Research shows that 1 in 8 adults in the US has used one of the popular GLP-1 medications, most of them trying to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease and others to help them lose weight. <\/p>\n
But nearly 60% of the people taking these drugs \u2013 including Ozempic and Mounjaro for diabetes and Wegovy and Zepbound for obesity \u2013 stop treatment before 12 weeks, before the medicines can provide clinically meaningful weight loss, studies also show. <\/p>\n
Side effects such as diarrhea, vomiting and nausea can prompt some people to quit the medication. Others stop because they don\u2019t feel like the drugs are working or because of concerns over price. Although manufacturers offer assistance programs, they can cost around $1,000 or more without insurance. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe call them anti-obesity medications because we are treating the chronic disease of obesity, and that means that you usually have to stay on these medications indefinitely,\u201d said Dr. Eduardo Grunvald, medical director of the weight management program at the University of California, San Diego. \u201cIf people want to stop or try to stop taking them, I have no problem supporting them. But most people will regain the weight if they stop it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what people found after they tried the medications. <\/p>\n
Alexus Murphy is still nervous. She paused her Zepbound injections for a few weeks and is watching her weight like a hawk, worrying about any hint of weight gain. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking for a scale everywhere I go,\u201d she said with a laugh. <\/p>\n
The 22-year-old content creator approached her doctor about weight loss medication in March, before she had breast reduction surgery. <\/p>\n
It was her first surgery, and she wanted to lower her BMI to minimize health risks during the operation and in recovery. <\/p>\n
She lost almost 50 pounds over the course of 23 injections \u2013 a five-month journey. <\/p>\n
Murphy shared her milestones in several videos that went viral on TikTok, fielding questions about side effects and how she got access to the drug. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis medicine changed my life for the positive in all aspects of my social life, in my personal life and just how I show up for myself. It\u2019s allowed me to be more confident in the spaces that I walk in,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
But there were downsides, too.\u202f She felt fatigued and had nausea and brain fog while she was on the injections. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I take the medicine, I have to take two days to myself because it\u2019s just like your body\u2019s working out. Your body\u2019s working out without you [physically] working out. So even small things like me going up the stairs or like me carrying things, I will be super overly out of breath rather than like me now, I\u2019m able to move around, get up, not feel groggy,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Murphy also battled hormonal acne for the first time in her life. And perhaps most frightening, she had several fainting episodes while she was on Zepbound. <\/p>\n
Doctors warned her that her blood sugar was low and that she was letting herself get dehydrated, so she tried to be more mindful about her food and water intake. <\/p>\n
Murphy now weighs less than she did in middle school and says it has improved her mental health. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe breast reduction was a big step, but the weight loss put a little cherry on top,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The Houston college student got her medicine at no cost through her health insurance in her home state of California, Inland Empire Health Plan, a program for people with Medi-Cal, California\u2019s Medicaid program. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn this economy, I don\u2019t think I would be able to afford it, and at that point it would be considered a luxury,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Still, just before hitting her goal weight, Murphy decided to stop using Zepbound for a few weeks to see if she could make it the rest of the way on her own. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to prove to myself that I could lose the last 10 pounds towards my goal weight naturally, just so that I wouldn\u2019t be dependent on the medicine,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t have any habits or anything that I\u2019m addicted to besides social media. So I wanted to kind of keep it that way.\u201d <\/p>\n
She\u2019s been fasting, eating one meal a day and working out three or four times a week. <\/p>\n
But after hitting her weight loss goal while off Zepbound, she felt she was backsliding and took another dose of the medication. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt swollen, and I was worried about how much I was eating,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t control eating sweets. I was falling back into my food habits.\u201d <\/p>\n
Murphy feels sure that this latest dose of Zepbound will be her last. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not worth it because of the acne, and I had other hormonal side effects,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
And although she hasn\u2019t yet shared her decision to stop taking Zepbound with her TikTok followers, she hopes her audience will stay with her. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that my audience follows me outside of just my [weight loss] journey and I\u2019m able to encourage people to continue to just care for their wellness. Whether you\u2019re on the weight loss medicine, whether you\u2019re not, but just overall being more conscious of your health, especially girls transitioning from being like a teen to a young adult,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Life after weight-loss medications has been smooth sailing, Steven Ray says. <\/p>\n
In fact, he just got back from a cruise where he was able to walk around confidently without a shirt \u2013 a first for a man who, growing up, felt so self-conscious about his weight that he wore a t-shirt in the pool. <\/p>\n
Ray, 37, used compounded semaglutide through a wellness clinic. Compounding is the process of making copies of drugs that are commercially available. It\u2019s allowed by the US Food and Drug Administration during a shortage \u2013 which, until recently, applied to the GLP-1 drugs due to unprecedented demand. <\/p>\n
Ray lost over 40 pounds in four months and quit the medicine cold turkey after hitting his goal, with his prescribing doctor\u2019s blessing. <\/p>\n
The Houston-area father of two said he\u2019s been able to maintain his weight loss, hovering at around 168 pounds since his last injection in May. <\/p>\n
The FDA\u202fdoesn\u2019t review compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs for safety, effectiveness or quality, and the agency has received reports of adverse events in people who used compounded semaglutide. <\/p>\n
Ray was willing to take his chances. <\/p>\n
He was \u201ctired of being fluffy\u201d and wanted to be a better role model for his kids, so Ray checked out a wellness clinic to learn more about whether weight-loss injections were for him. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to be healthy to help people.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n Aside from a little acid reflux and some stomach cramping, Ray says, he\u2019s grateful he didn\u2019t notice many side effects from the weight-loss drugs. <\/p>\n His blood sugar, cholesterol and testosterone levels have improved. And maybe just as important, he now feels great about himself. His kids have noticed the changes, too. <\/p>\n \u201cI make it a point to make better decisions for them so they can live a healthier life,\u201d Ray said. <\/p>\n To maintain his weight loss, Ray prioritizes portion control, making swaps like ordering a kids\u2019 meal at fast food restaurants and eating off a small plate instead of a regular dinner plate. <\/p>\n \u201cThe way that I see this medication is, it\u2019s a lifestyle change. And this is the crutch that is helping you to adjust to your new lifestyle,\u201d Ray said. <\/p>\n Becky Bell used to tell people that she would never run, even if someone was chasing her with a gun. <\/p>\n Now she\u2019s got two 5K race bibs and has signed up for another race on Thanksgiving Day. <\/p>\n Bell, who lives in Woodstock, Georgia, said she had tried to lose weight using different diets over 25 years. But after her husband died in 2014, she says she practically \u201cfell apart.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to do anything but eat,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n She was living a solitary \u2013 and sedentary \u2013 life. In 2020, her doctor prescribed Ozempic to help her lose weight and prevent her prediabetes from progressing. <\/p>\n \u201cI was very close to being 300 pounds. I knew I had to do something because I have some bad heart history in my family that told me I needed to do something to keep from dying of a heart attack,\u201d said Bell, 69. \u201cI needed to get my health back on track.\u201d <\/p>\n Ozempic was the first step toward her goals, but she had some reservations. She didn\u2019t want to take it forever. And while taking the drug, she lost her desire to eat. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was really too good at suppressing my appetite, to the point where I was told by my doctor that I was almost malnourished because I wasn\u2019t getting even a thousand calories in daily while I was on Ozempic,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Bell felt very sick while on Ozempic, she says, with nausea and low energy. She wanted to sleep all the time.\u202fShe would often have dizzy spells, especially when she was getting up from sitting or lying down, and even fainted a few times. <\/p>\n In October 2023, after losing 70 pounds, she stopped using Ozempic because of the side effects. Then, when gym owner Max Nazaire approached her about joining Safe Haven, a fitness studio for adults over 50, she decided it was worth a shot. <\/p>\n \u201cI lost the weight, but I felt like I was still fat, because I wasn\u2019t working out,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Now, after a year of mountain climbers and squats at the fitness studio, Bell has more than just muscles to show off. <\/p>\n \u201cWorking out here, the people that come here give you so much encouragement,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s my family now.\u201d <\/p>\n The sense of community is important for her, and joining the gym has given her a place to go and a reason to get out of the house. <\/p>\n Nazaire says he sees a lot of clients like Bell: people who had to stop using weight-loss medications, due to the side effects or because of the cost, and are now looking to maintain or continue with their weight-loss efforts. <\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing we do is, we make sure that they\u2019re practicing really great lifestyle habits. And when we talk about lifestyle habits, making sure that they\u2019re getting enough nutrients to be able to facilitate sustained weight loss. It\u2019s always about sustainable weight loss,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Bell can be found at Safe Haven four or five days a week. <\/em>She\u2019s lost 25 more pounds in the past year, for a total of nearly 100 since she started Ozempic in 2020. <\/p>\n \u201cI am so tickled that I am into a large. I\u2019ve gone from 3X when I started this journey to a large,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t even remember the last time I was in a large shirt size.\u201d <\/p>\n Occasionally, she sees a commercial for Ozempic and briefly considers going back on it. But ultimately, she\u2019s not tempted to go back on the medication. <\/p>\n \u201cAside from the exercise, the confidence that I have in myself is just so much more than I ever thought I would have,\u201d she said.\u202f \u201cIt makes me love myself.\u201d <\/p>\n Dustin Gee was flipping through vacation photos when he realized that he didn\u2019t recognize himself anymore. What should have been a dream trip to Peru in January 2023 with his husband had been a struggle. <\/p>\n \u201cI love traveling, and I\u2019ve always been really active and been to a lot of cool places, but this is the first time I\u2019ve been to a place where I just felt like \u2013 I knew I didn\u2019t feel completely like me,\u201d Gee, who lives in Bellingham, Massachusetts, said. <\/p>\n Gee had gained about 30 pounds, and for the first time, he noticed mobility issues. He found that he would rather stop for ice cream than explore Lima through long, rambling walks. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of really in that moment that I went back through family photos and different milestones in our journey from the day we got licensed to become foster care parents and just said, \u2018Where did I go?\u2019 And so that really set me on a path to having serious conversations with my doctor and starting to explore serious steps to begin to lose weight,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Gee, 37, had one big reason behind wanting to lose weight \u2013 well, actually, three: his sons, Cristian, Emanuel and Jackson, whom he and husband Alex had been fostering since 2020. The family had an adoption date set for spring, and Gee refused to meet that milestone feeling \u201cbound and drained.\u201d <\/p>\n He talked to his doctor about his concerns and got some tips about managing stress as a parent, ways to cope with emotional eating and how to plan for physical activity. He also got a prescription for Wegovy. <\/p>\n Gee started using the drug in February 2023 and had lost 30 pounds by the adoption date in May. <\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it even more meaningful just knowing that at that same time, while we were making such a critical decision in our life as parents and as a family, to also know that, for a set period of time leading up to that, I was also making big decisions and commitments towards my health,\u201d Gee said. <\/p>\n His concerns went beyond his appearance. He was also worried about his blood sugar and cholesterol levels, especially because obesity and heart disease run in his family. <\/p>\n Between February and September 2023, Gee lost about 45 pounds on Wegovy. He stayed on the drug for a full year before deciding he was ready to look at lifestyle changes and possibly quit the medicine. <\/p>\n He started following the\u202fMayo Clinic\u202fDiet, which has a health program designed to accompany GLP-1 drugs, in February. <\/em> <\/p>\n Gee liked how the program helped him build good habits to maintain his weight loss, and he enjoyed tracking his meals, setting his intentions and logging his weight in the app every day. <\/p>\n He decided to give himself another year on Wegovy while using the program to help reshape his mindset. <\/p>\n Gee lost another 5 to 7 pounds in the first two weeks and now works as an ambassador for the program.\u202f He switched to a maintenance dose of Wegovy in September and aims to be completely off it by February. <\/p>\n \u201cFor me, at this stage in life, I feel much more confident and really kind of excited to go off of it. \u2026 <\/em>I don\u2019t view it as a challenge but as just this next step of holding myself accountable and continuing to make great strides and be present for my family,\u201d Gee said. <\/p>\n The key to sticking to his routines is structure. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you can build routine, you can build consistency, and that\u2019s what results in a sustainable, maintainable lifestyle. But as a family with three active boys and different routines, right, we live our lives off of structure,\u201d Gee said. \u201cSo a lot of the choices I\u2019ve made have been things that didn\u2019t need to be a drastic shift to make my lifestyle one way but instead work for the lifestyle that I have and doesn\u2019t allow me to easily get derailed from that.\u201d <\/p>\n He also relies heavily on support from his husband to help keep things on track and his sons to keep him on his toes. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can be active. We can go out of the house and kayak all day or go on long walks,\u201d Gee said. <\/em> <\/p>\n \u201cI try to do my best to talk with them about the changes that I\u2019m making and why, and that\u2019s because we want to be healthy, and that with that comes the ability for us to be a happier family and to enjoy our time together,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Gee regularly does low-impact cardio and strength training and gets in walks as often as he can through the workday with a treadmill desk. <\/p>\n \u201cI just always try to put on like a sneaker for the day. It doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be a workout shoe, but I find that that just helps me too, because I can do this [treadmill], walking around the house, walking to get the mail, choosing to walk when I can over taking a simpler route,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He plans to stick with the Mayo Clinic Diet program, which is now a part of his lifestyle. <\/p>\n \u201cA<\/em>t this point, I\u2019m ready, and part of me wants to move into this next chapter knowing that I can rely on myself entirely and not necessarily on the weight loss medication,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Research shows that 1 in 8 adults in the US has used one of the popular GLP-1 medications, most of them trying to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease and others to help them lose weight. But nearly 60% of the people taking these drugs \u2013 including Ozempic and Mounjaro for diabetes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":621,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Finding strength: Becky Bell, 69<\/h2>\n
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Finding balance: Dustin Gee, 37<\/h2>\n
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