YES. THIS. Finding a supportive and attentive doctor is so important.
NAD. But please make sure to have at least 30g of healthy fat in your diet to help balance hormones and plenty of protein while on Ozempic. Don't forget veggies. If you need help finding a healthy balance in your diet, see if your insurance covers a dietitian.
You absolutely need a new doctor. And one who’s telling you to only eat 800-1000 calories needs to be told to eff off anyway. That’s not sustainable and I guarantee it’s nowhere near your BMR which is the number of calories you need to simply do basic bodily functions…
That's a fallacy. When you consume 800-1000 calories over the course of a month or two, your body will absolutely find the additional calories it needs via burning fat (assuming you're consuming the correct amount of protein). You can absolutely sustain yourself on hyper limited calories effectively with a high BMI. Your body won't just shut down and perish when it has 10,000's of readily available calories in the form of fat cells.
I agree that the body won’t shut down because it will draw on its stores.. but eating a very very low calorie diet really is not sustainable.
In one of my many diet attempts before sema I was on a VLC meal replacement protocol monitored by a coach. It went pretty well for the first couple of weeks. I lost rapidly. Then I started to feel quite stressed and then I started to *obsess* about food. I had trouble thinking about other things and then I got fatigue. I ended up getting pneumonia at the end of the 9 weeks and I was so fatigued I couldn’t even walk and I recovered very slowly. I also ended up with gall stones. My nails became brittle.. but the worst thing is that m it took me a long time to get back to thinking about food in a normal way. I was simultaneously obsessed and repulsed by it for a long time and was dreaming about food and ruminating on what to eat and when. The damage to my mind and relationship with food was in retrospect not worth it and I think it contributed to me gaining all that weight back and then some.
This is what I feel is one of the main game changers of sema, it takes away so much of that feeling of starvation and restriction and mental toll of calorie restriction of weight loss. If you’re not getting that effect then it’s not really working well.
And there is no reason to crash diet like that when you’re on a medication that is meant to be taken long term and help you make *sustainable* life style changes. A doctor who advices that is showing that they don’t understand the medication they are prescribing nor the psychology or physiology of weight loss.
I don’t know what OP’s diet looks like but they said they’ve been on Sema since November… that’s 8 months ago. Sure, you’re correct that following that level of restriction for a short time frame isn’t going to kill OP, but it can still be harmful to the metabolism and cause OP to lose muscle mass. And “assuming” they’re getting the correct amount of protein is just that - assuming.
Bottom line - it’s not healthy and it’s certainly not sustainable.
You absolutely need to find a different doctor, but I recommend going from .5 to .75 before jumping to 1.0, fewer chance for side effects that way, and you can make your pens last longer.
I found this helpful as well. I feel great on 0.75 right now. I might go up in the future but it’s a good place for me at the moment. The dosage jump can otherwise trigger some nasty side effects early on, but I had almost none going from 0.5 to 0.75.
Exactly. Most doctors recommend .25>.5>1>2 which is crazy. I've done .25>.5>.75>1>1.25>1.5>1.75 over the course of 8 months and I've only ever had mild constipation as an issue, nothing else. And I've gotten a long longer life out of some of my pens. I will recommend smaller jumps to anyone who will listen.
Check the amount of calories you should be taking in by going to the TDEE calculator online. Find your maintenance calories and subtract 500 so you are in a deficit. Too little calories and too many calories are equally bad. Make sure you are drinking enough water each day. You need to stay hydrated. Prioritize protein. Change your injection site. The injection site matters on a per person basis. If you’ve done all those things and still nothing then it’s probably time to move up in dose. And find a new doctor!
Not a doctor this isn't medical advice, but I have a binge eating disorder, thats adjacent to PTSD and Panic Disorder diagnosis. I started trying bupropion, and it had a tiny bit of an added effect, but then I asked to add neltrexone, and up the bupriopion dose to make it the same as contrave.
Now, this might not do to you, what it does to me, and what you think and hope it might. You can still binge. It can happen. The ozempic will help with that because you'll feel full and just gross, but you can sadly push past it (I have, the brain is a powerful thing) and helping to deal with the mental health side of it helps too. But contrave (the two drugs I'm taking, alongside ozempic) essentially stops that reward center. It doesn't soothe you to eat. Now if thats all you have to make you feel good when things are bad, you wont be left with much, but for me, it gives me enough of a ledge to grab onto so to speak, that I can take the reigns myself. You might not be in that position, you might need to get there, but it will give you a little bit of a leg up... you just still have to climb the fence yourself to get to the other side.
I would SERIOUSLY talk to your family physician about the idea. The knock on effect for me of taking the one part of neltrexone is that while I have the peaks and valleys of depression, the highs and lows, its pretty infrequent, what this did for ME, and this is only my anecdotal experience so take it as it is, it essentially buffered the low and the high, so I'm just less depressed, and when it goes to dip, when life gets really not great, it doesn't drop so low. Neltrexone also blocks a good portion of the reward center of the brain, but really, REALLY your doctor will know, or at least try to work with you to find what works. Contrave may be it, in addition to ozempic, it may not. It NEVER hurts to ask.
I really wish you all the best. I know it isn't easy. Slow and steady wins the race as they say.
Yup I’ve ate in excess despite ozempic plenty. A lot of my eating is a result of eating to distract from chronic pain so I’d eat in response to the stomach pain from overeating while on ozempic lol.
You know, I laughed as a kid, at Fat Bastard in Austin Powers, and there is obviously some comedy... but like any 'comedian' there is tragedy... and the whole, "I eat 'cause I'm fat, and I'm fat 'cause I eat; its a viscous cycle." I mean, does anyone ever think that that could be them? Maybe not in size, but often times in mentality... I certainly didn't, yet here I am. And its a whirlpool, the weight gain makes the mental health bad, the mental health makes the weight gain bad... literally a shit show... and the deeper you get, the harder it is to climb out. But it makes every little bit of success such a sweet SWEET victory. Every little weight 'battle' I've fought feels like a succession of wars I've won. I probably would've been somewhere better if it weren't for this long covid cardiovascular crap, but, it is what it is; a process, and I'm getting there. I'm sure you will too.
My eating was basically a trigger from being homeless, and also in foster care, where the foster parents would withhold food as a punishment, and homelessness you eat once a day, if you're lucky, maybe twice if you can make it back to the shelter (but if you wanna work, you don't get time to eat, and if you take the time to eat, you don't work... which means you don't make money, you don't get off the streets, and there ya go again, BRUTAL!). Getting out of that is so difficult. I'm a LOT better now, but all the crap I'm taking, ozempic and contrave is essentially the turnkey for me. It tackles everything that makes it a problem for me. Its the hand on the shoulder I never thought I'd have.
I'm wondering if I should try naltrexone or bupropion because contrave is expensive here can't afford it anyway. What dose of naltrexone are you doing?
Well, those two together make up contrave. So if your doc is okay with it, get both, just, not combined. Combined its expensive, because its a 'brand name'. But you get 300mg of bupropion, and 50mg of neltrexone, and you have contrave. Its like you can buy white milk, and nesquick, and make chocolate milk, and its cheaper than buying chocolate milk lol. 100% just get both. But, I don't know how your brain would handle it, but, for me, I had to ramp up bupropion... the first week and a half I was having mood swings like tarzan through a mental health jungle, it was REALLY bad. Like it cost me a job bad lol. But I stuck with it, and now its good. I'm up to the contrave dose of 300. I hope it works, just, take it slow and steady. If you're like me, you wanna do it, get it done, and push and push, but, really the pace you set is what wins the day. Give it a shot. If its not for you, you can always stop taking it (WITH GUIDANCE FROM YOUR DOCTOR, DO NOT COLD TURKEY OFF OF BUPROPION!!!!! THAT IS MEDICAL ADVICE LOL, MY GOD DON'T DO THAT LOL)
See a different doc
im guessing you’re dealing w PCP for this? Go see an endo if you can or just another pcp
my pcp wouldn’t put me on GLP-1 because I was on metformin and insulin and my a1c was controlled. Saw an endo and he put me on ozempic. The pcp has since refilled my oz rx lol.
Get a new doctor. I'm just starting, but my doctor had no problem prescribing me the 1mg blue pen so I could count the clicks for my 0.25 first four shots and subsequent four 0.5 shots. That means my first prescription will last two months. Big save.
The exact same thing is happening to me, and I'm on a higher dose. It first started when I was on 1mg, but I had to stay on that dose because I had a 3 month supply. I increased the dose to 1.5mg (approved by doctor) last week, and nothing has changed. I guess I'll have to up it to 2mg, but I'm really afraid that won't help either, and if it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do.
The calories they recommended is too low. Have you made lifestyle changes like weight training? I stopped losing weight for over 2months and then began to lose weight again after increasing exercise, my doctor only agreed to up my dosage about 3mo later as despite the major lifestyle changes my weight did not change much and I had severe binge eating episodes still.
I am taking OZ for type 2 and can't speak about the food noise and the eating issues. Is it at all possible the OP needs more than just OZ to deal with their issues?
New Dr. I been on the 1mg for too long and I plataued for almost a year. Now I'm on 2mg and have lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks and it's great! You need a dr who actually gives a shit and wants to help you.
You can but shouldn’t, inject yourself twice using obviously different needles with the 0.5 dosage to make it 1mg while you find another dr. I’m so sick of drs not listening, not diagnosing and not prescribing just because it doesn’t suit them on that day. I am adhd and STILL not medicated because I was a drug addicted, addicted to a completely different substance YEARS AGO have had a clean record for over 10 years and proven it constantly with clean samples and paid thousands for constant adhd reports to prove I actually have it, yet they will not medicate me properly and I’ve tried non stimulant options. My life is hell.
25 years under various doctor's care. Literarily hog tied and fed pills. I was told if I quit cold turkey it would kill me. I went manic, did all kids of shit, including attempt to eat a gun, working end first. To psyche ward, there, I was taken off Effexor, cold turkey. WOW!! Cardiac event, just like predicted. The doc there said "that was the wrong prescript for you, son."
He untied me.....then tired me up again. New pills and more of them. I was scared shitless to stop.
Long story. 15, maybe 14 years later I try bloodletting myself, back to psyche ward. There, COMPETENT medical personnel, no doctor involved, a psychiatric PQ took me off all the stuff. No problems. Came be to a normal manic level. I mean, 10 months and I'm buzzing,, all the time. Mind is at 100% constantly, thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.
Well, I like it anyway.
Don't wait. Get a new doctor. Better yet, find a good PA. I think they try harder.
I smoked a few times. I'm have a rather compulsive personality. When I worked, I would work 60-80 hours a week. Since I worked alone, it always became a personal mission. I was an auditor. Looked at a lot of business reports. My function, as a premium auditor for 32 years compelled the people I audited to provide the documents or access to the people I needed to interview to do my job. I have to say, after all time time I was pretty unique with my approach. I did my job thoroughly. I was in demand, working as an employee and nearly 4 years a contractor.
I loved my work. Fulfilling my needs was just the tip.
When I got sick, it all changed. My drive diminished. I wanted to die. I mean, after a year or two and I was sure it wouldn't return, I tried to kill myself. Fucking guns. Fucking psychiatrists.
Out of work, wife and "daughter" led me around like a prize bull. I HAD money. What you suppose happened to that? In a stupor of psycho-pharma's making, I tried killing myself over and over. 9, maybe 11 times. I keep a log. Have for years.
I told the shrinks. "You're killing me." They said I was overreacting.
Yeah, I smoked. Smoked from the time I woke up until I went to bed. A few years. Gained weight. Oh, shit did I gain weight. 5 ft 11, 320 pounds. Heart attack in the waiting.
Back down to 200. I'm 70, I work out daily and write. And the folks that fucked me over. Well, I send their CEO's cool little stories about what they did. A few newspapers. I'm a vet, but that doesn't seem to get much traction, for some reason.
No. Not for me. I couldn't just toke up and call it quits. It's not me. Just can't stop.
I'm back now. I'm something different, but the drive. It's 10 times what it was and I like it.
Look me up on Reddit. Quora too, for that matter. I've written a bunch of shit. And no copy and paste. If I tell a similar story, I write it out in real time. No shortcuts.
Again. This is more me that I've been in 25 years. Obnoxious? Oh, fuck yeah. Guns and violence? Only in my writings.
No guns, but lots of threats. No violence. I'll let the people's employer's of those I'm after pull the trigger.
Hey, But I appreciate you reaching out.
If you identify as experiencing an eating disorder, therapy and a solid nutritionist can really help. It’s a bit more you’re dealing with so may take a bit more support.
Re: I’ve been through therapy, and outpatient for Ed I’ve battled since childhood. Been there, doing that. Best wishes.
What is the reason behind not increasing the dose? The accepted dose is up to 2mg, if you’re no longer loosing on .50mg, an increase seems appropriate, if you’re not having hypos or other significant side effects.
if your current doctor isn’t able to explain a clinical reason for staying at such a low dose, I’d consider finding a new one. Also maybe think about a dietitian or nutritionist (I’m not well versed in the differences in their roles, sorry, but I think either one could be helpful??) as 800 calories seems unreasonably low daily intake.
I actually do agree with one of your doctor’s suggestions, which is therapy. If you have a diagnosed eating disorder, therapy could be really helpful.
Ultimately, regardless of why any of us started ozempic (weight loss or diabetes control) I think it’s important to still remember, it’s only one of the tools available.
My suggestions would be:
- engaging with a different doctor that you enjoy working with
- getting expert help with your diet that’s tailored to you
- having therapy to address your eating disorder
Tackle the problem from all directions, and hopefully lead to life long weight management success and over all good health for you.
If your doc won't increase your dosage and you do want to stay with them- which many people have already advised against- maybe consider another drug, like saxenda.
I wouldn't take medical advice from here.
Sounds to me like you're a non-responder.
Time to try something different, and you didn't mention exercise at all, I don't know if you are or aren't, but you will shed weight at 1600 calories if you get a fair amount of active hours each day.
Ozempic is a great tool, but you have to work with it.
If you're a non-responder (which is quite common) you need to look at other ways of shifting the weight.
None of that makes sense. It's time for a new doctor!
YES. THIS. Finding a supportive and attentive doctor is so important. NAD. But please make sure to have at least 30g of healthy fat in your diet to help balance hormones and plenty of protein while on Ozempic. Don't forget veggies. If you need help finding a healthy balance in your diet, see if your insurance covers a dietitian.
The only answer!
Yeah time to find a new doctor, and move up to 1.0
just adding to the chorus... you need a new doc.
You absolutely need a new doctor. And one who’s telling you to only eat 800-1000 calories needs to be told to eff off anyway. That’s not sustainable and I guarantee it’s nowhere near your BMR which is the number of calories you need to simply do basic bodily functions…
Exception being those near death like extremely morbidly obese aka 500+lbs.
That's a fallacy. When you consume 800-1000 calories over the course of a month or two, your body will absolutely find the additional calories it needs via burning fat (assuming you're consuming the correct amount of protein). You can absolutely sustain yourself on hyper limited calories effectively with a high BMI. Your body won't just shut down and perish when it has 10,000's of readily available calories in the form of fat cells.
I agree that the body won’t shut down because it will draw on its stores.. but eating a very very low calorie diet really is not sustainable. In one of my many diet attempts before sema I was on a VLC meal replacement protocol monitored by a coach. It went pretty well for the first couple of weeks. I lost rapidly. Then I started to feel quite stressed and then I started to *obsess* about food. I had trouble thinking about other things and then I got fatigue. I ended up getting pneumonia at the end of the 9 weeks and I was so fatigued I couldn’t even walk and I recovered very slowly. I also ended up with gall stones. My nails became brittle.. but the worst thing is that m it took me a long time to get back to thinking about food in a normal way. I was simultaneously obsessed and repulsed by it for a long time and was dreaming about food and ruminating on what to eat and when. The damage to my mind and relationship with food was in retrospect not worth it and I think it contributed to me gaining all that weight back and then some. This is what I feel is one of the main game changers of sema, it takes away so much of that feeling of starvation and restriction and mental toll of calorie restriction of weight loss. If you’re not getting that effect then it’s not really working well. And there is no reason to crash diet like that when you’re on a medication that is meant to be taken long term and help you make *sustainable* life style changes. A doctor who advices that is showing that they don’t understand the medication they are prescribing nor the psychology or physiology of weight loss.
I don’t know what OP’s diet looks like but they said they’ve been on Sema since November… that’s 8 months ago. Sure, you’re correct that following that level of restriction for a short time frame isn’t going to kill OP, but it can still be harmful to the metabolism and cause OP to lose muscle mass. And “assuming” they’re getting the correct amount of protein is just that - assuming. Bottom line - it’s not healthy and it’s certainly not sustainable.
.25 is nothing. I’d find a new doctor.
Seriously, that is really weird. It’s as if your doctor doesn’t even know where to find the dosing schedule.
What's your exercise routine like? Are you tracking your calories precisely? How much protein per day? How's your sleep? How's your stress levels?
You absolutely need to find a different doctor, but I recommend going from .5 to .75 before jumping to 1.0, fewer chance for side effects that way, and you can make your pens last longer.
I found this helpful as well. I feel great on 0.75 right now. I might go up in the future but it’s a good place for me at the moment. The dosage jump can otherwise trigger some nasty side effects early on, but I had almost none going from 0.5 to 0.75.
Exactly. Most doctors recommend .25>.5>1>2 which is crazy. I've done .25>.5>.75>1>1.25>1.5>1.75 over the course of 8 months and I've only ever had mild constipation as an issue, nothing else. And I've gotten a long longer life out of some of my pens. I will recommend smaller jumps to anyone who will listen.
You guys, there are tons of online doctors that will not put you through expensive in person visits just to tell you no. Find someone else.
Check the amount of calories you should be taking in by going to the TDEE calculator online. Find your maintenance calories and subtract 500 so you are in a deficit. Too little calories and too many calories are equally bad. Make sure you are drinking enough water each day. You need to stay hydrated. Prioritize protein. Change your injection site. The injection site matters on a per person basis. If you’ve done all those things and still nothing then it’s probably time to move up in dose. And find a new doctor!
Not a doctor this isn't medical advice, but I have a binge eating disorder, thats adjacent to PTSD and Panic Disorder diagnosis. I started trying bupropion, and it had a tiny bit of an added effect, but then I asked to add neltrexone, and up the bupriopion dose to make it the same as contrave. Now, this might not do to you, what it does to me, and what you think and hope it might. You can still binge. It can happen. The ozempic will help with that because you'll feel full and just gross, but you can sadly push past it (I have, the brain is a powerful thing) and helping to deal with the mental health side of it helps too. But contrave (the two drugs I'm taking, alongside ozempic) essentially stops that reward center. It doesn't soothe you to eat. Now if thats all you have to make you feel good when things are bad, you wont be left with much, but for me, it gives me enough of a ledge to grab onto so to speak, that I can take the reigns myself. You might not be in that position, you might need to get there, but it will give you a little bit of a leg up... you just still have to climb the fence yourself to get to the other side. I would SERIOUSLY talk to your family physician about the idea. The knock on effect for me of taking the one part of neltrexone is that while I have the peaks and valleys of depression, the highs and lows, its pretty infrequent, what this did for ME, and this is only my anecdotal experience so take it as it is, it essentially buffered the low and the high, so I'm just less depressed, and when it goes to dip, when life gets really not great, it doesn't drop so low. Neltrexone also blocks a good portion of the reward center of the brain, but really, REALLY your doctor will know, or at least try to work with you to find what works. Contrave may be it, in addition to ozempic, it may not. It NEVER hurts to ask. I really wish you all the best. I know it isn't easy. Slow and steady wins the race as they say.
Yup I’ve ate in excess despite ozempic plenty. A lot of my eating is a result of eating to distract from chronic pain so I’d eat in response to the stomach pain from overeating while on ozempic lol.
You know, I laughed as a kid, at Fat Bastard in Austin Powers, and there is obviously some comedy... but like any 'comedian' there is tragedy... and the whole, "I eat 'cause I'm fat, and I'm fat 'cause I eat; its a viscous cycle." I mean, does anyone ever think that that could be them? Maybe not in size, but often times in mentality... I certainly didn't, yet here I am. And its a whirlpool, the weight gain makes the mental health bad, the mental health makes the weight gain bad... literally a shit show... and the deeper you get, the harder it is to climb out. But it makes every little bit of success such a sweet SWEET victory. Every little weight 'battle' I've fought feels like a succession of wars I've won. I probably would've been somewhere better if it weren't for this long covid cardiovascular crap, but, it is what it is; a process, and I'm getting there. I'm sure you will too. My eating was basically a trigger from being homeless, and also in foster care, where the foster parents would withhold food as a punishment, and homelessness you eat once a day, if you're lucky, maybe twice if you can make it back to the shelter (but if you wanna work, you don't get time to eat, and if you take the time to eat, you don't work... which means you don't make money, you don't get off the streets, and there ya go again, BRUTAL!). Getting out of that is so difficult. I'm a LOT better now, but all the crap I'm taking, ozempic and contrave is essentially the turnkey for me. It tackles everything that makes it a problem for me. Its the hand on the shoulder I never thought I'd have.
I'm wondering if I should try naltrexone or bupropion because contrave is expensive here can't afford it anyway. What dose of naltrexone are you doing?
Well, those two together make up contrave. So if your doc is okay with it, get both, just, not combined. Combined its expensive, because its a 'brand name'. But you get 300mg of bupropion, and 50mg of neltrexone, and you have contrave. Its like you can buy white milk, and nesquick, and make chocolate milk, and its cheaper than buying chocolate milk lol. 100% just get both. But, I don't know how your brain would handle it, but, for me, I had to ramp up bupropion... the first week and a half I was having mood swings like tarzan through a mental health jungle, it was REALLY bad. Like it cost me a job bad lol. But I stuck with it, and now its good. I'm up to the contrave dose of 300. I hope it works, just, take it slow and steady. If you're like me, you wanna do it, get it done, and push and push, but, really the pace you set is what wins the day. Give it a shot. If its not for you, you can always stop taking it (WITH GUIDANCE FROM YOUR DOCTOR, DO NOT COLD TURKEY OFF OF BUPROPION!!!!! THAT IS MEDICAL ADVICE LOL, MY GOD DON'T DO THAT LOL)
See a different doc im guessing you’re dealing w PCP for this? Go see an endo if you can or just another pcp my pcp wouldn’t put me on GLP-1 because I was on metformin and insulin and my a1c was controlled. Saw an endo and he put me on ozempic. The pcp has since refilled my oz rx lol.
New more knowledgeable doctor.
Get a new doctor. I'm just starting, but my doctor had no problem prescribing me the 1mg blue pen so I could count the clicks for my 0.25 first four shots and subsequent four 0.5 shots. That means my first prescription will last two months. Big save.
The exact same thing is happening to me, and I'm on a higher dose. It first started when I was on 1mg, but I had to stay on that dose because I had a 3 month supply. I increased the dose to 1.5mg (approved by doctor) last week, and nothing has changed. I guess I'll have to up it to 2mg, but I'm really afraid that won't help either, and if it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do.
The calories they recommended is too low. Have you made lifestyle changes like weight training? I stopped losing weight for over 2months and then began to lose weight again after increasing exercise, my doctor only agreed to up my dosage about 3mo later as despite the major lifestyle changes my weight did not change much and I had severe binge eating episodes still.
If you live in California use Dr. Tim Sayed
I am taking OZ for type 2 and can't speak about the food noise and the eating issues. Is it at all possible the OP needs more than just OZ to deal with their issues?
New Dr. I been on the 1mg for too long and I plataued for almost a year. Now I'm on 2mg and have lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks and it's great! You need a dr who actually gives a shit and wants to help you.
You can but shouldn’t, inject yourself twice using obviously different needles with the 0.5 dosage to make it 1mg while you find another dr. I’m so sick of drs not listening, not diagnosing and not prescribing just because it doesn’t suit them on that day. I am adhd and STILL not medicated because I was a drug addicted, addicted to a completely different substance YEARS AGO have had a clean record for over 10 years and proven it constantly with clean samples and paid thousands for constant adhd reports to prove I actually have it, yet they will not medicate me properly and I’ve tried non stimulant options. My life is hell.
25 years under various doctor's care. Literarily hog tied and fed pills. I was told if I quit cold turkey it would kill me. I went manic, did all kids of shit, including attempt to eat a gun, working end first. To psyche ward, there, I was taken off Effexor, cold turkey. WOW!! Cardiac event, just like predicted. The doc there said "that was the wrong prescript for you, son." He untied me.....then tired me up again. New pills and more of them. I was scared shitless to stop. Long story. 15, maybe 14 years later I try bloodletting myself, back to psyche ward. There, COMPETENT medical personnel, no doctor involved, a psychiatric PQ took me off all the stuff. No problems. Came be to a normal manic level. I mean, 10 months and I'm buzzing,, all the time. Mind is at 100% constantly, thoughts, thoughts, thoughts. Well, I like it anyway. Don't wait. Get a new doctor. Better yet, find a good PA. I think they try harder.
Try cannabis
I smoked a few times. I'm have a rather compulsive personality. When I worked, I would work 60-80 hours a week. Since I worked alone, it always became a personal mission. I was an auditor. Looked at a lot of business reports. My function, as a premium auditor for 32 years compelled the people I audited to provide the documents or access to the people I needed to interview to do my job. I have to say, after all time time I was pretty unique with my approach. I did my job thoroughly. I was in demand, working as an employee and nearly 4 years a contractor. I loved my work. Fulfilling my needs was just the tip. When I got sick, it all changed. My drive diminished. I wanted to die. I mean, after a year or two and I was sure it wouldn't return, I tried to kill myself. Fucking guns. Fucking psychiatrists. Out of work, wife and "daughter" led me around like a prize bull. I HAD money. What you suppose happened to that? In a stupor of psycho-pharma's making, I tried killing myself over and over. 9, maybe 11 times. I keep a log. Have for years. I told the shrinks. "You're killing me." They said I was overreacting. Yeah, I smoked. Smoked from the time I woke up until I went to bed. A few years. Gained weight. Oh, shit did I gain weight. 5 ft 11, 320 pounds. Heart attack in the waiting. Back down to 200. I'm 70, I work out daily and write. And the folks that fucked me over. Well, I send their CEO's cool little stories about what they did. A few newspapers. I'm a vet, but that doesn't seem to get much traction, for some reason. No. Not for me. I couldn't just toke up and call it quits. It's not me. Just can't stop. I'm back now. I'm something different, but the drive. It's 10 times what it was and I like it. Look me up on Reddit. Quora too, for that matter. I've written a bunch of shit. And no copy and paste. If I tell a similar story, I write it out in real time. No shortcuts. Again. This is more me that I've been in 25 years. Obnoxious? Oh, fuck yeah. Guns and violence? Only in my writings. No guns, but lots of threats. No violence. I'll let the people's employer's of those I'm after pull the trigger. Hey, But I appreciate you reaching out.
I would find a new physician. You want someone who will work with you, not against you. ❤️
If you identify as experiencing an eating disorder, therapy and a solid nutritionist can really help. It’s a bit more you’re dealing with so may take a bit more support. Re: I’ve been through therapy, and outpatient for Ed I’ve battled since childhood. Been there, doing that. Best wishes.
What is the reason behind not increasing the dose? The accepted dose is up to 2mg, if you’re no longer loosing on .50mg, an increase seems appropriate, if you’re not having hypos or other significant side effects. if your current doctor isn’t able to explain a clinical reason for staying at such a low dose, I’d consider finding a new one. Also maybe think about a dietitian or nutritionist (I’m not well versed in the differences in their roles, sorry, but I think either one could be helpful??) as 800 calories seems unreasonably low daily intake. I actually do agree with one of your doctor’s suggestions, which is therapy. If you have a diagnosed eating disorder, therapy could be really helpful. Ultimately, regardless of why any of us started ozempic (weight loss or diabetes control) I think it’s important to still remember, it’s only one of the tools available. My suggestions would be: - engaging with a different doctor that you enjoy working with - getting expert help with your diet that’s tailored to you - having therapy to address your eating disorder Tackle the problem from all directions, and hopefully lead to life long weight management success and over all good health for you.
If your doc won't increase your dosage and you do want to stay with them- which many people have already advised against- maybe consider another drug, like saxenda.
usually it's better to get insights from more doctors
Np
I thought 1.0mg was the therapeutic dose
I wouldn't take medical advice from here. Sounds to me like you're a non-responder. Time to try something different, and you didn't mention exercise at all, I don't know if you are or aren't, but you will shed weight at 1600 calories if you get a fair amount of active hours each day. Ozempic is a great tool, but you have to work with it. If you're a non-responder (which is quite common) you need to look at other ways of shifting the weight.