Wegovy/Saxenda for weight loss?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend who is on it (with great success) says that it is really messing with her mind, because she has always beaten herself up for "lack of willpower" with food but on Wegovy, she doesn't even think about food much and has to remind herself to eat. She started going to therapy because she has realized that the years she spent beating herself up for essentially moral failings were based on a false premise, and she was faulting herself for something that was actually physiological. She is processing that realization. As she says, no amount of "willpower" replaces simply not wanting food.

I do wonder if these drugs are going to change how we think about weight. (I hope so; I think the "willpower" framework is wildly out of date.)

This is exactly the way I feel, except I'm already in therapy, but it's definitely something we discuss and it was a little difficult coming to terms with the years of self-abuse and self-loathing over something that I had very little control over.

The thing is, I have eating disorders, and this was actually recommended to me by my medical team, which includes my psych and my dietitian (PA). I gained a lot of weight during my recovering and the pandemic, and this is the best way for me to lose weight safely without putting my mental health in jeopardy. The fact that I just eat less and have no real cravings makes all of the difference in the world. No calorie counting, no carb counting, etc.

My doctor wasn't too concerned about the side effects, as I have no family history of thyroid disorders or anything like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend who is on it (with great success) says that it is really messing with her mind, because she has always beaten herself up for "lack of willpower" with food but on Wegovy, she doesn't even think about food much and has to remind herself to eat. She started going to therapy because she has realized that the years she spent beating herself up for essentially moral failings were based on a false premise, and she was faulting herself for something that was actually physiological. She is processing that realization. As she says, no amount of "willpower" replaces simply not wanting food.

I do wonder if these drugs are going to change how we think about weight. (I hope so; I think the "willpower" framework is wildly out of date.)

This is exactly the way I feel, except I'm already in therapy, but it's definitely something we discuss and it was a little difficult coming to terms with the years of self-abuse and self-loathing over something that I had very little control over.

The thing is, I have eating disorders, and this was actually recommended to me by my medical team, which includes my psych and my dietitian (PA). I gained a lot of weight during my recovering and the pandemic, and this is the best way for me to lose weight safely without putting my mental health in jeopardy. The fact that I just eat less and have no real cravings makes all of the difference in the world. No calorie counting, no carb counting, etc.

My doctor wasn't too concerned about the side effects, as I have no family history of thyroid disorders or anything like that.

This is going to upend the self perception of a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I've been on 0.5 mg of Wegovy for four weeks through Calibrate -- it took me a couple of months after joining Calibrate to finally get it with the coupon. I don't have diabetes and insurance would not cover any brand of semaglutide.

I've yo-yo'ed a lot in weight over the last 25+ years, from 135 at my lowest to probably 190 at my highest (5'4", big frame, I'm never going to be skinny). I simply cannot eat any non-vegetable carbs, or my weight shoots up, so falling off the low-carb bandwagon over the past couple of years (and then a new sourdough habit during the pandemic) pushed me right back up the scale again.

I started Calibrate in early July at 184 (I'd already gotten back on the low-carb train and probably dropped 5 pounds on my own before starting). I was immediately started on 500 mg metformin but didn't get Wegovy until exactly 4 weeks ago. From July to September I lost about 8 pounds and in the month of September alone I've lost another 8, so I'm down to about 168.

I have definitely had nausea -- the first night I took it, the nausea woke me up at 2 am -- although I've never vomited. I've taken some Zofran to manage the nausea when it's been bad but it usually seems to abate in a day or so after my weekly dose.

I hope to God I can stay on this drug. It is the first time in my life where I'm not suffering from food cravings or, like PP, beating myself up for not being able to resist food. I'm just not that interested in eating, and I'm not focusing on when and what my next meal is going to be. It's easy to stay low carb (their diet plan is essentially low to moderate/slow carb, nothing crazy) because I'm just not hungry. There's (really good!) ice cream in the freezer for my spouse and kids, and I just don't care.

For me, the diet plan and coaching on Calibrate are OK but what's really making the difference are the drugs. I have a very strong family history of Type 2 diabetes and taking this drug is 100% worth it for me to free myself of food cravings and drop the weight so I'm not as metabolically at risk.

Also, I have papillary thyroid carcinoma (I'm in an active surveillance program and have no intention of getting surgery). The thyroid cancer potentially linked to GLP-1s in rodent models is medullary thyroid cancer, which is far rarer than papillary thyroid carcinoma, the most common kind. (There are also two other kinds of thyroid cancer.). I'm personally much less concerned about getting another kind of thyroid cancer than I am about the very real risks of diabetes and obesity.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I am the OP - this is all so helpful. I am going to talk to my GP about it. Wondering if I should just go through Calibrate though. The nausea makes me a little nervous though -- will the dr prescribe zofran to have just in case? I freak out a little with nausea.

[Anonymous]

I am in the Calibrate program and have lost almost thirty pounds so far. No side effects from the meds. It's a solid program.

[Anonymous]

I will say the benefits of Calibrate over just taking the meds are the "diet" advice (no calorie counting but a focus away from simple carbs and sugar) and coaching make a difference for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve posted before so I don’t want to repeat because someone will think I’m a drug rep but here goes. I was included in a study conducted by NIH for semaglutide for almost 2 years. Started Nov. 2018. Starting weight was either just over 300lbs or just below, can’t remember and I don’t want someone to dig up one of my old threads and call me a liar. But it was somewhere around 300lbs. Ended the study Nov. 2020 @ 182lbs. Lowest weight was June 2020 167lbs. I wanted to be 170 by my 50th Birthday. I purposely gained weight back because I thought I looked gaunt at 167. Just looked too thin in the face. I thought I looked like someone who had lost weight due to illness.

By February 2021, I was back up to about 225lbs. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to maintain, COVID isolation was getting me down, my mom was severely ill with Covid-19, I had started a second job, stopped going to the gym and just generally DGAF. But by March, I was ready to get back at it.

My doc from the study then prescribed Rybelsus 14mg (the diabetic flavor of the medication). Current weight is 192lbs. Goal weight is between 177-180lbs.

While I was in the study, they basically told me that this would be a lifelong drug. Or until I stopped caring about my weight.

Side affects: Some nausea, feeling cold all the time, some diarrhea in the beginning, and when you are full, you are full, your belly won’t take another bite or you will be miserable until you poop it out.

The dosing was gradual. Started with .25mg to top dose of 2.4mg.

This medication is not at like phen-fen or any type of stimulant.

It is expensive, but the manufacturer has a coupon to cover the first 6 scripts or at least they did on the Rybelsus. My doc has written me a script for the Wegovy, but it is very hard to find. I’ve been trying to get it for 6 weeks.

If anyone wants to know more from my experience from being in the study I’m more than happy to share. Also search Semaglutide in the diet forum and you will find a couple of the threads that I’ve talked about my experience.

Thank you so much for this helpful info. What did you do about the nausea? What did you feel like when you went off the medication? Did your appetite come roaring back? Are you able to live normally (like exercise, sleep, etc)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say the benefits of Calibrate over just taking the meds are the "diet" advice (no calorie counting but a focus away from simple carbs and sugar) and coaching make a difference for me.

May I ask - do they assign you a coach (a real person) or is it more self-tutorials online?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve posted before so I don’t want to repeat because someone will think I’m a drug rep but here goes. I was included in a study conducted by NIH for semaglutide for almost 2 years. Started Nov. 2018. Starting weight was either just over 300lbs or just below, can’t remember and I don’t want someone to dig up one of my old threads and call me a liar. But it was somewhere around 300lbs. Ended the study Nov. 2020 @ 182lbs. Lowest weight was June 2020 167lbs. I wanted to be 170 by my 50th Birthday. I purposely gained weight back because I thought I looked gaunt at 167. Just looked too thin in the face. I thought I looked like someone who had lost weight due to illness.

By February 2021, I was back up to about 225lbs. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to maintain, COVID isolation was getting me down, my mom was severely ill with Covid-19, I had started a second job, stopped going to the gym and just generally DGAF. But by March, I was ready to get back at it.

My doc from the study then prescribed Rybelsus 14mg (the diabetic flavor of the medication). Current weight is 192lbs. Goal weight is between 177-180lbs.

While I was in the study, they basically told me that this would be a lifelong drug. Or until I stopped caring about my weight.

Side affects: Some nausea, feeling cold all the time, some diarrhea in the beginning, and when you are full, you are full, your belly won’t take another bite or you will be miserable until you poop it out.

The dosing was gradual. Started with .25mg to top dose of 2.4mg.

This medication is not at like phen-fen or any type of stimulant.

It is expensive, but the manufacturer has a coupon to cover the first 6 scripts or at least they did on the Rybelsus. My doc has written me a script for the Wegovy, but it is very hard to find. I’ve been trying to get it for 6 weeks.

If anyone wants to know more from my experience from being in the study I’m more than happy to share. Also search Semaglutide in the diet forum and you will find a couple of the threads that I’ve talked about my experience.

Thank you so much for this helpful info. What did you do about the nausea? What did you feel like when you went off the medication? Did your appetite come roaring back? Are you able to live normally (like exercise, sleep, etc)?

I just lived through the nausea. Not gonna lie it was rough. It would wake me up at night. And sometimes it came on really strong out of the blue with no fore play, One time I was in Target shopping, doing fine and it hit me, I thought I was about to pass out. My daughter had to drive home and she was unlicensed! I was like take me home now! But as quick as it would come, it could pass equally as fast, but you don’t know that at the time. The nausea stopped about 6-8 months after starting the medication. And honestly, I was losing so much weight, I didn’t really care, when the study coordinator asked me about it, I said it was manageable.

I felt completely normal going off the medication. Meaning, sleep normal, exercise normal, no crazy thoughts, no depression or thoughts of hurting myself (that was a main concern during the study).

My appetite did not come roaring back, but cravings did. My appetite was insatiable. What I mean is, I wasn’t gorging on food in one sitting or stuffing myself but I was never satisfied with anything I put in my mouth I would eat two bites of a hamburger, no that’s not what I wanted, piece of chicken, nope, not that, slice of pizza? Nope. Ramen noodle? No. Watermelon? Halo mandarin? Oreo cookie? Toast? Boiled egg? You get the picture. And this would happen all in one night! I was going through this every day! I was hitting the grocery store every day buying all types of $hit trying to figure out something to satisfy my appetite! It was driving my husband crazy, I was gaining weight, plus COVID isolation, no gym, and just wanted to get control of my appetite. My once favorite foods didn’t seem gave me what I wanted or needed emotionally or otherwise. My stomach would be full, but my brain was constantly searching for something…..it was the worst feeling, even at 300lbs I had never had these types of feeling about food before. It had me in F’ing tears.

So I know all of that sounds bad, but I wanted to be honest. When I got back on Rybelsus (the pill) my doc added Topiramate er 50mg. That definitely has controlled the cravings. My weight today is 188lbs. I exercise 4 days a week split of 2 hours strength training and 3 hours cardio.

One thing to add about my appetite and being not satisfied, I would be full with a reasonable amount of food, meaning physiologically the medication seemed to train my stomach to know how much food was enough, it was my brain that still wanted more. It wasn’t my belly. I wasn’t hungry, I just wasn’t satisfied, just wanted to say that.


I finally was able to get my script filled for 2.4mg of Wegovy. Paid $25 with manufacturers coupon and insurance (1 month supply). Will start it next Tuesday. I have to be off the Rybelsus pill for a week.

TLDR; Pushed through the nausea. Generally normal after the medication stopped. Sleep, exercise and mostly normal mental state. Cravings were unmanageable and hit me like a freight train in a bad action movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve posted before so I don’t want to repeat because someone will think I’m a drug rep but here goes. I was included in a study conducted by NIH for semaglutide for almost 2 years. Started Nov. 2018. Starting weight was either just over 300lbs or just below, can’t remember and I don’t want someone to dig up one of my old threads and call me a liar. But it was somewhere around 300lbs. Ended the study Nov. 2020 @ 182lbs. Lowest weight was June 2020 167lbs. I wanted to be 170 by my 50th Birthday. I purposely gained weight back because I thought I looked gaunt at 167. Just looked too thin in the face. I thought I looked like someone who had lost weight due to illness.

By February 2021, I was back up to about 225lbs. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to maintain, COVID isolation was getting me down, my mom was severely ill with Covid-19, I had started a second job, stopped going to the gym and just generally DGAF. But by March, I was ready to get back at it.

My doc from the study then prescribed Rybelsus 14mg (the diabetic flavor of the medication). Current weight is 192lbs. Goal weight is between 177-180lbs.

While I was in the study, they basically told me that this would be a lifelong drug. Or until I stopped caring about my weight.

Side affects: Some nausea, feeling cold all the time, some diarrhea in the beginning, and when you are full, you are full, your belly won’t take another bite or you will be miserable until you poop it out.

The dosing was gradual. Started with .25mg to top dose of 2.4mg.

This medication is not at like phen-fen or any type of stimulant.

It is expensive, but the manufacturer has a coupon to cover the first 6 scripts or at least they did on the Rybelsus. My doc has written me a script for the Wegovy, but it is very hard to find. I’ve been trying to get it for 6 weeks.

If anyone wants to know more from my experience from being in the study I’m more than happy to share. Also search Semaglutide in the diet forum and you will find a couple of the threads that I’ve talked about my experience.

Thank you so much for this helpful info. What did you do about the nausea? What did you feel like when you went off the medication? Did your appetite come roaring back? Are you able to live normally (like exercise, sleep, etc)?

I just lived through the nausea. Not gonna lie it was rough. It would wake me up at night. And sometimes it came on really strong out of the blue with no fore play, One time I was in Target shopping, doing fine and it hit me, I thought I was about to pass out. My daughter had to drive home and she was unlicensed! I was like take me home now! But as quick as it would come, it could pass equally as fast, but you don’t know that at the time. The nausea stopped about 6-8 months after starting the medication. And honestly, I was losing so much weight, I didn’t really care, when the study coordinator asked me about it, I said it was manageable.

I felt completely normal going off the medication. Meaning, sleep normal, exercise normal, no crazy thoughts, no depression or thoughts of hurting myself (that was a main concern during the study).

My appetite did not come roaring back, but cravings did. My appetite was insatiable. What I mean is, I wasn’t gorging on food in one sitting or stuffing myself but I was never satisfied with anything I put in my mouth I would eat two bites of a hamburger, no that’s not what I wanted, piece of chicken, nope, not that, slice of pizza? Nope. Ramen noodle? No. Watermelon? Halo mandarin? Oreo cookie? Toast? Boiled egg? You get the picture. And this would happen all in one night! I was going through this every day! I was hitting the grocery store every day buying all types of $hit trying to figure out something to satisfy my appetite! It was driving my husband crazy, I was gaining weight, plus COVID isolation, no gym, and just wanted to get control of my appetite. My once favorite foods didn’t seem gave me what I wanted or needed emotionally or otherwise. My stomach would be full, but my brain was constantly searching for something…..it was the worst feeling, even at 300lbs I had never had these types of feeling about food before. It had me in F’ing tears.

So I know all of that sounds bad, but I wanted to be honest. When I got back on Rybelsus (the pill) my doc added Topiramate er 50mg. That definitely has controlled the cravings. My weight today is 188lbs. I exercise 4 days a week split of 2 hours strength training and 3 hours cardio.

One thing to add about my appetite and being not satisfied, I would be full with a reasonable amount of food, meaning physiologically the medication seemed to train my stomach to know how much food was enough, it was my brain that still wanted more. It wasn’t my belly. I wasn’t hungry, I just wasn’t satisfied, just wanted to say that.


I finally was able to get my script filled for 2.4mg of Wegovy. Paid $25 with manufacturers coupon and insurance (1 month supply). Will start it next Tuesday. I have to be off the Rybelsus pill for a week.

TLDR; Pushed through the nausea. Generally normal after the medication stopped. Sleep, exercise and mostly normal mental state. Cravings were unmanageable and hit me like a freight train in a bad action movie.

Wow. Thank you for the frank assessment. Some of the studies indicate that people coming off Wegovy gain weight again and I wonder if it is the cravings. That sounds awful.

[Anonymous]

Just to let you guys know, I get my semaglutide shipped from Canada. For a three-month supply with shipping, it costs me just under $1000 a month.They don't have Wegovy yet, so I just get Ozmepic. You'll need a prescription.

Mark's Marine Pharmacy.

[Anonymous]

How do these meds work if they’re not stimulants? So interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to let you guys know, I get my semaglutide shipped from Canada. For a three-month supply with shipping, it costs me just under $1000 a month.They don't have Wegovy yet, so I just get Ozmepic. You'll need a prescription.

Mark's Marine Pharmacy.

$1000/month is the cost in the US too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve posted before so I don’t want to repeat because someone will think I’m a drug rep but here goes. I was included in a study conducted by NIH for semaglutide for almost 2 years. Started Nov. 2018. Starting weight was either just over 300lbs or just below, can’t remember and I don’t want someone to dig up one of my old threads and call me a liar. But it was somewhere around 300lbs. Ended the study Nov. 2020 @ 182lbs. Lowest weight was June 2020 167lbs. I wanted to be 170 by my 50th Birthday. I purposely gained weight back because I thought I looked gaunt at 167. Just looked too thin in the face. I thought I looked like someone who had lost weight due to illness.

By February 2021, I was back up to about 225lbs. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to maintain, COVID isolation was getting me down, my mom was severely ill with Covid-19, I had started a second job, stopped going to the gym and just generally DGAF. But by March, I was ready to get back at it.

My doc from the study then prescribed Rybelsus 14mg (the diabetic flavor of the medication). Current weight is 192lbs. Goal weight is between 177-180lbs.

While I was in the study, they basically told me that this would be a lifelong drug. Or until I stopped caring about my weight.

Side affects: Some nausea, feeling cold all the time, some diarrhea in the beginning, and when you are full, you are full, your belly won’t take another bite or you will be miserable until you poop it out.

The dosing was gradual. Started with .25mg to top dose of 2.4mg.

This medication is not at like phen-fen or any type of stimulant.

It is expensive, but the manufacturer has a coupon to cover the first 6 scripts or at least they did on the Rybelsus. My doc has written me a script for the Wegovy, but it is very hard to find. I’ve been trying to get it for 6 weeks.

If anyone wants to know more from my experience from being in the study I’m more than happy to share. Also search Semaglutide in the diet forum and you will find a couple of the threads that I’ve talked about my experience.

Thank you so much for this helpful info. What did you do about the nausea? What did you feel like when you went off the medication? Did your appetite come roaring back? Are you able to live normally (like exercise, sleep, etc)?

I just lived through the nausea. Not gonna lie it was rough. It would wake me up at night. And sometimes it came on really strong out of the blue with no fore play, One time I was in Target shopping, doing fine and it hit me, I thought I was about to pass out. My daughter had to drive home and she was unlicensed! I was like take me home now! But as quick as it would come, it could pass equally as fast, but you don’t know that at the time. The nausea stopped about 6-8 months after starting the medication. And honestly, I was losing so much weight, I didn’t really care, when the study coordinator asked me about it, I said it was manageable.

I felt completely normal going off the medication. Meaning, sleep normal, exercise normal, no crazy thoughts, no depression or thoughts of hurting myself (that was a main concern during the study).

My appetite did not come roaring back, but cravings did. My appetite was insatiable. What I mean is, I wasn’t gorging on food in one sitting or stuffing myself but I was never satisfied with anything I put in my mouth I would eat two bites of a hamburger, no that’s not what I wanted, piece of chicken, nope, not that, slice of pizza? Nope. Ramen noodle? No. Watermelon? Halo mandarin? Oreo cookie? Toast? Boiled egg? You get the picture. And this would happen all in one night! I was going through this every day! I was hitting the grocery store every day buying all types of $hit trying to figure out something to satisfy my appetite! It was driving my husband crazy, I was gaining weight, plus COVID isolation, no gym, and just wanted to get control of my appetite. My once favorite foods didn’t seem gave me what I wanted or needed emotionally or otherwise. My stomach would be full, but my brain was constantly searching for something…..it was the worst feeling, even at 300lbs I had never had these types of feeling about food before. It had me in F’ing tears.

So I know all of that sounds bad, but I wanted to be honest. When I got back on Rybelsus (the pill) my doc added Topiramate er 50mg. That definitely has controlled the cravings. My weight today is 188lbs. I exercise 4 days a week split of 2 hours strength training and 3 hours cardio.

One thing to add about my appetite and being not satisfied, I would be full with a reasonable amount of food, meaning physiologically the medication seemed to train my stomach to know how much food was enough, it was my brain that still wanted more. It wasn’t my belly. I wasn’t hungry, I just wasn’t satisfied, just wanted to say that.


I finally was able to get my script filled for 2.4mg of Wegovy. Paid $25 with manufacturers coupon and insurance (1 month supply). Will start it next Tuesday. I have to be off the Rybelsus pill for a week.

TLDR; Pushed through the nausea. Generally normal after the medication stopped. Sleep, exercise and mostly normal mental state. Cravings were unmanageable and hit me like a freight train in a bad action movie.

Did the post-wegovy cravings ever stop absent medication? What I am trying to figure out is whether that is something brought on permanently by Wegovy or whether it would subside.

I've experienced that before (no Wegovy) and it is horrific. But it at least wasn't constant. The idea of losing weight on Wegovy but then having to live with cravings like that is scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to let you guys know, I get my semaglutide shipped from Canada. For a three-month supply with shipping, it costs me just under $1000 a month.They don't have Wegovy yet, so I just get Ozmepic. You'll need a prescription.

Mark's Marine Pharmacy.

Do you need a prescription from a Canadian doctor?