GLP1 for teen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have no issue with it except it stops working if you stop using it and she’ll regain. At 16, that’s a recipe for failure with insurance and cost issues for decades to come.

+1

It's a lifelong medication as obesity is a chronic condition. I'm on Wegovy and have been on it a year and a half. I'm down to a normal BMI, but still have difficult side effects, and I can handle that -- but I'm 55. A life sentence of this medication is different for me than for a teenager. I have zero doubt that I would regain immediately if I went off it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have no issue with it except it stops working if you stop using it and she’ll regain. At 16, that’s a recipe for failure with insurance and cost issues for decades to come.

But if you’re at a lower weight and have better eating habits that have been adopted while taking it wouldn’t you be able to maintain? I have no experience but does everyone stay on it forever or els they gain back?

No.

The current science is showing that obesity is so much more than "eating habits." An obese person's body has something going wrong in it -- it thinks it's bmi is too low, and so it 1) sends the person constant signals via hormones to find food and eat it, preferably food that is as calorie dense as possible; and 2) it slows metabolism way down so that the body holds on to all of the fat/stored energy it has. The body is confused -- it thinks it is far too thin when it is actually the opposite; this kind of confusion isn't uncommon in medicine, for example you see it with autoimmune (the body is confused and attacks it's own cells) and cancer (cells are confused and do not grow and divide in the way they should).

Thinking that a strong will and determination will solve someone's obesity problem is like telling a depressed person to put a smile on their face and they will feel better. Not very effective, and potentially damaging.

I'm talking about obesity here, of course, not the folks who would look better 10 to 15 pounds lighter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always wondered why people gain it back. Assuming your stomach has shrunk and doesn’t need as much food to keep it full can’t you keep eating the same portions and still maintain?

Stomach size isn’t what limits or causes hunger. So shrinking your stomach doesn’t result in wanting to eat less, unfortunately. It is hormonal - the GLP drugs act on hunger and craving hormones and tamp them down. Less hunger and craving, less eating. When you stop taking GLPs your hunger hormones go back to “normal” and you gain back weight.

I agree with the 55 year old PP - obesity is a chronic condition and it isn’t unreasonable to expect to take a medication for it indefinitely. One does for all sorts of chronic conditions that arise even in childhood. That said, GLP side effects can be a lot, and the decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. It sounds like OP is being very thoughtful.

As someone who has always been heavy I’ll also say that there is significant harm, sadness, and loss from being a fat girl. I worked so hard to not be fat, and I was still fat. I was even heavy as a college athlete. If I could go back and spare myself that sadness I would, even if I still got fat at 30 or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd is 16 and has been struggling with her weight since @age 9. She’s 5’9, 220lbs and really wants to lose weight but she is terrified of developing an eating disorder and doesn’t do a great job of watching what she eats although she mostly eats very healthy and eats less than my other two younger children and always has. We’ve done meal planning and recording and she doesn’t want to become obsessive about it. Trust me when I say she really does eat extremely well for a teen.

DH has been on zepbound for a little over a year, has lost @40lbs and is so happy. He had always been relatively slim but struggled to keep it that way and had gained 40ish lbs in the last 5 years. He’s also touting the benefits of the drugs having positive effects on his cholesterol, A1C, etc. His family all are overweight or obese and it seems those genes have passed onto one of our kids.

DD also struggles with heavy and debilitating periods and we’ve ruled out pcos but birth control isn’t helping. I do wonder if she lost some weight if she would feel better with regard to her periods as well. Her gyn did agree that losing weight could help but didn’t have anything else to say about it.

DH thinks we should try to get her on one of the glp1s but I’m concerned about its affect on an adolescent (though I do think she’s finished growing or close to it, she’s had her period for 3 years).
Does anyone have experience with a teen going on one? I know her regular pediatrician wouldn’t prescribe it so I don’t even know where to look or what kind of doctor might recommend it for a teen.


And please no judgement - this is simply one of the channels I am exploring and one of the many places I’m going for advice.

she already has an eating disorder. it's not like she is somewhat overweight. she is close to obese class II.

[Anonymous]

I've never been less disordered than on a GLP-1: I eat when I am hungry, stop when I feel full, don't get cravings. It's an amazing tool but you must obviously discuss with a specialist who can inform you about long term use, whether it's appropriate for your dd.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have so much sympathy for your daughter - she’s doing all the “right” things to be healthy weight - she eats well and exercises, and sounds like she’s got a balanced and fun approach with both, not some unsustainable extreme forms of either. And at her age, she probably has friends who scarf a pizza and coca cola every day and yet are thin. Genetics! Please remind your daughter that on a positive note, the insides of her body are healthy given how she aporoaches her eating and exercise.

Re: your question, you have to ask this of a doctor. If her pediatrician isn’t helpful, ask for a referral to a dietician who will give more than 2 seconds of thought to this (like many peds would), and will help your daughter explore what she is eating and when she is eating it, to see if any changes could be made there before going on a glp1. And the dietician may be able to refer you to a doctor who can talk through the pros and cons of going on glp1 at age 16.

If your daughter does eventually go on a glp1, I suspect she’ll be successful bc as I said above, she’s doing all the right things.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have no issue with it except it stops working if you stop using it and she’ll regain. At 16, that’s a recipe for failure with insurance and cost issues for decades to come.

But if you’re at a lower weight and have better eating habits that have been adopted while taking it wouldn’t you be able to maintain? I have no experience but does everyone stay on it forever or els they gain back?

No, it doesn’t work like this. First, your hunger comes back with a vengeance- the same hunger people couldn’t overcome before is not 100 times worse. Second, people have reported that they literally tracked calories precisely before taking meds (no loss), on meds (lost weight), and tapered off meds (weight gain) so the idea is the weight regain happens to nearly everyone off the meds. The main people who claim to be pretty stable off of it are off for just a few months and most report back a few months after that time period they regained quickly.

[Anonymous]

Op, just popping in to say you sound like a good mom. Kuddos for trying to help your daughter. Maybe seeing a nutritionist would also help. But no matter, you’re doing the right thing trying to find ways for her to lose the weight sooner than later.