What Does Ozempic Actually DO? with Dr. Dhruv Khullar - Factually! - 255
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2024
- There's been a surge in discourse around medications such as Ozempic, prompting understandable skepticism-Is this another weight loss fad, or the beginning of something new? While it is primarily used to treat diabetes and promote weight loss, there's mounting evidence that shows drugs like Ozempic can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and potentially be instrumental in treating addiction. In this episode, Adam speaks with Dr. Dhruv Khullar, a physician and assistant professor of health policy and economics at Weill Cornell Medical College, exploring the efficacy, risks, and impact these drugs have on our relationship with weight and food.
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Thank you for not partnering with Better Help for this episode.
Why is your show getting worse
🔥
Is your channel deleting critical comments? If so, that's pathetic.
14:00 I can tell you precisely why people stop taking these medications. I was prescribed Mounjaro initially in December 2023. Even though I _should_ have started the 7.5 mg dose in February, I haven't yet been able to due to drug shortages. Meanwhile, even though I was prescribed this after poor tolerance of metformin, and I have a type II diabetes diagnosis, my insurance company has been trying its utmost to make it as difficult as possible to get the coverage they are supposed to be offering as part of our health plan. The cost without insurance is a huge roadblock, and with insurance it might not be much better or even covered at all.
That is why so many who would benefit from this stop taking the medication within a year.
I'm an Army vet. Despite growing up playing all kinds of sports and having an active lifestyle I was always overweight. Even after I joined the military and was in training for a while (working out multiple times a day and eating a strict diet for months on end) I still was barely able to keep to an "average" body fat and was in and out of the Army weight control program my whole career. One time in my second year in the Army, to get off the program I cut to less than 1200 calories a day for 6 months while doing heavy physical activity (physical training every day, working outside in the Texas summer, and then going to remedial physical training at the end of the day) to cut 15 pounds from 190 - 175. I was absolutely miserable and borderline unhealthy just to make "the standard". I was almost a heat casualty one day I was so dehydrated and malnourished.
I've been out of the Army for 10 years now. I'll never be able to attain that level of physical activity again, my weight slowly creeps up year by year as I get older and less able to do physical activity and need more and more medicine to treat conditions that either started in, or are a direct result of my Army service resulting in weight gain. It really annoys me when people try to simplify weight management to "just work out more" or "just eat less". It takes so much more in some cases.
I've been through similar. I spent the entirety of the 2010s getting around on a bicycle (in my 30s, no less). That sometimes meant upwards of 100 miles in a single day to get to where I was going. And everyone who has ever seen me has somehow found a way to comment on my belly. I would have to go into a medical coma for my body to reach the levels of adiposity that medical science insists I should have because my body absolutely will not permit it. Some of us are designed to be soft, even when we're stronger than everyone else.
Appreciate you sharing your experience. Seriously, thank you.
Get your thyroid checked... Even if you want to use more energy, a poor functioning thyroid or not enough iodine in your diet reduces your bodies ability to tell it to use energy.
The doctors shoulda checked that while in the army....
@@penguinsareForeverthey've certainly been given this advice before. they probably did check it in the army. unsolicited advice is criticism. you can keep these things to yourself
thank you for sharing and 100%. whenever someone regurgitates the same simple "eat less, move more" advice as if this is earth-shaking information - i know they haven't taken the time to learn about others' experiences. Weight loss can get complex. It seems simple if you just ignore all the variables that come from being unique humans
My wife has lost over 50 pounds using ozempic. She has tried every diet in combination with exercise and never had the success she's had with ozempic. I'm so happy for her and she hasn't had this kind of confidence since before our kids were born.
Same, my wife has seriously struggled with weight despite eating a fraction of what I eat and exercising more often. She tried ozempic and has lost like 40 pounds. She is not anemic and still exercises. She is now at a healthy weight and can simply maintain it now without all of the stress and frustration she was dealing with before
Does she feel sick with it. I heard it screws up your stomach. I already barely eat and am always nauseas. Workout. Tried every diet and can’t eat most food 😢. Still plus size since my pregnancies.
@@spartan662501that’s good to know.
Is she learning behaviour modification so when she stops the meds she doesn't go back up? It's just an appetite suppressant
I have also heard of depression and anxiety increasing on some GLP-1 meds. That could be part of the drop off
Trulicity and Mounjaro have saved and transformed my life. Super-fat since I was 6-years old, I went from 405 lbs. (at 5'1") 2 years ago, to 193 lbs. today... and still going down. I am out of wheelchairs, no more walkers, or canes. The changes are more numerable than I can list here, but know my life is 180 degrees different. I now walk 3+ miles a day. I do resistance training 3x a week. Alcohol and Diet Coke (8-10 cans a day for decades) taste like watered-down dirt, so it is 120 oz. of water (at least!) a day... without even pushing it. My HbA1c has gone from 9.0 to 5.3. My kidneys are happy. My liver is thrilled! My lipid panel is 100% normal. My feet are not breaking like they did just from walking around the house. I am ALIVE! Take these forever? Sign me up!
i'm happy for you!
😮 that's tremendous
What an achievements. I commend you.
Congrats!!
Hear, hear. I started at 340, down to 252. I feel like a human again. My a1c was 11 at one point. Gestational. It was so scary. So damn scary.
these medications are not inherently expensive, they are grossly overcharged. This is sheer profiteering.
The American way!
@@epflrz1625read the side effects list. Treating the side effects is drugstore candy.
Where candy sales make insulin, blood pressure medicine and arthritis treatment sales. Ozempic makes for gallbladder surgery, osteoporosis treatment and more
The for profit medical industry will do nothing to hurt it's profits. Might shift some of it's profits around.
It costs over a billion dollars to bring a drug to market and that’s just R&D expenses alone. And that’s not counting the costs of the drugs that don’t make it through trials. Someone needs to pay for that or otherwise no one would take the risk to even attempt to make newer and better drugs.
@@nickgardner1408 that research was government funded. Similarly police officer is a safer job than delivery driver. Believe the marketing.
@@mandelharvey3429 Norvo Nordisk a Danish company is a private company which is funded through private capital investment. the direct development and commercialization of semaglutide were funded by Novo Nordisk.
Adam is such a great interviewer.
He asks the right questions and allows the interviewee to respond and expand on the subject without interrupting.
This doctor is also very knowledgeable and eloquent.
I'm very happy I found this channel, very informative and down to earth.
My insurance wouldn't cover Wegovy, but they would cover a gastric bypass. Since I was born with a heart condition, my doctor had concerns about surgery, so he sent the prescription to a FDA approved/state licensed compounding pharmacy. I have been on the medication for 5 months now and have lost 50 pounds. My blood pressure is now in the normal range and my arthritis has greatly improved. I am also now able to work out 5 times a week without debilitating pain and I have been able to stick to the nutrition plan I got from my dietician. I still have 70 pounds to lose, but this medication has been life changing.
OMG you got lucky to have a doctor that uses compounding pharmacy's!! Congrats and spread the word!!
I recently started this medication and it is truly insane how dramatic the effects were in the span of a few days. Lower spontaneous appetite, little to no desire to snack out of boredom, easier to stop when I'm in the middle a meal. It makes me wonder if this is what other people experience on a day to day basis.
And mind you, it's not like I haven't had success with weight loss in the past. I lost about a hundred pounds over a couple years, and once I hit a threshold, it was almost impossible to lose more. And whenever I dropped below that threshold, hunger would be nearly continuous. Now I can actually mentally calorie count and I'm seeing weight loss without feeling light headed, fatigued, nauseated, or intense and painful hunger.
I'm hoping the effects are even stronger at high doses. And I really hope that these drugs go down in price soon. This could seriously help billions of people.
Great work! Don't let anyone make you feel bad for using a tool to get back to a weight that makes you happy. Stay strong.
@@Metonymy1979 People aren't shaming just for needing help. I was on a form of ozempiec for 2 years and I lost a ton of weight, and the moment I stopped it, the weight boomed back even tho I was on a weighless and I was serious about it. The weight loss is great, but it's a problem if u don't plan to stay on it. I know what it was like to be obese so i would never tell someone to not do something that's deemed as being easier or a cop out. I just think when it comes to weight loss many people ignore the negatives solely to focus on the fact that someone in gonna be thinner
I hope you don't mind me asking: Why go to a higher dose if it's working? I imagine a lower dose would also mean less bone density loss? Not to mention the other side effects?
Do you think you couldnt control yourself without it? I feel if you had lost that much weight you already are mentally strong to just not eat knowing you are full?
@therabbithat I am starting on Mounjaro for diabetic care. I can tell you from experience that, at least for now, my body has normalized the smaller doses. I am supposed to be ramping up, I am still on the second to lowest dose. I haven't been able to ramp up _to control my blood sugar_ because of shortages over the last three months. The insurance companies aren't helping, either. I presume that, once I get to the right dosage, I will be able to maintain that without necessarily increasing further. It varies from person to person.
Having been on these meds for a while to manage my insulin, just wanted to add:
1) there's a huge supply problem. I had to switch from Ozempic to Mounjaro bc i couldn't get my rx filled consistently, and now 3mos into my new rx I'm starting to run into the same issue. Just can't get the meds.
2) when we talk about loss of appetite, we're not talking about skipping thirds at the buffet. Some days i completely forget to eat at all - and then predictably deal with exhaustion and lethargy and brain fog, etc. And if you do remember to eat and grab the wrong thing or slightly too much, have fun being up all night with nausea or indigestion or both. The gi issues aren't debilitating until they've been going on for a year and you're *tired*. Might still be worth it (it is for me), but it requires very careful management
The supply problem is the pharmaceutical companies up charging the actual diabetic. They have the meds they just want to get paid the most for it
@@garzita956 As he says here, while the profiteering it is definitely a problem, there's also a genuine issue right now with sufficient manufacturing capacity of meet supply - especially manufacture of the pens. That issue will get resolved fairly quickly, unlike the profiteering issue.
Not eating as a teen is what seriously fucked with my natural metabolism. These medications will have side effects that we don’t know about, but doctors will love having a medication to throw at every fat person, regardless of their vitals, labs, life style etc.
Pharma gets their bag, and fat folks get dehumanized.
Yeah, when you're on a medication that severely suppresses your sensation of hunger, you basically need to set a reminder for yourself to eat at least once a day so you don't forget. I have a friend for whom adderall functions in this way and it severely suppresses his sense of hunger, so he has to force himself to eat at least one meal with around 1200 calories or more each day.
It's not the medication is the injection the mechanism. Have you ever asked your self. How semaglutide and terzepitide can be filled but name brands can't? It's the mechanism of the medication. They need to find a different way of distribution. Obviously this medication benefits every person that is over weight. Type 2 diabetes is manageable is not like Type 1 .
I've struggled with my weight and obesity my whole life and Ozempic has been an absolute game changer for me. I cannot describe how much your quality of life increases when you finally lose weight and begin to feel like the person you've always been meant to be. It's not only improved my physical health, but my mental health and confidence as well. I have energy and I feel mobile in a way I wasn't able to be before, and I feel a lot of hope for my life and my future that I haven't felt in a really long time.
Being obese puts you in this mental prison that makes it extremely difficult to change anything about your circumstances. Maybe exercising and calorie counting helped at one point, but chances are the regimen you needed to follow was unsustainable and you ended up gaining all the weight back and then some. Putting so much time and energy into something only to see any positive results disappear is soul crushing and further entrenches you in this hopeless feeling that things will never change, you're stuck this way and you just have to live with it. I spent so long just not wanting to leave my house because I didn't want to be seen by anyone. How can you make any positive changes in your life if you don't even feel good enough about yourself to step outside your front door?
That's why Ozempic is a game changer. I didn't have to change anything about my lifestyle, the suppression of my appetite was enough to pretty much immediately begin losing weight. After a year I'm now down 74lbs and I feel amazing. I feel good and have the energy and confidence now to go out and be active and do the things I want to do. I don't think it can be overstated how beneficial this drug can be for people who struggle with obesity, it's completely changed my life and I'm perfectly happy to take it for the rest of my life because it is more than worth it. I just hope they're able to bring down the price and make it accessible to everyone who needs it, because the impacts on society will be huge.
That’s incredible! I just started it and I wonder, did it work right away for you? Or only after you got to a certain dosage?
@@stahshakay8103 I found it started working pretty much right away. Adverse symptoms might hit you right away too, but if you stick it out they should go away eventually. You might be used to overeating, but try to stop eating as soon as you feel full, otherwise you might end up feeling sick. It's an adjustment but you get a sense of how much you can eat over time and your body adjusts too. I hope it works out for you!
@@Rashico 53:29 thanks for the reply! I took my first dose last week and it went ok! A little tired the first couple days and brain fog but that passed. Let’s see how week 2 goes tonight. Thanks for sharing your journey it’s encouraging.
@@stahshakay8103I felt the effects within hours of my very first dose. I took my kids to the pool and brought a snack (I snack when I’m bored, but this time I brought a healthy snack - grapes 😂). I remember thinking “I would normally be snacking by now. But I don’t WANT to” It was such a weird feeling I figured I must be imagining it. Nope. About half of the days each week I have to force myself to eat to fuel my body. Some days I still feel a little snacky, so I have a few bites of nuts or cheese or fruit. I cannot believe how different my attitude to food is. It’s so so weird. I hope you experience great results with few side effects. 🤞🏻
Meh. Lots of men love BBW.
Ozempic has made a huge impact on my life. I have binge eating disorder, and ozempic quiets the “food noise.” So far I’ve dropped from 414 to 378 pounds. I don’t expect to ever be skinny, but I’d be happy being able to walk without pain again.
Also, I had Stage 3A chronic kidney disease… and now my kidneys are healing!
~~~
Edit: Weighed at the doctor’s office. Down to 364. I’m losing around 5 pounds per month. I’m happy that it’s not happening too fast. 😊
Bot
I was prescribed Byetta when it first came out. I had horrible side effects. I changed to eating a whole food planted based diet and lost 130 lbs., however I still needed to lose 90 ish pounds and have never been able to do so. Overl the last 12 years I have struggled hard to maintain the weight loss even eating Whole Foods plant based. My struggle is real, however at 357 lbs I had many chronic illnesses including Type II Diabetes and took 23 medications. I now take 2 meds very low dose and have reversed all chronic illnesses and have been doing this since 2012.
Picasso didn't paint skinny girls 🩵💚
I've lost lost ~90lbs twice before (high-school, college) doing it the "right way" before trying this medication on my third try. I've lost 130lbs.
Before the drug- imagine low-key starving 24/7 or never being able to take a full breath of air, ever. It's torture. 90% of my mind was stuck on food. It was debilitating.
On Ozempic I feel like I can think/do other things! I know what satiation feels like. It's life changing. Liberating!
But now my insurance won't cover it because it's too expensive.
Our healthcare system is sh*t.
Upcoming elections are critical to this subject-vote
I feel voting 💙is the way
Look into getting it online or go to a doctor that works with "Compounding Pharmacy's"! Its insanely cheaper.
I'm a type 1 diabetic, on insulin starting from 14 years old. And it is defenitely a big problem to be told at this age, that you have to take some medicine for the rest of your life. It was 24 years ago, and I still remember how my whole world broke into pieces when I heard this. If there are some ways to avoid it, it's better to avoid it.
Maybe because I have allergies, asthma, and other treatable but forever concerns, taking medication for the rest of my life doesn’t phase me as long as the side effects are minimal. I’ll be on a migraine medication for the rest of my life that gives me a giant site reaction, still worth living without daily pain.
@@JessieBanana well, I suppose, with asthma or migraine you don't really have much choice. Same as I: without insulin I just can't live. With overweight, there are at least some other possibilities to try before deciding to take medication for the rest of your life. But who am I to give people advices? :)
I have Hashimoto's and my pancreas is malfunctioning too. They say I may become diabetic in the future. So lots of meds for me. Yay?
I started on this med, it was amazing. Dropped 40#, felt great, started running again, then insurance stopped paying and I can't pay for it out of pocket. That's probably a huge part of people stopping this med...
It is in Denmark. The public healthcare system and private insurance companies couldn't keep up without damaging other patients as billions was spend on the drug.
Find a compounding pharmacy or some vitamin infusion places offer it for cheapish
Try join Fridays if you haven’t.
I love that you talked about the judgment that people with obesity get from the public and medical professionals. My daughter has been in the 95th percentile or higher for weight since she was 2 months old and when she got to be around the age of eight, I noticed the doctors started to act differently. All of a sudden they were less interested in finding out why she may be having this issue and switching the conversation to diet and exercise, so as a person in her early twenties she has been on more diets than anyone ever should, all of which had minimal effect, if any at all.
I'm curious if a medication like Wegovy or one of the three receptor medications the doctor was speaking of could have a long-term effect if it's used for a more significant amount of time to the point where the person is no longer categorized as overweight, maybe 5 to 10 years. If their body does still return to their original weight, there needs to be research into why the body wants to maintain weight and what can be done about that root cause.
I heard in an interview with a bariatric surgeon that diet and exercise only works effectively long-term for about 5% people. That's a terrible success rate. It's time to stop blaming people with medical conditions and expecting them to use systems that have a chance 95% failure.
I agree. Even in the medical community there is this perception that it's all personal responsibility and that people need to try diet and exercise. And whilst I wouldn't say they're entirely wrong in the health sense. It's also unrealistic to expect people to change their lifestyle for these especially when in a lot of cases they do and it doesn't help.
It's not fair to expect everyone to be temptation resisters in a society that encourages, hell to be able to work and eat, requires you to live unhealthy sendentry lives.
And I always hate when people say Obesity or overweightness is a choice. When it's not. No one wakes up and says I want to be overweight and called fat and judged without getting proper help with a lot of medical issue. It's not like smoking or drinking. Those are active choices that are in a way optional addictions.
We NEED to eat food. That is non-negotiable. We can do without drinking alcohol or smoking. So it's not an option that we can just stop.
You can't go cold turkey on overweightness. Doctors and the general public actually need to recognise obesity as a symptom of our society rather than an individual problem issue. It's usually the thin people who have genetics that make it easier for them to lose weight or eat garbage food and break it down quicker. These are the people who never have to watch what they eat and they're such egotistical wankers. (Not all i know. But I am basing my experience on my elder brother who was one and absolutely hated him for how smug he was about it. Especially when he called me fat)
I think we need to have solutions where rather than leaving overweight people to work it out how to lose weight for themselves. They actually get proper medical assistance in losing weight and then the diet and exercise part can come afterwards.
But yeah, it's not your daughter's fault. Doctors are blind to patient experiences.
I remember i got referred to a dietician during an appointment where it wasn't even the subject of the reason why I was at the GP. And it really triggered me to the point where I burst into tears when I got in my car.
@JustAnotherPerson4U You're not alone! My daughter cries pretty much every time she's talked to a dietitian because they just tell her things that she already knows and has tried; she's just so tired of hearing the same things over and over. All of her experiences with medical professionals have involved conversations about her weight... since she was an infant. Even the veterinarian talked to her about the importance of not over feeding her dog and my daughter is meticulous about caring for her dog and making sure she has the proper nutrition.
Epigenetics taking place over the last few generations could be playing a major role and cause some people's bodies to prepare for famine. A few generations ago people were going through the Spanish flu, the Great Depression, World War II, times of fear and scarcity. Even though these new medications are having really good results, they're not permanent, so we need to get to the root cause of why an increasing amount of bodies are prone to storing more energy than what is needed for our current time of plenty. Fingers crossed for a path to that in the future.
I'm sorry to hear that your brother was so unkind to you and hopefully he's grown into a more thoughtful adult.
@LadyPantera57 I wholeheartedly agree. There's got to be a genetic proponent to body shape that won't be affected by diet and exercise. We don't shame someone for being a dwarf or being tall so how is this any different? Good luck to your daughter, my youngest child is facing similar challenges and all I can do is be supportive.
there's always genetics at work, many people will never be able to reach what society considers attractive. but at the extremes, like you describe, physics can't be broken by genetics. too much food was consumed at some point. that's not anyone's fault, it's not a moral failing, but it did happen. and enough food is being consumed to keep that weight on.
at the end of the day, your body is made of cells and those cells need food to be created and maintained.
if you need to lose weight, the only way to do it is to starve yourself. no amount of eating specific foods will ever matter. it always comes down to eating less than your body needs to maintain your current weight. it's a miserable process no one wants to do and very few people have the willpower, time, and money to do. and even after these extreme sprints of weight loss, if food intake returns to the same quantity, you're likely to return to the same weight as before anyways.
Unfetered faith in the pharmaceutical industries; the same ones who gave us anti-depressants and fentanyl? How many fat or over weight animals do you see in the wild,...you see none! Yes an extremely few people need the assistance of a psychiatrist or a counselor, but for most humans, it is simply eating too much of the wrong thing. Cut down or eleminate your carbohydrates, starches, processd foods and sugar (especially sugar) and your weight problem goes away. What I said is not easy to do because there is a McDonalds or Pizza hut on almost every corner! For those of us who threw out all the sugar, processed foods and junk food,...our weight problem went away without pills. All,...all pills have side effects,...
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year, so my doctor first prescribe me Metformin, then earlier this year Ozempic. At the beginning of this year I started doing a keto diet to help with reducing my sugar intake. Between that and the Ozempic, I've dropped about 50 lbs this year. Since starting it, I'm not that hungry anymore. When I do eat, it is very little portions.
You don't need Ozempic, keto alone will cure your type 2 diabetes and make you lose weight and keto diets don't require you to restrict the amount or frequency you eat so no need to feel hungry, just avoid carbs.
@@flyingfree333curing type 2 is a bold claim.
@@flyingfree333 you should submit a paper and go collect your Nobel prize
@@Schwift3Dtype 2 is the one you CAN cure, it's a lifestyle disease
@flyingfree333 you miss the point in that these GLP-1 agonists make it so people aren't hungry in the first place.
This tends to reverse the diabetes on its own, just like a more controlled diet which is satiating can do in a similar fashion.
The problem I have with them is that you have to keep taking the drugs, or the cravings tend to return.
I’ve been on zepbound for two months, and it has been one of the most life-changing things that’s ever happened to me. I have been able to implement a far healthier lifestyle, both when my life is relatively normal and predictable and also when going through my child’s brain tumor diagnosis, stressful appointments, family visiting, etc. Before this drug, I would have been dealing with my son’s tumor and feeling guilty about the junk food I was eating. Now I can eat intuitively a WFPB diet (and a little junk food because I don’t want to restrict myself). Also, I haven’t had side-effects, and I think it’s from WFPB and intuitively eating/stopping eating when full
is you is or is you is not an AI, I cannot tell anymore
@@Davids_Stalidzans wow, really? Is that because you disagree with my personal experience?
@@Davids_Stalidzansseriously? Their account is 7 years older than yours and they have actual videos they created and posted over the years. They’re “realer” than you are on here
I had hyperinsulemia caused by high dose of prednisone which put 100 lb on me in 10 months. Neither exercise or diet stopped me from gaining weight.
I went to the best doctors in the world and they told me my body was basically a fat making machine because I had too much insulin I stored everything as fat and that fat created estrogen which created more insulin.
Even when I could lose weight with extreme exercise and dieting I put it back on the minute I stopped.
It was very depressing because prior to all this happening I was very athletic.
Then I got COVID in 2020 and my A1C went from managed to off the charts so they added Ozempic to my medication.
This is the first time I felt like I had control over my body and my weight since everything happened. I've gone down three sizes. I gain and lose weight like a normal person. Meaning if I eat too much I gain weight if I eat a little less I lose weight on top of the Ozempic loss. I am so extraordinarily grateful for this medication. There's no sadder feeling than the feeling you have no control over your own body. It gave me the control back. And it took off the weight that the steroid medication and my insulin issues put on.
Thanks for sharing your story. It's these perspectives that motivate me and other scientists to do the work we do. Hope you stay safe and happy as always!
@@hansonlee5847 you're welcome. I can't tell you how much it's changed my life and given me back s body I feel familiar with if that makes sense
I'm happy to hear you're doing better now. I can imagine how disappointing it would be to do so much, to work so hard and nothing happens. Frustrating.
Is it decreasing or increasing your A 1 C?
@@sandksmom decreasing .. COVID shot my 5 year stable 7 A1C to 10.7 in less than 45 days. Last check it was back down to 7.1
Good to hear Dr. Dhruv Khullar's point of view. I've asked about it a few times with my doctors. They ran me through several meal/fitness programs and they're still side stepping it. They've warned me that I'm almost pre-debritic and still they haven't been able to justify the cost. It is getting really hard to hear "you need to lose more weight or you'll be diabetic" yet they can't help me "help myself" with something like Ozempic because it is too expensive. If I can't lose the weight I need to, and I end up diabetic, then I'll be on the very medications they say are too expensive. Makes no sense.
I'm retired military, and spent the last 15 years of my career working out six days a week, and living on food I absolutely hated but had to keep that lifestyle up because it was part of my job.
Do they sell Tapeworm over the counter? :)
(Just kidding Trumpers, do not eat Tapeworm to lose weight, it was a joke. Drink bleach instead).
THIS ^^ same.
I'm waiting for it to be available through the For Hims/Hers model where you text a "doctor" and they give you whatever drug they prescribe. It's already being sold at Costco. Probably another year, this will be in that grey market OTC category.
Try refrigerated 50 billion CFU strength multi-strain probiotics. It helps change your gut biome, which changes what you crave.
If you stop taking ozympic you just gain the weight back though right? If diet isn't changed then arteries are still clogging up.
As a nurse, it comes down to insurance. Insurance benefits do not cover GLP-1 meds without a diabetes diagnosis. Without insurance, it costs $1000 a month.
I am overweight but I am going to wait. I remember doctors talking about pain management in the nineties and rise of Oxycontin. I will wait and see.
Right. They keep pointing out they've been used for a while, but that was also true of oxycontin. Opiates weren't new.
These are higher doses, and, with diabetes the trade off is potentially limbs in the short term and your life in the medium term, so of course you're willing to trade bone density and stomach elasticity and risk pancreatitis for that!
I fear the weight stigma is pushing people to make a trade they might not otherwise make
I understand this but these meds have been around for decades already
Phen phen also reduced addictive behaviors…I see this going the same way
These have been in use for a couple decades and have lots of safety studies as opposed to some recent drugs with little to no safety studies that were forced on the public.
i know ❤ i’m hopeful 🤞🤞
I started Trulicity in 2011. The first side effect I noticed what's the constipation. Other than that, the drug totally worked.
Until 2023 when it became a rare species. Lily, the makers of the drug said shipment were fine, it was the distributors. The distributors said it was Lily. I ended up on Ozempic because nothing else was available. It works ALMOST as well. Now I hear people complaining about stomach pain and constipation. THIS IS A UNIVERSAL SIDE EFFECT. All you need to do is admit the problem, add 1 Ducolax every other day and your set.
Taking anything for constipation on a regular basis is bad. You should never take anything natural or chemical for more than a two week period. Your intestines will stop working & you will have to do it for the rest of your life otherwise.
I have not had constipation with Wegovy (Ozempic) but I think it’s because I heard the horror stories and was very intentional about eating fiber and supplementing when I couldn’t eat enough. It’s possible I just wasn’t prone to constipation, but I don’t suppose it really matters. I have no interest in constipation, so I do whatever it takes to avoid it to the extent within my control - I’m sure some people will be unable to prevent/control it because of their personal physiology. And those people have my sincere sympathy. GI issues are AWFUL.
Drinking prune juice is such a important juice to drink
I want to share my experience with the peptide found in Ozempic. As someone with ADHD, I have noticed that it has had a similar effect to Adderall. Additionally, it has significantly reduced my desire to snack or consume large meals. It’s worth noting that these observations are based on just three days of use.
And now... ?
@@zoezzzarko1117 ? Not sure what you mean.
@@ElMANCHILD you said your observations were based on 3 days of use... it's been over a month now... so...?
@@zoezzzarko1117 Gotcha! Everything’s been going great and I’ve lost about 5 lbs. I started with 0.25 mg, then increased to 0.50 mg, and now, in the third month, I’m at 1 mg. I think this will be the sweet spot. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask away a very happy with the results so far I’m just really happy I don’t have any crazy side effects.
@@zoezzzarko1117 Gotcha! Everything’s been going great, and I’ve lost about 5 lbs. I started with 0.25 mg, then increased to 0.50 mg, and now, in the third month, I’m at 1 mg. I think this will be the sweet spot. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! I’m just super excited. Have an experienced any side effects whatsoever. Have to tell you I’m enjoying it slow progress is good!
I've found this as a good part of managing my Type 2 diabetes. The most frustrating part is that my pharmacy can't get my prescriptions in stock when I need it.
I'm in the same boat. I was prescribed Trulicity, but I can't get my prescription filled at any pharmacy due to availability. I just stopped taking it, because there isn't a stable availability.
I ran into this with ozempic, and my endo told me that it's because there's a diabetes version and a weight loss version from the manufacturer, but doctors are prescribing the diabetes version for people seeking the weight loss version since insurance often won't cover weight loss medication
That’s why it’s annoying that all these celebrities are buying the shit. Until the supply is able to meet the demand, it should be preserved only for those it was prescribed to
@@hitthegoatthis is the most ignorant line of thought. First, there isn’t even enough celebrities to even cause this type of shortage. Second, did you ever think that it’s diabetics who are causing the shortage??? Before diabetics were on all different types of meds but now they all want to be one the exact same medication. That’s the problem. You should be blaming your own people!!!
Get it compounded when they run out.
I was put on Ozempic last fall. Medicaid made my doctor prescribe it to me, even though, my A1C was at 5.5. I made it through 3 weeks before I gave up on it. I never had such nausea and cramps in my life, and I had emergency surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in tortion. The last week, I ate less than 1,000 calories total. A slice of toast here and there because it was all I could stomach. The last day before my next dose, it all wore off at once. I was starving and my blood sugar dropped. I was at work and my vision was going dark and tunnel. I drove home (not the best idea), instantly shoved a piece of bread into my mouth, and checked my blood sugar. 32. That shit was dangerous. Those 3 weeks, I missed 6 days of work because of the pain and nausea and I hadn't called out of work for over 20 years. The last week, I spent in my bed because the only relief I had was when I was lying on my side.
What was your dosage?
Decrease the dose. The dose makes the poison.
If your blood sugar went really low, your body may have issues with producing glucagon. Glucagon is the hormone that tells your body to release energy from your fat (lipolysis). Which would mean your body struggles to use body fat, which would translate to not being able to lose weight in a predictable way. It could be caused by hyperinsulima because insulin suppresses glucagon.
It sounds like you were on higher dosage than your body could handle. Recommendation is to start at 0.25 for a few weeks given once a week (inject on the thigh instead of abdomen) and see how body reacts before upping the dosage. If you up the dose, break it into multiple days, so if you go from 0.25 to 0.5, on week 3 then do two injections of 0.25 on two separate days that week. Gradually increasing and seeing the body’s reaction. I was advised to not inject on abdomen if I wanted less side effects. I hope you’re feeling better and recovered!
From my understanding, a large part of the reason people stop taking Ozempic and related drugs is due to the fact that it made food no longer appealing to them. Given a broad culture of food appreciation within basically every cultural group in the developed world, no longer being able to derive much pleasure from the act of eating is really devastating. Everyone is different and their reasons for discontinuing the use of the drug are certainly not limited to this.
Interesting observation!
Yeah this is the biggest thing I struggle with. I commune with the people I love over a great meal, and now I can't do that.
But I'm adjusting. I still go out to dinner with friends, and order what my stomach can tolerate; I'm just done eating after like 3 minutes lol.
I've been forcing myself to develop a better personality so I don't miss the food as much 🤣🤣🤣
I saw that episode of Doctor Who. I know how this ends.
Yikes... here's the deal though.. if the way they were doing it... WORKED why the heck couldn't it have been a negotiation and just let it happen? I know that would be a less good Doctor Who plot, but yeah. Nanny shoulda listened to the Doctor.....
That was a great episode. If they had gotten informed consent, those little Adipose babies (which were adorable) would have been just fine, humans would have lined up to try it.
Probably the reason they stop taking it after a year is that it’s not covered by insurance and costs about $1000 out of pocket per stick
I have lost 110 pounds in 11 months. June will be one year for me. I was 330 when I started on Ozempic. I am praying that at my next weigh in I will be under 200. It has been a dream of mine for 37 YEARS!!! Ever since I delivered my daughter in the mid 1980's. The fact that I am actually looking at being under 200 pounds is incredible. I have type 2 diabetes (on the cusp of it) so my doctor recommended Ozempic because he believed my weight was caused by the diabetes. I have changed completely. The only thing though is that they put me on lipitor because of cholesterol. I am not sure if I would even still BE here (death) if I had not gotten on Ozempic 11 months ago. I think it saved my life. This has helped with other physical issues as well. (Swollen feet, incontinence, inability to workout - ALL of that is gone!)
That's incredible. I start in a few days. Wish me luck.
One of the things that I think people should keep in mind about forever-drugs (especially behavior-altering forever drugs) is availability. I didn't use to think about that before the pandemic and now we've been getting hosed by drug shortages quite a bit, especially ADHD drugs. That's why I'm really skeptical about trying to get on it for cosmetic reasons. If you get a shot from a boutique, there's no guarantee it'll still be there a week later or that the 'recreational' price won't skyrocket.
Totally! Plus, imagine using it for a few months to lose weight for the red carpet and then living with a side effect for the rest of your life? Not worth it if you aren't in a category where it is life saving, imho. What we need is to end body shaming and glorifying.. But like Adam says, we live in the world we live in😢
without insurance 150.- euros (no longer available over the counter due to shortages and preference of patients with prescription), with public health care and prescription, 5.60 euros - Spain
The government are paying quite a bit for it in Spain, I imagine they're very strict on who gets it on the public system?
@@therabbithat prices are regulated and price gouging is illegal in the EU, especially when it comes to meds. don't know if there is any other reason to get it through the public system aside of diabetes, but i don't think so. it is currently the go to drug for d2 as far as i am aware.
That’s great! I pay about $500 a month for a compounded version like they talked about. That is less than half of what Ozempic would cost me, but it’s still insanely expensive. Worth it in my case (although I might try to smuggle it in from Canada somehow…)
Yes, my doc told me that it’s now only available on Seguridad Social, if you are actually taking insulin. You can buy it in certain farmacias though, I paid 170 euros for Wegovy. Mind you, the farmacia told me that soon, a generic version will be available :) Good news for everyone.
@@trishaberger-black70 it's about time. it's really ridiculous that there is not more of it, because semaglutide is not that hard to make for any pharma company. it's artificial scarcity for profit. all hail capitalism!
just one clarification. it is not necessary to be on insulin, and semaglutide can even remove the need for insulin for some.
The first week you take the drug your body is adjusting and you won’t feel the full affects for a few weeks. I’ve been on ozempic for 7 months under the supervision of a doctor and have lost 70lbs which is life changing. I have lipodeoma and this new drug is the only thing that has effectively helped me to lose weight. You completely lose your appetite so you need to eat clean and get plenty of protein. I’m going to be on this for life but I’m willing to sacrifice a few things to be healthy so I can live longer. I live in Europe so it’s €150 per month.
This is a huge problem with capitalism, we created a food environment that makes people fat and unhealthy, yet there is no financial incentive to regulate food so instead we are going to rely on a medication because that can be profit incentivized.
Here is the other problem with capitalism...how much is this guy being paid to make this commercial. MAIN QUESTION....WHAT IS NOT BEING SAID ABOUT OZAMPIC HERE?
That's not necessarily true, there is a profit to be made on whatever people want to pay for. If people would like to eat "healthier" (whatever they understand by that) then companies make it and charge for it.
This one, for a change, isn't a specific fault to capitalism, in fact markets are way better positioned to supply whatever food is demanded. Try and regulate that, and it would severely infringe on people's freedom to eat whatever they want.
What the public sector can do is educate, perhaps even subsidize healthier food production, but that's it.
@@hazbinhotel5488 It's great to be skeptical, but if you generally distrust all experts, then who will you trust? Medical developments have improved our lives by orders of magnitude, so just because there is profit to be made on something, doesn't mean something shady must necessarily be going on.
I would agree that health should be completely separate from markets, we all know the issues that arise from that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that everything coming from a market health industry is bad.
@@hazbinhotel5488 To simplify everything down to capitalism doesn't help. Yes, there is a cycle where food companies create problems that medical companies solve, but this is not an easy problem to solve. If anything, I respectfully challenge you to figure out a solution that experts could not think about.
Also, understand that these products address a human need (everyone enjoys good food and don't want to get sick). Also, you can despise the system especially science funded by large companies. But don't forget that there are actually experts who acknowledge this problem and work toward solving it. However, these problems are complex and require a thorough understanding of the context.
It would be much better under communism where everyone starved. Sigh. This is an issue of regulation, education, and personal responsibility
If you have a history of depression, please speak with your doctor before beginning GLP1 treatment. Worsening depression and SI are known (but lesser discussed) side effects, with new research emerging. I took a semaglutide compound for 3 weeks and lost 10lb, but it stoked my dormant depression into a full blown episode. It’s speculated that people with depression use food (often unconsciously) to release serotonin, achieving regular signals of joy or pleasure from the taste of food. In my case, within days of my first shot I had ZERO appetite, everything tasted bland and I had no desire to eat at all. Over the course of 3 weeks it was a huge challenge to get the proper nutrients when I had zero hunger cues and felt nauseated the whole time, but I did eat well through meal planning. I quickly became lethargic and withdrawn, then the melancholy set in hard. Discontinued after 3 weeks. The research is still being collected on these highly commercialized drugs… be careful out there folks!
I also have had these side effects. I do not have a history of depression but i have become withdrawn. I think the effects on mental health with this drug have been widely overlooked. Im still taking ozempic(4 months now) Im trying to find a balance of dosage and nutrition that will give me the best quality of life. My kids want me to stop taking it and I probably will eventually but Im still trying to make it work. Im glad you mentioned the mental health effects and I wish you the best. Take care
@@ssmith3547Thank you for mentioning this aspect.
I appreciate you bringing this aspect into the discussion. 👍
I appreciate the tension between fixing the underlying societal problem and putting an important bandaid on the problem.
This episode made me think that MAYBE, just maybe, the bandaid will help facilitate the solution to the underlying problem. As people are able to beat their “small a” addiction to food (love that, btw), hopefully food manufacturers will adjust course as well to meet the demand. It feels like a long shot, but my optimism is peeking through. 😅
Food companies will respond to this by investing a cheeto with nicotine in it.
Im on vivitrol for alcohol and it has literally saved my life. Im all for any drug that could help people overcome their addictions.
I was on Wegovy under the suggestion of my doctor because I plateaued with my weight loss journey and was very frustrated. I think I may have been one of the very few folks who had a truly horrible experience on it.
Sure - I didn't want to snack as much, but I also had to FORCE myself to eat and drink anything. I didn't even want to drink water - so unless I was setting a visual/audio reminder to drink something, I just wouldn't. When I did eat/drink anything, it tasted absolutely awful. This also meant I didn't want to cook anything anymore, or even shop for groceries.
I was nauseous all of the time - sometimes feeling so sick that I couldn't move because it would trigger me to throw up.
Between my just not wanting to eat (or forgetting to) and throwing up, I started to have blackouts. I suspect it's because my body was shutting down, but you also can't just quit taking it, you have to slowly ween yourself off. I told my doctor that I wanted to do that and they told me to try to stick it out (those side effects are really rare! You're the only patient I have who's had those! But you're losing weight aren't you?). I had to get a second opinion on the steps down to get myself off the med without further harming myself.
Once I was off, I switched doctors completely. I also went to a nutritionist to help design a food program that works for me. Between that and changing my standard gym routine to more weightlifting to build muscle vs straight cardio, I'm losing weight again.
The above are just food related side effects too, this drug affected me in other horrible ways - mostly by sucking the joy out of EVERYTHING. I feel like it just dulled me completely and made me totally apathetic to wanting to do anything.
I was lucky - This drug sucked for me immediately, but I dread the long term side effects discovered 5, 10, 20 years down the line for those that stay on this.
I mean, I know if I wasn’t on mounjaro that excessive swelling and possible development of debilitating lymphedema was in my future in 10-15 years 🤷🏻♀️. I’m sorry that you had some really awful side effects, I hope they figure out the cause or how to mitigate those soon. I had very minimal side effects but I also never got up to the highest dose since the lower ones were so effective for me. I am on mounjaro tho not wegovy/ozempic, and I have heard the side effects for a lot of people have been much worse on wegovy versus mounjaro. I stopped my maintenance dose for a month due to shortage and gained 10 pounds of water weight. And I knew it was swelling because it all went away 2 days after I was able to get my injection.
You're not the only one. The nausea/stomach sickness is unreal for me on ozempic and I've asked to switch when they get mounjaro back in stock. The lethargy is there as well so trying to keep healthy habits is hard when you're too nauseated or tired to work out or eat anything at all. Doctors really need to do better to manage the symptoms for those who suffer from there (rare or not).
GLP-1'S are helping my mind with food obsession, and my alcoholism. Feeling great!
Abusing Ozempic for weight loss is perilous because it can lead to severe nutrient deficiencies and metabolic imbalances. The body requires a balanced intake of nutrients for maintenance, and extreme dietary restriction can result in long-term damage to organs and systems but you will look good.
Taking Ozempic when you are already a normal weight would be illogical, but what if your BMI is 50?
Unfortunately for people like me who struggle with weight and have diabetes, but also have Gastroparesis, we are unable to take these new weight loss drugs
I've struggled with bouts of gastroparesis since I was a little kid, I think that's probably why sticking to being on Ozempic is so hard for me. I feel low-level sick all the time in exactly the same way that I used to, even just the association of the general feeling makes me want to stop taking it.
You don't need to. You have your glucose monitor? Start taking notes about what foods spike your blood sugar after 2 hours. If it spikes, stop eating it. You'll find upping your protein intake of red meat will reduce hunger & stablise you blood sugar levels in the mean time. Everyone has different tolerances to grans fruits an veg and you'll be suprised how bad some will spike your sugars. You don't need drugs to help diabetes. If you need help remaining motivated, look up Dr. Eric Westman. He is absolutely brilliant and will keep you on track. When this guy says they've tried everything- it means they've only tried the bare minimum as long as it stays fruit, veggie and grain based. No saying you have to go carnivore, though doing the Elemination diet for 2 weeks and then slowly introducing foods back in to find your trigger foods can help you out so much 😊 I ended up highly carb intolerant with extremely high blood sugars yo fruits, grains and certain veg (i still eat veg, just ones I don't have hyper spikes with) and over two months I slowly lost 2kg without loosing muscle mass, I lost 2 entire clothing sizes before I saw any change on the scale! 😂 trust me when I say 'listen to your glucose monitor!' As no magic pill will help you forever.
Have you tried a carnivore diet? I know we are encouraged to eat low fat, but reducing diet to whole food protein can reduce food intolerance and immune issues. After 4 weeks you can start adding 1 food group a week (like berries one week, cereals without gluten one week, gluten week, nightshade week, cruciferous week, dairy week, fake sugars week etc.)
It’s not a little vomiting. It’s non stop vomiting & diarrhea for some users. Don’t minimize the risk of side effects. If it causes this side effect, you won’t stay on it. The slow emptying of the gut is the reason you aren’t hungry. Food rotting in your gut makes you feel full. Eat another bite & everything comes up. When the stomach finally lets food go through, it will be in the form of diarrhea. (Dumping) Talk to a GI before using this drug. GIs know about pancreatitis, slowed gastric emptying (gastroparesis), and other side effects of this drug.
🎯 Exactly! Your post is the absolute truth. They go wayyyy light on the negative side effects.
I got ADHD and I am really really hoping that Ozempic and Wegovy take the heat off illicit stimulant use so that some day I can get a refill for my prescription without my physician needing to do a drug accountability check to make sure I'm not selling it on the side.
It definitely has taken my need for alcohol and chocolate.
Where are people selling ADHD meds illicitly? Asking for a friend.
@@null6634 You are part of the problem.
I have ADHD and taking the main ingredient that is in Ozempic. I have to tell you I feel that I’ve been taking Adderall. It’s actually made my brain a lot mower if that makes sense. Loo
I keep hearing “if you stop taking it you will regain the weight” I don’t think that’s true. If you stop taking it and return to your old bad eating habits yes you will regain the weight but that’s the same with literally all other methods of weight loss.
Bingo
Well said, and right on point
I think why the statement is true is that most people that are taking this drug will regain the weight because they need the extra assistance from the drug to help them have the willpower to say no.
I’m on one for Type 2 diabetes. Awhile back I had a hard time getting a refill so I missed a dose. I will say missed day 6, I started getting food cravings that were hard to fight off. By the 2nd day after my next dose they went away.
That’s what was shown in the. Study that was widely reported on. They told participants to stop the med and lifestyle changes. You have todo both.. also ore people are on it and discovering that the super responders are not the norm so people are forced to do all the lifestyle changes to get results.
TLDR: The answer is we dont know. Also, comments below clearly show that people havent watched the entire video. Also, here's a take from a PhD student in biomedical engineering.
Overall, this video does cover both sides, but here's my take/response.
I understand why doctors like he would be cautiously excited about Ozempic's potential toward obesity treatment. But we dont know the long term effects of constant metabolic change. It is noted that Dr. Khullar does acknowledge these concerns. However, it would be helpful if he would emphasize what we dont know and propose how costs can be decreased when trust in pharma is at an all-time low
Again, please watch the entire video before making your comment. Also, please ask me any questions! I may not be a metabolic expert, but I have read metabolic science research articles before
I actually am less concerned about long term risks of these drugs due to their existence for almost two decades. However, I understand you can't assume exenitide will have the same risks as semiglutide.
What I am curious about is natural ways to promote the hormone as well as the possibility that increasing the utilization of this drug could impact society economically. Having people suddenly not as hungry and in better health must cause some change in things like the restaurant industry, fast food, grocery stores due to less consumption and maybe healthier consumption.
As someone who went on medication to reduce weight and then had to stop because I couldn't afford it anymore, there's also the question of what happens to you when you stop taking it. Lots of medications have side effects when you get off of them, in addition to the resurgence of the symptoms they were treating. Mine were *nasty*, in addition to gaining more weight than I'd lost.
Ozempic is *expensive.* It can cost more than some people's *rent* in some cases. So in addition of the long term side effects (that you already pointed out) there also isn't a lot of data on what happens when you *stop* taking it.
The way I always understood it, having a healthy baseline is the goal... And getting there slowly is the healthiest way to do that. But if we're talking treating addiction, that's huge. I know of an addict who needs treatment. This could be helpful. I hope they continue look at and research it from the addiction perspective.
@@SkySong6161ozempic isn't expensive because it needs to be (as in it is expensive to produce), but rather because big pharma can gouge for it. Costs Novo Nordisk ~$5 for them to actually make a month's worth.
Imo, they/y’all (science people) are _totally_ going to find a way to safely and easily lose weight, cure cancer, etc- but those treatments are going to be totally unattainable for most of us. Like, I assume there’s already a ton of medical shit that does crazy amazing stuff that I don’t know about because it costs outrageous amounts of money.
What's ironic is that people have always commented on my skinniness, and I hate it. I've been trying to gain weight for so long, and I think that people need to realize that there is no perfect body.
I have a friend like this ... she's so little and eats a lot. Many people need to realise it's not good to criticise anyone's body no matter if they're too big or too small!
People can somehow accept that someone eats a lot and never gain weight, but not that someone tries to eat the right thing and can't lose weight 🤷🏻♀️
I am extremely obese and have a hard time getting around. I am not diabetic so no help is offered medically by insurance and I can't afford it on my own. I think it could help me get down to a weight that would allow me to walk swim and maybe hike again but I worry about getting off of it. I refuse to do gastric bypass surgery because friends and relatives have had complications, sometimes years later and one was fatal.
I've had bariatric surgery, and there's a few things to take into consideration when you make your ongoing decision about it. 1.) There are newer surgeries like Roux-en-y and gastric sleeve (I have a sleeve) that have a much lower risk of complications. 2.) The surgical techniques around these surgeries have gotten much better, which has also reduced the risk of complications. 3.) The short and long term negative effects of severe obesity are universally worse and/or more likely than the potential issues from bariatric surgery. Could bariatric surgery kill you? Yes, absolutely. Is being severely obese many, many times more likely to kill you in the same time frame? Also, yes, absolutely.
I'm not trying to convince you one way or the other. We all have to pick our paths when we can. But, do it fully informed.
@@delucain I am glad it worked for you. It is the one thing I will not do. I have one last step to get my affairs in order and then I will stop worrying and live my life the best I can.
Zepbound is approved for weightloss. Idk if your insurance will cover it but many are
I was prescribed Ozempic for Diabetes and it was incredibly effective but it became so difficult to get because it became popular for cosmetic reasons. I could not get it for months at a time. So, we started Monjouro. It got my A1C from 11 to in the 6! Amazing results but now, again, the cosmetic users, now I cannot get. I have been waiting 3 months. I had gotten off insulin because of it and now I am using insulin again because I cannot get the damn medication. I really wish that those doctors who are prescribing this for people who really don't NEED it would think twice and remember those of us who truly need this to save our lives.
People with diabetes and severe obesity need it most. Where I work it's prioritized for them first. If it's for weight loss for people that are overweight, but not obese, they're on a wait list if they don't meet the requirements (multiple diabetes treatment failures, morbidly obese).
My pharmacy won't fill an Ozempic prescription unless you can prove a documented T2D diagnosis. I wish more pharmacies did that.
Internally, Lilly states that this may be the world's first "Trillion Dollar Drug". Just look at their stock price for the past 24 months.
lilly doesnt make it norrsk makes it out of denmark
@@TheFamousMockingbird lilly makes a competitor to this. Mounjaro.
I love the optical illusion from the cube on the bottom of your mic. I can see it going both in and out.
I think the risks related to muscle loss and malnutrition are being downplayed. Especially for long term/lifetime use. The consequences could be catastrophic. Yes, some doctors require a commitment to resistance training, and I am sure there is discussion about adequate nutrition. But don't we run into the same problem with long term compliance? The comparison to bariatric surgery is apt - when eating and exercise behaviors don't change, the resulting weight loss doesn't last. But then those are opportunities for new drugs and supplements. How much do you want to bet those are not in thr research/planning stages right now. These drugs are bailing the boat. Don't get me wrong, bailing is crucial. But we do need to find and repair the leak.
That is an excellent observation.
Loss of muscle mass is a side effect of any weight loss.
Thank you for this comment. They barely mention the muscle loss but it is significant! Average 30-40% lean muscle loss is a big deal. Lean muscle is SO important and it’s scary they don’t talk much about it.
This was mentioned only briefly, but a real struggle for a lot of people is the shortage of these medications. I have worked in pharmacy since 2005 and have never seen an entire class of drugs be on frequent backorder for such a long period of time. So many patients might get started and even work their way up to the highest dose, only for that dose to go on backorder along with the other drugs in this class. Then they're left with no alternatives.
Yes, there are pill form-Rybelsus, 3, 7, 14 mg. High dose you get side effects too! Low dose is better. Every weight loss clinic sells the shot form too. This is a hormone that helps people. People are tired of being over weight, & sick. Keep doing a low carb diet & as the weight comes off it is easier to go for walks. This doesn’t work for everyone & that is why gastric bypass surgeons are still doing well.
another issue with the ozempic shortages is the design of the pens themselves, there's so much left over in the pen after you use your doses.
True! It's insane
I was diagnosed with Type 2 last year and took Metformin for awhile. My doctor suggested I could benefit from Ozempic. I can say it's helped so much. My blood glucose is lower than it was on Metformin. I worry that all of the trendiness of this drug will cause shortages. I literally need it to keep my sugar under control.
This video, full if "I don't know" and "we have anecdotal evidence" wasn't an interview. It was an infomercial for Ozempic.
I actually wrote down several things at points that made me furiously angry but instead, I'm just going to leave this comment expressing my displeasure as a whole.
I've already left the Patreon behind but this interview came uncomfortably close to an episode of Joe Rogan's and that's enough for me to say I'm done making sure I stat on top of Adam's material.
These last two glossed over the enormous responsibility of corporations in the reasons that climate change and obesity exist in the ways they do, as if they're contributions were a side note.
Gross.
I'm slightly disappointed with Adam not discussing the very real, very serious and very deadly side effects of these medications. 60 Minutes Australia did a very interesting look into the strokes and heart issues caused by Ozempic. I recently lost a colleague who was prescribed Jardiance (SGLT2 oral med) last September, he was miserable while on it. It was suggested by the cardiologist to help his CHF to lose weight. It helped him lose weight, when he started it he was 235lbs in September and by December he was 175lbs. Everyone was congratulating him for the weight lost but I attended medical appointments with him and he was losing muscle mass along with the fat. He couldn't keep any meals down and was throwing up constantly. Any activity left him breathless and he was unable to get out of bed. I understand that he had compounded morbidity issues but these are not miracle drugs for everyone.
The muscle mass loss is wild. I was on it and felt weak all the time. And ended up in the er 4 times because I couldn’t stop vomiting. So I had to stop. It got scary.
His doctor obviously should have taken him off of it. Just because one person you know didn’t react well, and his stupid doctor kept him on it, doesn’t mean the medicine is dangerous. It just isn’t for everyone, and it needs to be medically supervised by a competent doctor.
Appreciate your comment. Grieving the loss of my mother - 3/25/24 who had same experience as your friend. No energy, could barely move in the end - no muscle - no energy. She was not eating at all and basically starved herself to death 😢 she lost all zest for life and didn’t enjoy anything.
Be Careful with this drug! I feel my mother’s Dr was negligent as well.
💯 I tried semaglutide Friday my gut got paralyzed immediately I threw up 20 times in 2 days a nurse had to come to my home to give me an IV for food poisoning. My lips got burnt and my lower part of my nostrils. I thought I was going to die 💔It’s a terrible thing to put in our bodies. even got the lowest dose!!! Never ever ever again!!!! 🙏🏻❤️✝️🇺🇸🌎
@@sheenamartinez3587okay. Thats you. And you shouldn’t take it. But me, I’m good.
This doctor has been one of the best doctors to explain a little of everything really well.
My father is a life-long alcoholic and he has type 2 diabetes. He has been on ozempic for a year and it’s been life changing for him. He no longer craves alcohol. He’d been an alcoholic for 50 years and had tried quitting multiple times. His diabetes is under control and he’s more active. The major drawback though is that it has caused gastrointestinal symptoms like painful stomach cramps. The digestion has slowed down so much it caused issues getting an endoscopy. It has changed his life and that’s great for him. I hate it when people take it just for weight loss. People like my father need this drug and there were times when he couldn’t get his dosage because there was so much demand there was a shortage.
Honestly if ozempic is good for addiction, I could really use help getting over my nicotine addiction. Too bad people are misusing it so horribly.
I hope this helps but a friend of mine once told me, "Quitting smoking is easy, you just don't do it." I had tried quitting multiple times, used patches, the gum, but science said cold turkey was the most successful. The number one thing that helped was that I hated smoking by the end. I focused on all the stuff I hated, like the bad breath or smelling bad to others or the years I was taking off my life. It took multiple tries, lots of failures, one relapse, but I'm finally there. 5 years without a cigarette after being a smoker for 20 years. Keep trying, I know you can do it! Best of luck to you with your nicotine addiction. ✌
@@_Smarf_ For me, quitting cigarettes was easy. It was vaping that's getting me right now. The anti vape ads even trigger me into it
@@pawpkittyIt’s interesting that you say the anti vaping ads trigger the behavior. There’s a great video essay by Maggie Mae Fish about anti vaping ads, which basically comes to the conclusion that they aren’t in line with the research on what actually works to convince people to stop, so that’s probably not the “real” intent
“Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking” got me to quit smoking in one day, never looked back. Maybe worth a look.
@@pawpkittyHave you tried substituting another xanthine for nicotine? Like caffeine or theobromine? If you do a different xanthine, you can avoid withdrawals.
Also, try to recognize the effects xanthines have on you. Initially, drinking coffee/tea/chocolate or smoking a cig is relaxing. Then the xanthine kicks in, & it causes anxiety & hyperactivity (or normal activity if you have adhd).
I started Ozempic when I got diagnosed with type 2 and I completely gave up soda around the same time for the same reason. I had tried to give up soda before as its my biggest addiction and always failed. I have not drank any for 3 months now and stopping it felt VERY easy this time. I kind of assumed it was the looming threat of diabetic death that did it but now I am wondering if the Oempic might have helped as well! That is so interesting.
I had gained a lot of weight in my late 20s and 30s and NEEDED to lose weight badly for my health. I had lost 75 pounds and needed to lose more and I told my doctor how I was hungry ALL the time, so my diet was very hard for me. I was already on a medication for my type 2 diabetes but she changed it to the mounjaro and I have lost 210 pounds so far. I wanna lose 20 more, but it helped me not feel as hungry. My Insurance won't cover going up high on the dose, so I still deal with a lot of hunger, but it is easier than it was, especially the day I take my shot and a few days after. I can only eat 1400 calories though, when I go up I will gain. The drug is not a miracle, but it can help.
I work for a PBM and your guest is spot on about insurance companies putting hurtle in place. Most plans do indeed require you have tried dietary changes for at least six months and/or have tried XYZ first. And last month, a huge number of plans changed their approval for each strength from monthly limits to yearly.
The problem is that people are using it cosmetically but make it hard for people like me, who the drug was designed for, to get. That in and of itself is highly ridiculous.
I would venture to say (prob repeating many others) that a huge reason for ppl quitting the med is cost. Ins coverage blows and most don't cover it. And some that do, do not cover it once your A1C goes down. Happened to a friend.
Dropped 20 lbs after 1 month on compounded tirzepatide. Exercise is very difficult because of pain from the weight and the several BP meds I'm on. Food noise has virtually disappeared. Look up food noise. It's a real thing.
Why didn't you address the lack of legislative action on pharmaceutical pricing in the US? You did mention that it's cheaper everywhere else but not specifically why.
I'm one of those people that was on Ozempic and then not. In my case, I had to discontinue because my PBM began requiring a pre-authorization based on A1C. Though I am morbidly obese, I am not (yet) diabetic, so authorization was denied.
Yeah, My nephew was both obese and diabetic when he started on Mounjaro (at double the diabetes only dose, prescribed off label for his obesity. After he lost 80 lb, his A1C dropped 1/10 of a point into normal range and his insurance cut him off.
These drugs are insanely expensive. It only costs $5 a dose to make the basic drug. The special injection pens, keeping the drug cold, and cold shipping add a lot to the cost, but according to a study by stat news, they should cost no more than $200 a month even in the US.
Try a good compounding pharmacy. Check for state licensing and pcab accreditation.
Ozempic/Wegovy activated my lactose intolerance. It's really good for weight loss, but it doesn't keep the weight off that long. It was nice to not crave food a lot, but... man, the digestive effects sucked. If you are genetically prone to IBS, avoid GLP-1 agonists.
Also the puking was crazy even with the manufacturer suggested titration schedule
I'm Type 2 diabetic, and I was prescribed Ozempic. It's been a godsend for my blood sugar, and I've managed to control my weight through a couple diet changes and starting a regular workout routine. My biggest issue with this Ozempic craze is that when people flood to it for weight loss purposes (which it is not currently FDA-approved for), it leads to a shortage of the drug for those of us who have diabetes and need the medication for that. My pharmacy has instituted a policy where they won't fill a prescription for Ozempic unless you can provide a documented T2D diagnosis.
I'm interested to see where research takes us, as far as everything else GLP-1s can supposedly do. But as of right now, leave the Ozempic to the T2Ds who need it.
Yeah my wife was on it for a short time because she's a type 2 diabetic, very borderline. We are hoping that it would completely eliminate her needs for insulin which he did, but she was allergic and had pancreatitis.
I'm looking forward to trying the medicine. I'm not diabetic but I have an autoimmune disorder. Where my white blood cells attack my blood vessels, this causes damage to any organ that has lots of blood vessels: lungs, liver, kidneys, brain.
My disease causes a lot of swelling so I weigh a lot more. I already eat well and didn't eat much (My disease causes chronic nausea so I don't really get all that hungry).
But the extra weight just stresses my body more.
And you're trying. But it's hard because you constantly hurt. So you're constantly tired which means you can't do very much. It's just a constant wall of obstacles and that's just living. That's not counting everything else that's stressful in life.
I'm someone who's lost 220lbs by diet and exercise. I've been wrecked by the difficulty with the weight "set point" issue, and every day is a struggle to keep the weight off (but going on 10 years of keeping it off). The idea of injecting to take the pain of hunger and food hyper focus away is seriously enticing. However, I'm more worried about the idea that when I'm taking the drug, I'm pushing that weight set-point even higher to, say, as if I weighed 500 instead of 400lbs.
I'm a bit cynical and I'm thinking that in 5 years, we'll see the after effects of this drug for people that were using it to drop 30lbs. Those users might be giving themselves a weight set point for someone 100+lbs more and that they might rocket up to that when they discontinue use.
The cost to produce it is under 5 dollars per patient per month.
Any chance you have sources you can cite to back this up?
@@SuitedAJ I think there was a news article. You can Google it.
@@SuitedAJ "Barber MJ, Gotham D, Bygrave H, Cepuch C. Estimated Sustainable Cost-Based Prices for Diabetes Medicines. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(3):e243474. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3474"
@@SuitedAJNovo put out a shareholder notice that explains this for their drug. You can google it but the one I found wasn't in English. I don't know if the other versions are equally cheap to produce.
My sister was prescribed Ozempic for diabetes. Since all the people started taking it for weight loss it has become impossible for her to get, and she is now taking something that is less effective and has side effects.
This is a huge problem. But I would not blame the users. It's a production problem and a cost problem. Your sister should be able to get these meds but people wanting to treat these other problems should also be able to get these meds. If they opened up the market and let people purchase these at a reasonable cost, they would still make so much money.
Oh good, just what I needed. An actual medication I am on for its original purpose (Type-2 Diabetes) and actually changed my life for the better suddenly becoming a fad drug and, consequently, making my life and the lives of other diabetics harder because it's getting harder and harder to get it.
(And I do absolutely blame the healthcare industry. While my insurance covers it entirely, I do see how much it costs when I order it and it's upwards of $1500 (One thousand five hundred dollars, this is not a typo) for a 2-month supply. Of an injection I take once a week.)
1) Medications have multiple uses. 2) Cardiovascular disease is linked to obesity and is the leading cause of deaths in the US. People will live longer whether treating obesity, helping with weight loss, or Type 2. Yes, it has made it harder for Type 2 patients to get these medications but we can’t ignore the lives being saved on the “weight” side.
the companies should make more, lots of people need this for other medical problems.
Obesity is a chronic illness just like diabetes.
You’re basically saying your disease is more important than someone else.
Obesity also leads to diabetes- better to get to it before ppl get diabetes.
Some people are using it as a fad, but it’s also helping more people with a chronic condition just like it helps you.
It wasn’t fair for me to say you’re saying you’re more important. I’m sorry I wrote that- defensively said it cause that’s usually what many have said.
Welcome to the club! I was prescribed Ozempic last summer for pre-diabetes with an extensive Diabetes 2 family history. My insurance covered the cost, less my $10 copay. Along comes January, and now my health insurance requires a pre-authorization from my doctor to justify my prescription for coverage. Since I am not quite over the A1C level to qualify as Diabetes 2, although it is right on the line, my insurance denied coverage. It's over $1000 per month for the once weekly injection pen.
I do realize that I am not a full blown Type 2 Diabetic. My doctor put me on Ozempic because I am right at the threshold for that diagnosis, because I am more than 50 pounds overweight, because I cannot take Metformin, and because I have a significant Diabetes 2 family history. The prescription was to hopefully ward off my becoming a Type 2 Diabetic by this somewhat aggressive, but effectively preventative method.
And, yes, some prescription drugs have more than a single indication; however, the semiglutide drugs were in fact formulated specifically to treat those with diabetic conditions, and it was originally federally approved for that purpose. When something is used "off-label" for a health condition that is not one that the drug was approved to treat, then the drug is being prescribed on the basis of physician discretion, but it is not being used for it's primary purpose.
I agree wholeheartedly with OP that it is incredibly frustrating for patients who need a drug for the purpose for which it was primarily approved but cannot get it because it's being prescribed off-label to treat issues other than it's intended purpose. It's also frustrating that because of the massive explosion of popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug, used by those who are not diabetic or pre-diabetic, pharmacy stocks are often very low or out of stock, and because of spiked demand, the prices are ridiculously high (markups of over 600% in some cases, which is simply criminal), and now many insurance companies are refusing to cover the drug for those with an actual medical need for it, because all the above reasons give insurance companies adequate enough cover to do so.
Infuriating!
Should we be talking about the BMI fallacy if it's going ro be used as a metric in something this important? It was never intended to be used as a medical measure of healthy weight.
Gahhh! BMI. It is such BS. Back when I had 6 pack abs and was generally fit, my doctor was telling me I was "overweight". I wasn't even very muscular. I was just fit and healthy. BMI needs to die.
As someone that takes metformin for type 2, a similar and older drug, they are useful. The experience of taking it is not a fun experience. Lots of trips to the restroom. Hearing about people abusing them makes me deeply uncomfortable
I’ve been a type 2 diabetic since the 90’s. I was on metformin, glimepride, and insulin. With Ozembic, I have lost 35 pounds, stopped insulin and glimepride, seen my blood sugar stay in range, just a giant improvement for me.
Hopefully over time the price is reduced so people can be able to use this regularly.
I’m not overweight but have a paunch. I started keto in Jan 2024. Ive lost significant weight, think more clearly, have more energy and eat 1 meal a day. Im no longer hungry, nor crave sugar. Amazing!
ANY QUESTION: “We don’t really know.”
Dawg I've been on Ozempic for about a year, minus two months during the shortage. Ive lost 88 lbs. This literally saved my life. Absolutely no exaggeration. It sucks. I won't lie. Bit it is so worth it.
I've been on Ozempic for the better part of a year...on and off. Why on and off? Because I just get SO. TIRED. Of feeling like I'm on the verge of throwing up all the time. Just thinking about giving myself my shot can trigger me feeling nauseous. Even *watching this video* makes me feel nauseous, there's such a strong association with the drug and nausea in my mind now. It's not hideous, I'm not throwing up left and right, but it's always there, at a low level. I'm taking half the dose that I was prescribed and it's still omnipresent (at full strength I was basically nonfunctional). If I don't take it for a week, it feels so nice by the end of the week to just NOT feel constant low-level nausea that I usually push it out another week, then I grudgingly go back on it because I'm taking it due to diabetes and my general health, not specifically "to lose weight". The last time I checked I was down about 30 pounds from my pre-prescription weight, but that's not a lot compared to my overall weight, likely because I can't manage to stick to it consistently.
This touches on modern food systems and I know Adam has covered that before but I'd love to hear you talk to Chris Van Tulleken (or someone else with expertise) about ultra-processed foods.
Yes! That would be a great one.
It’s saving my life. I was morbidly obese and I’ve lost 40lbs. It’s controlling my natural tendency to eat late at night or when I’m stressed. Just a matter of time how long the food industry lobbyists find ways to keep it out of our hands.
Way to take the easy way out
I found this to be a really good conversation! Thank You for taking the time to really look into the GLP-1 meds and what they actually do, beyond people who ozempic shame, etc…..
Just so you know, 1 month of ozempic costs $4.73 to produce, and sells for $1000. It cost approximately $5B to invent, and they have made $95B in a single year ($63B of which came from the US alone). This price gouging is literally killing people who could otherwise be saved by this medication. The US government must force these companies to produce enough to meet demand, and charge a sensible amount for them, or else we should permit generics to compete with them in the free market.
I wonder if getting people skinny using these drugs will lead to our food supply changing. For example, creating a reduced demand for high calorie foods as well as maybe an increased demand for physical activities as people feel better.
I am also curious if there are specific things we eat or consume or do that worsens on GLP-1 pathway. Maybe if we identify other things that can increase its activity we can get a better idea of strategies that aren't medicine.
That's been a source of speculation and stress from the snack industry.
Lol. Meanwhile the processed food industry is pushing people to get fatter by wrongfully citing an old study.
no thats absurd, the amount of people who would have to be on this medication would b e insane, just because people are main veining amphetimines and taking diet drugs now doesnt mean it has the power to change the food processing industry
Cookies still taste good. Seriously, you don’t need a drug to properly regulation industry.
What ever happened to fecal transplants from skinny people. I thought that was the magic bullet of sustainable weight loss.
I also whatever happened to that line of research. Seemed very promising.
As far as I understand it, there still needs more research on this, but also this was meant to be helpful, but even with skinny people gut baterai, you still need to possibly change your diet. Which is less intersting to some.
Secondly, I can see how a drug that you need to take all your life is way more attractive to pharmaceutical than a process that you do once on a person... so... greed.
Not sure about "magic bullet" but gut microbiome research and therapy are still very much a thing.
Turns out corporations cannot patent other people's poo
Was on mounjaro for 4 months - didn’t lose much weight and gained it back (had really bad gastric side effects in the end with celiac complications)
It did help me quit smoking - also didn’t crave things as much.
Part of why I didn’t continue also had to do with anxiety over the drug being covered / affordability
My ozempic was starting to cook at home and take my lunch to work, I lost weight, I'm so happy and saving money
glasses and brushing your teeth are also lifelong medical things
But they dont cost $1000 a month
I take ozempic for diabetes, and getting used to the burps has been crazy.
My girlfriend started Ozempic over a year ago because she has Type 2 Diabetes. Her weight hasn't moved at all but her blood sugar levels have been rock solid. In that way, the medicine seems to be doing what it's supposed to, which is good. Sometimes it's sold out a bunch of places because of people who buy it for weight loss only though, which is a problem for people like my girlfriend who actually need it for their health.
My sister has been on it for months, she’s always tired because she’s pretty much starving her body. She can only force herself to eat very little. And she’ll need to be on a maintenance dose long term.
Works for me; happy with the experience.
There a just an article out about how cheap these drugs can actually be made. Maybe you did this interview before they came out?
There needs to be more regulation regarding this drug. My mother decided to use ozempic to lose weight. For the first month she received a dosis of 0.5 and after 2 weeks she started feeling ill and went to the doctor. Turns out she was prescribed a high starting dose (2.5) and she developed a medication induced osteoporosis and could have died.
I find it frustrating that most of this discussion has been about weight loss.. when the drug is here to treat diabetes in a way that prevents the need to take insulin.. Insulin kills you, it's slower than diabetes..but it still does. And all this crap about weight loss and did you deserve the med, did you work hard enough first..blah blah blah fricking blah.. this is life saving medication..not just from diabetes..but also from the effects of insulin dependence..and this discussion and every other discussion had by the media is all about an ancillary side effect.. and that is making the drug more expensive and less accessible.. eff you people.. talk about what's real.. not everybody lives in Hollywood I don't care about stupid ozempic face I care about the two and three year battle to get my insurance to cover it by proving that other meds are making me sick..three years of other drugs making me sick..because of this b.s.
People criticizing ozempic users are not obese. It sucks
Why are the obese obese in the first place?
May it be related to the diet?
Like processed food and food "rich" in sugar?
May changing the diet help to prevent and even reduce obesity???
@@martinfiedler4317 telling an obese person “Just eat healthier “ is as effective as telling a depressed person “ Just be happy” its not only a metabolism issue, its far more complicated. And believe me that having an addictive personality is a big part of it.
@@DaniMarko Obviously, the obese person is lacking something - awareness, discipline or simply money. Otherwise, the person would not be obese.
Your comparison is like saying that the depressed person is depressed because of emotional issues. That does not help.
What helps is to realize that a large part of obese people just are too lazy taking the time of selecting proper groceries and cooking themselves.
Comparing obesity with depressions or addictions is missing the point.
@@martinfiedler4317 maybe what they are lacking is a proper amount of a neurotransmitter or a neurological pathway. Its never as simple as proper habits and money. I have both and its still a struggle.
@@DaniMarko _"Its never as simple as proper habits and money."_
It's most;y as simple as proper habits and money. You are generalizing from exceptional cases to the whole population.
The reality is that obesity has increased with the spread of industrial, highly-processed food and is more prevalent in economically weaker parts of the population.
Medical conditions doubtlessly exist and deserve help. But they do not provide the necessary market size for real monetization (the Big Buck). So, it's marketed to people who don't need it.
And for those people goes:
"drugs don't make your problems go away, they just create more."
Lots of incurious comments in this video, people who seem primed to see only what fits their preconceptions rather than listening and learning.
Yup. If they watch the video, they would notice that Adam and Dr. Khullar do discuss caveat with "miracle drugs"
Having AI summarize and collapse thoughtless comments would be an interesting feature.
[1850 comments hidden (Questions answered in video)]
[2531 comments hidden (Hateful: Body image)]
Etc.
Welcome to youtube, where the peanut gallery gutturally belches out whatever half formed thought congeals in their skull after seeing the thumbnail before clicking play.
@@hansonlee5847 or some people have read and followed ozempic fad for a while now and understand how it came to market, the misuses in approval in labeling that was pulled, the off lable prescribing of it, the potential of permanent stomach nerve paralysis, etc and the flurry of lawsuits attached to it and dont need to watch adam talk to some dude for 2 hours about it
I only agree with half of what was said here, meaning this is one of the best discussions on this subject. Well done Adam C
I take Mounjaro for T2D. I asked for a CGM at the same time. During my seven months on the medication, I was probably only on it for five due to shortages. I experienced no real appetite change until I got on the maximum dose. I was still able to eat a large piece of birthday cake. What worked is that the medicine helped me take my eating orders from my CGM and eliminate all carbs. My last A1C was 4.9. I could continue this indefinitely. I lost 40lbs, but I didn’t really notice this going on. It is nice to be a size 8 for the first time, but that wasn’t my motivation. All I care about is treating my disease and the associated health risks. I am dropping my dose, but intend to stay on it indefinitely.
I am taking Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, haven't run the blood tests to verify that its working (yet)...but I have had notable knock on side effects.
The most notable is a strange decrease in sexual desire. Not the kind of dysfunction associated with weight/age/etc, but just no longer really interested. I can become aroused, but I have difficulty remaining aroused because I get...bored? This is very abnormal for me, and coincidences with starting the medicine. So its definitely having some kind of psychological effect.
My antidepressant killed my sex drive...but I made so many bad decisions and put up with men that I should've kicked to the curb, just because the sex was good. I'm retired, in my sixties and I think I'm far better off, minus the sex drive
I’m not on Ozempic, I maintain my weight the old fashioned way by counting calories and minimizing ultra processed foods. When I’m cutting weight, reduced sexual desire is one of the main signs that I’m in an actual calorie deficit. I suspect that that’s what’s going on for you - it’s not a direct side effect of Ozempic, it’s a side effect of being at a calorie deficit.
Speaking personally, aside from the obvious changes on the scale over time and the already mentioned reduced sex drive, the other main changes I can track that tell me that I’m in a calorie deficit are that my resting heart rate drops by 4 to 5 BPM, and my heart rate variability increases by 10 to 20 milliseconds.