Weight loss medications
Ozempic (Semaglutide) is FDA approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults. Wegovy (also Semaglutide) is an FDA approved medication for the treatment of obesity in adults.
Is it cheating if you take a medication to lose weight? Are weight loss drugs like Wegovy (Ozempic/Semaglutide) or Zepbound (Mounjaro/Tirzepatide) really bad for you? I’ll share my thoughts and let you decide…
One of the doctors I work with forwarded an article to me last week about the injectable weight loss medication Wegovy, a GLP-1 synthetic hormone, which is one of the main hormones our bodies naturally make that helps us feel full after we eat and lowers the appetite. Everyone is buzzing about this medication at this point, developing strong and sometimes negative opinions about it’s use but the fact remains that it works, really well in fact. It also helps your pancreas to make its own insulin better and thus can also treat type 2 diabetes. This article emphasized the importance of a healthy lifestyle when it comes to weight loss and highlighted the human body's ability to produce its own GLP-1 hormone but failed to mention that the levels of this hormone as well as the way in which our brains use it, goes way down as our weight goes up and it never recovers even after we lose the weight (hence the reason why so many people regain weight after they’ve lost it and struggle with intense hunger).
Now, this is not the case for everyone. A small handful of my patients have taken Wegovy/Ozempic and didn’t lose a pound. They also don’t eat much or struggle with hunger at all. That’s likely because GLP-1 hormone deficiency was not the reason for their weight troubles in the first place. I know a lot of us tend to think people who are overweight just eat too much but there is a laundry list of other things that influence the body’s ability to gain and lose weight. There are also lots of other hormones that regulate body weight and appetite, like PYY, GIP, insulin, Leptin, Ghrelin… so it’s anyone’s guess really which one is the culprit. You can’t test for these either so it truly is a guess. I’ve also worked with many patients who have lost weight through diet and lifestyle changes without the need to take these medications.
The point is for many people, it’s been a long hard journey to no where. Taking this medication could be the answer to their specific weight problem. After a lifetime of struggling to regulate body weight, suffering through endless diets and disappointments, facing criticism from family members, friends, and even healthcare providers, this medication may correct a physiological problem within them - a hormone imbalance that is the root of most people’s weight issue. It’s not that you need this drug to lose weight but this medication can make it easier for you to follow a healthy diet and weight loss plan if you have made attempts and struggled with this in the past. Does it come with risks? Of course it does. So does taking aspirin for a headache or Nyquil for a cold. All medications come with risks and side effects. Some people have a reaction and some don’t. These drugs are not right for everyone and are contraindicated in patients prone to certain medical conditions but after working with hundreds of patients who have been taking these medications for years I can say in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the risks, if it’s right for you.
