Lost and found: Life after Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs was just the start for these four people

Editor’s word: Watch “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Is Ozempic Right For You?” at 8 p.m. Sunday, November 17, on CNN.

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Analysis exhibits that 1 in 8 adults in the US has used one of many popular GLP-1 medications, most of them attempting to handle persistent circumstances resembling diabetes and coronary heart illness and others to assist them drop extra pounds.

However nearly 60% of the folks taking these medicine – together with Ozempic and Mounjaro for diabetes and Wegovy and Zepbound for weight problems – cease remedy earlier than 12 weeks, earlier than the medicines can present clinically significant weight reduction, research additionally present.

Unintended effects resembling diarrhea, vomiting and nausea can immediate some folks to give up the medicine. Others cease as a result of they don’t really feel just like the medicine are working or due to issues over value. Though producers supply help packages, they will price round $1,000 or extra with out insurance coverage.

“We name them anti-obesity drugs as a result of we’re treating the persistent illness of weight problems, and that implies that you normally have to remain on these drugs indefinitely,” stated Dr. Eduardo Grunvald, medical director of the load administration program on the College of California, San Diego. “If folks need to cease or attempt to cease taking them, I’ve no drawback supporting them. However most individuals will regain the load in the event that they cease it.”

Right here’s what folks discovered after they tried the drugs.

Alexus Murphy continues to be nervous. She paused her Zepbound injections for a number of weeks and is watching her weight like a hawk, worrying about any trace of weight acquire.

“I’m in search of a scale all over the place I’m going,” she stated with fun.

The 22-year-old content material creator approached her physician about weight reduction medicine in March, earlier than she had breast discount surgical procedure.

It was her first surgical procedure, and she or he wished to decrease her BMI to attenuate well being dangers through the operation and in restoration.

She misplaced nearly 50 kilos over the course of 23 injections – a five-month journey.

Murphy shared her milestones in several videos that went viral on TikTok, fielding questions on unwanted side effects and the way she acquired entry to the drug.

“This drugs modified my life for the optimistic in all features of my social life, in my private life and simply how I present up for myself. It’s allowed me to be extra assured within the areas that I stroll in,” she stated.

However there have been downsides, too.  She felt fatigued and had nausea and mind fog whereas she was on the injections.

“As soon as I take the medication, I’ve to take two days to myself as a result of it’s identical to your physique’s figuring out. Your physique’s figuring out with out you [physically] figuring out. So even small issues like me going up the steps or like me carrying issues, I shall be tremendous overly out of breath fairly than like me now, I’m capable of transfer round, stand up, not really feel groggy,” she stated.

Murphy additionally battled hormonal zits for the primary time in her life. And maybe most scary, she had a number of fainting episodes whereas she was on Zepbound.

Medical doctors warned her that her blood sugar was low and that she was letting herself get dehydrated, so she tried to be extra aware about her meals and water consumption.

Murphy now weighs lower than she did in center faculty and says it has improved her psychological well being.

“The breast discount was an enormous step, however the weight reduction put just a little cherry on high,” she stated.

The Houston school scholar acquired her drugs for gratis by way of her medical insurance in her house state of California, Inland Empire Well being Plan, a program for folks with Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.

“On this economic system, I don’t assume I’d be capable of afford it, and at that time it might be thought-about a luxurious,” she stated.

Nonetheless, simply earlier than hitting her purpose weight, Murphy determined to cease utilizing Zepbound for a number of weeks to see if she might make it the remainder of the way in which on her personal.

“I wished to show to myself that I might lose the final 10 kilos in the direction of my purpose weight naturally, simply in order that I wouldn’t be depending on the medication,” she stated. “I don’t have any habits or something that I’m hooked on in addition to social media. So I wished to sort of preserve it that approach.”

She’s been fasting, consuming one meal a day and figuring out three or 4 instances every week.

However after hitting her weight reduction purpose whereas off Zepbound, she felt she was backsliding and took one other dose of the medicine.

“I felt swollen, and I used to be apprehensive about how a lot I used to be consuming,” she stated. “I couldn’t management consuming sweets. I used to be falling again into my meals habits.”

Murphy feels certain that this newest dose of Zepbound shall be her final.

“It’s not value it due to the zits, and I had different hormonal unwanted side effects,” she stated.

And though she hasn’t but shared her determination to cease taking Zepbound along with her TikTok followers, she hopes her viewers will keep along with her.

“I’m hoping that my viewers follows me outdoors of simply my [weight loss] journey and I’m capable of encourage folks to proceed to simply care for his or her wellness. Whether or not you’re on the load loss drugs, whether or not you’re not, however simply total being extra acutely aware of your well being, particularly women transitioning from being like a teen to a younger grownup,” she stated.

Life after weight-loss drugs has been easy crusing, Steven Ray says.

In reality, he simply acquired again from a cruise the place he was capable of stroll round confidently with out a shirt – a primary for a person who, rising up, felt so self-conscious about his weight that he wore a t-shirt within the pool.

Ray, 37, used compounded semaglutide by way of a wellness clinic. Compounding is the method of constructing copies of medication which are commercially out there. It’s allowed by the US Meals and Drug Administration throughout a scarcity – which, till just lately, utilized to the GLP-1 medicine as a consequence of unprecedented demand.

Ray misplaced over 40 kilos in 4 months and give up the medication chilly turkey after hitting his purpose, together with his prescribing physician’s blessing.

The Houston-area father of two stated he’s been capable of preserve his weight reduction, hovering at round 168 kilos since his final injection in Might.

The FDA doesn’t assessment compounded variations of GLP-1 medicine for security, effectiveness or high quality, and the company has acquired reports of adverse events in individuals who used compounded semaglutide.

Ray was prepared to take his possibilities.

He was “bored with being fluffy” and wished to be a greater position mannequin for his children, so Ray checked out a wellness clinic to study extra about whether or not weight-loss injections have been for him.

“On the finish of the day, it’s important to handle your self,” he stated. “You need to be wholesome to assist folks.”

Apart from just a little acid reflux disease and a few abdomen cramping, Ray says, he’s grateful he didn’t discover many unwanted side effects from the weight-loss medicine.

His blood sugar, ldl cholesterol and testosterone ranges have improved. And perhaps simply as vital, he now feels nice about himself. His children have seen the modifications, too.

“I make it a degree to make higher selections for them to allow them to stay a more healthy life,” Ray stated.

To take care of his weight reduction, Ray prioritizes portion management, making swaps like ordering a children’ meal at quick meals eating places and consuming off a small plate as a substitute of a daily dinner plate.

“The way in which that I see this medicine is, it’s a way of life change. And that is the crutch that’s serving to you to regulate to your new life-style,” Ray stated.

Becky Bell used to inform folks that she would by no means run, even when somebody was chasing her with a gun.

Now she’s acquired two 5K race bibs and has signed up for an additional race on Thanksgiving Day.

Bell, who lives in Woodstock, Georgia, stated she had tried to drop extra pounds utilizing totally different diets over 25 years. However after her husband died in 2014, she says she virtually “fell aside.”

“I simply didn’t need to do something however eat,” she stated.

She was residing a solitary – and sedentary – life. In 2020, her physician prescribed Ozempic to assist her drop extra pounds and stop her prediabetes from progressing.

“I used to be very near being 300 kilos. I knew I needed to do one thing as a result of I’ve some unhealthy coronary heart historical past in my household that informed me I wanted to do one thing to maintain from dying of a coronary heart assault,” stated Bell, 69. “I wanted to get my well being again on observe.”

Ozempic was step one towards her targets, however she had some reservations. She didn’t need to take it perpetually. And whereas taking the drug, she misplaced her need to eat.

“It was actually too good at suppressing my urge for food, to the purpose the place I used to be informed by my physician that I used to be nearly malnourished as a result of I wasn’t getting even a thousand energy in day by day whereas I used to be on Ozempic,” she stated.

Bell felt very sick whereas on Ozempic, she says, with nausea and low power. She wished to sleep on a regular basis. She would usually have dizzy spells, particularly when she was getting up from sitting or mendacity down, and even fainted a number of instances.

In October 2023, after dropping 70 kilos, she stopped utilizing Ozempic due to the unwanted side effects. Then, when gymnasium proprietor Max Nazaire approached her about becoming a member of Secure Haven, a health studio for adults over 50, she determined it was value a shot.

“I misplaced the load, however I felt like I used to be nonetheless fats, as a result of I wasn’t figuring out,” she stated.

Now, after a 12 months of mountain climbers and squats on the health studio, Bell has extra than simply muscle groups to point out off.

“Understanding right here, the folks that come right here provide you with a lot encouragement,” she stated. “I really feel prefer it’s my household now.”

The sense of neighborhood is vital for her, and becoming a member of the gymnasium has given her a spot to go and a cause to get out of the home.

Nazaire says he sees a number of shoppers like Bell: individuals who needed to cease utilizing weight-loss drugs, as a result of unwanted side effects or due to the price, and at the moment are seeking to preserve or proceed with their weight-loss efforts.

“The very first thing we do is, we guarantee that they’re working towards actually nice life-style habits. And once we discuss life-style habits, ensuring that they’re getting sufficient vitamins to have the ability to facilitate sustained weight reduction. It’s all the time about sustainable weight reduction,” he stated.

Bell will be discovered at Secure Haven 4 or 5 days every week. She’s misplaced 25 extra kilos up to now 12 months, for a complete of almost 100 since she began Ozempic in 2020.

“I’m so tickled that I’m into a big. I’ve gone from 3X after I began this journey to a big,” she stated. “I don’t even bear in mind the final time I used to be in a big shirt dimension.”

Sometimes, she sees a industrial for Ozempic and briefly considers going again on it. However in the end, she’s not tempted to return on the medicine.

“Apart from the train, the arrogance that I’ve in myself is simply a lot greater than I ever thought I’d have,” she stated.  “It makes me love myself.”

Dustin Gee was flipping by way of trip photographs when he realized that he didn’t acknowledge himself anymore. What ought to have been a dream journey to Peru in January 2023 together with his husband had been a battle.

“I really like touring, and I’ve all the time been actually energetic and been to a number of cool locations, however that is the primary time I’ve been to a spot the place I simply felt like – I knew I didn’t really feel fully like me,” Gee, who lives in Bellingham, Massachusetts, stated.

Gee had gained about 30 kilos, and for the primary time, he seen mobility points. He discovered that he would fairly cease for ice cream than discover Lima by way of lengthy, rambling walks.

“It was sort of actually in that second that I went again by way of household photographs and totally different milestones in our journey from the day we acquired licensed to grow to be foster care dad and mom and simply stated, ‘The place did I’m going?’ And so that actually set me on a path to having critical conversations with my physician and beginning to discover critical steps to start to drop extra pounds,” he stated.

Gee, 37, had one huge cause behind desirous to drop extra pounds – properly, really, three: his sons, Cristian, Emanuel and Jackson, whom he and husband Alex had been fostering since 2020. The household had an adoption date set for spring, and Gee refused to fulfill that milestone feeling “certain and drained.”

He talked to his physician about his issues and acquired some tips on managing stress as a guardian, methods to deal with emotional consuming and how one can plan for bodily exercise. He additionally acquired a prescription for Wegovy.

Gee began utilizing the drug in February 2023 and had misplaced 30 kilos by the adoption date in Might.

“It makes it much more significant simply understanding that at that very same time, whereas we have been making such a vital determination in our life as dad and mom and as a household, to additionally know that, for a set time frame main as much as that, I used to be additionally making huge selections and commitments in the direction of my well being,” Gee stated.

His issues went past his look. He was additionally apprehensive about his blood sugar and levels of cholesterol, particularly as a result of weight problems and coronary heart illness run in his household.

Between February and September 2023, Gee misplaced about 45 kilos on Wegovy. He stayed on the drug for a full 12 months earlier than deciding he was prepared to have a look at life-style modifications and presumably give up the medication.

He began following the Mayo Clinic Diet, which has a well being program designed to accompany GLP-1 medicine, in February.

Gee preferred how this system helped him construct good habits to take care of his weight reduction, and he loved monitoring his meals, setting his intentions and logging his weight within the app each day.

He determined to present himself one other 12 months on Wegovy whereas utilizing this system to assist reshape his mindset.

Gee misplaced one other 5 to 7 kilos within the first two weeks and now works as an envoy for this system.  He switched to a upkeep dose of Wegovy in September and goals to be fully off it by February.

“For me, at this stage in life, I really feel way more assured and actually sort of excited to go off of it. … I don’t view it as a problem however as simply this subsequent step of holding myself accountable and persevering with to make nice strides and be current for my household,” Gee stated.

The important thing to sticking to his routines is construction.

“When you may construct routine, you may construct consistency, and that’s what ends in a sustainable, maintainable life-style. However as a household with three energetic boys and totally different routines, proper, we stay our lives off of construction,” Gee stated. “So a number of the alternatives I’ve made have been issues that didn’t have to be a drastic shift to make my life-style a method however as a substitute work for the approach to life that I’ve and doesn’t enable me to simply get derailed from that.”

He additionally depends closely on assist from his husband to assist preserve issues on observe and his sons to maintain him on his toes.

“We will be energetic. We are able to exit of the home and kayak all day or go on lengthy walks,” Gee stated.

“I attempt to do my greatest to speak with them in regards to the modifications that I’m making and why, and that’s as a result of we need to be wholesome, and that with that comes the flexibility for us to be a happier household and to take pleasure in our time collectively,” he stated.

Gee commonly does low-impact cardio and power coaching and will get in walks as usually as he can by way of the workday with a treadmill desk.

“I simply all the time attempt to placed on like a sneaker for the day. It doesn’t essentially have to be a exercise shoe, however I discover that that simply helps me too, as a result of I can do that [treadmill], strolling round the home, strolling to get the mail, selecting to stroll after I can over taking an easier route,” he stated.

He plans to stay with the Mayo Clinic Weight loss plan program, which is now part of his life-style.

“At this level, I’m prepared, and a part of me needs to maneuver into this subsequent chapter understanding that I can depend on myself totally and never essentially on the load loss medicine,” he stated.

CNN’s Tal Yellin contributed to this report.