About Attitudes.
I gained a lot of it, starting slowly in my forties, holding steady (mostly) in my fifties. Then I gained a boatload. More like an ocean liner load. Weight gain and weight loss are not the simple equation we have had drilled into us. Shame is a large part of this. If you are overweight, or Oden help you, obese, there is a shroud of shame around you and your round body. I know this well. I was a small person into my early forties, then something went awry. One day I existed, the next I did not. If you are fat..... you are lazy, you eat too much, you need to eat less and move more. Then, viola`, all will be well. Nonsense.
I have hormonal problems. I am insulin resistant. I am not diabetic, just on the cusp. With insulin resistance, the insulin has difficulty getting glucose into the cells, so instead the body stores the excess glucose as fat. This is why so many Type 2 diabetics are overweight, with much of the weight in the belly. This becomes metabolic syndrome: risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
I was prescribed Ozempic in 2022 for this reason. Because my A1c was just under diabetic, insurance wouldn't pay for it. At that time it was a little over $1000/month. Nope. Shortly after this the drug became well-known and somewhat notorious in many circles. It also became available in compounded form, bringing the cost way down. The drug itself is semaglutide. In short, what it does is assist insulin to push glucose into the muscle and liver cells instead of it turning into fat. It becomes energy.
All this to say I have been on a very low dose of compounded semaglutide. I have never increased the dose because the low dose is working. The drug is doing what it is supposed to. My A1c is much lower, I have more energy, not a lot, but more. And....I have lost sixty pounds. Unbelievably, to me, I still have 30 - 40 pounds left to lose before I get out of the overweight category. I am out of morbidly obese, but still obese. I'm in my 70s, I am tired of lugging this weight around. I know I am at risk of diabetes and heart disease for certain, since both parents died from heart failure and my father was an insulin dependent diabetic. Both parents had the metabolic syndrome body shape. As do I.
There is a lot of chatter that people using this drug are cheating, taking the easy way out. I say, people may think what they want, I am not going to be aiding in my death or at the very least, spending the rest of my life in discomfort because of misguided opinions. I will likely be on a lower maintenance dose for perhaps life. I can live with that. Literally.
24 comments:
So the insulin resistance causes the weight gain? I had thought it was the other way around, but that makes more sense. I learn something new every day.
Good for you. There's a lot of ignorance around weight, and way too much judgment. It's much more complex than slim people think! Those of us who've never had a weight issue are lucky, not virtuous.
Sandi, it's more complex than that, but yes, insulin resistance plays a roll. Type2 diabetics are by definition insulin resistant. Lots of things can factor in, diet being one of them. If a person persists in eating high glycemic food, doesn't move about, that contributes. For 10 years I have been very careful about high glycemic foods, after I had been diagnosed as insulin resistant. I have never had a sugar craving and I don't eat fast food nor much over- processed food. I own a horse farm and used to be very active. Yet, I was obese. There is much more involved than diet and exercise, but both cannot be ignored. It does matter.
Boud, Here Here!! I was one of those people. I could eat anything I wanted and not gain a pound. Until I couldn't. I offer no judgement to anyone using medication for weight loss assistance. Obesity is a medical condition and it can be deadly. I have a few years left and I want to live them out.
I carry a spare tire around my middle. It's not that I eat so much but that I tend to eat wrong. I neem to exercise to lose weight or at least keep it down, and that is mostly beyond my present ability to do.
I say--do what you have to do, want to do, need to do. Ignore other people's opinions. You should absolutely do what is right for you. :)
Whoa! I had no idea you were doing this. 60 pounds... no wonder you are feeling better. So glad you are feeling better every day. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Looks like you need to go shopping for smaller pants! Good for you!
I'm overweight as well.
AC, there is a difference between a bit of a spare tire around the middle and a full blown beach ball. You do not appear overweight. You do get in a daily walk. That's helpful.
Rita, as much weight as I have carried for the past 8 years is very unhealthy. If there is something to help me lose it, I need to try. Thanks for the encouragement.
Lori, I have a friend in Europe who talked openly about this herself. She is who got me to the point I would try, once I found the compounds. Obesity is a medical condition, not a moral failing. I can put on socks and shows without a struggle now!
Far Side, I find those baggy pants sort of hilarious! I should stop wearing them. Thanks.
Dora, it is really hard on the body, isn't it.
Good for you fpr taking care of yourself!
I learned a long time ago not to judge people about their weight. One does not know a persons personal story or their health history. I am glad that there are more treatments to aid people with diabetes. I learned theses lessons from a friend who developed diabetes as a child in the 1960's (she died) and a family members. I am glad you have these medications and that they are working for you.
Take Care,
Kaye
I was brought up to believe in exactly all the wrong things about people's weight. My mom would point out that people that were overweight were lazy and stupid among other things.
I learned much later that this was not so.
I have to say that this is amazing and wonderful. I am so pleased that it is working for you!
You are taking steps to care for yourself and those around you.
Fantastic!
thank you, e.
Thank you, Kaye. Somehow, I cannot picture you ever being thoughtless or unkind.
Val, you brought up the way most of us were. It is slowly changing. Slowly is the operative word. I feel I am extending my life and if not that, improving the quality of the life remaining.
That's wonderful, something is working as it should:) And no, you don't want to risk heart failure or diabetes.
Pixie, I don't. As I've aged gaining weight has been simple. Losing has become nearly impossible. I watched the same thing with my mother. If there is help, I'll take it. The problem is there are myriad people who need it who cannot access it.Even compounded it's expensive.
That was an honest and well-written post. Thank you for sharing your story. I'm happy to read that you are healing up. This is wonderful. And soon you'll have no extra weight to carry about. Cheers to you. Thanks for sharing. Huggs, Ivy.
Thank you, Ivy. It will be several months yet before I am not carrying extra weight, but that's ok, what else have I got to do? I've had to tell myself I will never be who I was a few years ago, but I can be better than I have been these last few years.
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