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Studies show that 1 in 8 adults in the US He used one Popular GLP-1 drugsMost try to manage chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and others help with weight loss.
But About 60% Those taking these drugs — including Ozympic and Munjaro for diabetes and Wegovi and Zipbond — should stop treatment before 12 weeks, before the drugs can cause clinically meaningful weight loss, studies show.
Side effects such as diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea cause some people to stop taking the drug. Others stop because they don't feel the drugs are working or are concerned about the cost. Although manufacturers offer assistance programs, without insurance, you can buy it for $ 1,000 or more.
Dr. Eduardo Grunwald, medical director of the Weight Management Program at UC San Diego, said: “We call them anti-obesity drugs because we're treating a chronic disease. Health. “I have no problem if people want to stop taking them or support them. But most people put the weight back on if they stop.
Here's what people found after trying the drugs.
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I want to go back to him, but I'm too scared.
Alex Murphy is still worried. She stopped her Zepbound injections for a few weeks and is watching her weight like a hawk, worrying about any hint of weight gain.
“Everywhere I go, I'm looking for a gauge,” she said with a laugh.
The 22-year-old content creator consulted her doctor about weight-loss drugs before undergoing breast reduction surgery in March.
It was her first surgery and she wanted to reduce her BMI to reduce health risks during the surgery and recovery.
She lost about 50 pounds in 23 injections — a five-month journey.
Results of Alex
- Height: 5'8″
- Initial weight: 247 pounds £
- Current weight: 200 lbs.
- Method: Zepbound, diet changes, exercise
- DurationHe took over Zepbound from May to October. She stopped for a few weeks before taking her last dose of Zepbound.
Murphy shared her progress. Many videos have gone viral Asking questions on TikTok about side effects and how she got the drug.
“This drug has changed my life positively in all areas of my social life, my personal life and how I present myself. It has allowed me to be more confident in the places I go,” she says.
But there were also negative sides. She felt fatigued, had nausea and brain fog while on the injection.
“After I take the medicine, I have to take it to myself for two days because it's acting like your body. Your body will function without you [physically] do. “So even small things like me climbing stairs or carrying things like me, I'm more hyperventilating than I am now, I can't move, I can't get up, I can't feel irritable,” she says.
Murphy battled hormonal acne for the first time in her life. And perhaps most frighteningly, she had several fainting episodes while on the zipboard.
Doctors warned her that her blood sugar was low and that she was allowing herself to become dehydrated, so she tried to be more mindful of her food and water intake.
Murphy now weighs less than she did in middle school and says her mental health has improved.
“The breast reduction was a big step, but the weight loss put a little cherry on top,” she said.
The Houston college student got her medication at no cost to people in her home state of California, Inland Empire Health Plan, Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.
“I don't think I can afford it in this economy, and at that time it was considered a luxury,” she said.
Still, before she hit her goal weight, Murphy decided to stop using the ZipBoard for a few weeks to see if she could make it the rest of the way on her own.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could naturally lose the last 10 pounds of my goal weight so that I wasn't dependent on the medication,” she said. “I don't have any habits or addictions except social media. So I wanted to keep it that way.
She is eating once a day and fasting three or four times a week.
But after hitting her weight loss goal off Zepbond, she felt she was going backwards and took another dose.
“I felt bloated, and I was concerned about how much I was eating,” she says. “I can't control eating sweets. I was getting back into my eating habits.”
Murphy feels certain that this latest volume of Zepbound will be her last.
“It wasn't worth it because of the acne, and I had other hormonal side effects,” she said.
And although she has yet to share her decision to stop taking Zipbod with her Tik Tok followers, she hopes her audience will stick with her.
“I hope that my audience will follow me without me [weight loss] I was able to encourage people to continue to travel and take care of their own well-being. Whether you're on weight loss medication or not, but being more proactive about your health in general, especially girls transitioning from teenage to young adulthood,” she says.
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'I didn't know what the outcome would be.'
According to Steven Ray, life after weight loss is a smooth ride.
In fact, he returned from an excursion where he could confidently walk around shirtless – a man who wore a T-shirt in the pool until he became very conscious of his weight the first time he grew up. .
Steven's results
- Height: 5'8″
- Initial weight: 210 pounds £
- Current weight: 168 lbs
- Method: Combined semaglutide, diet change, exercise
- DurationHe took compounded semaglutide from February to May. He has been gone for six months.
Ray, 37, used compounded semaglutide at a safety clinic. Compounding is the process of preparing commercially available copies of drugs. It is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for shortages – until recently it applied to GLP-1 drugs. An unprecedented demand.
Ray lost over 40 pounds in four months and hit his goal and quit cold turkey medication, on doctor's orders.
The Houston-area father of two says he's been able to maintain his weight since his last injection in May, hovering around 168 pounds.
FDA does not evaluate compounded GLP-1 drugs for safety, efficacy, or quality, and the agency has accepted Adverse event reports In people using combined semaglutide.
Ray was willing to take the chance.
He was “tired of being skinny” and wanted to be a better role model for his kids, so Ray visited a health care clinic to learn more about whether weight loss injections were for him.
“At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself,” he said. “You have to be healthy to help peopleHe said.
Aside from a little acid reflux and some stomach cramps, Ray says, he's thankful that he hasn't noticed many side effects from the weight loss pills.
Blood sugar, cholesterol and testosterone levels improved. And perhaps just as importantly, he feels better about himself now. The children also noticed the changes.
“I make it a point to make better decisions for them so they can have a healthy life,” Ray said.
To maintain his weight loss, Ray prioritizes portion control, making changes such as ordering kids' meals at fast-food restaurants and eating a smaller plate instead of a regular dinner plate.
“The way I look at this drug is a lifestyle change. And this is the crutch that's helping you adjust to your new lifestyle,” Ray said.
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I will never go back to Ozympic
Becky Bell used to tell people that she would never run even if someone was chasing her with a gun.
She has now earned two 5K race bibs and is signed up for another race on Thanksgiving.
Bell, who lives in Woodstock, Georgia, has tried to lose weight for more than 25 years using a variety of diets. But her husband After his death in 2014, she said, she “felt apart.”
“I didn't want to do anything but eat,” she said.
She lived a solitary – and sedentary – life. In the year In 2020, her doctor prescribed Ozympic to help her lose weight and prevent her prediabetes from progressing.
Becky results
- Height: 5'7″
- Initial weight: 294 pounds £
- Current weight: 204 lbs
- Method: Ozympic, dietary changes, exercise
- DurationHe took Ozempic from May 2020 to October 2023
“I was so close to being 300 pounds. I knew I had to do something because I have a bad heart history in my family, so he told me I had to do something to keep from dying of a heart attack,” said Bell, 69.
Ozempic was the first step towards her goals, but she had a limited space. She did not want to take forever. And while she was taking the medicine, she lost her appetite.
“It was great at curbing my appetite, until I was told by my doctor that I wasn't eating a thousand calories a day when I was on Ozympic.
Bell was very ill while on the Ozympic, she says, with nausea and low energy. She always wanted to sleep. She…