Injectable weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are seen as a quick fix for minor weight loss — even if they should be prescribed to people with obesity and diabetes. “I didn’t even know I was on it,” Chelsea Handler said of Ozempico, adding that her doctor told her, “‘If you ever want to lose five pounds, this is good.’
Although all of these drugs are injectable, they contain different active ingredients: Ozempic (a prescription drug approved by the FDA for people with type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (which is approved for people with obesity) contain semaglutide, which works in the brain and affects to satiety.
The drug Mounjaro contains tirzepatide, which reduces food intake and appetite, and improves the breakdown of sugar and fat in the body. It’s also approved for people with diabetes — not obesity — but like Ozempic, many people are prescribed it off-label for weight loss.
Study in Journal of Pharmacology and Therapy found that most people taking semaglutide gain most of their weight back within a year of stopping the drug, which can be difficult to control.
And now, a new study on the effects of stopping tirzepatide says that those who stopped taking the medication gained weight.
“In obese/overweight participants, withdrawal of tirzepatide resulted in significant weight loss,” according to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Those who switched to placebo experienced a 14% weight gain.”
So, are these drugs meant to be taken, well, forever? Or is there a way to safely lose weight on injections — and keep the weight off after you stop taking them?
dr. Evelina Grayver, director of the Women’s Heart Program at the Katz Institute for Women for Northwell Health’s Central Region, shared her thoughts with PEOPLE.
Mounjaro
Why do people gain weight after they stop using these drugs?
“There is no miracle cure. This is a lifestyle. People think they take a few shots, a few months of shots and they’re good for the rest of their lives. By continuing to do exactly what they were doing in relation to poor diet, inactivity, smoking, sleeping no more than two to three hours a day. it’s not going to help them in the long run,” Dr. Grayver tells PEOPLE.
“Long-term is lifestyle modification — that’s really the foundation,” she says. “Ozempic, Mounjaro, these are all like sprinkles on top that can help them reach their goal. But in order to maintain their goal, they have to have that basic lifestyle to begin with.”
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How can you avoid gaining weight after quitting?
“First, as soon as you start taking any of these medications, make sure you’re on a well-balanced diet. Additionally, consider intermittent fasting,” she suggests, citing a time-restricted approach to eating that can also restrict calorie intake. But, she cautions, “During those eight hours, it’s not like you park yourself in front of the refrigerator and eat everything in there. .”
dr. Grayver continues, “Make sure you’re exercising at least 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week. And the more endurance you add with weights, and the more high-intensity interval training you can add to your regimen, the greater the long-term benefits because you subsequently build muscle mass that increases your basal metabolic rate. So when you actually stop taking these drugs, you can maintain that metabolic rate because of the muscle you’ve already been able to build at that time.”
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Is there anyone who would benefit from long-term use of these injections?
“Those patients who are actually diabetic — actually benefit from them long-term. We will have significant data to show the fact that there is significant cardiovascular benefit for many of these patients, because we know the fact that from an overall cardio-metabolic standpoint, these drugs work phenomenally: they are able to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes. So I think there will be certain patients who will have to adhere to them,” says Dr. Grayver, emphasizing, “At this point, diabetics are the only ones.”
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What about people who take these injections for short-term weight loss?
“Dropping a dress size requires a lifestyle change,” Dr. Grayver tells PEOPLE. “You want to be careful about what you eat, and how you eat, and when you eat, and you want to make sure you exercise and sleep.”
“But when you want to do something like Ozempic or Mounjar or Wegovy or any of these drugs that are out there, just for dress size, I think you might actually have more problems than anything else,” Dr. Grayver tells PEOPLE.
“Because when you actually suddenly stop taking these medications, it can lead to an uncontrolled environment afterward, like uncontrolled blood sugar levels, which can have negative effects on your overall health.”
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education