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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?

#411

Post by beezlebroxxxxxx »

r00fus wrote: post #386
beezlebroxxxxxx wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the official recommendation that you continue to take it for the rest of your life? Or, is there a schedule to "wean" people off of it?

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.

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

#412

Post by momojo »

Uehreka wrote: post #271
farceSpherule wrote: post #237

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."

I gained about 50 pounds the past decade and the past year I’ve been trying to lose it. I weighed myself at the beginning: 205 lbs I started running 30 minutes per day (heartrate training targeting about 140-150), every day, for 10 months. I kept my diet the same as before (though with a protein bar after the run). Weighed myself every week or two, always within a couple pounds of 205. In March I ramped up my runs to…

Thanks for sharing. It must be discouraging to see no results after pretty rigorously following the mantra of "just try harder".

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

#413

Post by screye »

llamaimperative wrote: post #256
gcr wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have an open mind, I'd like to assign you some homework if you like. Take a look around r/zepbound and count the following: 1. Posts from folks who diet+exercise, or who have tried diet/exercise and nothing's worked so they then turned to Zepbound ("excited to hit the gym," "my diet is finally starting to work with Zepbound" and similar) 2. Posts from folks who haven't tried diet/exercise and turned to Zepboun…

GP isn't talking about self-control, they're talking about the fact we've created a system that requires obscene amounts of self-control if you wish to maintain physical health. People in the 50s weren't slimmer because they had ironclad determination to stay such.

Your point is correct. But 50% of people in 50s also smoked cigarettes, a known appetite suppressant.

So yeah, culture driven lower portion sizes + meds driven lower appetite is a well-tested combination with known positive outcomes.

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

#414

Post by mrshadowgoose »

lurking_swe wrote: post #72
codingdave wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because not everyone has willpower and discipline. People who do have those strengths often think it is just as simple as saying, "Just take care of yourself", but it is not that easy for many people. High blood sugar also increases cravings, which makes it even harder, bringing on a downward spiral. This drug can help break out of that spiral and fix the craving/willpower problems.

what you say is mostly true, but I will point out that it does not break any spiral. It’s frequently reported that as soon as you stop taking Ozempic, the weight comes back immediately. so unless one resolves the underlying problem, you will be on this drug for life.

This isn't the revelation you think it is. Chronic medical conditions require lifetime treatment. That isn't news to anyone.

It's funny how obesity is the only chronic medical condition that garners a huge volume of your particular kind of comment.

Would you be mentioning this for someone prescribed a diabetic, blood pressure or cholesterol medication? Statistically, likely not. So maybe take a step back, and examine why are you so averse to other people losing weight with medication.

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

#415

Post by Scoundreller »

crooked-v wrote: post #302
gcr wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have good food, but you won't find it on "The Easy Path." The Easy Path is that gentle encouragement to hit up Chipotle for lunch, because it's "right there." The Easy Path says dinner's hard and you've had a long day, so get something simple, like take-out or microwave. The Easy Path is entropy. The Easy Path is self-care over struggle. The Easy Path is simple carbs shown on prominent display in store shelves. Th…

> I personally doubt that, because putting GLP-1 on The Easy Path would require big food companies to rethink their entire portfolio. I think the drug industry is more powerful than the food industry, these days.

Are they? People spend more on food than pharmaceuticals globally, but I do believe they’re converging.

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

#416

Post by anigbrowl »

mritchie712 wrote: post #84
IncreasePosts wrote: post #3

My biggest fear is either there will be long term negative consequences to Ozempic et al, and a huge swath of the population will be dealing with issues 30 years form now - OR - there will be some long term positive consequence to using Ozempic et al, and I'm not getting any of the benefits because I'm not overweight.

Has there ever been a case where something like #2 has happened? Don't think you need to worry about that one.

Some athletes (especially weightlifters) use Tadalafil, an erectile dysfunction drug, because it also promotes bone density and muscle growth while having few observable side effects. This isn't really surprising, it's basically just a mild vasodilator. A better known drug in the same class Sildenafil (aka Viagra) is less mild, and associated with retinal damage if overused.

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

#417

Post by vessenes »

DonnyV wrote: post #303
bryanlarsen wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a huge swath of the population will be dealing with issues 30 years form now We've got 20 years of data on this class of drug. Certainly there could be some long term issues that we're not aware of yet, but it's not likely that there are significant issues that affect a large percentage of users after 30 years that didn't affect the small sample of users that have been using it for 20 years or the massive number of…

How much of the data was done independent and how much was done by the same company or companies that benefit from it? We've seen this before. How many decades did people take aspirin thinking it was good for you to take everyday. How many decades did people drink wine thinking it was good for you in small dosage? How many people smoked using it as an appetite suppressant not knowing the long term effects? The list g…

Dude, the mortality rates go up at least linearly, maybe super-linearly, to weight over a certain amount. It's not like some mythical / hard to read / later benefit. This is a drug that radically changes those risks NOW, really quickly. It's a different matter than aspirin (helpful if heart disease is a real risk, otherwise no) or wine or smoking, both of which people have a strong interest in thinking of as good for you.

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

#418

Post by xyst »

Maybe when food shortages become a thing, we can add Ozempic to the water supply to curb people’s appetites and reduce demand. \s

Kidding aside, I still think it’s extreme for off-label usage. Short term results are nice. But what about the long term? Once patients reach a desirable state, can they be titrated off the medication while maintaining their ideal labs and weight? What’s the rate of recidivism?

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

#419

Post by DAGdug »

mlsu wrote: post #408
beezlebroxxxxxx wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that more research is pointing to obesity as, in some sense, a precursor/reaction to the onset of type 2 diabetes rather than type 1. Once you get to quite obese you're dealing with physiological factors that make losing weight medically difficult from behavioral changes alone. It also makes the chances of "yo-yoing" the weight higher as well. At that point the treatment for obesity overlaps with…

Yep, it definitely is! I mentioned type 1 because I have it. As a contrast -- the point was that nobody judges me for having type 1 the way they judge people for having obesity. As an aside, I notice that sort of "lifestyle/willpower" type framing in discussions about type 2 also.

There are varying degrees of control over outcomes. The judgment comes from the correlation between an unobserved variable (effort at controlling or preventing obesity) with the observed variable (actual obesity).

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

#420

Post by OptionOfT »

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... the number on the scale kept on creeping up.

And you know what it is? It's volume. I eat too much. And I have no cookies at home. I have no chips at home. No soda, no alcohol. I drink black coffee with a splash of milk. I don't eat any sweeteners.

I have had weight loss surgery (lap band) which was later reversed as it hurt 24/7.

Now, on ZepBound I lost 20lbs in 2 months. I am not hungry. My brain can actually focus on the things that matter.

Why do we find it acceptable to help people who struggle with alcohol abuse, or nicotine addiction, or opioid addiction, but not to help people who struggle with food abuse?

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