Friend who works in pharma went on a rant about how bad Ozempic etc is for people. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your friend is probably very insecure about his own weight, and also anxious about trying this drug himself because he's in a position to read about the clinical trial dossiers and post-commercialization reports on severe side effects.

I have to say, as a biologist working in pharma, he's not wrong: some people have died due to complications from slow-moving bowels, and a lot of people taking this drug will realize they can't stop taking it, otherwise the weight will come back. If I had weight issues, I would hesitate to try it too, because I've read some research articles about it that are quite disturbing!

Let's just say it's not the miracle drug people think it is. I hope your husband and sibling are very educated about it and know the limitations of their medication.

I totally disagree. I think it is a miracle drug. 75 percent of Americans are overweight. This drug helps tremendously, with relatively manageable side effects. To ignore that is so short sighted.

But people will argue vehemently that you can be fit and fat. Why are we suddenly rushing to use drugs to control weight if it doesn’t matter? Also, let’s see how these lab rats fare in a few years after continued use.

You do know it has been studied in lab rats for years, right? It was used for diabetes control

Cool. Let’s still check back in a few years and see how everyone is doing.

We’ll come back in a few years and see obesity is way down, along with cancers, heart disease, alcohol and drug abuse. Once fully understood these drugs will have big impacts and be widely used.

Exactly. It is crazy to turn our backs on these drugs. It’s such progress

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was absolutely addicted to food and gained 150 pounds over my ideal healthy weight - severe morbid obesity on my 5’2” frame. I experienced joint pain, high BP, high cholesterol, and prediabetes. I ate and ate and ate and couldn’t ever stop thinking about my next meal and FOOD.

I did all the pre-op testing for bariatric surgery but balked at going forward with it because of the potentially fatal side effects and the research that informed me of the long term very high failure rate in terms of keeping the weight off, and the very high rate of transfer addictions to other substances and high risk behaviors.

I didn’t consider the weight loss drugs because gut health is a bit of an obsession for me after suffering years of post-cholecystectomy syndrome that led to a vitamin deficiency and much of the weight gain.

Over the last year I cured my food addiction and began steadily losing weight by ditching most sugar and ultra processed foods, cutting way back on animal products, and building my diet around high fiber nutrient dense foods that provide a variety of plants to my trillions of gut bacteria. I eat for my microbiome and to protect my liver.

I have never felt better in my adult life. Fiber is nature’s semaglutide - getting the RDA of fiber from a variety of whole natural foods mostly colorful vegetables and fruits and legumes, nuts seeds and whole grains naturally stimulates production of glp1 and regulates hunger and food cravings. Eating fiber is the only way to produce short chain fatty acids which are critical to improving and maintaining health.

It wasn’t easy at first. Food cravings for the food addicted are intense. I slipped back many times. I still let myself have a cheat day once a week but find I am less interested in those foods with each passing week. I pay close attention to have foods make me feel and I crave bad stuff less and less often because I love how my body sings on plant foods. My palate is more sensitive and I crave the taste of clean and healthy flavors and am overwhelmed by sugar and high fat foods. I hate how fried foods make me feel and almost never indulge in those anymore.

It’s harder, but it is definitely cheaper and healthier and the results will be greater and the side effects are limited to a short period of excessive flatulence until the gut stabilizes and begins to thrive on bean and veggies and fruits - the things we evolved to eat.

Down over 50 pounds, fully expect to reach goal weight on time - slow and steady loss while lifting weights and building fitness so skin issues are minimal. Skin and hair much improved - SCFAs transform health from inside out.

Also I am really proud of the journey I’ve been on.

Try it. A fiber fueled life is a great life.

Very happy for you.

+100 Loved reading that! Congrats! Inspiring!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was absolutely addicted to food and gained 150 pounds over my ideal healthy weight - severe morbid obesity on my 5’2” frame. I experienced joint pain, high BP, high cholesterol, and prediabetes. I ate and ate and ate and couldn’t ever stop thinking about my next meal and FOOD.

I did all the pre-op testing for bariatric surgery but balked at going forward with it because of the potentially fatal side effects and the research that informed me of the long term very high failure rate in terms of keeping the weight off, and the very high rate of transfer addictions to other substances and high risk behaviors.

I didn’t consider the weight loss drugs because gut health is a bit of an obsession for me after suffering years of post-cholecystectomy syndrome that led to a vitamin deficiency and much of the weight gain.

Over the last year I cured my food addiction and began steadily losing weight by ditching most sugar and ultra processed foods, cutting way back on animal products, and building my diet around high fiber nutrient dense foods that provide a variety of plants to my trillions of gut bacteria. I eat for my microbiome and to protect my liver.

I have never felt better in my adult life. Fiber is nature’s semaglutide - getting the RDA of fiber from a variety of whole natural foods mostly colorful vegetables and fruits and legumes, nuts seeds and whole grains naturally stimulates production of glp1 and regulates hunger and food cravings. Eating fiber is the only way to produce short chain fatty acids which are critical to improving and maintaining health.

It wasn’t easy at first. Food cravings for the food addicted are intense. I slipped back many times. I still let myself have a cheat day once a week but find I am less interested in those foods with each passing week. I pay close attention to have foods make me feel and I crave bad stuff less and less often because I love how my body sings on plant foods. My palate is more sensitive and I crave the taste of clean and healthy flavors and am overwhelmed by sugar and high fat foods. I hate how fried foods make me feel and almost never indulge in those anymore.

It’s harder, but it is definitely cheaper and healthier and the results will be greater and the side effects are limited to a short period of excessive flatulence until the gut stabilizes and begins to thrive on bean and veggies and fruits - the things we evolved to eat.

Down over 50 pounds, fully expect to reach goal weight on time - slow and steady loss while lifting weights and building fitness so skin issues are minimal. Skin and hair much improved - SCFAs transform health from inside out.

Also I am really proud of the journey I’ve been on.

Try it. A fiber fueled life is a great life.

Thank you for this. It’s inspiring. Truly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your friend is probably very insecure about his own weight, and also anxious about trying this drug himself because he's in a position to read about the clinical trial dossiers and post-commercialization reports on severe side effects.

I have to say, as a biologist working in pharma, he's not wrong: some people have died due to complications from slow-moving bowels, and a lot of people taking this drug will realize they can't stop taking it, otherwise the weight will come back. If I had weight issues, I would hesitate to try it too, because I've read some research articles about it that are quite disturbing!

Let's just say it's not the miracle drug people think it is. I hope your husband and sibling are very educated about it and know the limitations of their medication.

I totally disagree. I think it is a miracle drug. 75 percent of Americans are overweight. This drug helps tremendously, with relatively manageable side effects. To ignore that is so short sighted.

But people will argue vehemently that you can be fit and fat. Why are we suddenly rushing to use drugs to control weight if it doesn’t matter? Also, let’s see how these lab rats fare in a few years after continued use.

You do know it has been studied in lab rats for years, right? It was used for diabetes control

Cool. Let’s still check back in a few years and see how everyone is doing.

We’ll come back in a few years and see obesity is way down, along with cancers, heart disease, alcohol and drug abuse. Once fully understood these drugs will have big impacts and be widely used.

Maybe but again people have been arguing for years that fat isn’t really a problem. I guess that was a big lie.

It is possible that fat is a side effect of something else that is a big issue. We are so ignorant about what is going on here.

What could fatness be a side effect of?

Many things. For me it was a thyroid issue. The weight issue resolved easily when medicated for hypothyroidism.

But a lot of people aren’t that lucky and never lose the weight

Lucky? You think having a lifelong thyroid deficiency that has many other unpleasant side effects too is LUCKY?! wtf.

[Anonymous]

Re:obesity epidemic. It's probably a combo of things like chemicals in our food (processed food chemicals and pesticides on plant) and our environment messing with our gut microbiome, endocrine disruptors, stressful lifestyle and cortisol release, genetics, etc.

Your friend is right is there are major risks that can be quite serious and others are right, this drug can be amazing for some people leading to so many benefits. There is such a range. I think for many on it it's worth the risk because the health issues they face are more dangerous. I think people taking it for vanity, who may be overweight, but don't have any serious health issues are taking too much of a risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we still don't know the true rates yet for GLP1s potentially causing suicides and blindness.

How much risk are you willing to take for losing weight if a potential side effect is losing your eyesight? 1/100? 1/1000? 1/1,000,000? Many people wouldn't want to risk their eyesight at all. We will see.

Glp-1s are a natural hormone that regulates hunger and is created in the small intestine when consuming a proper, high fiber diet. Glp-1s don’t cause blindness or any other serious health issues.

Glp-1 receptor agonists are the diet drugs like Ozempic which mimic the natural hormone that regulates hunger.

Eating a high FIBER nutrient dense diet naturally increases production of Glp-1s.

That’s the thing peeps. You CAN get the same results and be much healthier overall if you change the way you eat - not by taking a drug that makes food stay in your gut for many hours if not days, that can cause deadly blockages or blindness or whatever other adverse side effects that no matter how rare are not as rare as the zero side effects of eating a healthy high fiber diet. Oh sorry, you might fart a bit at the start while your gut biome rebalances.

Taking Ozempic et al. doesn’t produce short chain fatty acids which are critical to maintaining optimal health.

Yes it’s hard to kick addiction to sugar and additives after years of eating crap, but it can be done and the results will last longer promote better health and not require you to mess with your gut for the rest of your life by taking a very expensive drug. Just eat beans, fruits, veggies, whole grains nuts and seeds. Repeat every day. Live long and prosper.

You haven't been paying attention to the news.

GLP1 has been studied recently for a potential link to NAION (may cause blindness):

https://www.ahajournals.org/do/10.1161/blog.20240806.153395/full/

No one said GLP-1 drugs CAUSE blindness yet, but that simply there is investigation into it and determination that if GLP1 drugs increase risk for NAION, what is your risk?

Then it'll come down to your risk tolerance. How much is weight loss worth it to you if there is a risk of blindness, and whether that risk is 1/100, 1/100,000, or 1/1,000,000,000?

[Anonymous]

If your friend works in pharma, maybe they understand something you do not. Something beyond knowing just two people who take it and don’t exhibit problems today but could exhibit related problems in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But unfortunately many people don’t, can’t etc.



My dh has diabetes. My sibling some other health related issues that have put him on meds that make weight loss hard.

Both are on it for medical reasons.

I think it's awful for people that don't have a medical need for it. People with a medical need should absolutely use it if they need to with no shame. The people who use it for vanity purposes to lose 20 lbs are lazy and deserve to be shamed. And have all the nasty side effects that come with it.

Well, they can just keep eating themselves fatter till it becomes “necessary”.

Fat people being mad at vanity weight loss is as stupid as thin people being mad fat people take it. Who cares!

+1

The gatekeeping by obese people of these drugs is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your friend works in pharma, maybe they understand something you do not. Something beyond knowing just two people who take it and don’t exhibit problems today but could exhibit related problems in the future.

It’s surprising to me that this isn’t the first thing that springs to OP’s mind. Every other “miracle” weight loss drug has turned out to have a filthy side effect profile. Did anyone else here live through phen/fen?

[Anonymous]

It is possible two things are true at once: your husband is on it and feels good AND it’s a medication that isn’t without side effects. She’s in pharma, she knows what she’s talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is possible two things are true at once: your husband is on it and feels good AND it’s a medication that isn’t without side effects. She’s in pharma, she knows what she’s talking about.

Just like when pediatricians were sure that the way to avoid peanut allergies was to withhold peanuts from children…which directly led to skyrocketing peanut allergy rates.

Just because somebody has a credential, doesn’t mean he is the final authority on something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t have the nerve to tell her my dh is on it, as is my sibling, and both look and feel great.

Why do people who’ve never been on it trash these drugs? Interestingly this friend needs to lose weight related to a very serious health condition that is affected by weight. The issue seemed very sensitive so I didn’t want to argue, but I don’t understand the rigidity.

My sister is on one of these drugs. She was obese and is now very skinny. Got face lift and neck lift. Loose skin on body tightened up. Hair extensions. The works. She looks amazing. But can’t stop taking it even though she’s lost way too much muscle. She drinks protein shakes and can barely choke down food. But wants to be skinny. It’s her new obsession. Used to be food and now it’s this.

I find this very alarming and I’ve told her so. She just gets angry and says I just can’t understand. She has no disease. She was a gymnast that became an emotional eater; she needed therapy, not a drug. She’s still emotionally unhealthy. All of this is unnerving.

This example is why I think the problem is related to addiction. Addicts tend to be all or nothing types. They also will.replace one extreme behavior for another--go from drinking to obsessive exercise or to another addiction. She sounds obsessive, which she probably cannoy change but she probably feels a lot better than she did.

It's why people on these drugs are reporting that they also don't want to drink. It turns off a need. I have been taking one of the meds for almost a year. It gets rid of food obsession. That's as big a piece as is the appetite suppressant. I have OCD and I think this is probably related as well.

It's like the drugs you can take now for alcoholism. They cut the effect of the drug and the people don't have cravings. This helps the people for whom 12-step programs do not work and they really only work for some people; long term abstinence with 12-step is pretty low.

I think addiction medicine and research is where it's at in the future. It will include phone addiction and other newly created addictions after that. I think this whole side of human nature is badly understood. I think if medicine can help people, why not help.with this? Some people are really, really opposed to seeing addicts as deserving of help or think they understand the problem when they don't.

People who don't have addictions are lucky. I think anyone can become an addict if you do something long enough. It is a physical response. The notion that it stems from a trauma is not necessarily true or only one piece of it. It's possible but working on that does not change the behavior. The behavior is very hard to change! The drugs help the person stop the behavior and feel in control. Stopping the behavior is very hard to impossible for some people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is possible two things are true at once: your husband is on it and feels good AND it’s a medication that isn’t without side effects. She’s in pharma, she knows what she’s talking about.

Just like when pediatricians were sure that the way to avoid peanut allergies was to withhold peanuts from children…which directly led to skyrocketing peanut allergy rates.

Just because somebody has a credential, doesn’t mean he is the final authority on something.

Ummm ok. You sound like a defensive Ozempic user . I’m glad it works for you guys but why do you think everyone owes you some positive opinion about the drug. A lot of people don’t like medical intervention for health issues that can be addressed with diet and lifestyle- that’s not a personal attack on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t have the nerve to tell her my dh is on it, as is my sibling, and both look and feel great.

Why do people who’ve never been on it trash these drugs? Interestingly this friend needs to lose weight related to a very serious health condition that is affected by weight. The issue seemed very sensitive so I didn’t want to argue, but I don’t understand the rigidity.

My sister is on one of these drugs. She was obese and is now very skinny. Got face lift and neck lift. Loose skin on body tightened up. Hair extensions. The works. She looks amazing. But can’t stop taking it even though she’s lost way too much muscle. She drinks protein shakes and can barely choke down food. But wants to be skinny. It’s her new obsession. Used to be food and now it’s this.

I find this very alarming and I’ve told her so. She just gets angry and says I just can’t understand. She has no disease. She was a gymnast that became an emotional eater; she needed therapy, not a drug. She’s still emotionally unhealthy. All of this is unnerving.

This example is why I think the problem is related to addiction. Addicts tend to be all or nothing types. They also will.replace one extreme behavior for another--go from drinking to obsessive exercise or to another addiction. She sounds obsessive, which she probably cannoy change but she probably feels a lot better than she did.

It's why people on these drugs are reporting that they also don't want to drink. It turns off a need. I have been taking one of the meds for almost a year. It gets rid of food obsession. That's as big a piece as is the appetite suppressant. I have OCD and I think this is probably related as well.

It's like the drugs you can take now for alcoholism. They cut the effect of the drug and the people don't have cravings. This helps the people for whom 12-step programs do not work and they really only work for some people; long term abstinence with 12-step is pretty low.

I think addiction medicine and research is where it's at in the future. It will include phone addiction and other newly created addictions after that. I think this whole side of human nature is badly understood. I think if medicine can help people, why not help.with this? Some people are really, really opposed to seeing addicts as deserving of help or think they understand the problem when they don't.

People who don't have addictions are lucky. I think anyone can become an addict if you do something long enough. It is a physical response. The notion that it stems from a trauma is not necessarily true or only one piece of it. It's possible but working on that does not change the behavior. The behavior is very hard to change! The drugs help the person stop the behavior and feel in control. Stopping the behavior is very hard to impossible for some people.

I totally agree. I know several people who had bariatric surgery and then became alcoholics. I also know someone who quit alcohol and then became a food addict. I myself am obese and when I started a GLP- my desire to drink alcohol and coffee went to zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your friend is probably very insecure about his own weight, and also anxious about trying this drug himself because he's in a position to read about the clinical trial dossiers and post-commercialization reports on severe side effects.

I have to say, as a biologist working in pharma, he's not wrong: some people have died due to complications from slow-moving bowels, and a lot of people taking this drug will realize they can't stop taking it, otherwise the weight will come back. If I had weight issues, I would hesitate to try it too, because I've read some research articles about it that are quite disturbing!

Let's just say it's not the miracle drug people think it is. I hope your husband and sibling are very educated about it and know the limitations of their medication.

I totally disagree. I think it is a miracle drug. 75 percent of Americans are overweight. This drug helps tremendously, with relatively manageable side effects. To ignore that is so short sighted.

But people will argue vehemently that you can be fit and fat. Why are we suddenly rushing to use drugs to control weight if it doesn’t matter? Also, let’s see how these lab rats fare in a few years after continued use.

Not all people are the same.
You can be fit and fat.
Fat also increases some risks like diabetes.

Everyone including ops friend should myob

There is not a single objective health measure that improves by carrying excessive body fat other than being dramatically underweight. That's reality.

Reality is that you and the rest of the fatphobes on this forum/in this culture don't give a rat's behind about a fat stranger's health. Fat bodies are an acceptable target for your concern trolling, othering, and ableism. That's it. You hide behind "health concerns" but if you really gave a damn about a stranger's health, you wouldn't lead by insulting their intelligence, framing yourself as superior because you wear a smaller size, and then treating them like a hapless idiot who needs your help or your opinion.

Being judged for existing in the body you've got isn't good for anyone's health, doesn't motivate people to change their body shape, and can actively harm people to the point of suicidal ideation and self-harm.

There's not a single objective health measure that improves by being judged by a stranger. THAT is reality, so STFU.