Ozempic Users?

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  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 893 Member
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    Paper pudding I don’t disagree. If I was on insulin, I’d tell people close to me who need to know for safety’s sake.
    My previous comment on insulin just meant , there won’t be negative comments made about ozempic. It will be accepted for weight loss just like insulin is accepted for diabetes.
    Drugs aren’t as big a deal here as they seem to be in the States.
    Also, there isn’t a shortage of ozempic. That may make a difference on it’s perception.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,081 Member
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    I know.
    I did say my post wasn't directed at you particularly - was just a general comment, albeit bit tangential to thread topic.
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 893 Member
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    No problem. I get it. I just wanted to talk!! Lol
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,925 Member
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    ex-squeeze me Ms @springlering62? Chopped liver is here!
  • Kupla71
    Kupla71 Posts: 1,196 Member
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    I’ve been taking Ozempic for over a year and have not seen much of a weight change. Under 5 lbs. I’ve been trying but haven’t watched what I eat closely enough or exercised consistently enough. Ozempic isn’t a magic pill. At least it’s not for me. I do have to put the work in by decreasing my calories and increasing my exercise to see better results. My doctor wants to keep me on it because it has other benefits like protecting against heart disease. Even though I haven’t had much success with it I have to say that it has helped reduce my appetite. I think with the right diet and exercise plan I can lose weight. I have about 30 pounds to lose.
  • Patricia01Green
    Patricia01Green Posts: 2 Member
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    I have been taking Mounjaro for 14.5 weeks. It’s been very successful for controlling my glucose (I’m type 2 diabetic) and helping me lose weight. 22 lbs down so far. However, it’s not a magic elixir. You have to watch your calories, in my case, it reduces my appetite so much that I have to watch that I get ENOUGH calories. I also reduced carbs significantly, increased my protein intake, and now I exercise 4-5 times a week (low-impact interval training).

    The huge problem I’m facing is the Mounjaro shortage. I often can’t get the drug in a timely way, and this week it looks like I won’t be able to get it at all. I’m seriously considering switching to Ozempic which I can get from Canada reliably.
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 893 Member
    edited April 2023
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    Kupla 71
    My body seems to be reacting like yours does to ozempic. I guess it has curbed my appetite somewhat, but I only seem to lose weight by logging my food and watching calories. I’ve been taking it for 6 weeks now. My goal is to add exercise to the mix. Eating is a psychological problem for me, and I will eat when I’m not necessarily hungry, but stressed. Maybe ozempic has ‘calmed me down’ a bit. Lol. My hope is that it lowers my blood sugar enough to no longer be diabetic, and stop taking it in a few months. Also, to lose 20 lbs. more and be able to stop some other medications that I have to take.
    Patricia, Recently, in the news I read that they are going to ban selling ozempic to Americans, at least from the province of B.C. I’m not really sure why they are thinking of doing that. Maybe they’re worried about having a shortage of it. However, they say a lot of stuff that never actually happens.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,837 Member
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    Melwillbehealthy wrote: »
    I’m not telling any friends I’m on ozempic. It’s my private business. I take other prescriptions that I would rather keep private, this one as well. I’d like my friends to see me in a healthy light. I also haven’t told them I’m diabetic. Why should I? If I ever need to tell people, I will.
    Ozempic face seems a ridiculous concept to me. One lady posted a picture of her ozempic face and I just didn’t get it. She looked gorgeous and definitely had a thinner face. It went along with her thinner body. Isn’t that a benefit of losing weight? I’m kind of waiting to see changes in my overly, fat face😗. Even if it’s on the thin side, I’m sure I’ll look and feel better.
    A couple of years from now, no one will care about ozempic anymore than they care or think about insulin.

    To the "Ozempic face" issue specifically: I don't think this is really specific to Ozempic, at least not entirely.

    Fast weight loss tends to result in looking more haggard in general. Ozempic is triggering fast weight loss for some people. No surprise there are facial consequences.

    Some of the effect may be temporary: When we cut calories, we retain less glycogen (one of our fuel sources) and that means there's less water retention in muscles (water is part of how the glycogen is stored), including muscles in facial structures. That glycogen/water depletion can de-plump some body areas. In a lot of places, it won't much show, but it can show more in the face. When we go to maintenance calories, it will eventually come back. It's not fat, so no need to fret about it.

    On top of that, fat can be lost faster than skin can shrink. That adds to haggard appearance, and again can show more on the face than some other areas. IMU, fast loss affects loose skin in potentially 2 ways.

    One is simply that it can take time for the skin shrinkage to catch up to the fat loss, so there's some droopiness for a while until that happens. (My loose skin kept shrinking at least into year 2 of maintenance, though it slowed with time - much but not all eventually shrank, even at age 60.) So, that affect on the face can be partly temporary, too, as the skin shrinks post loss.

    The other is that skin is an organ, weight loss is a physical stress, and physical stressors can affect health of organs. In other words, lose too fast, maybe skin becomes less healthy, therefore less elastic, less willing to shrink at all, ever. This may be a smaller factor, but it can be in the mix.

    Is there anything extra about Ozempic weight loss vs. non-Ozempic loss, when it comes to the face, where loss rate is equal? I don't know.

    But I think part of the drama over Ozempic face is that (1) more people are losing fast that way than have lost fast in other ways previously, and (2) a bunch of appearance-focused influencer types jumped on the bandwagon, and got results that were more alarming to them than to those with perhaps motivations that include but aren't centered entirely on appearance issues.

    Truth in communications: I didn't/don't take Ozempic. I lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight 7+ years ago at age 59-60, have maintained a healthy weight since. For sure, my face looked more haggard for the first few weeks maybe even small number of months after reaching goal and going to maintenance calories, but it did improve. There may be some long-term facial effects for me, but - from looking at photos of my grandmother, for example, who was never much overweight - I don't think they are major.
    springlering62 wrote: »

    (snip much good advice)

    I totally give MFP credit for putting me on the right path, but particularly this community of others who’ve been furiously paddling the same boat.

    (snip more)

    I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have finally taken the problem by the balls (I can say that because there’s no men on this thread, lol!) and have lost about 40% of my starting body weight. The GERD From Hell is gone, a lot of what was diagnosed as arthritis pain is gone, and I can’t even explain the utter and total joy of movement, versus couch potato days.

    (snip again)

    YupYupYup, 1000%. It's worth the effort. The quality of life payoff is great, and some of the rewards come along the way, not just at goal weight and beyond.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,845 Member
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    https://youtu.be/Yx-PCEcG8xw
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 893 Member
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    Ann,
    Thanks for your insightful comments on ozempic face. Weight loss is such a slow process for me. I doubt if I’ll ever have to deal with it. Your story is inspiring. I can’t wait to be able to look back and say, “that’s when I lost the weight “.
  • Patricia01Green
    Patricia01Green Posts: 2 Member
    edited April 2023
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    Melwillbehealthy wrote: »
    Patricia, Recently, in the news I read that they are going to ban selling ozempic to Americans, at least from the province of B.C. I’m not really sure why they are thinking of doing that. Maybe they’re worried about having a shortage of it. However, they say a lot of stuff that never actually happens.

    I'm a American/Canadian dual citizen, so I might have an advantage... or I might not since I live in the States. As you said, though, they say a lot of things they don't mean. It's often a lot of bluster.
  • Sandie2102
    Sandie2102 Posts: 68 Member
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    badnoodle wrote: »
    I had a really depressing conversation with real-life friends yesterday. We were talking about food, and I mentioned how I missed pasta and rice, but that Ozempic was really helping me stick to a low(er) carb diet. And they absolutely went off on me! Things like how I was "unfairly privileged" to have access to it; I was "embracing fat-phobic diet culture"; and how "you're just signing up for a lifetime drug habit". To be fair, they did walk back a lot of that when I reminded them that I'd recently been diagnosed with t2 diabetes and really wanted to keep all my toes for the rest of my life.

    But wow, the judgement and negativity from avowedly liberal people who actively support drug therapy for mental illness and drug addiction was EYE OPENING. I almost think I would have gotten less judgment if I casually admitted to using recreational ketamine on a regular basis.

    It's sad eh? I battled with myself when I made the decision to get help with my weight, I felt like I was taking the easy way out. I have only told a handful of ppl, my 2 BFFs and my boss. The hubs knows of course, but I haven't told my family. They just all suspect me of "being on another diet". But why do we have to feel like this? It isn't fair. I'm going through a medically supervised programme, headed by a Harvard educated internal medicine doctor. It is costing ME money. Yes, my benefits cover some of it, but the programme and the Rx still come out of my pocket. Why is it that if we are focusing on our health for any other issues, we are applauded, but being overweight (whether it's a little or a lot) is being selfish and entitled? People need to MTOB!!!
  • Sandie2102
    Sandie2102 Posts: 68 Member
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    COGypsy wrote: »
    Is anyone afraid of “Ozempic face”? I keep hearing about it and while a magic bullet would be great, fillers are already so expensive! Doing something to deliberately need more cosmetic work seems counterintuitive.

    I saw a great post from an Ozempic user here in Ontario. She said that this whole Ozempic face issue is really stupid. If you lose fat in your face it will of course show any wrinkles or cheek hollows. They were there already, but your fat was "filling them out". I lost quite a bit from my face and neck at first and yes, there are wrinkles but I'll trade a few wrinkles for a healthier weight!
  • Sandie2102
    Sandie2102 Posts: 68 Member
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    NatalieBkk wrote: »
    Hello! I’m just wondering if everyone taking Ozempic also exercise regularly?

    Last Friday my doctor put me on Phentermine 15mg, I took it 3 years and 11 years ago for 2-3 months rich time, but this time it has no effect on me. My doctor said she wants to put me on Ozempic next month and I’m hoping it will work better than the Phentermine. I am also going to the gym 3-4 times a week and my goal is to lose around 40lbs.

    You will find that since you are eating less (and you will need to figure out what works best for you nutritionally), at some point you will plateau. You won't really want to decrease calories too much, so the only other way to get your calorie deficit will be to exercise. I added walking (and some stretching) in while I was on vacation (perfect time to get into a routine of walking eh?) and managed to LOSE 3 pounds on a Caribbean vacation.
  • songbird13291
    songbird13291 Posts: 120 Member
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    I started on Saxenda in April 2022. Switched to Wegovy in January. I’ve lost 65 pounds since starting the medication.

    I lost 75 pounds in 2010 and regained it. Lost the same 75 pounds in 2016 and regained it, both times using diet and exercise to lose the weight,

    The medication isn’t a magic bullet, but it is helping me stick to the diet and exercise routine. I’m not a diabetic but I do have several medical issues that substantially improved since I lost the weight.
  • sugagirl5
    sugagirl5 Posts: 27 Member
    edited April 2023
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    I’m on my second try of ozempic, I lost 30 lbs the first time but felt so sick so I stopped… this time around I’m trying to listen to my body and work with the drug vs around it and find it’s helping… my gas is outta control though lol

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