For Meredith Schorr, registered nurse, who works in the medical field during the coronavirus pandemicit took both a mental and physical toll.
“I wasn’t thinking about how to get vegetables and fruits into my diet, but how to save this person’s life,” said Schorr, 25.Good morning America.”
After gaining about 50 pounds, Schorr said she tried to make changes to her diet and exercise routine to lose weight. When that didn’t work, Schorr said she sought professional help and saw a nurse practitioner who helps patients with weight loss.
Schorr said the nurse recommended she try semaglutide — the active ingredient in medicines such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Semaglutide is a drug that was originally approved for type 2 diabetes, but is now allowed to be prescribed for weight loss.
“My nurse made it clear to me that this drug shouldn’t just be a crutch you rely on to lose weight,” Schorr said. “You should still improve your health and lifestyle habits, such as improving your exercise and diet, while using this medication.”
Mounjaro and Ozempic are approved to treat type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe them “off-label” for weight loss. Wegovy is specifically approved for weight loss for people who are obese or overweight.
The drugs help people make insulin and lower the amount of sugar in the blood, so they help manage type 2 diabetes. They also work by slowing the movement of food through the stomach and reducing appetite, thereby causing weight loss.
Schorr said she began taking a semaglutide injection once a week in February 2022.
While people can get semaglutide under the brand name Ozempic or Wegovy, some people also have access to the drug through pharmacies that create their own version using the raw ingredients. That’s how Schorr says she figured it out.
There are risks associated with taking semaglutide through this route because it can be altered and it is not clear in many cases where the drugs come from.
Soon after starting semaglutide, Schorr said she experienced side effects such as severe nausea, a common side effect of the drug, along with constipation. But she learned to manage the side effects and, soon after starting medication, began losing weight.
“Within about two weeks, I had already lost a few pounds,” Schorr said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you already look like you’re losing weight in just the first few days.’
Schorr said she lost 50 pounds over the course of 11 months. However, she decided to stop taking the drug in January in preparation for trying to get pregnant.
The class of drugs that includes semaglutide is not recommended for women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. The The Food and Drug Administration says on the safety profiles of drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy that they should not be taken during pregnancy, noting that there is “insufficient evidence” available.
When Schorr stopped taking semaglutide, she said she began to notice weight regain, but called the weight gain a “wake-up call.”
“I didn’t realize how hungry I would be after five to six weeks of not taking it,” Schorr said. “I initially gained about 10 pounds, but it gave me such a wake-up call like, oh yeah, I have to make my healthy lifestyle habits and all these changes.”
“I just kind of focused and made sure I was making healthy choices,” she said, describing how she has maintained her health since semaglutide.
Schorr said that even with the weight gain she experienced, semaglutide changed her life and that she is sharing her story to help remove some of the drug’s stigma.
In recent months, drugs containing semaglutide have grew in popularityin part due to reported use by celebrities.
“I definitely look at semaglutide as how I started my life back to healthy living,” Schorr said. “I’m in a completely different place.”
What you need to know about weight gain and semaglutide
Medical experts say it’s important to remember that semaglutide is meant to be a part of a comprehensive approach to wellness that also includes a healthy diet and exercise.
Dr. Louis Aronnedirector of the Center for Comprehensive Weight Management at Weill Cornell Medicine, told “GMA” that weight gain can be common after stopping semaglutide because the drug is no longer working in the body.
“Obesity is a chronic disease, like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” Aronne said. “If you don’t take the drug regularly, then the effect disappears.”
Dr. Darien Sutton, an ABC News medical contributor and board-certified emergency physician, said providers may consider different options when prescribing semaglutide to help prevent the weight gain some patients see.
“This drug led to significant amounts of weight loss, but when it was stopped, patients reported gaining up to two-thirds of that weight back,” Sutton said, citing published research. “We ask the question, do we need to change the dose? Does it need to be reduced, or do people need to stay on it indefinitely to get this benefit?”
In addition, Sutton said people taking and off semaglutide should maintain a healthy wellness routine, including diet, exercise, daily movement and quality sleep.
Sutton said the success many people have seen using semaglutide is also an important reminder that obesity is a chronic medical condition.
In the United States, obesity is a condition that affects nearly 42% of the population and is associated with more than $170 billion in medical costs, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 90% of the more than 37 million Americans with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, a condition associated with obesity, According to the CDC.
“It brings a greater understanding of obesity as a condition rather than an individual or moral failing,” he said. “There are some [people] that even though you’re doing all of this, they may have difficulty losing weight, and for them, I recommend that they talk to a provider to look at the variety of medications and interventions that might help.”