Getting on GLP-1 after doctor says no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably knows the realty that for 15lbs you will use it to lose weight but are unlikely to rally stay on it for life which means you will just quickly regain the weight the minute you go off. Because if you can not lose the weight through diet and exercise you will not maintain it that way and need to be on these medications for LIFE.

Especially for 15 pounds. You can lose that over a few months with small dietary changes. Why take the nuclear option for 15 pounds? That doesn't bode well for future weight management if you have to stop the glp or if it becomes ineffective for you.

Why do you refuse to actually listen to the OP telling you, that no, she can't lose 15lbs "over a few months with small dietary changes." Only what you know and believe is gospel.

You're probably a 25 year old male who has zero experience being in a middle-aged female body. And yet, you are the weight loss authority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably knows the realty that for 15lbs you will use it to lose weight but are unlikely to rally stay on it for life which means you will just quickly regain the weight the minute you go off. Because if you can not lose the weight through diet and exercise you will not maintain it that way and need to be on these medications for LIFE.

Especially for 15 pounds. You can lose that over a few months with small dietary changes. Why take the nuclear option for 15 pounds? That doesn't bode well for future weight management if you have to stop the glp or if it becomes ineffective for you.

That's not true though. Not op but it took me months and months to lose a couple pounds. That was with great frustration too. With GLP-1s? Down to almost normal weight fairly rapidly, and I am eating better than ever and have actually become athletic and fit. I often wonder what women here think losing 15lbs in middle age is really that easy with "small changes".

You miss the side effects part? Sure, it's not "easy", but it's definitely doable without drugs.

Definitely doable according to whom? Your experienced as a middle aged woman? Reality is there is nothing "nuclear" about GLP-1s, quite the opposite: it makes what seemed like climbing Mount Everest ever so slowly and with great difficulty feel like a normal, brisk run around the neighborhood. It's actually so liberating to see eating well and exercising pay off and it feels a lot more sustainable. As for side effects, they are something every med can come with, but thankfully most people do not experience serious side effects or even mild ones from most meds. I personally have none other than the mildest nausea here and there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably knows the realty that for 15lbs you will use it to lose weight but are unlikely to rally stay on it for life which means you will just quickly regain the weight the minute you go off. Because if you can not lose the weight through diet and exercise you will not maintain it that way and need to be on these medications for LIFE.

Especially for 15 pounds. You can lose that over a few months with small dietary changes. Why take the nuclear option for 15 pounds? That doesn't bode well for future weight management if you have to stop the glp or if it becomes ineffective for you.

Why do you refuse to actually listen to the OP telling you, that no, she can't lose 15lbs "over a few months with small dietary changes." Only what you know and believe is gospel.

You're probably a 25 year old male who has zero experience being in a middle-aged female body. And yet, you are the weight loss authority.

NP. I'm peri in my 50s and needed to lose 15 pounds. It was tough, but once I really focused, the weight came off. I used Weight Watchers and added daily 2 mile walks. It was a slow start, about 5 weeks before I noticed a change. It took about 3 months to loose it all. It can be done without drugs. That said, it's OPs body and her choice to inject whatever she'd like into it even if her doctor advised something different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and the doctor was really happy I’d lost weight and my #s were good a year later. But still wouldn’t write a prescription.

This is because they know that, somewhere down the line, there are going to be massive lawsuits when we begin to see what these drugs are really doing to people’s long term health.

They've been used since 2005 and that doesn't include the five or so years of clinical trials. If there was an issue, we'd know about it already. The issue will likely be self-dosing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably knows the realty that for 15lbs you will use it to lose weight but are unlikely to rally stay on it for life which means you will just quickly regain the weight the minute you go off. Because if you can not lose the weight through diet and exercise you will not maintain it that way and need to be on these medications for LIFE.

Especially for 15 pounds. You can lose that over a few months with small dietary changes. Why take the nuclear option for 15 pounds? That doesn't bode well for future weight management if you have to stop the glp or if it becomes ineffective for you.

That's not true though. Not op but it took me months and months to lose a couple pounds. That was with great frustration too. With GLP-1s? Down to almost normal weight fairly rapidly, and I am eating better than ever and have actually become athletic and fit. I often wonder what women here think losing 15lbs in middle age is really that easy with "small changes".

+1
and many women have the bp creeping up and the cholesterol creeping up NO MATTER what dietary changes they implement. This is win-win. I don't see how anyone would refute it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so stupid, it's like a doctor telling you to lower your BP or blood sugar - but no medication for you. Just do it without help.

I couldn't stay on a diet very long in the past without getting gallstone attacks. Dieting with GLP-1 has prevented gallstones.

Actually, many people do lower their BP and/or blood sugar without medication. These are lifestyle issues, just as is the "need" for a GLP-1.

Nope could not do it without the GLP-1

[Anonymous]

The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

I think the disconnect is because women like op are told by their doc they are fat and must do something about it, but these same doctors telling them being fat is bad also don't want to help them and provide appropriate supervision for meds that they know will work and make them not fat. Hard lines like "you're not fat enough for these meds, you need to weigh exactly this much to qualify to be supervised by me, you can do it on your own" are frustrating and not helping patients with their health, so women feel judged, frustrated and turn to online providers. The same thing is happening with women and HRT and online services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

I think the disconnect is because women like op are told by their doc they are fat and must do something about it, but these same doctors telling them being fat is bad also don't want to help them and provide appropriate supervision for meds that they know will work and make them not fat. Hard lines like "you're not fat enough for these meds, you need to weigh exactly this much to qualify to be supervised by me, you can do it on your own" are frustrating and not helping patients with their health, so women feel judged, frustrated and turn to online providers. The same thing is happening with women and HRT and online services.

We don’t know if there are other mitigating factors that the OP is not acknowledging. Her doctor may have a significant reason for not prescribing this medicine. She’s essentially self diagnosing, which is fine and maybe she’s right. Of she isn’t and ends up with pancreatitis and needs emergency care it’s not about her doc judging her…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

I think the disconnect is because women like op are told by their doc they are fat and must do something about it, but these same doctors telling them being fat is bad also don't want to help them and provide appropriate supervision for meds that they know will work and make them not fat. Hard lines like "you're not fat enough for these meds, you need to weigh exactly this much to qualify to be supervised by me, you can do it on your own" are frustrating and not helping patients with their health, so women feel judged, frustrated and turn to online providers. The same thing is happening with women and HRT and online services.

I hear you. I also hear her doc advising weight loss, not calling her fat. Op doesn’t seem concerned with her own health as much as how to lie to her doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

I think the disconnect is because women like op are told by their doc they are fat and must do something about it, but these same doctors telling them being fat is bad also don't want to help them and provide appropriate supervision for meds that they know will work and make them not fat. Hard lines like "you're not fat enough for these meds, you need to weigh exactly this much to qualify to be supervised by me, you can do it on your own" are frustrating and not helping patients with their health, so women feel judged, frustrated and turn to online providers. The same thing is happening with women and HRT and online services.

I hear you. I also hear her doc advising weight loss, not calling her fat. Op doesn’t seem concerned with her own health as much as how to lie to her doctor.

She's definitely calling her fat, in the sense she is looking at a BMI chart and declaring her unhealthy based on weight only, since op describes pretty good habits and no blood work issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like my GP but she is old school. I am 10-15 lbs overweight and every time I see her she pushes me to try to lose weight. I already work out regularly, eat mostly healthy and count calories, do intermittent fasting - and the weight just won’t come off as a 45 yo perimenopausal woman.

At my last appt I broached the subject of trying a GLP-1 and she said she would never prescribe it for someone who doesn’t qualify for the drug because they are more overweight.

I know I could go through other channels to get it, but that feels really awkward because I would need to disclose I am taking it at my next physical and then I would have totally gone around her to get it.

Has anyone else been told no by their primary doctor but gone around them to get the meds? How did it go over when you eventually had to tell your doctor?

Please share the language your doc used more specifically. On the weight loss recommendation and also on why they think you are not a candidate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing getting lost in this conversation is that the folks that have been using this for years are under medical supervision.

When you’re getting it off the Internet against medical advice that is a completely different beast.

I think the disconnect is because women like op are told by their doc they are fat and must do something about it, but these same doctors telling them being fat is bad also don't want to help them and provide appropriate supervision for meds that they know will work and make them not fat. Hard lines like "you're not fat enough for these meds, you need to weigh exactly this much to qualify to be supervised by me, you can do it on your own" are frustrating and not helping patients with their health, so women feel judged, frustrated and turn to online providers. The same thing is happening with women and HRT and online services.

I hear you. I also hear her doc advising weight loss, not calling her fat. Op doesn’t seem concerned with her own health as much as how to lie to her doctor.

She's definitely calling her fat, in the sense she is looking at a BMI chart and declaring her unhealthy based on weight only, since op describes pretty good habits and no blood work issues.

Fat is an emotionally loaded word. BMI means nothing. Bloodwork was definitely not addressed by op.

[Anonymous]

https://www.pennmedicine.org/physicians-hub/physician-article/implications-of-glp-1-medications-for-eating-disorder-care

“There’s no protocol in place to screen for eating disorders prior to prescribing GLP-1 receptor agonists,” says Dr. Boswell. “In addition, those taking these medications are not monitored for the psychological, social, or medical effects of malnutrition, which can be an issue at any body size.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.pennmedicine.org/physicians-hub/physician-article/implications-of-glp-1-medications-for-eating-disorder-care

“There’s no protocol in place to screen for eating disorders prior to prescribing GLP-1 receptor agonists,” says Dr. Boswell. “In addition, those taking these medications are not monitored for the psychological, social, or medical effects of malnutrition, which can be an issue at any body size.”

BS!!!! I go to my doctor every three months and do bloodwork twice a year. Stop trying to invent things to fit your narrative.