GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024) • Hacker News Board

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#241

Post by _zagj » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:41 PM UTC

willis936 wrote: post #39

cj wrote: post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

Yes well your PCP / pharmacist should not have prescribed you an appetite suppressant when you have below average body fat %. The effects are very worth it for people weighing them against heart disease and mobility issues. It's not a Faustian bargain, it's all right on the tin. When you stop taking it the effects go away. If you want to be indulgent and it fits your lifestyle you can reversibly make that decision. T…

> when you have below average body fat %

I can't speak to their choice of taking the drug, but it's wild how warped people's perceptions are now of what constitutes "healthy" and "fat" thanks to the obesity epidemic. People remark on how George Costanza on Seinfeld was once considered fat (because he was), or how Homer's scale-tipping 300 lbs. in the King-Size Homer episode of The Simpsons was considered comically obese (because it was). Never mind the fact that people almost always underestimate how fat they actually are and are almost always disappointed by their DEXA scans. Even if the OP's estimate is correct that they're just a little north of 20% BF (as a man), they're still overweight, and specifically overfat, and probably look soft and doughy.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#242

Post by herpdyderp » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:41 PM UTC

cj wrote: post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

> Eating is no longer enjoyable and feels like a chore

I used to view eating as a chore and it was great. Then (no joke) I got into tech and everywhere I work they have fancy food or frequent team lunches or something of that nature.

I wish I could go back.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#243

Post by op00to » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:42 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #125

layer8 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A rebranding to a non-prescription drug will depend on how the prevalence × severity of side effects [0] turns out longer-term. I hope that you are right, but it seems too early to tell. [0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266736812... https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/glp-1-receptor-agonist...

"Gastrointestinal side effects" I assume that is code for excessive and frequent evacuation of watery feces.

It’s actually the opposite. GLP-1s slow down the digestive tract, so my shits are far more well formed than before. This isn’t like olestra, where excess fat caused diarrhea.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#244

Post by op00to » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:42 PM UTC

layer8 wrote: post #163

SoftTalker wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Gastrointestinal side effects" I assume that is code for excessive and frequent evacuation of watery feces.

“common gastrointestinal side-effects of GLP-1RAs treatment (including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation) can persist for several days and may affect more than 1 in 10 patients”

For me, nausea only appears when I eat poorly - poor quality, or more than I should. Also increasing a dose can cause a bit of nausea for a few hours.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#245

Post by matt_heimer » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:43 PM UTC

saurik wrote: post #36

cj wrote: post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

> Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month... So they are going to force you onto a higher dose?!

It depends. The 5mg, 10mg, and 15mg were the doses tested and recommended as maintence doses. The 2.5mg is meant as a starter to reduce side effects but since most people don't see results with it the recommendation is that you only take it for 4 weeks. The 7.5mg and 12.5mg doses are meant as transitional doses but you can stay on them longer than 4 weeks.

Some doctors will go by the Lilly recommendations but I think more are allowing people to stay on the lowest dose providing benefits. That leaves your health insurance as the only other obstacle.

There is a chart at https://zepbound.lilly.com/hcp/dosage

I was one of the rare people that saw results with 2.5mg but by the end of that first month I had plateaued. After 3 months at 5.0mg I've plateaued again and will probably move up to 7.5mg in the near future and stay on it as long as I can.

Some people like to go back to 2.5mg as their maintence dose after reaching their weight loss goals.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#246

Post by sarchertech » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

blitzar wrote: post #184

For the rest of the world, not so much. For America however, this is a huge disruptor. The pride associated with having a body shape that a well trained Ai would classify as Manatee rather than Human is rapidly changing and _eventually_ society will be better off for it.

There are maybe 2k people in the country who are proud of being fat at most.

Also everyone is getting fatter. America is just 30 years ahead of most of the rest of the world in terms of obesity.

Take whatever country you care to name and the population of that country 30 years ago would call the population today lard-asses.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#247

Post by anal_reactor » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

cj wrote: post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

I understand that on population level we can't just tell everyone "get on a diet", but when talking to you in particular, why couldn't you... just get on a diet?

Personally, I love food. I can't live without stuffing candy in my mouth. But I also have a tendency to get fat, so I weight myself every day, and based on that I either have a diet day or a cheat day. Moreover, I do a lot of physical exercise every day. The idea of having to depend on a drug to live is scary to me.

Having said the above, I'm sure that one day we'll create a drug that makes life of majority of population better, and we'll be able to administer it to everyone without major consequences.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#248

Post by op00to » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

saurik wrote: post #36

cj wrote: post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

> Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month... So they are going to force you onto a higher dose?!

The inbetween doses are just used for titration. They were not studied as long term doses like the maintenance doses. It’s stupid, and you can get exceptions if you are persistent. I preferred 7.5 mg over 10 mg for example.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#249

Post by matt_heimer » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

adammarples wrote: post #159

casey2 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not an "anti-obesity drug" it's a "set your hunger level to whatever you want drug" If Jerry is a body builder he can get to whatever body fat % he wants. If Jerry wants to save money or doesn't want to wake up early hungry he can do that too. If Jerry has religious beliefs about impulses coming from shaitan, he can get rid of them. Besides, 75% of Americans are overweight/obese that's pretty much everyone.

The number one group of people who will never ever want a powerful appetite suppressant are body builders. Lifting weights isn't hard, eating 6 meals a day is and they don't need to make it ten times harder for no reason.

Many body builders go through bulk and cut phases.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#250

Post by crazygringo » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

op00to wrote: post #238

crazygringo wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious -- do you have any brain fog? Are you able to exercise? When you exercise, do you wind up eating more, i.e. the caloric amount that you exercised? I've never had any psychological difficulty with losing weight. I don't care if I'm hungry. But what happens when I eat less and lose weight is that I have trouble concentrating. The glucose my brain needs just isn't there. And if I do physical activity, forget…

No brain fog. I walk at a very brisk pace ~6 miles a day. My calories are far less than before I started. I have to be very careful to have enough protein. When I exert myself, the recovery period is the same time as before.

Do you have any idea of how many calories you eat per day?

I get so confused because the small amounts of food that people talk about eating on GLP, don't seem like enough to sustain themselves long-term.

Are they exaggerating? Or do they talk about not eating dinner, but that's because they had 1,700 calorie lunch at the burger place? Or is that just during weight loss, and then once a target weight is hit, they're eating like a normal (healthy-weight) person again?

I just genuinely don't understand how people are surviving with the diets they describe.