Wegovy – New Diet Drug

 

121 Dietitian is excited by the launch of the New Diet Drug Wegovy for weight loss and obesity. A game changer for weight loss, but not without consequences.

If you decide this is for you, you need to ensure you get the maximum results possible.

As weight loss experts 121 Dietitian wants the best for you, we are seeing a massive push on online prescribing. What support do you get with this????? In most cases, it is lip service and not personalised.

These drugs are not a quick fix, they are expensive, require 18 months of time commitment and stop working when you don’t inject. So what can you do?

How to get maximum results with Wegovy- new diet drug

If you decide Wegovy is for you. You may be surprised to read that the only way to get maximum results is by working with a Specialist. Dietitians like us here at 121 being the gold standard!

Wegovy is not the golden ticket to weight loss. We know and have many years of experience assisting thousands of people with optimising their diet and health for life.

Wegovy what you need to know

As a Dietitian for nearly 30 years, I have watched many drugs come and go regarding weight loss. Wegovy is one of the newer kids on the block.

Big breakthroughs have been the headlines over the years and many people eager to get their hands on the latest launch, pay big bucks for something they know nothing about.
Creating drugs to allow for a substantial amount of weight loss without serious side effects is the dream for many pharmaceutical companies and many attempts have been made.

In this blog, I hope to provide you with all you need to know about these medications the positives and negatives of taking these drugs and what alternative may work better for you long term.

How Do These Anti-Obesity Drugs Work?

In normal digestion, the gut secretes hormones after food intake, stimulating insulin secretion. These pharmaceutically created peptides (Wegovy) mimic these same gut hormones and provide more GLP-1 to flood the system and allow for additional weight loss.

Wegovy and Mounjaro work differently in the body but both keep you fuller for longer by delaying gastric emptying, increasing insulin sensitivity, decreasing glucagon, and reducing high glucose levels. Both drugs reduce triglycerides, LDL and raise HDL cholesterol, along with reducing blood pressure.

Who is eligible for Wegovy?

Wegovy is intended for use by adults aged 18-75 who have a BMI of 30 or above,

or a BMI of 27 or above AND a weight-related health condition such as

(asthma, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, fatty liver disease, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure, a history of certain cancers, osteoarthritis or gout, or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Side effects of Wegovy – New Diet Drug

Something that is often overlooked or underplayed is the side effects of drugs. For Wegovy and Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) include

• nausea
• vomiting
• abdominal pain
• constipation
• diarrhoea
• There is a concern of 4.5 x higher intestinal obstruction in 25,000 people studied.
• Fatigue and headache are also very common, mainly as doses increase.

Other common side effects include:

• feeling lightheaded
• excess passing wind
• gastroesophageal reflux
• injection site reactions
• hair loss
• hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes

Less common side effects have been noted with these drugs including

• allergic reactions
• gallstones (which can occur with a large amount of weight loss)
• the potential of medullary thyroid cancer
• You are also at risk of acute kidney injury.

In rare cases, there can be serious side effects, such as pancreatitis or anaphylaxis.

A list NOT to be ignored.

How is Wegovy Given and Practical Considerations

Wegovy (Semaglutide), is in a prefilled self-injection delivered under the skin in the arm, abdomen or thigh. 0.25 mg for a month, increasing monthly to a maximum dose of 2.4 mg in the 5th month. It takes a year to 18 months to have full effect.

As with any medication, there are positives and negatives and I have spent most of the last 15 years in my clinics trying to reduce my patient’s medication lists where possible!

I am aware however that some medications are beneficial, and it is a major hope that these drugs will genuinely assist in weight loss for the select individual.

One thing for sure is that they do seem to be a better option than bariatric surgery which is a blog for another day!

Currently, the hype is big and no doubt we will find out more as time goes by, but for now, I prefer to recommend you don’t get swept up too soon and spend extortionate amounts of money without doing the following first.

Wegovy -Work with a Dietitian

Obesity is a complex, chronic disease with multifactorial causes, and taking a drug and expecting life-changing weight loss is too simplistic.

For those seeking to improve their health and lose weight and really stuck these drugs may be a short sharp kickstart but no more.

It is clear from the research that when people stop taking Wegovy/Ozempic, they rapidly regain the weight.

It is very expensive and there are important issues that need to be highlighted regarding everyday considerations like how alcohol impacts blood sugar control, fasting, health risks and other medication interactions.

Verdict on Wegovy – New Diet Drug 

As a Dietitian, I have been asked repeatedly about weight loss drugs.

I always consider all options and for the greater good of all who may be thinking about using these and believe in working on lifestyle, diet and fitness interventions first or alongside any targeted medication.

I am concerned that vulnerable people who are really in need of significant weight loss may need to stay on Wegovy indefinitely in order to maintain any weight loss achieved, and this definitely raises concerns about long-term use.

As 121 Dietitian offer weight loss services it is something for you to consider. You can invest in a 121 Dietitian programme, the cost is far less than weight loss drugs at present.

121 Dietitian’s 12-month programme is 1/3 of the cost of Wegovy you do not need to inject each day or week and works with you for life – no negative side effects and continues to work far longer than 18 months.

If you are wishing to commence a weight loss drug we would still love to support you so you can get the best results for your investment.

 

History of weight loss drugs

• In the 1990s fen-phen was launched and I remember it well. Millions were prescribed it and so many weight loss clinics sprung up, not long after it was linked to serious heart valve lesions, so it was withdrawn in 1995.
• An endocannabinoid receptor blocker Rimonabant in 2006 was released, and nearly 19,000 participants in countries around the world took this as a trial which linked this to excess depression, neuropsychiatric side effects and suicidal thoughts it was withdrawn in 2008.
• Orlistat (Xenical, Alli) became available in 1999 and was regularly prescribed for patients at the clinics I was involved with during my early hospital days. The side effects were pretty nasty and I do recall vividly many patients just being more miserable and despondent with how they felt and the limited results.
• Qsymia was next to be released in 2012 as the first of the four new weight-loss drugs approved.
  After 3- 4 years of being on the market, it fared best in promoting the loss of 5% of body weight in patients taking it.
  An average of 75% of those taking Qsymia lost 5% of their body weight, while an average of 63% of participants taking Saxenda and 55% of those taking Contrave did.
• More recently we have a 2nd line GLP-1 receptor antagonist Semaglutide (Wegovy) launched in 2021 with a long half-life it is given as a once-a-week injection.
• Ozempic is half the dose of Wegovy and has been available since 2020 to improve glucose regulation in diabetes.
• Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) was launched in May 2022 intentioned for people with Diabetes its additional weight loss success was unexpected as it was created for improving glucose regulation. It is now a major player in the drug line up for losing weight.

 

If you are unsure of how to change your eating habits or need help optimising the foods you eat please do contact us. We would love to help you or your family and friends with any nutrition-related queries big or small.

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