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Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

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

#121

Post by akiselev »

015UUZn8aEvW wrote: post #97
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.

>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 true of every weight loss intervention: Weight Watchers, low-carb, keto, Whole 30, etc. Once pe…

> The only intervention that does reliably work is bariatric surgery.

My understanding is surgery only works reliably because failure to comply with life style changes post-op is easily fatal and ethical doctors only perform the operation after patients have demonstrated that ability. In all but the most extreme patients, about a fifth to a third of the target weight loss has to happen pre-op for doctors to even consider the procedure. The surgery is essentially a sword of Damocles hanging over patients, reminding them that they'll die much faster than normal if they over eat.

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

#122

Post by caycep »

it's funny in that a few years ago we were (and still are) excited by the potential cellular protective properties of GLP1 agonists, not just in the pancreas but in brain glial cells or whatnot. So much so that it seems to be the most neuroprotective of recent candidates for Parkinson's disease disease-modifying-therapies (DMTs).

to whit, (like botox), all the initial promises of the stuff have been waaaay overshadowed by...cosmetic value.

(I'm oversimplifying a bit...for those who are morbidly obese, yes, the weight loss really helps, but then they also have diabetes most likely which is the primary indication of the drug)

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

#123

Post by Dylan16807 »

Avshalom wrote: post #87

"Semaglutide does not dull all pleasure, people taking the drug for weight loss told me. They could still enjoy a few bites of food or revel in finding the perfect dress; they just no longer went overboard. Anhedonia, or a general diminished ability to experience pleasure, also hasn’t shown up in cohorts of people who take the drug for diabetes, says Elisabet Jerlhag Holm, an addiction researcher at the University of…

> So it doesn't dull all pleasure just almost all

That is not what that quote says.

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

#124

Post by lumb63 »

crazygringo wrote: post #112
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…

Yeah, that's definitely always been my challenge with weight loss. I have zero problem with self control -- I can easily cut calories in half or less (e.g. 1000-1200 cal/day), but it's simply that my body suffers immensely. I lose all energy, can't concentrate on anything, and my immune system weakens so I start getting colds constantly. I'm sure I'd easily lose weight with Ozempic but I'd still be suffering health i…

You may have better success in a smaller caloric deficit. 1000-1200 calories a day is very few and that’s a very fast pace of weight loss. Try removing 500 calories or 10% of your calories. Progress will be slower, but you may feel much better.

Also, as a sibling comment alluded to, when you have fewer calories to eat, the micronutrients in the few foods you do eat matter that much more. The nutritional quality of food you need to stay healthy increases greatly when in a caloric deficit. Fruits and veggies are great for helping that, and multivitamins are cheap insurance policies to make sure you aren’t deficient in anything important, IMO. YMMV. Best of luck with your goals!

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

#125

Post by jasonfarnon »

akiselev wrote: post #121
015UUZn8aEvW wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 true of every weight loss intervention: Weight Watchers, low-carb, keto, Whole 30, etc. Once pe…

> The only intervention that does reliably work is bariatric surgery. My understanding is surgery only works reliably because failure to comply with life style changes post-op is easily fatal and ethical doctors only perform the operation after patients have demonstrated that ability. In all but the most extreme patients, about a fifth to a third of the target weight loss has to happen pre-op for doctors to even cons…

" failure to comply with life style changes post-op is easily fatal"

My understanding is naive but I always thought it was no longer possible to fail to comply after this intervention?

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

#126

Post by jasonfarnon »

justinbaker84 wrote: post #35
karaterobot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lot of people, it's kind of a choice of which substance you are going to be dependent on. It's all expensive and sad, but between Ozempic and cigarettes, alcohol, or overeating, Ozempic has got to be healthier, and quite possibly cheaper in the long run.

I took it and started out with a small dose. The impact of that dose wore off eventually and the plan at my clinic was to raise it over time. I am concerned that maybe there isn't a dose where you can stop taking more and keep the results. I am worried that everybody will need to keep taking more as they build up more tolerance to it. The study that showed how effective the drug is was 60 weeks long. That is a long t…

do you know what tolerance effects are acknowledged by the makers/doctors? I was thinking this was more like insulin; is it more like an opiate?

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

#127

Post by armchairhacker »

arcadeparade wrote: post #111

Some people really love to moralize and cite anecdotes about Ozempic.

Moralizing about weight loss is upsetting, as someone whose thankfully considers themselves "naturally thin".

It's 100% true the vast majority (including me) needs to put some discipline into eating and exercise: normal people can't just eat whatever they want whenever they feel hungry. But normal people don't get fat eating whole foods, working out, eating below their demographic's daily intake; and normal people don't suffer immense fatigue on tiny calorie deficits or even maintenance. People with thyroid and other metabolic issues do. Which IMO completely destroys the "moral" argument for weight.

(And it's also probably true that most overweight people don't eat whole foods and work out daily. That doesn't mean its right to call out some random fat person eating a mildly-unhealthy meal. You have no idea what else they've eaten that day, what else is going on around them, and you wouldn't call out a skinny person who eats the same.)

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

#128

Post by reaperman »

burnte wrote: post #41
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…

I take it, and when I started I got violently nauseous and had GI issues. I wasn't informed I needed to slowly ramp up. I still have pretty big appetite suppression, and only minimal nausea sometimes if I eat too much, but what it's done to my blood glucose is AMAZING. And I lost some weight when I started which was a great bonus. It can be hard to start but it's truly worth it, just adjust the dose. I take 0.5mg as…

> I wasn't informed I needed to slowly ramp up.

In a fair world that would be considered severe malpractice :-( It's nearly common knowledge. A huge number of people are suffering under these medications because of starting at a dose to high or raising doses too quickly / too much at a time.

LY3437943 looks even more promising, with fewer side effects. Semaglutide will probably have the most side effects because it only has one action (GLP-1 agonist). Tirzepatide has slightly lower side effects because it adds a dual action (GLP-1 agonist + GIP analogue) so it can act at a lower magnitude on the GLP-1 receptors to avoid strong side effects, while still having higher efficacy due to its additional, separate, GIP action.

LY3437943 retains both the actions of Tirzepatide but adds a third action, glucagon receptor agonist. So it should be able to have higher efficacy at a lower equivalent dose than the other two (less action on GLP-1 and GIP mechanisms, fewer side effects).

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

#129

Post by jasonfarnon »

op00to wrote: post #96
glonq wrote: post #61

What happens when you reach your target weight with drugs like this? After having learned potentionally nothing about nutrition, exercise, and self-control, are you stuck on these meds for life out of fear of binge-eating back to your original weight? FWIW I'm on a hundred-pound roller coaster ride from 300lbs to 200lbs; currently ~215. I've learned a lot about discipline and sustainable habits along the way.

What happens when someone who was previously deeply depressed but feels better goes off an antidepressant? They learn to handle life, or they return to the drug if further treatment is needed. It’s not a moral failing.

I don't think you need to bring morality into it. OP is just asking, do you develop your own tools to address the problem, or rely on another's forever? There are lots of practical non-moral answers to that question.

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

#130

Post by reaperman »

mym1990 wrote: post #84
iwanttocomment wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really a dangerous dependency ? There's been no evidence of anything happening once individuals go off of semaglutide or tirzepatide other than the tendency of gaining weight to the original levels and/or blood sugar readings returning to the pre-medication levels. This is the most common outcome anyone has trying literally any calorie-reducing diet, medication or not. There's no evidence that people are ending…

I don’t necessarily mean dangerous in the health aspect, although long term affects of these drugs are not know yet…I mean the dependency on needed the drug to keep a certain lifestyle, and then having an “oh shit” moment when you’re in a place that you can’t access it, whether that be traveling or the supply of it becomes scarce, or it gets banned, etc

That sounds like the lesser of two evils to me. Get healthier now and maybe sometime later lose access to the thing that helps you be healthier...or don't get healthier now? Yeah, there are other, orthogonal, choices but I don't think they're part of this particular decision matrix.
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