Weight Loss Medication

Do any of these sound familiar?

• ‘I know what I ‘should’ do, but I just can’t do it’.
• ‘I’ve tried every diet under the sun, but nothing works’.
• ‘I used to be able to lose weight easily, but now it just doesn’t come off in the same  way’.
• ‘I think about food from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed, it’s a constant battle and I’m mentally and physically exhausted. I need a break’.
• ‘Once I start eating, I can’t stop. I have no ‘off’ switch’.
• ‘I have constant food noise. My brain is continually telling me to go and raid the fridge or the treat cupboard, and I have no control over it’.
• ‘I’m really good at eating healthy meals, but I can’t resist the treats’.

All of these are things that I hear all the time when I’m working with patients. And there are a number of things that could help, but one thing that I’m pretty confident about is this – if this, or anything similar, is your lived experience then it’s fair to assume that weight loss medication would be a great option for you (assuming that there’s no medical reason why you shouldn’t have it), and if you say these things to me in a consultation, then I’m already hoping that we can prescribe some medication for you. Because it’s highly likely to be life changing for you.

Here at The Freedom Clinic, we are big fans of weight loss medication! Living with excess weight that you want or need to lose is an almost impossible battle for most people because of our environment, our culture, and as we know from the Foresight report that I’ve talked about elsewhere, almost a hundred things that conspire to make us gain weight and most of which are beyond our personal control. And because of our physiology fighting back for what it believes is good reasons, losing weight is hugely more difficult than gaining it in the first place.

There are sound reasons based in physiology why diet and exercise don’t work in the long term for more than 90% of people who try to lose weight that way, so we need to find an alternative that supports rather than sabotages our metabolism and helps us to reach our weight loss goals.

Weight loss medication can help you lose up to 22% of your body weight on average. If you’re concerned about your health, then this is more than enough to put you on a different path entirely; we know that losing just 5-10% of your weight is enough to reduce your risk of many kinds of long-term health problems in the future like high blood pressure and diabetes, and to reverse a number of them if you already have them. Aches and pains tend to start improving well before the 22% stage, and having more energy for life in general is certainly achievable for most people in this sort of range. And if looking better in your own skin or favourite clothes is one of your goals, then that’s usually part of the deal too at this level.

In the past, weight loss medication had a bad reputation because of the challenging side effects, or long-term safety concerns. But with these newer medications, yes there are side effects, but they are more manageable and if anything, they improve rather than damage your health. There’s good evidence that they can be good for your heart and lower your risk of diabetes, for example.

If you look at what the media says, this subject appears to be controversial. So many people say that medication is ‘cheating’, or that everyone just needs to eat less and move more, and they are angry about how much these medications are costing the NHS.

It’s not cheating. It’s not cheating any more than taking medication because you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes would be, and few of us question the validity of these prescriptions. Yes, you can modify all of these things to some extent with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, and if you have them then you should do this. But if you’re doing everything you reasonably can and your doctor is still telling you that your numbers aren’t where they should be, then it’s wise to take medication in accordance with the standard guidelines.

The same is true for weight loss medication. If you’re reading this, then it’s very likely that you’ve tried all the obvious diets already, and they are just not working for you. Diets don’t work in the long term, so I’m not surprised that you came looking for us! Of course we recommend that you do eat the healthiest diet you can within reason as well as taking the medication, and get active too, because these things maximise your chances of success.

Regarding the costs to the NHS – these medications save the NHS money because they help to prevent or reduce so many longer-term health problems. This is exactly why they have been approved for use in the NHS. They need to be available to more people, and for longer, and I’m sure those days are coming, but right now there just isn’t the funding to give prescriptions to everyone who would benefit from them.

Thinking back to the statements at the beginning of this piece, patients on medication usually say things like:

• ‘It’s so much easier to make healthy choices and stay on track now’.
• ‘I’m naturally eating less, and the weight is starting to reduce’.
• ‘I have an ‘off’ switch for the first time ever. I didn’t know what that felt like before this’.
• ‘My food noise has gone. Or if it does start, I can ignore it’.
• ‘I no longer need to snack and I’m not really bothered about treats any more’.

If you dream of being able to honestly say those things, then weight loss medication may be the thing for you. If now is the right time, please do check out our medication information section here and the information about how our clinic works here, and if you’re ready then please do book your initial appointment with us here, we would love to see you! If you have any questions, then please do contact us and we will be happy to help.