6 ms·

When I was on Ozempic, I just didn't want the milkshake. It rewires all reward centers.

by akgoel 2y ago

someplaceguy 2y ago
May I ask about your experience since leaving Ozempic compared to before you started taking it? I'm not considering taking Ozempic nor am I aware of anyone who has, so I'm curious.
- nvahalik 2y ago
  I haven't taken it, but my wife has and since she's been off, while she is eating more, it mainly appears to be maintenance as she's not really losing nor gaining weight anymore. Food just doesn't seem to be as big of a deal. We can enjoy a nice steak going out it's not as much as a draw.
chpatrick 2y ago
But it still doesn't sound like a sustainable lifetime solution. I think it makes great sense if you're badly out of shape, you fix it, and then you can maintain a healthy weight. But going on ozempic every few years sounds really bad.
- kelseyfrog 2y ago
  "Sounds really bad" is orthogonal to "is really bad". There's a heuristic that goes, "Shortcuts will catch up to people eventually," but I'm ok with letting the evidence bear that out.
  - jart 2y ago
    Yeah that's the kind of folk wisdom that causes people with psychiatric conditions to stop taking their medications. It's very ignorant and harmful.
    - chpatrick 2y ago
      I don't think that's a fair analogy. Psychiatric medications don't have a non-pharmacological alternative in many cases. You can't just consciously do something and not be depressed or schizophrenic any more. However, putting food in your mouth is a completely conscious decision. If people have problems with controlling that then I think that's what should be treated, instead of medicating your body to react to food differently. I think a future where we turn to drugs on an ongoing basis to compensate our unhealthy lifestyles is pretty dystopic. Again, if someone is obese and struggles to lose weight I think Ozempic sounds like a great way to get on the road to health. I just don't think you should take it for the rest of your life instead of changing your lifestyle.
      - jart 2y ago
        What you call dystopia, I call paradise. Evolution didn't give us bodies that are adapted to life in modern technological society. The better technology gets, the more unnatural the world gets for our bodies. People who are unfit to live won't die, because technology breaks the evolutionary process. Since we know that technology is better, the only way we can keep having it and thrive is by using more technology to hack our bodies so they're adapted for existence in the modern world.
        chpatrick 2y ago
        I don't see it that way. Obesity is caused by deteriorating diets and lack of exercise. I don't think the solution is to keep the poor diet and lack of movement and treat only the resulting obesity. That's WALL-E, not paradise. Many things get better with time and progress but I don't think our current lifestyles are some kind of evolutionary peak.
        kelseyfrog 2y ago
        What do you think the ultimate causes of poor diet and lack of movement are? All other things considered, how important is it that proximate or ultimate causes of obesity are addressed?
- criddell 2y ago
  > doesn’t sound like a sustainable lifetime solution Would you same the same thing about insulin or statins or even caffeine? Why couldn’t something like Ozempic be something you take long term?
  - chpatrick 2y ago
    Because it has many bad side effects and it's only treating the symptom, when the real problem is eating too much? Should we keep medicating people for damage that they're continuing to do to themselves willingly? With regards to caffeine, as a doctor would you prescribe lifetime energy drinks to people who intentionally don't sleep enough? Insulin is totally different because if you're diabetic and you don't take it, you die. There's no cure for diabetes, so there's no other option but to take it for the rest of your life. But if you've lost weight (either with ozempic or not), it's possible to not be obese again, you're totally in control of what you put in your mouth. It feels really weird to me to keep medicating people forever when there are well understood ways to manage your weight. I think it's probably a great solution to help people who have lost control of their weight and need to get back on track. But using it to compensate for an unhealthy lifestyle going forward just seems like bad health policy.
- kergonath 2y ago
  The way it is done, people take them for the rest of their lives. It is not something you are supposed to get only for a while, it is not a cure in that sense. It’s still miles better than the alternative, which is staying obese.
spirit557 2y ago
You cant take these drugs forever afaik. Do they have permanent effects? It's just absurd to me the world has come to the point that we need these drugs in the first place but it makes total sense when you look at America for example. Awash in hyperpalatable processed "food" and corrupt food guidelines, a medical industry that "manages" chronic metabolic preventable disease but never cures it when probably 99% of cases could be reversed naturally. Big pharma and big food play their roles. Just insanity.
- PierceJoy 2y ago
  On the contrary, most weight loss doctors consider these drugs to be like statins. You take them for the rest of your life. The number of people who maintain healthy habits after stopping them is shockingly low.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > number of people who maintain healthy habits after stopping them is shockingly low Source?
    - PierceJoy 2y ago
      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35441470/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35441470/
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > absurd to me the world has come to the point that we need these drugs in the first place GLP-1 looks increasingly like a miracle drug. We see problems of addiction and obesity skyrocketing across the developing world. It’s not cost free, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the majority of America, China and India becoming potatoes. When vitamins were discovered, there was similar moralising about there being no free lunch. With the benefit of hindsight those concerns were misfounded. Perhaps Ozempic has terrible side effects that haven’t been noticed since 2005. Given that timeline, however, we can confidently say someone obese taking the drug is better off with it. > never cures it I have friends who took it, lost weight and then stopped. The rebound was real but nowhere close to what they lost. (The lifestyle changes also mostly stuck.) For all practical purposes, their fatness was cured. > when probably 99% of cases could be reversed naturally Scientifically unfounded.
odiroot 2y ago
If they invent something like this but for procrastination, they'd get a Nobel prize.
- fooker 2y ago
  Adderall is used pretty effectively for this.
- aleksiy123 2y ago
  Adderall and Vyvanse?
  - dpig_ 2y ago
    Anecdotally, those don't cure procrastination. They mostly cure issues with consistency and throughput once the task has begun. Starting the task is still the same hill to climb as it was before.
- someplaceguy 2y ago
  Oh God, imagine the self-, peer, and top-down pressure to take that, both for students and working adults.
  - MadnessASAP 2y ago
    No need to imagine, there's a reason Adderall, Vyvanse, and just about any amphetamine are banned in Japan.
- galangalalgol 2y ago
  It is called dexamphetamine. Or more more commonly these days, lysdexamphetamine.
sniggers 2y ago
For me, it's just less hunger and being full faster. I still want the milkshake, just a smaller one and less often.

When I was on Ozempic, I just didn't want the milkshake. It rewires all reward centers.

by akgoel 2y ago

When I was on Ozempic, I just didn't want the milkshake. It rewires all reward centers.

May I ask about your experience since leaving Ozempic compared to before you started taking it? I'm not considering taking Ozempic nor am I aware of anyone who has, so I'm curious.

nvahalik 2y ago
I haven't taken it, but my wife has and since she's been off, while she is eating more, it mainly appears to be maintenance as she's not really losing nor gaining weight anymore. Food just doesn't seem to be as big of a deal. We can enjoy a nice steak going out it's not as much as a draw.

chpatrick 2y ago

But it still doesn't sound like a sustainable lifetime solution. I think it makes great sense if you're badly out of shape, you fix it, and then you can maintain a healthy weight. But going on ozempic every few years sounds really bad.

kelseyfrog 2y ago
"Sounds really bad" is orthogonal to "is really bad". There's a heuristic that goes, "Shortcuts will catch up to people eventually," but I'm ok with letting the evidence bear that out.
- jart 2y ago
  Yeah that's the kind of folk wisdom that causes people with psychiatric conditions to stop taking their medications. It's very ignorant and harmful.
  - chpatrick 2y ago
    I don't think that's a fair analogy. Psychiatric medications don't have a non-pharmacological alternative in many cases. You can't just consciously do something and not be depressed or schizophrenic any more. However, putting food in your mouth is a completely conscious decision. If people have problems with controlling that then I think that's what should be treated, instead of medicating your body to react to food differently. I think a future where we turn to drugs on an ongoing basis to compensate our unhealthy lifestyles is pretty dystopic. Again, if someone is obese and struggles to lose weight I think Ozempic sounds like a great way to get on the road to health. I just don't think you should take it for the rest of your life instead of changing your lifestyle.
    - jart 2y ago
      What you call dystopia, I call paradise. Evolution didn't give us bodies that are adapted to life in modern technological society. The better technology gets, the more unnatural the world gets for our bodies. People who are unfit to live won't die, because technology breaks the evolutionary process. Since we know that technology is better, the only way we can keep having it and thrive is by using more technology to hack our bodies so they're adapted for existence in the modern world.
      - chpatrick 2y ago
        I don't see it that way. Obesity is caused by deteriorating diets and lack of exercise. I don't think the solution is to keep the poor diet and lack of movement and treat only the resulting obesity. That's WALL-E, not paradise. Many things get better with time and progress but I don't think our current lifestyles are some kind of evolutionary peak.
        kelseyfrog 2y ago
        What do you think the ultimate causes of poor diet and lack of movement are? All other things considered, how important is it that proximate or ultimate causes of obesity are addressed?
criddell 2y ago
> doesn’t sound like a sustainable lifetime solution Would you same the same thing about insulin or statins or even caffeine? Why couldn’t something like Ozempic be something you take long term?
- chpatrick 2y ago
  Because it has many bad side effects and it's only treating the symptom, when the real problem is eating too much? Should we keep medicating people for damage that they're continuing to do to themselves willingly? With regards to caffeine, as a doctor would you prescribe lifetime energy drinks to people who intentionally don't sleep enough? Insulin is totally different because if you're diabetic and you don't take it, you die. There's no cure for diabetes, so there's no other option but to take it for the rest of your life. But if you've lost weight (either with ozempic or not), it's possible to not be obese again, you're totally in control of what you put in your mouth. It feels really weird to me to keep medicating people forever when there are well understood ways to manage your weight. I think it's probably a great solution to help people who have lost control of their weight and need to get back on track. But using it to compensate for an unhealthy lifestyle going forward just seems like bad health policy.
kergonath 2y ago
The way it is done, people take them for the rest of their lives. It is not something you are supposed to get only for a while, it is not a cure in that sense. It’s still miles better than the alternative, which is staying obese.

spirit557 2y ago

You cant take these drugs forever afaik. Do they have permanent effects? It's just absurd to me the world has come to the point that we need these drugs in the first place but it makes total sense when you look at America for example. Awash in hyperpalatable processed "food" and corrupt food guidelines, a medical industry that "manages" chronic metabolic preventable disease but never cures it when probably 99% of cases could be reversed naturally. Big pharma and big food play their roles. Just insanity.

PierceJoy 2y ago
On the contrary, most weight loss doctors consider these drugs to be like statins. You take them for the rest of your life. The number of people who maintain healthy habits after stopping them is shockingly low.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > number of people who maintain healthy habits after stopping them is shockingly low Source?
  - PierceJoy 2y ago
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35441470/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35441470/
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> absurd to me the world has come to the point that we need these drugs in the first place GLP-1 looks increasingly like a miracle drug. We see problems of addiction and obesity skyrocketing across the developing world. It’s not cost free, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the majority of America, China and India becoming potatoes. When vitamins were discovered, there was similar moralising about there being no free lunch. With the benefit of hindsight those concerns were misfounded. Perhaps Ozempic has terrible side effects that haven’t been noticed since 2005. Given that timeline, however, we can confidently say someone obese taking the drug is better off with it. > never cures it I have friends who took it, lost weight and then stopped. The rebound was real but nowhere close to what they lost. (The lifestyle changes also mostly stuck.) For all practical purposes, their fatness was cured. > when probably 99% of cases could be reversed naturally Scientifically unfounded.

odiroot 2y ago

If they invent something like this but for procrastination, they'd get a Nobel prize.

fooker 2y ago
Adderall is used pretty effectively for this.
aleksiy123 2y ago
Adderall and Vyvanse?
- dpig_ 2y ago
  Anecdotally, those don't cure procrastination. They mostly cure issues with consistency and throughput once the task has begun. Starting the task is still the same hill to climb as it was before.
someplaceguy 2y ago
Oh God, imagine the self-, peer, and top-down pressure to take that, both for students and working adults.
- MadnessASAP 2y ago
  No need to imagine, there's a reason Adderall, Vyvanse, and just about any amphetamine are banned in Japan.
galangalalgol 2y ago
It is called dexamphetamine. Or more more commonly these days, lysdexamphetamine.

sniggers 2y ago

For me, it's just less hunger and being full faster. I still want the milkshake, just a smaller one and less often.