugar or appetite issues may not be able to be resolved by diet alone in those who respond well to these peptides.)

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#57

Post by MandieD » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:38 PM UTC

lumb63 wrote: post #23

I’m glad people are enjoying Ozempic. My experience from seeing a family member on it, is I would not touch it if I were a 500-pound alcoholic smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. That’s an exaggeration since it probably outweighs the health issues there, but only slightly. The person I know taking Ozempic has only lost weight (35 lbs) due to the fact that eating now makes her sick. She has been sapped of all energ…

Your relative’s sad story reminds me of a short story I read a few years ago about a miracle pill that leaves about 90% of its takers perfectly slim and able to stay that way eating anything, after a few truly disgusting initial days of elimination, but kills the other 10% gruesomely.

Because it’s so wonderfully effective for the majority, there ends up being a ton of social and economic pressure for anyone even slightly overweight to take it, despite said 10% risk of death.

(Edited to add):

“The Pill,” by Meg Elison

https://escapepod.org/2022/11/03/escape-pod-861-the-pill-par...

https://escapepod.org/2022/11/10/escape-pod-862-the-pill-par...

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#58

Post by ortusdux » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:41 PM UTC

spondylosaurus wrote: post #52

ortusdux wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>due to the fact that eating now makes her sick. Reminds me of the first FDA approved weight loss drug, Alli, that basically just gastrointestinally punishes you if you eat more than a few grams of fat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlistat#Side_effects

> The manual for Alli makes it clear that orlistat treatment involves aversion therapy, encouraging the user to associate eating fat with unpleasant treatment effects. Christ. This is like Crohn's disease in pill form. One too many teaspoons of olive oil and you're in for an unpleasant evening...

I remember grabbing a pamphlet when it was new and reading their recommendation to wear dark colored pants and bring a change of clothes to work.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#59

Post by amanaplanacanal » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

NickC25 wrote: post #30

[flagged]

Unfortunately, suggesting that people eat less and exercise more doesn’t seem to actually work that well. We’ve been trying that for decades and the obesity epidemic just keeps getting worse.

Re: Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

#60

Post by spondylosaurus » Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

justinbaker84 wrote: post #32

mym1990 wrote: post #5

A drug that promotes weight loss, lessens the desire to smoke, drink, etc...sounds too good to be true? From what I have heard, all of these issues come back as soon as someone comes off the drug. So either a person is committing to a lifetime of being dependent on this drug, or a person is committing to some period of time of ideal living, followed by a possible time of depression after reverting to the status quo.

This is exactly what happened to me. The clinic I went to recommended starting out with 1/10 the normal dose for the first month to make sure I would tolerate it. Then we would move up each month. It worked so well I didn't want to move up so for month 2 I stuck with 1/10th the amount. During that month the effects wore off so I had to take more to get the same impact. I chose to just quit. 2 months after quiting I a…

> I am really concerned this is going to lead to a bigger health crises than the one it purported to solve.

A lot of diabetics taking it to regulate blood sugar (particular the feedback loop with insulin and hunger) have said it's changed their life... but for people who are merely overweight I think the benefits may not always be worth the side effects. IMO the correlation between weight and health is not as strong as people often assume.

Anecdotal, but if you looked at me and my partner, you'd probably assume I was the "healthier" one based on our respective body types. But they're strong, fit, and rarely get sick (knock on wood); meanwhile I'm a lifelong wimp with a host of autoimmune issues. I outsource all of the heavy lifting to them, literally—if the trash is too heavy for me to take to the dumpster, they get to do it instead :P

So to your point about health crises, yeah. It seems foolish to put my partner on a weight loss drug just so they could "look" healthier while nursing a bunch of unpleasant side effects that would make them far sicker than they were before.