1w ago

I just started Zepbound, a GLP-1 agonist similar to Ozempic (CW eating disorders)

Context:

I am almost 400 lbs
I’m also being tested for sleep apnea
I am diagnosed with binge eating disorder, which I’ve been taking Vyvanse for as well as for my ADHD
I’m on the lowest dose of Zepbound, which will titrate up over time
I’ve been on it a few days
I gained quite a bit of weight after starting a microdose of estrogen, so there’s aspects of that in play as well
I somehow managed to get my insurance to cover it with a copay of $15 for 4 weeks of meds (I went in expecting the price to be a prohibitive barrier and ready to be let down so this was a great surprise)

It’s kind of hard to describe how night-and-day it is. I had to google how quickly the effects happen because I thought I was gaslighting myself. Within hours of my first injection, I went from being unable to feel hunger until I was starving and being unable to feel full until my stomach hurt to being able to stop eating whenever I wanted. I can eat a normal amount of food and feel full. No nausea. No metal taste. None of the side effects that people complain about so far. I still enjoy the food. But for the first time in years I can stop thinking about food and having it invade my sense of free will.

All I can say is that if this is a normal relationship to food, everyone who’s ever implied I just wasn’t trying hard enough can go fuck themselves.

39 comments

People really want to make GLP-1 a morality thing, but its truly a miracle drug. Take advantage of modern medicine; no one needs to suffer in order to lose weight.
- They finally made a weight loss drug that's actually good to the point where people call it cheating. Crazy.
  
  I’m cheating all day every day. I’m a cheater from way back.
- it's brilliant for a lot of people it just sucks that it's being touted as the "solution" to mass obesity caused by capitalist low quality food supply
- Yeah I’d heard it described that way and thought there was no way it would live up to the hype but so far it’s blown me away
I also wanna say I’d rather not have people speculating about my quality of life regarding my weight like what happened last time I made a post about my weight. I go on regular hikes. I play with my kids. I run up and down my stairs like a child on the regular. My weight has, thankfully, not had any adverse effects on my mobility, my breathing, my blood pressure, or my quality of life. My eating is another story. I don’t want any pity for what skinny people imagine it’s like to be 400 lbs. I’m more documenting my experience for anyone who has struggled with their eating or has experienced fatphobia.
Happy for you! Hope it works out well.
- Thank you! It’s feeling about as liberating as starting my ADHD meds did
Medication that works? Praise the Lord! Glad to hear you are doing good!
- Right? I just watched someone close to me go through medication after medication for a mental health issue. It took over a year to find the right combo and it’s still precarious. Having something that just works is astounding
  
  I went through the same thing with my schizophrenia. Meds didn't work, till I found a doctor that was willing to listen to me. Pretty sure I went through at least 3 different prescriptions before I found what works for me.
I'm so glad its helping you. I've gained about 60-70 lbs in the past 5 years, maybe related to my SSRI, and I'm becoming more interested in trying a GLP-1.
I wish our food supply was healthier and the capitalist hellscape didn't make me overeat from stress. But at least this miracle drug exists. After the revolution, we will need mass production to make it available to all to mitigate the negative effects of the "obesity epidemic" that the capitalists creates themselves and don't really give a shit about.
- I wish our food supply was healthier and the capitalist hellscape didn't make me overeat from stress.
- I fully accept and support anyone using medication that they want and that makes their lives better, big whoop to that always.
  But, I would be amazed if obesity affected a meaningful number of people after say 10 years in a post-capitalism world. Capitalism has meant that:
  Advertisements designed to exploit our monkey brains at every turn. Buses, TV, road signs, buildings, doors, phones, all the internet etc. you know the drill. We are CONSTANTLY being told to eat, this alone fucks people up more than they realise.
  Food is coloured to make you eat more. It has additives that make you eat more. Most soft drinks are designed to make you thirstier. Companies explicitly poison their food to make people consume more.
  Eating fresh, healthy food is effectively impossible. Every store bought apple you buy will be years old, and never tastes as good as a fresh one. Similar principles across the board - everything you eat has been stored for ages and thus tastes way, way, way worse. There are so many fruit and veg I thought I hated, for years, until I realised stores were just selling me rotted shit.
  Government recommendations of nutrition are just straight up anti-scientific. The food pyramid is misinformation designed to make people eat more. It's explicitly acknowledged that scientifically accurate education could make GDP fall significantly, because it might stop people overconsuming. When you start seeing it, you'll notice every bit of food advice is "Eat MORE x" instead of "Eat less Y".
  Lobbying by the likes of nestle has pushed government recommendations for babies' daily caloric requirements to significantly higher than anything scientifically supported. It has also pushed for all means to reduce breastfeeding. This means they get to sell more baby food, has hugely increased obesity in babies, and consequently fucks peoples' brains and bodies up for life when it comes to food.
  Let's not get into that "you need to exercise to lose weight" is bordering on a myth, once again constantly being said by food companies.
  et cetera et cetera I could write on this for days. We live in a world that deliberately fucks people up and their whole lives at every turn because selling more food = money. Again, to be fully clear, full support to anyone who finds GLP-1 inhibitors to let them be healthier and happier.
  Obesity is virtually entirely caused by people who are chasing profit by exploiting and honestly outright abusing peoples' minds and bodies.
  
  Artificial sweeteners will probably fuck up your kids too
  
  GOOD POST
  The only thing I’m skeptical about is that 10 year timeframe. 10 years for a massive decrease in childhood obesity? Absolutely. But for the adults that already have it, obesity is a disease and it’s not something you can propagandize your way into getting better.
  
  And on the exercise point, our society is designed to make getting exercise inconvenient as well as profitable. Car industry fucked our cities and made them terrible places to live and of course no one can walk to work or the store. Sidewalks are non existent.
  So getting exercise becomes a personal responsibility. You have to pay $40/mo to a gym (usually a big chain one) that you probably have to drive to. If you don't do that, you are just "lazy".
  Walkable and bikeable cities with public transit that gets people to their jobs and schools means you get a decent level of exercise every day. Building green spaces that are accessible and not just in the gentrified town center is another reason to go outside and get a little walking. Throw in some of those outdoor bodyweight gyms interspersed throughout communities and you can go for a little evening walk, get some pullups or whatever in, and improve your mental health at the same time. Also connect to your community.
  What society makes easy is what most people are going to do most of the time, and only the wealthy can afford a healthy lifestyle with nutritious food, green spaces, and the opportunity to exercise. The working poor don't have the time, money, or even access to these places and the easier option that capitalism has made available is fast or convenience food.
  In the mean time, increasing access to glp-1 drugs is a great option, as well as making sure people have access to the essentials like insulin
I am diagnosed with binge eating disorder, which I’ve been taking Vyvanse for as well as for my ADHD
Don't most ADHD drugs make this worse not better? I have a friend who takes Vyvanse and he basically won't eat unless he forces himself to. Or the drugs wear off and he's suddenly starving with an insatiable hunger.
- Vyvanse is approved for use in treating binge eating disorder, although outcomes can vary. For me, it’s helped curb my cravings and ambient eating a lot. I don’t have the problem of failing to eat entirely, but I was also relying on food noise and routine to help me eat in the first place, so I’d imagine losing the hunger altogether when you’re used to relying on it would be difficult. I’d be a lot bigger if not for my Vyvanse. I’d also probably be unemployed among other things, but that’s another story.
- amphetamines are 1000% an appetite off switch for me, which really sucks because I greatly enjoy being on them. I'm a chef but when I'm medicated I basically don't want to cook anything at home and literally every mouth full of food becomes a chore
- I take a similiar stim and work a very physical fast paced job, am in decent shape for my age. I've gotten used to eating while medicated but I do eat less. when i take first dose in the morning I have a big protein shake first, which is basically everything i have until after 2pm. at night when it wears off, and I typically have a bit of cannabis I often have a big meal right afterward, which I try to make as healthy as possible. the stuff I take doesn't last near as long as Vyvanse though
Just a question I'm going kind of a similar process but the medication wasn't available for me and they're actually putting me through bariatric surgery instead. What made this a better path for you than the surgery?
- My partner actually got the bariatric sleeve done and I would have qualified for it no problem. I had 0 confidence I would be able to stick to the liquid diet they put you on prior to the procedure, even for a short period of time. My compulsions to eat were incredibly strong.
  That said, the sleeve worked incredibly well for my partner and the reset it gives you has done her wonders
I’m jelly. My wife takes GLP-1 for her diabetes and my insurance doesn’t cover it at all, so we have to pay $400/mo. I hope it works well for you!
- The cost, especially for people with diabetes, is so unfair. I don’t know why I was approved but I’m definitely thankful. I appreciate the kind words
Maybe I should ask my doctor about this shit. I've avoided it out of fear of side effects and shame that it would be cheating, but I'm fat af and the beetus runs in my family.
- The only person I’ve ever heard openly refer to medical intervention for weight loss as “cheating” is one of the worst people I know. Not that I’ve never had that particular brainworm shaming me for not trying hard enough. At the end of the day, weight loss is not a sport. You can’t cheat at it. I can’t recommend it for weight loss because I started it 2 days ago and have only lost water weight so far, but for dealing with incessant cravings it’s been a game changer already.
  
  They are probably the same type of loser who cries about cheat codes in singleplayer games as if cheating even makes sense in that context or the context of losing weight for that matter. How about they mind their own fucking business?
I've been on it for about a year! It's great! It really help me quit alcohol too. I microdose on it now to keep the addictive behaviors at bay.
- Did/how did you get insurance to cover it? I could really use a pill to regulate alcohol intake.
  
  I paid out of pocket $300 for a 3 month supply of the injectable
- Do you mind speaking a bit on how it helped with alcohol? I don’t drink much at this point in my life but I’m working on being stricter about it because it’s real bad for my ADHD
  
  It can be a consumption disorder, just like food. It really helps regulating the desire to drink. Also, hangovers are also much worse and recreational drinking is unpredictable because of delayed stomach emptying (you can get drunk all of a sudden).
I can't see the name Zepbound without thinking it's some guy named Zep's new Earthbound hack.
I hope it goes great for you.
- This is now my headcanon

39 comments