Live data from Hacker News

Ozempic drug supresses desire to smoke, drink and more?

theatlantic.com

431–440 of 504 posts

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

#431
post #151

I’ve been on Mounjaro since August. Down almost 60lbs, and it’s been a life changer. Have I had some gastrointestinal issues, sure, but expected. I feel great and my brain seems to be functioning as well as when I was in my 20’s. Now, when I go to the bar with friends, I end up having maybe 2 beers and although enjoyable, I don’t feel that light switch turning on which encourages me to drink more. Can I force myself…

Based on what you've said it sounds like the drug may have an effect on release of dopamine, though I'm sure the trials would have caught that if so.

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

#432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a long time we have known the existence of a network of hormones controlling our apetite on the gut brain axis, with names like ghrelin, leptin, glp-1, orexin, somatostatin, list goes on [1]. Issue was the network was tres complicé and hard to perturb without getting the opposite effect than what we wanted. Finally with glp-1, sglt2 and pcsk9 inhibition we are starting to be able to correct in the right way. To a…

can we do this for working out and exercise? I’m lean but dont do that and can recognize the benefits. It would be cool if we could pharmacologically make that appealing too. What if we could just continually swap in states. Executive work mode, ah it feels so good to think and focus. Empath mode, ah it feels so good to build relationships. Brolic mode, ah it feels so good to think about working out, and actually wor…

Empath mode is oxytocin injection. Joking? Or not?

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

#433
post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I feel great and my brain seems to be functioning as well as when I was in my 20’s >but my untreated ADHD seems to be getting worse. I had very similar results after taking ketamine for treatment-resistant depression. It eliminated all my compulsive tendencies for getting cheap dopamine hits (food, doomscrolling, etc), reset my tolerance to everything (caffeine, ADHD meds, alcohol), and made my ADHD worse while impr…

Ketamine treatments help people, because ketamine is a dissociative drug. It makes you not feel your suffering, also makes you not feel the positive feelings. That’s why you’re not eg doomscrolling. It doesn’t feel good for you anymore. If you’re not getting treatments regularly, you will be back to suffering in a few months likely. In my opinion, there are better alternatives and more effective treatments than livin…

This isn't true. I am not dissociated when not actively undergoing the treatment.

If anything, the after-effects of ketamine treatment alleviate my lifelong dissociation and other symptoms depression and PTSD. Something about the induced dissociation "wraps around" and snaps people back into fully being present.

Have you ever had ketamine treatment? Where are you getting these conclusions?

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

#434
post #430
post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is not true at all. the dissociative effects only last a few hours. the clinical benefit is because ketamine stimulates neurogenesis in the mPFC and hippocampus, restoring plasticity lost in depressed patients. don't make unsubstantiated leaps :-)

Yes the immediate effects last for a few hours. I didn’t say otherwise. The current scientific literature paints a mixed picture of ketamine. While it can stimulate neurogenesis, there is a definite potential for neurotoxicity. Not to mention that there are no long term studies out there. There are countless people reporting being anhedonic after treatments. Only a few people have been reported to not relapse before…

>Only a few people have been reported to not relapse before 24 weeks.

So what? Ketamine is a treatment, not a cure.

Would you apply the same logic to insulin for T1 diabetes?

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

#435
post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ketamine treatments help people, because ketamine is a dissociative drug. It makes you not feel your suffering, also makes you not feel the positive feelings. That’s why you’re not eg doomscrolling. It doesn’t feel good for you anymore. If you’re not getting treatments regularly, you will be back to suffering in a few months likely. In my opinion, there are better alternatives and more effective treatments than livin…

This isn't true. I am not dissociated when not actively undergoing the treatment. If anything, the after-effects of ketamine treatment alleviate my lifelong dissociation and other symptoms depression and PTSD. Something about the induced dissociation "wraps around" and snaps people back into fully being present. Have you ever had ketamine treatment? Where are you getting these conclusions?

Yes I did have two treatments. After the first treatment I really liked it and I thought I had my life back. All my debilitating symptoms were gone. Weeks after the second treatment I noticed that my depression and trauma is not gone. It just made me not constantly aware of it, if that makes sense. I was not clinically dissociated as well, just dissociated from the things that caused my suffering. I didn’t think that was a healthy way of living, so I stopped getting treatments. Luckily I found forms of treatments to actually heal after that. I’m incredibly glad I did.

Ketamine didn’t heal me, my perspective just changed, which can be valuable though.

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

#436
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.

do you have stats to confirm your assertion about this drug because it seems as speculation as saying "well maybe if I was 100lbs less I would have more energy, be happier with myself and therefore have more willpower to have a more healthy relationship with food".

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

#437
post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the immediate effects last for a few hours. I didn’t say otherwise. The current scientific literature paints a mixed picture of ketamine. While it can stimulate neurogenesis, there is a definite potential for neurotoxicity. Not to mention that there are no long term studies out there. There are countless people reporting being anhedonic after treatments. Only a few people have been reported to not relapse before…

>Only a few people have been reported to not relapse before 24 weeks. So what? Ketamine is a treatment, not a cure. Would you apply the same logic to insulin for T1 diabetes?

You are comparing apples to oranges my friend.

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

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>not solely controllable by willpower so, would you say a solution to the problem that lets you eat as much as you want, so you don't have to use your willpower, be an appropriate solution to suggest? There is a difference between taking last-resort medication for the rest of your life, and eating apples.

People like you are the absolute worst to deal with when struggling to lose weight. I managed to lose 150lbs, and it had very little to do with will power, at least the way people like you mean it. I had to reconfigure my entire life around it. I kept barely enough food in the house to meet my calorie target for the week. I once fell asleep while driving home from work and ran off the road because my blood sugar was…

I don't know how you can take a response that says "don't fight the willpower war, just give in and adjust your life so you don't need willpower" and interpret that as the polar opposite of what was written.

It is people like you who are the absolute worst to deal with. You take a specific example which probably does not not apply to your body, completely and completely twisted what was said so you can both be a victim and feel superior.

I specifically stated a diet that for a person who is working out a couple of hours per week, there is a way to constantly eat and minimize the caloric intake despite large amounts of food. I did not remotely suggest stuffing your face all day is a willpower-based solution to a thyroid problem.

I'm 5'11. In my early 30s, I was a 31 waist, 170lb, benched a full set of 400lb, ran cross country, and had 6% body fat. In my late 30s, I was a 34 waist with high blood pressure. I made the change in my diet, and a few years later, I'm a 31 waist, 170lb, normal blood pressure, and 10% bodyfat, and I eat as much as I feel like, just not whatever I feel like.

This is a solution for maintaining a healthy weight in an active lifestyle, that uses zero willpower, because my willpower is bad. This is not a solution for someone with a thyroid problem who needs to lose almost the weight of my whole body.

I don't know what it is with you and this other guy. You read very simple basic text, and you reply to something you've completely made up. It's like your brain paints a virtual world for yourself where you can feel constantly offended. No one's out to get you. No one's making fun of you. People are talking about something that clearly wasn't for you, so you inject yourself into the conversation so you can feel attacked. Stop that.

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

#439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find the right exercise/workout for you and it'll be its own reward. Shouldn't take more than a bit of caffeine to get you moving at that point. As to empath mode, you've just described MDMA. But it'd be nice if there were something a little less intense. That you could take weekly without frying your brain & was mild enough for family/work social situations. (And no, alcohol doesn't fit the bill).

> Find the right exercise/workout for you and it'll be its own reward. appreciate the perspective but I want to be like the people that feel pulled to "find" it at all.

That's not so easy, but also not as hard as you think. Won't take a lot of time on any one thing to see if it clicks for you. Pick a couple of activities, do each from absolute beginner level, twice a week for four weeks. Once if you're pushed for time. Keep the one that sucks less after a month. You don't need to hear the voice of God to download the Couch to 5K running app, grab a basic weights set and watch a few vids on simple exercises, or sign up for a local yoga or spin session.

The high can be way better than you'd believe possible before you try. Or if you don't believe personal anecdote.. /something/ must be keeping all those people coming back to it at considerable expense, hassle and time.

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

#440
post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and... this person now takes these last-measure pills forever? or here in the real world, do they use the pills to lose weight, and then maintain that normal weight forever with... perhaps a diet trick that works? people who have to take last-measure medication usually don't stop eating when they are full. i know, it's weird to tell someone who doesn't stop eating when they're full, how to still maintain weight if th…

I’m hopeful that it’s more like 3 months out of the year. Looking back over the years, I’ve gained roughly 5lbs/year since I hit 30. Now in my late 40’s, during Covid, it seems like that went to 10lbs/year. The first 3 months on mounjaro, I lost 20lbs, so that cycle should be sufficient. I’d stay on it permanently, if it weren’t for the $1200/month.

Here's something I tried that's a 5-year max type of solution. If my suggestion for "stuff your face with fruit" isn't for you, maybe this is. If you absolutely Have to eat fatty foods, there's Alli. It clumps about 1/4 of your fat intake into large balls, so you poo it out. For small weight gain like yours, perhaps it's enough reduction to maintain current weight. You can't take it longer than a few years, because you'll have vitamin issues. Oil-soluble vitamins dissolve in the clumped fat and don't get absorbed.

I tried this a few years before going with my "apple diet." It works, but my bloodwork after a few years said I need to stop. There is a catch. The first year, you Cannot pass gas. That clumped oil that comes out, comes out very easily, and unfortunately Alli makes you gassy too. This side-effect goes away in about a year if you power through it.

Not a dietician or a doctor, but perhaps your mounjaro treatment can be cycled with Alli (cheap, OTC) every few years to save some cash. Invest in a large bottle of Dawn dishsoap. Put it in a spray bottle and spray the bowl after you do your stuff. You'll have to, just trust me.

Post reply on HN