‘I used Ozempic as a quick fix – but I put the weight back on immediately’
They have been labeled ‘miracles of weight loss’, but what is it like to use GLP-1 agonists? Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar explains why she couldn’t reach them again
Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar has used weight loss drugs for years – but now the rest of her jabs are in the bin.
The child’s mother was prescribed the injectable Saxenda for weight loss in 2017 and later switched to the popular drug Ozempic, but after five years she withdrew and remove them – and put on the weight he lost – he refused. reach them again.
Saxenda is one of the weight loss medicines prescribed by the NHS for people with severe obesity or associated health conditions. Ozempic is only prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes and is not approved for weight loss in the UK, although the Government admits it is “used off-label for that purpose”.
A new study earlier this month found that semaglutide drugs, which include Ozempic, may reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in obese people without diabetes. It comes after Hollywood A-listers, Sharon Osbourne and Rebel Wilson, made headlines for talking about their weight loss transformations.
However, many health experts have raised concerns about the side effects and potential long-term risks of using GLP-1 agonists for weight loss. Therapist Yasmin, 52, told the Mirror: “I’ve used weight loss jabs as a quick fix and I think they’re a good place to start, but you you cannot depend on them forever.”
Yasmin, 52, started using Saxenda at the age of 40 when she found herself “unable to stop eating” after a tragic loss. He said the death of his grandmother in 2017, to whom he was very close, inspired him to eat good food. He explained: “I was an emotional eater and I like to gain weight.
“Food was my way of coping after my father died when I was 13, then I lost my partner to suicide as an adult. I ate through my grief,” said Yasmin, from Harrogate. The child’s mother became concerned about her health when she struggled to fit her clothes and her BMI reached 35, which is higher than the average between 18 and 25.
After seeing her GP, she decided to contact an online chemist to talk to a private doctor about other ways to lose weight. Yasmin was prescribed Saxenda, the drug liraglutide, and began daily injections into her stomach. The drug suppresses your appetite by mimicking a natural hormone called GLP-1, which makes you feel full.
“I didn’t like to inject myself and I feel like it’s against my faith, but I wanted to lose weight and it wouldn’t work any other way,” he explained. Within a year, Yasmin had lost a stone and a half and returned to a healthy BMI. But once she came off the injections, her appetite returned and she fell into a terrible pattern of weight loss and weight gain.
For the next few years, he used Saxenda on and off, then switched to Ozempic in 2019. “I didn’t tell my family and friends that I was taking injections. At the time, it was It was ridiculous and embarrassing. I knew deep down that I didn’t want to take medication to maintain my weight, I thought I should. know better and I don’t want to be the ‘skinny jab lady’,” Yasmin said.
“I felt good when I was young and at my goal weight, but then I would come out of it and put all the weight back on even more.” Yasmin found the side effects difficult to manage and experienced nausea and fainting. “I was always sleeping and I didn’t want to exercise, I just wanted to sleep,” he said. “It made me feel sick and the side effects never went away.”
At the time, she did not understand why her hair was falling out as it is not reported as a side effect. “My hair was falling out a lot and I didn’t put it down to Ozempic, but I just read that other people have had the same experience,” Yasmin said. Although hair loss is not a risk associated with semaglutide drugs, rapid weight loss has been shown to cause shedding.
And he took semaglutide for the last time in 2022 and stopped because of nausea. “I’ve given up all the others,” he said.
While Yasmin believes it’s a “good start” to losing weight, she said users should also prioritize other areas of their lives that can affect their weight – such as diet emotionally. “I realized that I didn’t deal with the pain of losing three people close to me, and I needed to deal with that to keep my weight off,” Yasmin said.
After training in therapy, Yasmin discovered other ways to stay healthy, including intermittent fasting, looking at her gut health and managing her anxiety. Now, she wouldn’t want her teenage daughter to use Saxenda or Ozempic, but she can understand why some people do. “It’s important if you’re going to take them, to be aware of the other ways you have to prepare,” said Yasmin.
Have you used the drug semaglutide? Get together. Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
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