Ozempic or Contrave anyone?

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joowelz
joowelz Posts: 170 Member
edited March 2023 in Health and Weight Loss
I exercise 5 days a week and 80% of my diet is natural, healthy food in measured amounts. It's that last 20% after dinner that keeps me from reaching my goal weight/body size. I never feel satiated. I am considering trying one of these weight loss drugs to reach my goal and then I would taper off and maintain on my own (I'm already doing the right things). Does anyone here have experience with Ozempic or Contrave?
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Replies

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    How is your progress lately?

    If you make your diary public, someone may be able to suggest changes for foods that are more satiating. More protein, for a start.

    I wonder if you're being optimistic about the post-drug times. If you can't maintain a small deficit today, I question if you could maintain the calories needed post-drug to not put on weight again.

    I also wonder if these drugs will lead to life-long dependencies in people.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,631 Member
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    Those things don’t work and are unhealthy. You just need to use willpower to overcome the nighttime snacking. Review your food choices of meals to make sure they’re satiating enough to curtail the snacks as it sounds like they may not be.

    If you MUST snack pick things that are low cal. Mine is popcorn or a Greek yogurt.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
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    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    How is your progress lately?

    If you make your diary public, someone may be able to suggest changes for foods that are more satiating. More protein, for a start.

    I have and people have commented before. It's easier to say eat more protein than to actually do it. I am not a meat lover like some people. I like carbs. The idea of a giant piece of chicken is sickening to me, but I can easily eat two bowls of rice or 3 pieces of bread.

    Wegovy is the brand under which Ozempic is marketed as a weight loss tool. We have no shortages in Canada and diabetics have plenty of other options to choose from, such as Metformin. My dad was a diabetic.

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    joowelz wrote: »
    It's easier to say eat more protein than to actually do it. I am not a meat lover like some people. I like carbs. The idea of a giant piece of chicken is sickening to me, but I can easily eat two bowls of rice or 3 pieces of bread.
    Apparently, it's also easier to take a drug than eat more protein. It's not just meat. You have tuna, egg white, greek yogurt, whey or vegan protein powder, beans, etc. etc.
  • reginakarlcatz
    reginakarlcatz Posts: 4 Member
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    One of the reasons people lose weight on these drugs is due to the side effects of feeling nauseous constantly.

    I've added protein powder and soy milk to my plan to obtain enough protein for the day to not feel significant, painful cravings. I still feel a bit hungry, but not overwhelming.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
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    Hey— I don’t use them but honestly if it helps others meet their goals and sustain weight loss… I’m not against it. Tons of people control high blood pressure or even type 2 diabetes by utilizing medications as tools and there is not a huge stigma around it—even though for most people these can also be controlled with diet and exercise.

    I’m glad that more research is being done to help obese people to stick to a calorie deficit. I personally am a watch and see person… so I’d like to see if this is the new keto/fad diet or if people really achieve their goals long term. There are some threads on Reddit for these meds where you might be able to talk to more people who use this.
  • peggy_polenta
    peggy_polenta Posts: 310 Member
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    the only comment is, these drugs won't keep you from eating those snacks, it will only help how your body responds to them. so once you stop taking them after you reach your goal, if you haven't learned how to curb or manage your snacking, the effects of the drug will be short lived. (ie, if you keep on with your late nite snacking) just something i wanted to point out.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
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    Sinisterbarbie1 wrote: »
    @joowelz you are right that folks are often very negatively disposed to using medicines to help reach goals here. I personally am not opposed if one works with their doctor and uses the medication as it is intended. I think it is great that these medicines are available for people who need them and use them as intended.

    That said, from your question it doesn’t seem like your current needs fall within the intended use of the medication. You seem to have your diet and exercise goals well in hand and are struggling with the last few pounds. Consequently, you are unlikely to be identified as a good candidate for prescription medication by a reputable physician, nor would insurance be likely to pay for it. I may be misunderstanding what you are describing as your eating and exercise and current situation though.

    There are a variety of prescription weight loss medicines available in the marketplace. My info is based on the U.S. market but I gather Canada is similarly situated if not better positioned cost and availability wise.
    Some drugs are oral and older like phentermine and topiramate. They work short term for some people, but don’t have really impressive results. Others are newer oral medications like Contrave that are supposed to help with cravings by combining medicines formerly used to help drug and alcohol abusers curb cravings with a smoking cessation drug that is also used for depression. Also has mixed results. The most talked about medications recently are injectible GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic (for diabetes, also being prescribed for weight loss off label) and Wegovy (a higher dosage of the same medication available and approved by the FDA in the US for weight loss). All of these medicines are only available for people who are obese (with a BMI over 30) or at the top end of overweight (BMI at least 27) plus experiencing other problems like heart disease or diabetes. I may have misunderstood, but it sounded like you might not meet these requirements.

    You also say you plan to taper off and then maintain on your own, however reports about the injectable medicines seem to indicate that they must be taken forever if one wants to retain the benefits of the weight loss. Otherwise the cravings/hunger return and the weight is quickly regained. This is nevertheless a benefit for people who fall into the categories intended to be prescribed the medicine, because the risks of extreme obesity or overweight plus additional health complications outweigh the risk of taking the medicine long term. However, it is not clear that it is either financially or otherwise recommended to take these medicines forever if you have only used them to lose a small amount of weight.

    Here is a link to the NIH’s fact sheet about prescription medicines for weight loss and the issues you might want to think about when considering whether to use them. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/prescription-medications-treat-overweight-obesity

    I hope this response is helpful to you in thinking things through. I always feel badly when I see people ganging up on folks who ask questions in the forums. Despite that initial response it looks like you have commented before so you must know that there are no end of resources here and discussions daily about how to stay motivated and patient to be able to lose those last few pounds and then maintain if that is your situation. If it is not, and you are in a situation where you qualify for the prescriptions and think they would help you/can afford to pay for them long term through insurance or otherwise, then definitely look into them with the advice of your doctor.
    I wish you great success!! You seem to be doing really well at least 80% of the time, which is a great thing to remember and find ways to build on.


    Thank you for your kind response! I will review the NHS material.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
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    reginakarlcatz wrote: »
    One of the reasons people lose weight on these drugs is due to the side effects of feeling nauseous constantly.

    I've added protein powder and soy milk to my plan to obtain enough protein for the day to not feel significant, painful cravings. I still feel a bit hungry, but not overwhelming.

    Thanks for the tip. The thing about protein powder is it doesnt fill me up like a food with volume you can actually chew. Re: soy milk - thats interesting. Do you find it more filling than almond or cow’s milk? I drink almond milk because its so much lower in calories. I dont have a lot of calories to work with.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
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    By the way, i just logged a sample day of meals and my diary is public. For those accusing me of eating an unhealthy diet of junk food, please review and tell me which part is junk.

    My problem is i am constantly hungry and my meals do not satiate my appetite. I always feel like i could eat a little bit more after each meal.

    Nighttime is particularly menacing. I literally feel agitated and lightheaded until i have a snack like cheerios or peanut butter.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
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    Actually @Retroguy2000 @tomcustombuilder said

    "using drugs to compensate for a poor diet is not healthy or advised."

    Also, I specifically said in my most recent post that I logged a SAMPLE day today for people's review. I haven't been logging my meals in months. If you want to critique, just look at the SAMPLE day from today.

    The 1 tbls of olive oil is in my homemade dressing on my 2 cups of spinach.

    Thanks
    Nancy
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
    edited February 2023
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    Fair point, however to be pedantic you said "those", which is plural.

    I didn't put much weight on a sample day yet to be finished, because it's a plan for now. I did notice that the only two finished days in the last month both showed you going well over budget, and it's possible when you aren't logging that you're going over by more, so there may be a trend there.

    In case anyone may have thought this, I didn't post my plan today to shame or anything like that. I go over often, hell last week I had a cookie binge and went over one day by 1,750 :smile: I was just showing that it's possible to eat much more protein at a similar calorie level, which is more satiating, which was the issue you talked about. And perhaps that is something you can aim for.

    Re the oil, perhaps easier said than done for me because I wouldn't be tempted by it in the first place, but having 14 calories of spinach with 120 calories of oil seems counter productive. I'd look for a lower calorie dressing alternative or more likely have it plain.

    For example, I constantly see people loading up a baked potato with tons of butter and other toppings. I used to have some buttery spread (yogurt based brand) with mine out of habit, then I tried it plain, and I love it as is. No need for anything on top adding unnecessary calories.
  • Rockmama1111
    Rockmama1111 Posts: 262 Member
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    @joowelz I looked at your diary out of nosiness, and if this is a sample day, it's really not bad. Your dinner salad sounds pretty good, and I'd use a tablespoon of olive oil too. I think your entry for the brown rice is off unless you're having 3 full servings. I know the entry says "cooked" but the total is more in line for 130 grams of dry rice. I would think it would be closer to 160-170 calories for one serving of cooked brown rice.

    I'm a night snacker too. Air popped popcorn sprayed with the very fake I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray (eaten one kernel at a time) saved me in the early days when I couldn't get over the habit. Hitting fiber and protein goals has REALLY helped.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,643 Member
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    Your rice calories are wrong unless that's a super oily/buttery recipe with more butter than rice.

    Double check entries using food data central as an example.

    Seeking acceptable substitutions and "value" is what comes out of logging.

    I would also use a scale for high caloric cost ingredients. Or at least confirm on a scale that what I think is a tablespoon is a tablespoon.
  • Just_Mel_
    Just_Mel_ Posts: 3,992 Member
    edited February 2023
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    I am diabetic and was on Ozempic for awhile. The reason some people may lose weight is because it makes you feel like crap and you don't want to eat. It felt like there was a huge rock in my stomach and I actually missed days of work because of the pain/discomfort. I am no longer on that medicine. However, there is actually a shortage of this medicine for diabetics who actually need it, because many are using it for weight loss. I have friends who are afraid they can't get the refills of their prescription. So it's not just news media hyping the issue.
  • joowelz
    joowelz Posts: 170 Member
    edited February 2023
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    Someone here said my rice calories are off. I did a google search and found this. Does this look accurate to people? If my rice calories have been over the actual amount all this time, this would be life changing for me. (I updated my diary today to reflect the lower calorie amount and am now on budget.)

    p85i00y5i0dt.jpg

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
    edited February 2023
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    I'm attempting to get a prescription for Contrave but as I get my healthcare through the VA I have hoops to jump through. I posted about this in another Contrave thread:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/47261726#Comment_47261726
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm considering Contrave. I took bupropion 100 mg on and off for 20 years. Contrave contains 90 mg of bupropion, plus anti-addiction med naltrexone.

    (When I was off bupropion it was in the spring/summer when I felt I didn't really need it.)

    However, summer 2021, I did need it and it wasn't working, so since then we've been trying all the other antidepressants. The second to last one was Remeron, which worked fine for depression and anxiety and fabulous for insomnia. I'd been getting the best sleep in almost 20 years. And then I learned Remeron is also give to anorectics to increase their appetite, which explained the ravenous hunger I'd been feeling that persisted despite me throwing every tool in my box against it. >.< I'd associated the hunger with my surgery in November, as did my surgeon and my PCP. I'd been beating myself up about my post-surgery weight gain.

    I asked my psychiatrist about an appetite suppressant, and since I'm with the VA she referred me to the MOVE program. In the VA healthcare system, only MOVE doctors prescribe weight loss meds. I've done TeleMOVE before and didn't expect to learn anything from the MOVE program, but thought the regular weigh ins would help provide accountability and the group support would be nice. At the beginning, the facilitator asked each of us why we were here and I, somewhat but not 100% flippantly responded, "I'm just here for the drugs." the man next to me, who has been through the program before but continues for the other two reasons I'm there, said to me, "They won't actually give you drugs." :lol:

    I've since received a call from the MOVE pharmacist, and am more optimistic about eventually getting a prescription, but she did make me aware that there is a long wait list for the MOVE doctor, the only type of doctor in the VA that can prescribe weight loss drugs.

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