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As head of a digital advertising and marketing firm with a turnover of £3million a yr, Ben Austin has an enviable way of life, having fun with frequent international journey and eating in Michelin-starred eating places.
Till lately, these gourmand journeys to the likes of Las Vegas or Sydney, the place he indulged in his love of high-quality meals, wine and sugary cocktails, meant an inevitable weight achieve adopted by months on a gruelling crash weight loss plan making an attempt to lose it.
However then, a yr in the past, he found the much-vaunted drug Ozempic.
Initially a diabetes medicine, Ozempic is now being bought privately for weight reduction. Ben, 43, started injecting it – and has misplaced a whopping three-and-a-half stone. Higher nonetheless, he hasn’t felt even a teeny bit disadvantaged.
‘It was wonderful, the load simply fell off,’ says Ben, smiling as if he too struggles to imagine it may have been really easy.
David Reed, a painter and decorator from Eastbourne, East Sussex, who’s married with two youngsters, weighed 23 stone. At 6ft, that meant a BMI of 41, making him morbidly overweight
With a weight lack of six stone in a yr, it’s confirmed to be a ‘miracle treatment’ for David
‘Initially, I used to be consuming fewer than 1,000 energy a day [the recommended intake for a man is 2,500] and never even making an attempt.
‘Earlier than I began the therapy, I’d order three-course meals in eating places, plus a few glasses of wine. At residence within the evenings, I couldn’t resist snacking on crisps, biscuits and chocolate, however I’m simply not all in favour of over-eating extra.’
It seems Ben, who’s fought a lifelong battle along with his weight however has no well being issues, is in illustrious firm. Billionaire Elon Musk and TV maverick Jeremy Clarkson fortunately admit to being devotees of this the brand new secret weapon for staying slim in center age. And in his first column for this newspaper, the previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote of his personal relatively extra combined expertise with the ‘marvel drug’, which he tried after seeing members of the Cupboard visibly shrink on it.
Certainly, it appears males are particularly embracing Ozempic – one of many model names, alongside Wegovy and Rybelsus, of the drug semaglutide, an insulin-stimulating hormone launched by the physique once we eat, which reduces starvation by making us really feel full.
The enchantment of the drug to males particularly has change into one thing of a speaking level. ‘I’ve by no means seen individuals lose as a lot weight, as quick, as they do on Ozempic,’ wrote Piers Morgan’s spouse Celia Walden. ‘At a current feast, I seemed across the desk making an attempt to work out what was jarring earlier than realising that whereas the ladies seemed completely regular, each man there seemed like a deflated balloon.’
Whereas her personal husband misplaced a stone final yr the old school approach, males ‘just like the straightforwardness of a drug that merely stops you from feeling hungry’, she surmised.
Produced by pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk, Semaglutide will not be a brand new drugs – it has been prescribed to deal with diabetes and scientific weight problems for greater than a decade.
What’s new is the way in which it’s being purchased privately because the go-to weight loss plan drug by individuals who don’t meet present NHS prescription standards – a BMI of greater than 35 and a weight-related illness like diabetes – however are attracted as an alternative by the tales of huge and speedy weight reduction.
At 6ft tall and weighing 16st 3lbs, Ben had a BMI of 30 (the wholesome vary is 18 to 25), which implies he has to pay for his Ozempic provide. It prices him £500 for three-months’ price, not inside everybody’s price range, however lower than he would have in any other case spent on fancy dinners and wine.
The drug has definitely been price it for him, he says. He has misplaced six inches from his waist, and is now sporting a measurement 30 versus a 36. He hasn’t fallen sufferer to so-called ‘Ozempic face’ — the deflated balloon look that leaves males trying all of the sudden older in a single day, with hollowed-out cheeks and wobbly jowls. Quite the opposite: ‘My face was spherical and now I’ve acquired definition to it,’ he says. ‘Removed from making me look older, I’d say I look 10 years youthful.’
It was his spouse, Louise, 41, with whom he runs digital advertising and marketing firm, Absolute.Digital from their residence in Essex and their pied-a-terre in west London, who first prompt he strive Ozempic.
‘I haven’t acquired time for the health club and I don’t prefer it anyway, so this appeared like a little bit of a miracle answer. I went for a session at a personal clinic, the place they checked my weight, top and blood stress earlier than prescribing.’
Ozempic is injected into the flesh of the abdomen as soon as every week, which at first put him off. Nevertheless, the needle turned out to be tiny and the method painless so, delighted with the impression on his urge for food and waistline, Ben elevated his dose from 0.25mg, to 0.5mg and at last to 1mg on a physician’s recommendation.
At the moment his weight is 12st 9lbs, and his BMI sits at 24, which is within the wholesome vary, although he plans to remain on semaglutide till he loses ‘a pair extra kilos’.
Whereas Ben beforehand cleared his plate at each mealtime, on Ozempic he has nothing however a cappuccino and a glass of orange juice till lunchtime when he scrambles a few eggs and eats them on a Warburton skinny. At meal time he’s happy with a few baked hen legs or a small portion of spaghetti bolognese.
Adam Sharples, 48, has been on the drug for 18 months. He discovered it a more practical therapy for his diabetes than every other medicine he had been prescribed over ten years
Adam was 20 stone – now all the way down to 18 – when he began taking Ozempic which at 5ft 11ins tall meant a BMI of 39, only one level off being morbidly overweight
He and Louise nonetheless take pleasure in eating out a few occasions every week, however as an alternative of sprucing off three programs, adopted by cheese, Ben feels satiated by a primary course – and is as completely satisfied consuming water as wine.
‘It simply eliminated that craving to eat for the sake of it,’ he says. ‘I now really feel like a type of individuals who actually solely eat after they’re hungry, not as a result of they just like the look of meals. These individuals used to baffle me.
‘If I drink wine in any respect I’ll stick to at least one glass and, if I’m sincere, I don’t actually ever fancy that as my want for alcohol appears to have disappeared too.’
Ben’s new-found aversion to booze is, anecdotally at the least, a recognised aspect impact of semaglutide.
Ozempic has taken away my want for meals. I don’t really feel full up, I’m merely disinterested in consuming
A number of scientific trials are presently below strategy to see if it may assist sufferers combating compulsive behaviour, following studies from sufferers who’ve misplaced curiosity in consuming alcohol, smoking, and even nail-biting whereas on the drug.
However what in regards to the lack of pleasure that so many people derive from consuming and consuming? Ben has an answer to that too. On vacation in Dubai, he determined to scale back his dose of Ozempic to 0.5mg in order that his urge for food wasn’t fully spoilt.
‘There was numerous scrumptious meals accessible and I celebrated my birthday whereas we had been away so I needed to have the ability to take pleasure in it,’ says Ben. ‘Nevertheless, I wasn’t worrying about placing on weight and having to crash weight loss plan once I acquired again as a result of I knew I may simply enhance my dose as much as 1mg and it’d fall off.’
For a very long time earlier than discovering Ozempic, Ben spent six months of the yr on a strict calorie-controlled regime having a month’s price of pre-prepared meals and snacks delivered by Weight-reduction plan Chef, at a price of £320 a month.
Karin Conde-Knape, Novo Nordisk’s senior vp of worldwide drug discovery, stated: ‘Ozempic will not be a licensed possibility for weight administration’
‘From January to late Could I’d eat nothing however Weight-reduction plan Chef meals and lose about 2st 7lbs. Then I’d take pleasure in consuming what I appreciated for the following seven months and put all of it again on — earlier than beginning the method once more,’ says Ben.
‘However the weight loss plan meals is bland and also you’re at all times hungry, so it’s a tough slog. I’d get the shakes from lack of sugar initially and once I went out with pals for dinner I’d have to stay to soup, which was depressing.
‘My weight yo-yos so much that I’ve two separate wardrobes, one for once I’m skinny, the opposite for once I’m massive, however I’m hoping Ozempic, which I consider as liquid gold, will imply I’ll by no means once more want the large garments.’
It’s right here, actually, that Ozempic loses its ‘miracle’ standing, since it may well’t assist with the yo-yo-ing until you keep on it on a regular basis. As soon as off the medicine, Ben is very prone to put the load again on, in line with Karin Conde-Knape, Novo Nordisk’s senior vp of worldwide drug discovery.
In an interview, final yr, she stated most individuals will regain 50 per cent of what they’ve misplaced after two to a few years, and many of the weight inside 5 years of stopping an weight problems drug.
The corporate can be eager to clarify that medical doctors prescribing Ozempic for weight management are doing so ‘off label’ — for a situation aside from that for which it has been formally authorized.
‘Ozempic (semaglutide) is a prescription-only drugs indicated for the therapy of adults with insufficiently managed kind 2 diabetes mellitus, as an adjunct to weight loss plan and train,’ she stated. ‘Ozempic will not be a licensed possibility for weight administration.’
Ben intends to maneuver onto one other model, Wegovy, when he subsequent will get a prescription, as there at the moment are shortages of Ozempic. As soon as he loses a couple of extra kilos he plans to cease the injections altogether, though he can be tempted to take a low-maintenance dose, if the specialist says that’s an possibility.
‘In any other case, if my weight creeps again as much as 14 stone, I’ll undoubtedly ask for one more prescription,’ he says. ‘Hopefully there received’t be any long-term unwanted effects.’
In line with Dr Samantha Miller of the charity Drug Helpline, shut medical supervision of these taking it’s important. ‘No drug is fully secure,’ says Dr Miller. ‘Unwanted effects of Ozempic embrace gastrointestinal disturbance, pancreatitis, diarrhoea and, in uncommon circumstances, life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis (when the physique has inadequate insulin to permit blood sugar into the cells to make use of as power).’
Dr Miller can be involved that the rise in non-public prescriptions for weight reduction is beginning to trigger a scarcity for diabetics who depend on the drug. Certainly, earlier this yr the NHS issued a nationwide affected person security alert warning of worldwide Semaglutide shortages as a result of individuals are utilizing Ozempic for weight reduction. Diabetics have been supplied a special model in pill type as an alternative and healthcare suppliers have been urged to not dish out the medicine for weight problems.
Adam Sharples, 48, is a type of who has struggled to search out Ozempic this previous yr. On the drug for 18 months, he discovered it a more practical therapy for his diabetes than every other medicine he had been prescribed over the ten years since his analysis. He additionally misplaced a stone-and-a-half in weight.
Nevertheless, when he went to fill his prescription final spring, the pharmacist stated it was unavailable.
‘I used to be prescribed an alternate, Rybelsus, in pill type, however wasn’t capable of supply that both, so have been on Trulicity, an injectable, for a couple of months,’ says Adam.
In line with scientific trial outcomes, these taking Ozempic expertise greater than double the load lack of sufferers on Trulicity and Adam has shed solely one other half stone since transferring onto it.
He was 20 stone – now all the way down to 18 – when he began taking Ozempic which, at 5ft 11ins tall, meant a BMI of 39, only one level off being morbidly overweight.
A 1mg dose left Adam, a undertaking supervisor from Bury, Better Manchester, with blurred imaginative and prescient and nausea so his physician diminished the prescription to 0.5mg which he tolerated with none disagreeable unwanted effects.
‘It fully adjustments your perspective to meals,’ he says. ‘I’m positive that one motive these medicine are so efficient at controlling my diabetes is that I’m consuming fewer carbohydrate-rich meals.’
Final yr Rishi Sunak introduced controversial plans to make the drug extra broadly accessible to individuals by way of their GPs relatively than specialist weight clinics, which is the place NHS prescriptions are presently handed out.
David Reed, 44, who found Ozempic after a life-long battle along with his weight, thinks that’s definitely the precise transfer – if provides of the drug might be maintained.
With a weight lack of six stone in a yr, it’s confirmed to be a ‘miracle treatment’ for him. At his heaviest, David, a painter and decorator from Eastbourne, East Sussex, who’s married with two youngsters, weighed 23 stone. At 6ft, that meant a BMI of 41, making him morbidly overweight.
‘I’ve been chubby since my teenage years and the principle motive, if I’m sincere, is greed,’ he says, candidly. ‘However Ozempic has taken away my want for meals. I don’t really feel full up, I’m merely disinterested in consuming.’
Since taking the drug, which he orders on-line, David has been content material with a pure yoghurt for breakfast, cheese and bread for lunch and a steak with inexperienced beans for dinner.
Now 17 stone, he’s hoping to remain on it till he will get all the way down to 16 stone, regardless of the £190-a-month non-public prescription value.
‘I do fear that once I cease the load will pile again on – once I scale back the dose I discover my urge for food comes again and I bear in mind how arduous it’s, utilizing willpower alone, to not over-indulge,’ he says. ‘My household, who’re very supportive, are astonished by the change in me. I’m simply very grateful. Being overweight results in important well being issues but additionally psychological points, together with disgrace.
‘For my part, Ozempic needs to be accessible on the NHS for weight reduction, not for beauty functions however to stop sickness and provides individuals who wrestle with weight problems a greater high quality of life.’
Further reporting by Gwyneth Rees
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