I Took an Experimental Weight-Loss Drug

---------

People have been getting bigger for the last few decades. I would say 70 percent of Americans are generally overweight. It's so prevalent that it's the new normal. You have to look at videos or pictures from previous eras to fully understand how thinner people used to be.

No one can pinpoint exactly why this surge is happening. It could be we live in a hyper-artificial food environment. The amount of delicious food that is affordable is everywhere. It's for people to regulate that. Some have theories on seed oils, others point to sugar or carb intake. It's clear that this is a problem no one knows how to solve. 

This isn’t just an American problem either. Europe is right behind us. But much like everything, America is the canary in the coal mine.

Ancestral Environment

We do not live in a normal food environment. There's never been a time where food was this cheap, this delicious and everywhere. Moreover, there's no established patterns for eating that are enforced by culture. You can just do whatever you want.

Losing weight is hard in this environment. Will power is domain dependent, costly in effort & unevenly distributed in the population. There are a lot of very smart, very rich people who are obese. They just find dieting very difficult. On the other hand, there are many fitness orientated people who struggle to succeed in a domain other than exercise. 

Diet and exercise absolutely works. For the individual. Everyone knows that. But I don't think it works at scale. For the masses.

Ozempic

A new weight-loss drug came on the market recently. It had a lot of hype. I am not obese myself, but I want to know if this is the real thing. Celebrities started to get skinner

So I decided to take it to see if it'll help the weight loss situation at scale.

In America, you can walk into any anti-aging clinic and get whatever you want. Doctors resemble drug dealers here, for better or for worse.  

I start off with the lowest dose and move upwards from there. I immediately feel full after the first shot. This “fullness” is carried over for the entire day. I lose my craving to eat anymore. Quite honestly, it’s a strange feeling. Constantly feeling full. I wouldn’t say it feels good.

As I move into week 2 I sometimes forget to eat for the entire day.  It doesn’t occur to me. So I have to remind myself to eat even though I don’t want to. I have this annoying burp that smells. That’s not fun. My general energy level is slightly lower throughout the day but it is not a massive difference. 

Week 3: I only really eat because I want to enjoy the variety and volatility of different taste sensations in my mouth during the workday. I no longer eat for hunger. It’s just purely for novelty

Week 4: I reach the highest dose. I can really feel it now. I don’t even remember what hunger feels like. I kind of miss the feeling of hunger and being connected to my body. I feel like this drug loosens the connection you have to your body.

But it works. I lost 15 pounds in a month and I didn't change my workout routine. 

It wasn't a pleasurable experience but it got the job done. I got off after 2 months and immediately felt my hunger come back. I think people will have to be on this drug for life for it work. 

How Does it Work?

Semaglutide underwent randomized, placebo-controlled trials for obesity, with marked reduction of weight as shown below. At a dose of 2.4 mg achieved ~17% reduction. These per cent changes in body weight are 7-9 fold more than seen with placebo (2-3% reduction). These levels of per cent body weight reduction resemble what is typically achieved with the different types of bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass.

How does this drug work?These are peptides in the class of incretins, mimicking gut hormones that are secreted after food intake which stimulate insulin secretion. The effects include enhancing satiety, delaying gastric emptying, increasing insulin and its sensitivity, decreasing glucagon, and, of course, reducing high glucose levels. There are side effects like nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhea.Wee