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How long til we're all on Ozempic?

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Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#551
post #170

Instead of a system that makes these drug available for purchase, I'd rather live in a system that promotes healthy food and active behavior. Unfortunately, I have to drive everywhere, work too many hours to have free time for recreation and have no idea which government subsidy is going to help big ag likely at the expense of my health. All things being equal, I'd prefer to spend less money on prescriptions and have…

The government isn't going to help you. This evening, go for a one minute walk. Tomorrow evening do the same. Next evening do the same. Repeat. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

one minute? I'm sure that's not going help anyone to walk for one minute. 30 minutes at a minimum. 60 is good, 120 is great!

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#552
post #355

I'd think it more likely that it'll be one of the next generation drugs, but I do agree with the premise that it will be really common. A few weeks ago I started a low dose of tirzepatide (aka Mounjaro, aka Zepbound) and the side effects are interesting. The biggest negative, which just takes adjustment, is drastically lower stomach capacity. Used to be that two eggs and two pieces of toast was breakfast. Now I bette…

>I might switch to a twice-a-week split dose at some point to ease the peaks and valleys. If you're willing to shoot up more often it moderates the effects better.

Might have to float this by my tirz-taking partner, especially if it helps with side effects. They always feel a little icky the day immediately after a dose.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#553

A lot of people fail to realize that eating healthy and exercising is not enough for a lot of people who fight with their weight their entire lives. Ozempic and Wegovy are game changes and have real, tangible health benefits. One person told me, "No matter how much I eat or exercise, I have been 'hungry' my entire life. That ended when I started taking these drugs."

> One person told me, "No matter how much I eat or exercise, I have been 'hungry' my entire life. That ended when I started taking these drugs."

I would change this to "No matter how much I eat, I have been hungry my entire life", because that's what my experience is.

I'm nearly always hungry. Doesn't matter what I eat or how much of it. High protein, high fiber, moderate fat, low carb, all the steps people say cures hunger, and I'm still hungry. 20 oz steak and a massive portion of broccoli, and I'll still get munchies an hour later. And before someone says "You're probably actually thirsty, but making the common mistake of thinking it's hunger", no, that's not it. I'm drinking plenty of water. My urine is almost clear.

People say things like "If you're hungry between meals, just eat a handful of nuts!", and I don't know if I want to laugh or cry, because I'll eat a handful, then another, and another, next thing I know, I've eaten literally 1,000 calories and I'M STILL FUCKING HUNGRY.

And so I get incredibly angry whenever someone says something like "omg these fatties have to take drugs because they don't know how to stop eating" as if everyone has the same experiences as them.

No, my hunger sensor is miscalibrated. Some of ya'll might go out to lunch and end up eating a large meal and not end up hungry for dinner and skip it. I'll go out to lunch, eat the large meal, and end up hungry 2 hours later. If I get the smaller meal, I'll leave the restaurant still being hungry.

I even tried keto. I did it for 9 months and went from 270 to 205 lbs, but even after 9 months, my hunger was not recalibrated. I was still hungry after every meal. After 9 months, I ran out of willpower. Gave into the hunger again. Slowly came back to 245 lbs and stayed there.

I wish I could try Ozempic. Maybe it would fix me. But I'm not diabetic, so my doc won't give it to me.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#554

As someone who struggled with their weight his whole life, this medication is a god send. My wife and I cook every evening. We never eat food made in a factory. We buy raw products and spend a good amount of time every day cooking them. Every morning I wake up and go on a 5 mile hike. And still weight kept on coming on. Worse yet, I am on ADHD medication, which are amphetamines and actually make you lose weight. Yet.…

> And still weight kept on coming on. Worse yet, I am on ADHD medication, which are amphetamines and actually make you lose weight. Yet... the number on the scale kept on creeping up.

The therapeutic amphetamines dosages for ADHD is below the threshold required for produce meaningful weight loss. It's not surprising that it didn't help you lose weight.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#555
post #498
post #319

> How long til we're all on Ozempic? It's genuinely quite depressing that so many people in the United States have a weight problem that the overwhelming majority of the population would benefit from this and headlines including "we are all" are not inaccurate. I don't think other countries are necessarily perfect here, but 74% of Americans don't have a healthy weight when you look at their BMI. That's a staggering s…

It really is a sad situation. As an American who spent the first 30 years of life in the US and over 20 in Europe, the difference is striking. However... here in the UK I see more and more "American-sized" people every year. _Something_ is changing. In the food and/or habits of the average Brit. Anecdotally I would say Europeans as whole are getting ever so slighty larger. But just not at the rate as Americans. Ozemp…

> But just not at the rate as Americans

The rate is probably comparable, it's the offset that's different. Won't be long until Europe is where the US is today (though I need to mention, this is regional, for example Colorado is at about 25%, and some European countries are already there).

Even Japan is getting steadily fatter, though they are way, way behind Europe and the US.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#556

As someone who struggled with their weight his whole life, this medication is a god send. My wife and I cook every evening. We never eat food made in a factory. We buy raw products and spend a good amount of time every day cooking them. Every morning I wake up and go on a 5 mile hike. And still weight kept on coming on. Worse yet, I am on ADHD medication, which are amphetamines and actually make you lose weight. Yet.…

I think there's a few factors at play: 1. People might want to help, but they don't think taking a pill every day for the rest of your life is a proper solution. I'm not aware of any such things for other addictions you mention, 2. People don't want other people to have it easier than they did. "I had to diet and exercise etc, you should too", 3. People don't want to help. They want other people to be fat because it…

re: 1, there are plenty of people who take some medication at some interval for most of their life. People with ADHD, people with type 1 diabetes, most women, ... why do we find that totally unproblematic, but as soon as it's medication to help with obesity (which is a serious medical condition in its own right) it's suddenly such a big problem?

EDIT: And to be clear, there may be specifics with these particular drugs which are problematic, maybe they're by necessity expensive or resource intensive to manufacture, maybe they have problematic long-term effects, I don't know. I'm purely talking about the general aversion some people claim to have regarging taking some medication on an interval to help with a health problem. It makes little sense to me.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#557
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand this perspective. You're looking at it with healthy eyes. But for fat people, the calculus looks different. A decision to take semaglutides is a decision between the long-term negative effects of obesity *now*, or the possibility of long-term negative effects *later.* Anecdotally, trans people have a similar calculus. Going unmedicated/unsupported brings significant mental health risk now [1], wherea…

No, they're making a choice between the long-term negative effects of not losing weight naturally, vs the possibility of long-term negative effects of using artificial methods. This isn't polemic, as even things as basic as birth control and advil have negative long term effects.

I think we’re saying the same thing? The only difference is that I personally don’t believe that self-control is sufficient for everyone to lose weight. If you do believe that, then the risk estimates become much easier.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#558
For the longest time people argued if overweight people ate too much or not. I’ve heard plausible sounding arguments on both sides.

It seems Ozempic has answered that question decisively, no? The solution to being overweight is eating less in almost all cases it seems. And feeling less hungry with Ozempic can help get you there.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s been studied pretty well. Possible effective solutions to the US obesity epidemic are pretty much limited to: 1) Radically alter aspects of food culture, work culture, social policy, and business regulation. 2) Magic pill (/injection) There appears to be no imminent progress on the many parts of #1 that need serious work, so if we want a big turn-around in the next half-century, #2 has suddenly and surprisingly…

> Possible effective solutions to the US obesity epidemic Just wanted to mention that this is not a US problem, and framing it as such won't help find solutions. Even in southeast Asia the rates over obesity are steadily increasing. Europe is already much fatter than southeast Asia. This is a worldwide phenomenon.

It is global, but the US is among the leaders and people who move here from skinnier countries tend to get fatter. Something about (odds are, a bunch of somethings about) the living environment we’ve created causes more obesity than the environments in most other countries, though yes, it’s getting worse in those other countries, too.

Re: How long til we're all on Ozempic?

#560
post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most weight management programs recommend you wean off - and also recommend other drugs if needed (metformin) to for maintenance. The method of these programs is to use the GLP-1 medications to allow you to change your habits significantly while also reducing your weight. The goal being, you keep the new habits and your reduced metabolic requirements which allows you to keep the lower weight.

Interesting. If we think of effectiveness as maintained weight loss and eventually no longer requiring the drug then the next few years and decades will be fascinating to see how effective they are long-term.

I mean, that's the goal for any weight management plan honestly - to provide the structure for you to make your own change. That GLP-1 meds are so effective will make a huge difference for tons of folks.

I think many people are going to use GLP-1s without a structure - and they may find it's not as easy to taper off without making a meaningful diet change.

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