Althouse: "On Ozempic, her appetite had practically vanished... She might pick at a few French fries at a lunch with friends, but she never finished a meal."

December 7, 2023

"On Ozempic, her appetite had practically vanished... She might pick at a few French fries at a lunch with friends, but she never finished a meal."

"After she stopped the medication, she could finish a plate of fries and a burger and still crave dessert. 'I was insatiable,' Ms. Ford said. 'I was like, "Oh, my God, what’s going on? I’m hungry all the time." It shocked me how fast it happened.' Her doctor prescribed additional medications to manage her blood sugar, but she ended up on Ozempic a second time in an effort to shed the weight again."

From "Ozempic Can Cause Major Weight Loss. What Happens if You Stop Taking It? As more patients turn to diabetes medications for other uses, a shortage has taken hold. But doctors say going off these drugs can take a toll" (NYT).

31 comments:

tim in vermont said...: If you don't use it to change your habits, but just rely on it to keep you from overeating the same crap you always ate, (French fries) you are gonna be in trouble at the end. Like with any diet, you need to be thinking about the endgame from the day you start.; 12/7/23, 12:57 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I wonder what is causing the underlying hunger, too much processed foods? Personally I have noticed that fast foods tend to not be as filling despite usually having a very high calorie count.; 12/7/23, 1:03 PM
Old and slow said...: How strange, who could have predicted such a thing. After quitting methamphetamine many years ago, my bride to be and I were overcome with hunger. We made giant batches of popcorn every evening and doused them in melted butter. We bought 15 or 20 pounds of beef bones at a time to make stock. Our eating was legendary. We both ended up with gout. We are both now thin and fit.; 12/7/23, 1:04 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This is my shocked face: 😐; 12/7/23, 1:10 PM
Leland said...: All the news that is fit to print includes telling us that if you take something that reduces your appetite and then quit taking it will cause your appetite to return. That's the news!!!

If you do A to stop B, then stopping A allows B to return.

I wonder if the NYT considered what happens if you quit policing shoplifting?; 12/7/23, 1:30 PM
Original Mike said...: "Ozempic Can Cause Major Weight Loss. What Happens if You Stop Taking It?"

That's the problem with this approach, isn't it?

"As more patients turn to diabetes medications for other uses, a shortage has taken hold. "

This is a shame, and given that it requires a prescription to get, it's easy to identify who's responsible.; 12/7/23, 1:32 PM
JK Brown said...: Likely depleted of amino acids from the crap diet on the pill. Eat a week or two of ground beef with browned butter bites for snacks. Then see where you stand.

Doctors are completely anachronistic on diet and nutrition. If they deviate from the fake studies of the 1960s and 70s, they are attacked by the wad.; 12/7/23, 1:33 PM
Old and slow said...: "Likely depleted of amino acids from the crap diet on the pill. Eat a week or two of ground beef with browned butter bites for snacks. Then see where you stand."

This is delusional thinking. Moderation is a difficult thing to achieve, but it is the answer. It is not achieved by eating ground beef with browned butter. The problem is in the mind, not the gut.; 12/7/23, 1:42 PM
ndspinelli said...: I take a similar drug, Victoza. However, I take it for Type 2 diabetes. Within a couple days you have no desire to eat. However, that slowly wanes. I've lost about 15lbs. over a year. My A1C's are now below 7. I don't know what will happen if I stop taking it but if you get your blood sugars down your appetite also goes down accordingly. My pharmacist tells me Ozempic is in short supply and people taking off label are now putting Victoza supplies at risk.; 12/7/23, 1:45 PM
gspencer said...: The same problem happens to all of us when we allow government, fedgov especially, to "do things" not authorized by the Constitution. Government does X which in turn causex Problem A. To fix Problem A government, never considering stopping X, begins to do Y. Y not only doesn't fix Problem A, it causes Problem B. And so the solution to that is . . .

More and more government is the poison.

You get the picture. The solution. Let people do for themselves and solve their own problems, most importantly confine fedgov to its LIMITED role. The more power fedgov has, the less personal freedom we have.

Overview of America,

https://jbs.org/video/featured/overview-of-america/?mc_cid=aab99f82ce; 12/7/23, 1:49 PM
Original Mike said...: "Ozempic Can Cause Major Weight Loss. "…

"On Ozempic, her appetite had practically vanished... She might pick at a few French fries at a lunch with friends, but she never finished a meal."

Actually, doesn't that demonstrate that it's a will power issue? It would seem to argue against the theory that it's "metabolism". I mean, we can be sympathetic, but fixing a problem requires identifying the cause.; 12/7/23, 1:52 PM
Gospace said...: Rebound effect. Well known for many medications.

Particularly for antihistamines. Makes me grateful I was introduced to nasal irrigation by a younger friendly coworker. Haven’t taken an antihistamine since then. With daily use no problem breathing. No matter the season.
Then there’s that other medication problem- tolerance. I wonder if any weight loss drugs have that- or have been studied for it.; 12/7/23, 2:12 PM
RigelDog said...: I'm on Ozempic now, for Type II. I'm riding the tiger and lately wonder what's going to happen when/if I get off. I'd hoped to lose a bunch of weight by eating less, and eventually go off the medication and then be able to eat normal portions. It's been ten years since I was at a very good weight, and in the past when I was at a good weight, my hunger pangs were way less and with reasonable measures, I could maintain that weight without having to feel hungry all the time.

What if this medication causes EXTRA increased appetite once you go off of it? I'm in a pickle!; 12/7/23, 2:18 PM
Joe Smith said...: "But doctors say going off these drugs can take a toll"

Note to self: Stay on drugs.; 12/7/23, 2:18 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I'm guessing that many people aren't lifting weights and eating enough protein while taking this. That coupled with rapid weight loss leads to a major loss of lean mass and a nosedive in metabolism.; 12/7/23, 3:03 PM
Jay Vogt said...: It would have taken a complete idiot not to see this coming. The band news is that this gets worse.; 12/7/23, 3:07 PM
Rich said...: A significant portion of lost mass is muscle. Not sure that's great as people age. And the moment you stop taking the product you put back on weight... probably not the good kind.; 12/7/23, 3:14 PM
Howard said...: I have a friend who's a PA for an endocrinologist. They see all the terminally obese people who have been trying every drug in the book and failed. They are now begging for the new semaglutides.

The problem is people will not fix their diet. Like the poor, the obese will always be with us.; 12/7/23, 3:15 PM
MadisonMan said...: Why does someone who want to lose weight (or maintain it) order french fries?; 12/7/23, 3:28 PM
lgv said...: That's an anecdote, not a scientific observation.

'I was like, "Oh, my God, what’s going on? I’m hungry all the time."

We don't know what she was like before Ozempic. Was she hungry all the time, causing more eating and weight gain?

The medication causes you to feel full faster, often the opposite of obese people whose brain doesn't signal the "you are full" reaction. If you stop taking the medication, there is no reason to expect any change from pre-medication other than the learned behavior of eating smaller portions. It will still take tremendous mental control to not return to the previous state.; 12/7/23, 3:59 PM
Conrad said...: Isn't it intuitively a bad idea to take something that makes your appetite VANISH?; 12/7/23, 4:05 PM
n.n said...: Cut the carbs, you don't need them. Favor dietary fat, some protein, and greens for vitamins and minerals. Drink water to remain hydrated. Move to mobilize digestion. Choose drugs as a last resort.; 12/7/23, 5:10 PM
Old and slow said...: Drugs have many short term benefits. Even cocaine, meth and heroin can do wonderful things for a person in the short term. Really, it is true. The problem is that they work less well over time, and eventually all the short term benefits WILL be paid back with interest. This is my experience from too many decades of stupidity. Moderation is the only path to satisfaction. For me, moderation means cessation. Weight loss is all about calories in and out. Simple carbs make it more difficult to moderate intake. They are also poison when consumed in quantity.; 12/7/23, 5:26 PM
Stan Smith said...: It's why actually observing the regimen under Weight Watchers works. You can eat ANYTHING you want, you just have to TRACK it. You're allowed a certain amount of WW "points" per day, and if you maintain that level of "points," you will lose weight. When you've achieved your goal weight, the "points" are adjusted to a "maintenance" level. Stay within that level, and you will maintain your weight. It requires discipline, but once you've established your routine, weight loss and maintenance is simple. Being on a "diet" is ALWAYS going to fail when you stop.

The answer is sensible eating and a lifestyle change.; 12/7/23, 5:43 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: "Why does someone who want to lose weight (or maintain it) order french fries?"

No kidding. Aren't fries a dessert?; 12/7/23, 7:38 PM
takirks said...: What did Aristotle supposedly say to Alexander about geometry...? There is no such thing as a royal road to geometry, is how I remember him putting it.

Cogent and to the point. Also, applicable everywhere. There are no "easy paths" or "shortcuts" to worthwhile things. You have to put in the work, no matter what.

You see this all the time with weight loss. The average person who loses tons of weight thru some fad or other deal almost always puts it back on, because they did not do the work to fix the rest of their issues that made them fat in the first damn place.; 12/7/23, 8:08 PM
Howard said...: Fries are crack; 12/7/23, 8:43 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: She should take up smoking.; 12/7/23, 11:37 PM
mikee said...: Going off any diet can take a toll, unless previous patterns of overeating are replaced with strict portion control, control of calorie intake, avoidance of overeating, call it what you will. Going off a drug that inhibits appetite and not controlling intake is no different than going off a liquid Optifast milkshake diet and returning to the all you can eat Golden Corral diet.; 12/8/23, 7:45 AM
Anthony said...: I've argued for years against the adage "diets don't work". Yes, they do.....for what they are intended to do, relatively rapid weight loss. That's also what makes them unsustainable. The drugs will be no different, unless there's some way to adjust the dosage for maintenance instead of just going off of them.; 12/8/23, 9:16 AM
Michele said...: I don't understand. Why would you go off the drug? You don't quit taking statins just because your cholesterol drops. Or quit taking BP meds just because it'slower.

These are permanent conditions.; 12/8/23, 9:30 PM