Weight Regain after Wegovy or Zepbound: Unveiling the Truth | Dr. Dan | Obesity Expert

Unveiling the Truth: Weight Regain after Wegovy or Zepbound.
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In this comprehensive video, delve deep into the intricate topic of weight regain after discontinuing medications such as Wegovy or Zepbound. Meticulously analyze the results of various studies, exploring the likelihood of regaining lost weight and the formidable challenges associated with long-term weight management post-medication cessation. Through meticulous examination of graphs, thorough discussion of trial outcomes, and insightful commentary, unravel invaluable insights into the nuanced realities of maintaining weight loss beyond medication intervention. Whether you're embarking on your weight loss journey, considering medication options, or seeking sustainable strategies for lasting results, this video provides indispensable guidance and clarity. Join the journey through the data, debunk common misconceptions, and shed light on the paramount importance of adopting sustainable lifestyle changes for enduring health benefits. Don't miss out on this informative exploration into the complexities of weight management. Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more enlightening content. Plus, consider joining the exclusive YT Membership for access to live sessions and personalized support. Embark on your journey toward optimal health and wellness today!
Watch my previous videos about how to fight obesity and about the best medicine for weight loss:
▪️ Watch This Before Taking Mounjaro: • Watch This Before Taki...
▪️ From Ozempic to Mounjaro: • How to Switch from Oze...
▪️ Muscle Loss with Ozempic, Wegovy & Mounjaro: • Muscle Loss with Ozemp...
▪️ Managing Nausea from Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity!: • Managing Nausea from O...
▪️ Ozempic: Stomach Paralysis Update: • Ozempic: Stomach Paral...
▪️ How to Switch from Ozempic (or Wegovy) to Mounjaro: • How to Switch from Oze...
▪️ Ozempic Paralyzed My Stomach: • Ozempic Paralyzed My S...
▪️ How to Inject Mounjaro: step-by-step tutorial: • How to Inject Mounjaro...
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#weightloss #ozempicweightloss #ozempic

[@theofficialdrdan]

Thanks for watching! Download my FREE 7-Day Best Weight Journal: eepurl.com/gdB2qn

[@shawn5835]

Yes, please do a video about maintaining the weight loss, as best as possible, after stopping the medication.

[@PinkOwl31]

It's posted now. 🎉

[@BonnieEwert]

I am absolutely terrified I’ll gain it all back. I’ve been on one pic for just over a year. I’ve gone very slow in the increases of dosages. I’m still only at .75 and have lost about 37 lbs. but it is very hard work! If I don’t actively have a calorie deficit I don’t lose anything. I’m hoping that my Dr is right about going slow and working hard. I’ve had zero nausea and no diarrhea at all. I get acid reflux, but that was present prior to Ozempic. I currently do intermittent fasting which works well for me. Hoping I can resume my speed walking this spring. I’ve been quite immobile since last July when I broke my tailbone. Wish me luck.

[@Bluesayshello1]

I admire your progress, Good Luck!

[@ChemicalQuail]

I am terrified that will happen also to me . Makes me sad

[@BigRed2]

Do what i’m doing, get yourself 10-15 pounds below ideal weight and try to keep it off and then use Zepbound like 3 months a year if you gain weight above your idea weight

[@annthennes8003]

Love your channel! Would love to hear you talk about maintaining weight loss. That would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

[@janemarx1321]

Need to have a plan and follow Dr Dan!

[@Bree-fz4gy]

Well.. my last program was smoking cigs… I quit in 2019 and gained all this weight. It’s so annoying, but I refuse to go back. 36 years old, went from 160 to 250 in two years

[@carolscott9973]

Is there a problem with being on a maintenance dose of Ozempic to maintain my weight loss for the rest of my life? If diabetic patients can take Ozempic for their diabetes, then why can’t I take it for weight loss maintenance? I was prescribed Ozempic because my BMI was 45, I have sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so I had a lot of co-morbidities. The weight loss I have had as a result of Ozempic has resulted in a 40 pound weight loss (I’m still considered obese so my BMI is still too high and I need to loose more weight). My blood pressure is now normal and my cholesterol is now under control. With my weight loss I’m now exercising daily and find movement much easier due to less pain. I’m 68 and I’ve been yo-yo dieting since I’ve been a teenager; I know how to loose weight, but my hunger has always been an issue - it’s not an emotional thing, but my gut keeps telling my brain that it needs food, the Ozempic takes away all that noise. Now I don’t have those constant cravings for high calorie, sweet and processed foods because the Ozempic takes care of those cravings, I eat a much better and more balanced diet consisting of primarily vegetables, seafood and lean protein. I’m not interested in doing a carnivorous or keto diet as way to restricting for me. Once I’ve lost another 30 or 40 pounds (depends on what my body feels best at), I’d like to know that I can still get Ozempic to maintain that weight loss. I’m so tired of this constant up and down, yo-you dieting. Edited to add that I’ve finished the video and Dr. Dan recommends staying on the drug long-term, which makes me so happy to hear. I really don’t want to gain back the real estate that I’ve lost, I know the mechanics of maintaining weight loss, I’ve just never been able to do it, so history tells me that I won’t be successful if I come off Ozempic.

[@theofficialdrdan]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying on long term. Obesity is a chronic disease and Ozempic or other meds are just one of the tools we use to manage it! Keep it up!

[@crazeecubana]

Thank you, i am a compounding pharmacist looking for easy ways to explain things to my patients and your videos are so helpful!

[@clarkkent7973]

If you want to understand more about why the weight regain happens, there is an excellent discussion about "set points" in video "NIH Obesity Research Task Force Symposium: Medications to Treat Obesity: Past, Present, and Future" (Second speaker)

[@TheDivineFemedianTarot]

That's right. Set points. Your body will want to go back to that no matter what we do. Plus the cravings for food come back really strong. I took MCT oil and cla and dopamine to stop it. That combo works the same. I didn't gain weight back. They don't do study on people like me that had weightloss surgery and used meds. Either way I'm not 600 pounds anymore.

[@janemarx1321]

Need to find some way to turn off hunger in the gut lining. My Brain loves not feeling hungry! Cooking is such a waste of time. Hypnosis.? fiber? Hate my gut telling me to eat!

[@robertusga]

It's called tirzepatide 😀

[@janemarx1321]

@robertusga I mean permanently like an ablation! I'm trying Tirzepatide now Ozempic stopped working after I had 3 surgeries last spring/summer.

[@robertusga]

@@janemarx1321 I hear ya 😉

[@mikefox9271]

Dr Dan, thank you for telling us the facts straight out. I’m curious what the characteristics ( genetic, age, etc.) and habits were at the time of the study whereby the 16% were able to maintain 80% of their weight loss. This would offer some clues and perhaps hope for the rest of us wanting to maintain the healthier result should we be so fortunate. Did they ALL increase their protein and strength training, decrease calories and fats? Would be helpful if the study included that information. Thank you again for an informative video.

[@theofficialdrdan]

Unfortunately, they wouldn't capture that level of minutiae. They have the baseline stats of the population here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2812936. Ultimately the goal of any study is to capture a sample as close to the general population as possible. Obviously there is going to be misgiving and many studies in NA especially in this area tend to be focused on white males as that is the population that is captured. So thinking of all of this based on averages and where you might fall in comparison. Overall you can do everything possible and still regain purely due to genetic factors.

[@mikefox9271]

Thank you for the link. It does look like they included some women in the study, unless I misread it. But as you so well stated, so much of our biology is pre-determined by genetics. These weight loss drugs are tools to help us, we have to take full advantage of everything at our disposal, which includes the sound advice provided by your videos.

[@salmayounes3320]

That’s a really informative video, I would love to see another video specifically talking about dosage. Most of these studies especially with Mounjaro start with at the therapeutic dose (5mg), however many people have remained on the 2.5mg dose (never went up), and have lost a significant amount of weight on that dose, wouldn’t it make sense that these people might be able to maintain their weight better on the long run? Especially that it will be easier for them to kinda space out that dose until slowly getting off of Mounjaro. Probably those who were not able to maintain their weight titrated up to a very high dosage that their body got used to already, so they were not able to properly get their body used to no Mounjaro.

[@sugarsugar475]

This video is crushing. I’m not diabetic but struggle with hormonal imbalances and hypothyroidism. Despite routine weight lifting, regulating my thyroid, and gastric sleeve, I’ve only lost half the weight. I’m hoping a dr will prescribe Wegovy to lose the last 40 lbs.

[@ProMachus6]

The problem with referencing the study participants that were given the placebo is that those people did not know that they were no longer on it. Knowing that we are no longer on it and knowing that we have to put a lot of discipline and lifesryle changes into action or the consequences are inevitable weight gain. The study participants were in the dark about that. We KNOW when we no longer get ir

[@theofficialdrdan]

That would be the point of a double blind study is to isolate what effect is the drug vs. other confounders. It doesn't invalidate the results it strengthens them. If anything knowing the drug will be removed would be an advantage in that you can plan and prepare!

[@ProMachus6]

@@theofficialdrdan yes, that is what I was getting at but I see that the last part of my post is missing.... I am banking on my discipline and major lifestyle changes to help me maintain once I am no longer on it .... compared to the placebo group being in the dark. Thanks for your time and for your videos. You have a new (enthusiastic) subscriber.

[@janathomas4203]

Is there a corresponding lifestyle change program along with Mounjaro to help prevent the drastic weight gain?

[@nellieb4252]

This has me slightly terrified for the future now. I have lost over 20% of my weight over 11months on wegovy (1.7mg now) and some more to go @74kg now. I have to redouble my efforts and will be listening out for your future videos. Thanks dr Dan.

[@janemarx1321]

Lift weights and go carnivore

[@k_marie898]

@@janemarx1321 Well that may work for some people. I wish it was always that easy. I have an exercise intolerance so must eat 60-65% carbs if I want to maintain normal daily activity without having periods of extreme fatigue (the crash and burn cycle I finally got out of once we figured out what was wrong with me) and I have to be very careful about lifting weights because I am prone to muscle damage and the resulting acute kidney failure.

[@ac12484]

How are you doing now?

[@k_marie898]

My insurance which covers a lot of people, voted to end all weight loss drug coverage starting April 1. I am being seen in a weight loss clinic, so at least will likely have some support to try anything that may be still covered, although nothing really works as well, but at least most of those things are older or at least cheaper. Part of the problem is they can't get the rebate because they said no new prescriptions starting in Oct 2023. From what I understand, and their over-riding interest is that they have not raised premiums for the last 5 years, and plan to never raise them again (which given inflation being what it naturally does means dropping coverage for more and more things every single year). So 25,000 people in my state will be kicked off, most will likely be cold turkey. I have a prescription to lower the dose for the next couple of months so hopefully won't be as steep a cliff. There is push back from physicians as this amounts to "abandonment of care", but I don't see much hope that they will change their minds. Abandonment of care can be considered medical malpractice at least if the doctor does it, apparently insurance companies have no such requirement?

[@janemarx1321]

Try Canada

[@k_marie898]

I don't know if there is a legit way to get it from abroad. Anything I have known about in the past can be confiscated at customs and then you are out the money and the drug.

[@theofficialdrdan]

It's a major problem. Insurance sees obesity as a personal failing vs a chronic disease.

[@Lisa.Tammaro-333]

That makes me so sad, discouraged & angry for you, all of those patients as well as myself (just began the insurance ‘game’ for Mounjaro myself. I’m in the US. Are you in US or Canada? My 1 sister lost over 120lbs over a decade ago & pretty much maintained, even after 2 kids. She could not for the life of her & all of her sacrifices & iron will power could not get under 170lbs. She asked her family doc, is there something to RX me like an appetite suppressant?? At first he said no, not really. Then thought for a second & said well, I could put you on Phentermine, but it’s short term & it won’t do anything if you don’t also work hard with diet & exercise (no problem for her). On Phentermine she fairly quickly got down to 132lbs! She barely eats & in my eyes looks shockingly too-thin. But she’s beyond thrilled & finally sees how thin she is. Has been on it just over 1 year & hopes to never stop. She is relieved of her mind/stomach constantly telling her to eat. She thoroughly loves barely ever thinking about food. My other sister has secretly Also been on Phentermine since about 2018! She apparently has been going to a weight loss clinic to get it & they do not go through insurance. She pays out of pocket about $250/month I believe she said. Also limits her food intake & is skinny AF. Then my older sis is built more like me, she had gastric sleeve surgery a few yrs ago. Lost maybe 30-45lbs & plateaued ever since. She & I both are on a lot of meds. All 3 of my sisters are & always were binge eaters. The 2 on Phentermine are & have been obsessed with their food intake & are always on a permanent diet. The one who’s ‘secretly’ on Phentermine said she has to be on a diet or she has no control. The one with the gastric sleeve surgery is the worst of the bingeing, has bipolar/MH issues & lives in a state of denial. Her mind & her compulsions to lie & binge unfortunately will never get settled. She believed if she got that surgery, her mind would follow & just magically stop wanting to binge. Then there’s me. I have been overweight since about 10 yrs old, I’m 47 now. I never used to binge, but always loved sweets. We lost our mom Jan 2023, I lived with her & took care of her. That is when I began bingeing on candy. Last Aug, I put myself back on low carb/keto for about 3 mos, fell off the wagon-hard!! Now my bingeing is outta control, I gained the 16lbs back & lots more. I’m at my heaviest. Now that I’m older, it was so hard to lose any weight this time around. Before I easily lost 10 lbs in a week, now the scale was struggling to move. My doc refused to RX Phentermine when I asked for it. She wanted to put me on Mounjaro, but my a1C was right at diabetic 6.4 range. She put the RX thru, it of course pended for preauth. I got my a1c tested in meantime. On Friday, got my results, it was of course raised even more to 6.6. So she took the Zepbound RX out of the queue to RX me Mounjaro now that I’m diabetic. Insurance now pended for Step Therapy. Have to wait till Monday for next step with that. I’m sorry, I rambled the longest story ever, I’m still reeling & trying to process this ‘process’. Very cautiously hopeful & trying not to be too discouraged. I wish all of us luck out there, none of this is easy.

[@k_marie898]

@@Lisa.Tammaro-333I am in the US.

[@ladymuskoka1015]

Yes sadly... so disappointing and now I can't get it anymore

[@ddajani45]

Doctor I just finished 2nd week of mounjaro 2.5 and I noticed mid if the second week I'm getting intrusive depressive thoughts it's b4 my period but I dont usually feel this bad then I stared having bolts of crying which I dont usually have either ended up with two major panic attacks and a major depressive episode with a sprinkle of paranoia...is this something u heard about this medication doing to some ppl..my periods I get mood swings a lil emotional this was on ster😢it scared me

[@theofficialdrdan]

You should follow up with your doctor!

[@ddajani45]

@theofficialdrdan yes ofcourse iam i also stopped it didn't take the third dose

[@lilaregen2967]

Ohh, you explained that so well, thank you!! 🙃💪🏻 I've always been at a normal weight but now gained 30kg within 3 years due to taking Prednison. I hope hope HOPE my Endokrinologist will give me some sort of WeGovy as I keep gaining weight, no matter how hard I try... Maybe I would only have to take it as long as I have to take Cortison. Oh and another side note, I wonder if the participants lost some muscle weight and regained the fat because of a lowered amount of calories burnt by muscle mass? Maybe that regain could be addressed by lifting weights while on the medication? I generally wonder what the people who kept their weight off did differently...

[@claremacdonald3261]

It seems to me that these medications don't directly cause the burning of fat or things that would directly cause weight loss. It seems that it affects things like appetite & intrusive thoughts of food. So say you've lost 50 lbs on the meds. And then stop. Is the struggle to keep that weight off going to be much different from the struggle to keep 50 lbs off, lost in the unmedicated way? To me, who has lost (and gained) lots of weight over the course of my 62 years, there's a white-knuckle daily struggle to keep a large weight loss off - is that struggle different for post-medication people? Just, physically different?

[@theofficialdrdan]

Exactly the same.

[@eugeniaserrano7622]

So definitely we need take the medication for ever 😢?

[@ladymuskoka1015]

And I can't take any other meds I can't take Contrave as I take narcotics for pain management... so I just try to eat well more protein and stretching.

[@theofficialdrdan]

Keep it up! Protein and stretching will do far more for your health than the number on the scale. The protein and stretching are for you. The number on the scale is for others!

[@orlando104]

Love ur approach to speaking about weight loss. Your last two videos have been my favorite! The salty language is refreshing. I have a question... I'm currently on Wegovy 2.4mg but I just found out that my insurance is now covering Mounjaro! (I'm diabetic, 54 yrs, 5' 11" Male, currently 379lbs down from 440lbs, on keto, mild exercise) Started to notice the food noise going down at 1mg. At 2.4mg it is low but not "gone". In your off the record opinion, would I benefit from switching to Monjaro? And if so, what dose do I start at? I can't find any info on dosing when switching between meds. THANK YOU!!

[@theofficialdrdan]

This video should hopefully answer your questions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmrIZWmfe7yqf9Usi=q-GY6WaEF3xtBGEV Would depend on individual factors - safest bet is to start at 7.5mg and titrate up, one could probably get away with 10mg start.

[@VernCrisler]

Seems to me that a cold turkey approach is counterproductive. Just cutting people off a GLP-1 / GIP drug is a recipe for weight regain. I think a lot of testing should now focus on post-drug, weight MAINTENANCE. What is the best way of going off the drugs? Obviously, cold turkey doesn't work for most. But how well does a gradual approach work? Is there a way to lower the dose over time, or is there a way of spacing the drug out over longer periods of time? Were the diet and exercise programs really good are did they suck all along? These sorts of questions will be important for many because the drugs are very expensive if not covered by insurance.

[@theofficialdrdan]

I think we need to look at getting better coverage for these drugs. Even with the best intentions/plan, a majority simply won't be able to sustain the weight loss. Even the most comprehensive studies on intensive lifestyle interventions show at best 8% weightloss maintained from baseline.

[@VernCrisler]

@@theofficialdrdan True, but in the meantime......

[@rebeccabamford5505]

So should we not use these weight lost injections if we are gaining it all back? Is it worth using?

[@theofficialdrdan]

Obesity is a chronic disease. Just like any intervention (ex. a diet) that led to weight loss when you stop the weight returns because your body wants you to regain the weight.

[@Luke-tm6oo]

How many made an effort to track calories and continue life style changes.

[@theofficialdrdan]

One would assume all of them. This is based on the general population and the average results seen. Unfortunately, all of us are hopelessly average and statistically speaking will regain the weight whether we are tracking or not.

[@isaacsolenberger3315]

I’ll be on this drug the rest of my life it’s unfortunate but I honestly don’t mind it since it’s only 1 time a week

[@yoitsme2085]

Dammmmmmmmmn, Daniel came from Dammmmmmmmmmn, Gina which was from Martin Lawrence’s sitcom from the 90s. His girlfriend was Gina (played by Tisha Campbell) he used to say it to her when she looked good, said something crazy and so on. ☺️

[@theofficialdrdan]

Good to know lol. Pop culture goes right over my head.

[@salmayounes3320]

Does that mean people who were initially just “overweight” with a BMI somewhere between 25-28, might be able to maintain their weight loss using Mlunjaro, compared to those who were initially “obese”?

[@theofficialdrdan]

Not necessarily. It depends on biology etc. One could argue that someone with a lower BMI starting out had a lower genetic and biological drive to towards weight gain in comparison to someone who was at a higher BMI. Therefore they might have less biology to deal will when trying to maintain. But in reality there are too many factors that would also need to be taken into consideration as well as what kind of changes people from each group implement. Good question though!

[@praxisfurnaturheilkunde5394]

My question: Should Wegovy be phased out? Thank you and best regards from Germany

[@theofficialdrdan]

I recommend staying on

[@theofficialdrdan]

I recommend staying on

[@cranbers]

You have to pair the medication with a life style change program. While you're losing the weight and changing your relationship with food that means you will keep it off. All this medicine does is suppress you're appetite. I have been on zepbound for 3 months and lost 25 lbs so far. I increased my activity level, started being aware of what I'm putting my body, counting calories and staying away from junk food. 245 down to 220. Plan is to get down to a non obese weight over the next 3 months. And stopping the medication.

[@theofficialdrdan]

That is what they did in the study and 85% of people still regained the weight! Keep up the great work!

[@cranbers]

@@theofficialdrdan is the medication doing more then just tricking your brain into you are not hungry? So even if you do everything else the same but not take the drug you will gain the weight back. In other words take this expensive drug forever or suffer. Quite the revenue assurance.

[@dannygauthier1729]

I've been on Saxenda, then Contrave for a year and a half. I've lost around 65lb. I have stop medication last novembre and I maintain my weight, haven't gain anything back.

[@salmayounes3320]

I understand that the study design must be blinded for accuracy, but this doesn't always align with real-life scenarios. In those trials where participants were given a placebo without their knowledge, it's understandable that they might regain weight. Assuming they were still on the medication, they may not have felt as compelled to adhere strictly to diet and exercise routines, relying instead on the presumed effects of the drug. If participants were aware that they had been switched to a placebo, they might have been more motivated to take proactive steps in managing their lifestyle to maintain their weight loss. This gap between study conditions and participant awareness can significantly impact the reliability of the study outcomes when applied to real-world behavior.

[@theofficialdrdan]

I certainly can understand your thought process! Unfortunately we usually see the opposite when comparing study conditions to real life. Having the knowledge they are indeed removing the medication leads to demotivation. Further in study conditions there is usually a greater amount of support vs. real life. Therefore in real life the amount of people maintaining their weight loss is likely less and as per my practice and my colleagues it is actually closer to ~10% are able to maintain. And that is in practices specializing in this area and providing a greater amount of support to our patients. Practices where it is just a GP and the patient the number maintaining will actually be less.

[@nellieb4252]

♥️❤️💗

[@Dmartinez9959]

It's not hard... stop eating more than what your body needs to maintain a certain weight. There needs to be a drug that fixes the real problem... the lack of self-love, self-esteem, and self-accountability 😎

[@unusualsheep9626]

Is that all? Did you tell anyone?

[@mnkwazi]

Good video. However the results are disappointing.

[@theofficialdrdan]

That is if you continue to believe obesity is your fault vs a chronic disease.

[@johnlee-fg8ij]

Thanks for the truth…. Looks like a lifetime of weekly injections…..