Thank you for sharing this! This kind of story is actually.... extremely common.
I think stories like this sometimes get drowned out in the *OZEMPIC IS A MIRACLE DRUG* or *OZEMPIC IS TERRIBLE* noise. Yes, lots of people use GLP1 or GLP1/GIP agonists, it can help them with diabetes, they may or may not lose some weight, and life will go on.
I wish we had more stories like yours, because the new narrative is that because we now have these medications that being fat is a choice. It’s so dangerous. I’ve heard from only one other person that she’s on a GLP-1 for managing her diabetes and hasn’t lost weight. I wrote recently about my own experience quitting diets and gaining weight at the time when Ozempic exploded into the public’s attention. Staying the course and learning to accept my body has been one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever faced, It was made even more difficult because the world is less tolerant of fatness than it has ever been.
Agreed! “From the frying into the fire!” The pressure I feel to take Ozempic far exceeds the pressure to diet. People tend to understand that trying to lose weight is challenging—and they think Ozempic is a cure all.
I know a number of people using ozempic for joint pain / inflammatory conditions which isn't much researched but seems to be massively helping them even at low dosages and like good on them. But they're so scared to talk about it especially in radical disability spaces because it's not that they don't believe in fat liberation, it's this is the thing that is helping make things better. I do wonder what would have happened had no one discovered the weight loss side effect of the drug if the focus might have been put more heavily on other possible uses.
How interesting! Yes, there is a lot of fundamentalism in radical spaces, unfortunately. I’m hopeful we can move forward in helpful conversations when we open up about our struggles.
I was FINE at 224 and a 7 A1C. Sadly fat people are not eligible for transplants. I was on ozemic/ Wegovy for around 2 years and I didn't lose until I hit the max dose. I plateaued around 200. This was not good enough for kidney transplant. I switched to mourjaro, which as two active ingredients to ozempics one. After hitting the to dose I finally started losing. MJ allowed me to meet the one meal a day, under 800 calories a day target. I'm 62 and have genetic obesity, insulin resistance, post menapausal, and more. My metabolism is so slow I get body chills menopausal, exercise does not lead to weight loss. That is pure bs. I still "comply" with going to the ymca 5 nights a week. Do to other conditions I must stick to the recumbant stepper or bike. My pcp admonished me for not going 7 days a week. AND not losing more weight, faster. After 4 years I am 148, my high school weight. I am still fat. I am still not thin enough for the university of Minnesota or mayo transplant. Luckily Hennepin County Medical Center has a mission to serve people in poverty and people of color and has a higher tolerance for fat people. I've got 4 years down on their wait list. Luckily I haven't had many side effects. My gastro system is so messed up, and the cause of my kidney failure, I feel lucky. I lost my colon at 30 due to ulcerative colitis. The iv prednisone they gave me destroyed the bones in my knees and ankles. None of the doctors, who declared me cured of colitis bothered to put me on anti diarrhea meds. None of the doctors or et nurses actively listened to my high output issues for 30 years. My ckd is from preventable dehydration. Regardless of my diagnosis codes medics blame fat for everything. There is NO scientific evidence that someone at my weight would waste a kidney, yet transplant requirements mandate thinness. Im doing what I must to stay alive and stay on the wait list. Bottom line, fat people are not worthy of transplants and there is not a damn thing we can do to stop it.lots of medicine is NOT based on science. Until recently people of color were given different kidney function scores based on the slave "science" that white folks used to support slavery. Black folks got more muscles, they are made for hard work, designed for slavery. It took many years to get rid of racist kidney function tests.the racists doubled down for decades, claiming poc kidneys weren't as sick as white kidneys with the same test results. Nobody is researching or lobbing for new transplant rules benefitting fat people. So, 15 MG shots of mournjaro will be in the rest of my life.
First of all, I am so so sorry you are being discriminated against because of your size. Your story is heart wrenching. Second, the medical system has failed fat people and black people. We must fight until all are treated with dignity and the care they deserve.
How is it possible that with the 4 billion Ozempic takes published in the past year, I have not read something as refreshing and authentic and grounded as this?? 🙏
Thank you for sharing. It’s become so common. I’m ok with my size too and my numbers are ok, but I still get tempted. But then I remind myself that my first cousin is battling thyroid cancer—and she didn’t even take it. So as someone with a close relative with thyroid cancer, I’m directly referred in the ads. I can’t take it. Which saves me from the peer pressure, anyway.
I was just talking to a friend this afternoon about the intense pressure we feel from all sides to take the GLP-1’s for weight loss. Thank you for sharing another type of pressure created by the actual use of the drug! I appreciate your perspective—and am also a grand supporter of body autonomy and personal choice.
Thanks for posting this. The narrative around Ozempic is really interesting (I also wonder why this happened now, Ozempic has been around forever) and I appreciate your perspective on it. Too often, we get GLP-1 cheerleaders and I think voices of people taking it as intended are lost.
In any case, I feel very conflicted as someone who identified as body positive/neutral for a long time and then participated in the ultimate betrayal: weight loss surgery. Many days, I simply don't know how to feel, especially since I'm still not thin and likely never will be. So what was it for? I don't know. Thanks for sharing.
MD, thank you so much for joining this conversation. Although I don’t have your exact experience, I do know how attractive bariatric surgery is on its face—the temptation is very strong. I’m sorry you feel like you’ve betrayed someone. You are the ultimate expert on what your body needs. But if it didn’t result in the body you wanted, I understand the mixed feelings.
I’m late to this article, but hello and thank you. I have a very similar story to yours. But I haven’t lost any weight at all, none. My aic is lower without the highest doasage, but I’m pressured to go higher, like that’s gonna be the magic formula for the weight loss effect…but I’m so tired of this sh*t so idk what to do but I’m leaning heavily toward NOPE. Not to say that I’m not envious of seeing people talk endlessly how “gamechanging” it is for fat people. I totally am, and i WISH it were true. But there’s no magic wand or secret alchemy, your body is your body.
I also wish i could say I’m not petty enough to be waiting for the afternath of everyone gaining back all the weight they lost (which will and does happen). But i can’t. I know its not nice, but these ppl have been complicit in a tidal wave redux of “pro-ana” worship (like we went through in the 90s) and i can’t forgive that. They knew what they were doing and didn’t care because “they got theirs” when it was working for them.
It’s also gonna be funny when the celebs start the rallying cry AGAINST glp1s when they too gain back weight and/or realize they now suffer permanent health issues. And yes, again, they will, because it’s unsustainable and inevitable. Then the miracle drug THEY pushed will be the enemy and play the victims. I really really hate this. But, sigh. Round and round we go.
Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, it is such a mindf*ck to watch the pro-ED behavior promotion. Like, what?? And I, too, am petty and waiting for the day when people gain weight back or see the folly of their ways. Sigh. It’s all so (waves hands wildly) really messed up.
Yep! Had gallstone pancreatitis 14 years after having my gallbladder removed. It wasn't till several years after that when I learned that weight cycling can contribute to gallstones. Yet another example where the fatness was blamed when in reality it was the anti fat bias all along.🤬
I have also experienced gallstone pancreatitis, which led to the removal of my gall bladder. I had heard that you could still develop gallstones without a gallbladder, but I hadn't encountered anyone with that experience until you. Thank you for sharing your story!
Absolutely! And I've not taken GLP-1s. It makes me wonder is it a side effect of the medication itself or a side effect of the weight change. So hard to tease out all of the cause and effect.
Thank you for sharing your story! After swearing off ever dieting again, I will not go near this latest —btw OFF LABEL—craze. Nope. Fool me 15 times...
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am on a different drug as I am showing signs of insulin resistance and have a complex health history. It can be very difficult to make decisions about your health when there are so many opposing arguments.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as a fat person taking ozempic for its intended purpose - diabetes management. Taking the higher dose, prescribed as wegovy or off-label ozempic because wegovy is unavailable, causes most gastric distress and complications.
Also, I found your Substack because of the name change so I hope you feel encouraged by that decision.
Thank you for sharing this! This kind of story is actually.... extremely common.
I think stories like this sometimes get drowned out in the *OZEMPIC IS A MIRACLE DRUG* or *OZEMPIC IS TERRIBLE* noise. Yes, lots of people use GLP1 or GLP1/GIP agonists, it can help them with diabetes, they may or may not lose some weight, and life will go on.
We still need to fight fatphobia.
Absolutely! Some people have claimed that GLP-1s will eliminate stigma, and I’m like—what world do you live in??
Also, thanks for restacking!
I wish we had more stories like yours, because the new narrative is that because we now have these medications that being fat is a choice. It’s so dangerous. I’ve heard from only one other person that she’s on a GLP-1 for managing her diabetes and hasn’t lost weight. I wrote recently about my own experience quitting diets and gaining weight at the time when Ozempic exploded into the public’s attention. Staying the course and learning to accept my body has been one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever faced, It was made even more difficult because the world is less tolerant of fatness than it has ever been.
Yes! Fat people will always be around!
Agreed! “From the frying into the fire!” The pressure I feel to take Ozempic far exceeds the pressure to diet. People tend to understand that trying to lose weight is challenging—and they think Ozempic is a cure all.
Thank you Amanda! Stories about this kind of Ozempic experience are so important!
Thanks for restacking!
I know a number of people using ozempic for joint pain / inflammatory conditions which isn't much researched but seems to be massively helping them even at low dosages and like good on them. But they're so scared to talk about it especially in radical disability spaces because it's not that they don't believe in fat liberation, it's this is the thing that is helping make things better. I do wonder what would have happened had no one discovered the weight loss side effect of the drug if the focus might have been put more heavily on other possible uses.
How interesting! Yes, there is a lot of fundamentalism in radical spaces, unfortunately. I’m hopeful we can move forward in helpful conversations when we open up about our struggles.
I was FINE at 224 and a 7 A1C. Sadly fat people are not eligible for transplants. I was on ozemic/ Wegovy for around 2 years and I didn't lose until I hit the max dose. I plateaued around 200. This was not good enough for kidney transplant. I switched to mourjaro, which as two active ingredients to ozempics one. After hitting the to dose I finally started losing. MJ allowed me to meet the one meal a day, under 800 calories a day target. I'm 62 and have genetic obesity, insulin resistance, post menapausal, and more. My metabolism is so slow I get body chills menopausal, exercise does not lead to weight loss. That is pure bs. I still "comply" with going to the ymca 5 nights a week. Do to other conditions I must stick to the recumbant stepper or bike. My pcp admonished me for not going 7 days a week. AND not losing more weight, faster. After 4 years I am 148, my high school weight. I am still fat. I am still not thin enough for the university of Minnesota or mayo transplant. Luckily Hennepin County Medical Center has a mission to serve people in poverty and people of color and has a higher tolerance for fat people. I've got 4 years down on their wait list. Luckily I haven't had many side effects. My gastro system is so messed up, and the cause of my kidney failure, I feel lucky. I lost my colon at 30 due to ulcerative colitis. The iv prednisone they gave me destroyed the bones in my knees and ankles. None of the doctors, who declared me cured of colitis bothered to put me on anti diarrhea meds. None of the doctors or et nurses actively listened to my high output issues for 30 years. My ckd is from preventable dehydration. Regardless of my diagnosis codes medics blame fat for everything. There is NO scientific evidence that someone at my weight would waste a kidney, yet transplant requirements mandate thinness. Im doing what I must to stay alive and stay on the wait list. Bottom line, fat people are not worthy of transplants and there is not a damn thing we can do to stop it.lots of medicine is NOT based on science. Until recently people of color were given different kidney function scores based on the slave "science" that white folks used to support slavery. Black folks got more muscles, they are made for hard work, designed for slavery. It took many years to get rid of racist kidney function tests.the racists doubled down for decades, claiming poc kidneys weren't as sick as white kidneys with the same test results. Nobody is researching or lobbing for new transplant rules benefitting fat people. So, 15 MG shots of mournjaro will be in the rest of my life.
First of all, I am so so sorry you are being discriminated against because of your size. Your story is heart wrenching. Second, the medical system has failed fat people and black people. We must fight until all are treated with dignity and the care they deserve.
How is it possible that with the 4 billion Ozempic takes published in the past year, I have not read something as refreshing and authentic and grounded as this?? 🙏
Thank you for sharing. It’s become so common. I’m ok with my size too and my numbers are ok, but I still get tempted. But then I remind myself that my first cousin is battling thyroid cancer—and she didn’t even take it. So as someone with a close relative with thyroid cancer, I’m directly referred in the ads. I can’t take it. Which saves me from the peer pressure, anyway.
Yes, the side effects/dangers should certainly give pause. So sorry to hear about your cousin's battle.
The pressure to take Ozempic is real. Ugh!
I was just talking to a friend this afternoon about the intense pressure we feel from all sides to take the GLP-1’s for weight loss. Thank you for sharing another type of pressure created by the actual use of the drug! I appreciate your perspective—and am also a grand supporter of body autonomy and personal choice.
Thank you!
Thanks for posting this. The narrative around Ozempic is really interesting (I also wonder why this happened now, Ozempic has been around forever) and I appreciate your perspective on it. Too often, we get GLP-1 cheerleaders and I think voices of people taking it as intended are lost.
In any case, I feel very conflicted as someone who identified as body positive/neutral for a long time and then participated in the ultimate betrayal: weight loss surgery. Many days, I simply don't know how to feel, especially since I'm still not thin and likely never will be. So what was it for? I don't know. Thanks for sharing.
MD, thank you so much for joining this conversation. Although I don’t have your exact experience, I do know how attractive bariatric surgery is on its face—the temptation is very strong. I’m sorry you feel like you’ve betrayed someone. You are the ultimate expert on what your body needs. But if it didn’t result in the body you wanted, I understand the mixed feelings.
I’m glad we have found each other! Peace to you.
Thank you so much! I look forward to following your newsletter :)
I’m late to this article, but hello and thank you. I have a very similar story to yours. But I haven’t lost any weight at all, none. My aic is lower without the highest doasage, but I’m pressured to go higher, like that’s gonna be the magic formula for the weight loss effect…but I’m so tired of this sh*t so idk what to do but I’m leaning heavily toward NOPE. Not to say that I’m not envious of seeing people talk endlessly how “gamechanging” it is for fat people. I totally am, and i WISH it were true. But there’s no magic wand or secret alchemy, your body is your body.
I also wish i could say I’m not petty enough to be waiting for the afternath of everyone gaining back all the weight they lost (which will and does happen). But i can’t. I know its not nice, but these ppl have been complicit in a tidal wave redux of “pro-ana” worship (like we went through in the 90s) and i can’t forgive that. They knew what they were doing and didn’t care because “they got theirs” when it was working for them.
It’s also gonna be funny when the celebs start the rallying cry AGAINST glp1s when they too gain back weight and/or realize they now suffer permanent health issues. And yes, again, they will, because it’s unsustainable and inevitable. Then the miracle drug THEY pushed will be the enemy and play the victims. I really really hate this. But, sigh. Round and round we go.
Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, it is such a mindf*ck to watch the pro-ED behavior promotion. Like, what?? And I, too, am petty and waiting for the day when people gain weight back or see the folly of their ways. Sigh. It’s all so (waves hands wildly) really messed up.
All the semaglutides have side effects, one of the most common, I learned this week, is developing gallstones.
I wonder what it means for someone--like me--with no gallbladder!
Yep! Had gallstone pancreatitis 14 years after having my gallbladder removed. It wasn't till several years after that when I learned that weight cycling can contribute to gallstones. Yet another example where the fatness was blamed when in reality it was the anti fat bias all along.🤬
I have also experienced gallstone pancreatitis, which led to the removal of my gall bladder. I had heard that you could still develop gallstones without a gallbladder, but I hadn't encountered anyone with that experience until you. Thank you for sharing your story!
Absolutely! And I've not taken GLP-1s. It makes me wonder is it a side effect of the medication itself or a side effect of the weight change. So hard to tease out all of the cause and effect.
Thank you for sharing your story! After swearing off ever dieting again, I will not go near this latest —btw OFF LABEL—craze. Nope. Fool me 15 times...
Right?? Solidarity in no more dieting!
Hear, hear! 💪🏽
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am on a different drug as I am showing signs of insulin resistance and have a complex health history. It can be very difficult to make decisions about your health when there are so many opposing arguments.
It definitely is complex! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as a fat person taking ozempic for its intended purpose - diabetes management. Taking the higher dose, prescribed as wegovy or off-label ozempic because wegovy is unavailable, causes most gastric distress and complications.
Also, I found your Substack because of the name change so I hope you feel encouraged by that decision.
Wow! Thank you for your encouragement!! Glad to have found each other!
Oh, I needed this badly today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing it. <3
You’re so welcome. Glad it was helpful.
This is so, so helpful. A breath of fresh air.
Thank you!