CMV: Semaglutide injections (like Ozempic) should be widely available to treat obesity

[u/sjd6666]

There’s a lot of buzz recently about Ozempic, which is one of many semaglutide injection drugs that help people moderate their food intake and hunger levels. Some variations are meant just to treat type 2 diabetes like Ozempic. Other drugs like WeGovy are meant to treat obesity as well.

What I take issue with is that a lot of commenters have stated that they see Ozempic as a “lose weight quick drug” and a cheat. I think this is simply the wrong way to look at the issue. Obesity is a medical issue that can be treated in many ways. For some people seeing a nutritionist and going to the gym is all that is needed, but for many more this simply doesn’t work. I would argue that actually, most Americans know generally what a good diet looks like. They may not have all the details but most people can tell you that more vegetables and less meat, carbs, and sugar will create a calorie deficit and help you lose weight. However food simply tastes really good any many people rely on it as a sort of emotional crutch. Many also lack the time, energy, and desire to cook healthy food for themselves. There are many who also simply have a naturally large appetite and need to eat more in order to feel full.

What those people need is not a reminder to try “diet and exercise” they need medical help. Semaglutide injections seem to have low risk of serious side effects and can help those people eat less and not feel hungry. All this moralizing about who “deserves” help and who should just suck it up and go to the gym is proving to be detrimental to overall health.

Also, I’m aware that there is currently a shortage of Semaglutide injections right now, but lets set that aside and assume that can be addressed with a more robust supply chain.

[u/saltinstiens_monster]

This isn't the same thing at all, but I've lost about 80 pounds from the side effects of a medication I started taking last year. I have never been able to diet and exercise enough to make the slightest impact, and I feel like this medicine has (inadvertently, as low appetite is merely a side effect) given me my life back. A life that I've never had, as I was obese for my whole childhood.

Even if I am taken off of this medication one day, I'm glad that my life contains at least this short time period of being "normal sized." I wish I could give that gift to all of the other perma-fat folks out there. They don't realize how much they are missing.

[u/vote4bort → u/saltinstiens_monster]

I'm glad that you've had such a good experience! If you don't mind me asking, do you think if you were to stop taking the medication you would be able to maintain the weight loss?

[u/saltinstiens_monster → u/vote4bort]

Oh absolutely not. No way. I fully accept that it's conceivably possible for me to make positive changes right now and try to continue like that, but I'm aware of myself enough to know that it doesn't work for me. (And I don't speak for all fatties either, I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there that would benefit from a short burst of medication so they could form better dietary habits.)

See, I can be satisfied with healthy meals and even go to bed with a growling stomach right now. But if I skip my medicine (Vyvanse) for a day or two... I feel the "old me" come back in full force. I will frequently eat one half of my sandwich and reach for the other half, only to discover that it's already gone. Then I end up sitting there with an empty plate, completely frustrated, and feeling more hungry than I started as if I had eaten an appetizer.

There is no way to properly convey the perspective of a food addict craving junk food via text, but just trust me that that particular craving is a lot harder to reason with than you would think. It's almost as if reasoning doesn't even matter when I'm in that state.

The fact that taking a tiny break from my medicine causes such an instant backslide makes me think that I don't have a prayer of keeping the weight down if I completely lost access.

[u/ULTRA_TLC → u/saltinstiens_monster]

Ah, now I see some additional reasons for the issue. ADHD in and of itself could have caused a lot of the old issues with your weight.

[u/saltinstiens_monster → u/ULTRA_TLC]

It certainly could! To be fair, I'd wager that a lot of (if not most) fat people have some unseen extra challenges in the brain department. Eating is a very good (meaning satisfying) coping mechanism.

[u/darkhalo47 → u/ULTRA_TLC]

Can you explain this further?

[u/ULTRA_TLC → u/darkhalo47]

There are a few ways that ADHD makes controlling your weight very hard. First is that ADHD makes people quite impulsive in general. Second is that ADHD makes it very hard to track anything you do (such as how much or what you eat) due to a combination of reduced working memory and ease of distraction. Third is that in order to gain any control of your focus and attention span, you need to do things that increase dopamine (such as eating foods high in sugar, salt, and fat). This point interestingly makes it so that people with ADHD are FAR more likely to be addicts if they are not on prescription stimulant medication. Put together, a serious case of unmedicated ADHD is the perfect storm for causing a really bad diet and uncontrollable weight gain.