The GLP-1 Controversy

Are you taking a GLP-1? Do you know someone who is? Of course you do. We all do. There is a stigma that surrounds them, so many are still hesitant to share their journeys. Odds are – you know a lot more people than you think you do. Shame and embarrassment often go hand in hand with GLP-1s. A few have made jokes about them to me, and I flatly tell them: I’m taking one. They often backtrack and admit they are too, or their daughter is, etc.

A friend of mine had been taking them for a while to great success. She’d talked semaglutide (Ozempic) openly, and how it worked for her. It wasn’t until I was going through some personal matters and started to pile on the weight (on top of my current excess weight), that I began to ask her more direct questions about the cost and where she got it. I was under so much stress I was worried the combination of stress and excessive weight gain would cause a stroke or heart attack. I’m not being dramatic. I have dealt with high blood pressure since I was twenty years old. It runs in my family. I’ve had it at the best shape of my adult life and worst shape (thank God for BP meds). I was truly falling apart. When I approached my friend, I was under the impression it was $1200 a month, as I’d seen on the news. I couldn’t afford it, but I knew I couldn’t afford not to take it. Thankfully, it was only $50 a week for the starting dose at a weight loss clinic in a nearby town. The clinic explained semaglutide was exactly the same as Ozempic, but I later came to realize it’s actually a compound. Meaning, it’s not under the same regulations as Ozempic, Zepbound or the like are.

I’ve been on GLP-1s, off and on (mostly on) for the past two years. In the beginning, I carried a great shame on my new journey. I wanted to be strong enough to do it on my own…It was tough to face the mirror, at fifty-one years old, to realize I had yet to win the weight (health) battle and stay with it. I felt like a failure.

I did not feel like I was ready when I showed up to my first appointment. It was the day after Christmas. I thought wtf are you thinking – you don’t start a diet until after the new year. There are so many leftovers! I asked the medical assistant how long it took to kick in, as I’d heard it wasn’t until the next day. She said when she took her first shot, she went home and had a slice of cake and was sick for the next twenty-four hours. I was shaken. I’d planned to eat my “last meal” at Culver’s on the way home. I still went to Culver’s but only ordered a burger and water. I left out the fries with tarter sauce and Coke. I was emotional, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized just how much I relied on food to get through stressful situations (such as starting the shot).

The next day, there was a real shift in my mindset. The “food noise” I’d struggled with my entire life, was silent. (Food noise- thinking about food-constantly.) My mind had quieted and I almost couldn’t handle the sudden change in my brain. With the food chatter subsided, I quickly started to eat less. I craved less bad foods and was easier to keep my portions under control. For many, if they eat sugar, they immediately feel sick or vomit. This has never happened to me, although sometimes I wish it would.

About a year ago, a close friend began her GLP-1 journey. She was full of emotion when she said to me, “This is what it must feel like to be normal.” It was the exact same feeling I had when I started.

I was able to stay on the lowest dose for many months. From there, it was a slow trend upwards and in the past six months, I’ve had to step it up. A lot of this stems from me falling off track in different ways. It’s a tool you need to work with. You need to make the choice to eat healthily, you need to make the choice to be active, you need to make the choice to be kind to yourself.

Through the journey, I’ve decided not to let the scale dictate my mood. I’d done that for too long. I rarely weigh myself. I forced myself to weigh in a few weeks ago and found that I’d gained eight pounds in the past few months. I’m not happy about it, but I also know I ate to deal with this last hip replacement. I wasn’t able to be as active as much as I needed. I ate my feelings through the holidays. So, I made the choice to go to make the change to a Zepbound compound. This has helped the food noise, once again. I’m back on track and feeling better about myself. (I went away from the clinic less than a year in and began to use an online pharmacy someone recommended.)

The shame of choosing a GLP-1 quickly went away after I started my journey. I feel like I was given a new lease on life. It has been worth the money (although I still wish every month I could go away from it), and I’ve even found things that helped the terrible constipation I went through for a long time. Just like any drug, there are always side effects.

I know people who it has not worked for or had side effects that made it too difficult for them to continue. I know people who have changed their lives for the better. I know people who would never, ever consider trying it – for lots of valid reasons.

I felt compelled to write about my journey, as there is still such a stigma associated with weight loss drugs. I don’t think many people go into these lightly. Most people are not the Hollywood actress who must lose just a few pounds to get that roll – and I say that with no judgment. I can’t imagine their pressure to be thin.

I wish everyone the best of luck on their health journey and find or continue on the path that works for you.

Jen