Is the Wegovy weight loss supplement a scam? A study finds that people who stop taking the drug regain weight

The nutritional supplement flying off the pharmacy shelves must be taken for life, and most people will put the pounds back on after they stop taking it, experts warn.

Semaglutide – sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic – has become so popular in recent years that both are facing shortages across the US, with celebrities such as Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian he is said to be using the drug to lose weight.

The drugs were touted as miracle drugs after the first clinical trials showed users could lose 15 percent of their body weight in 68 weeks.

However, many Americans may be surprised to learn that two-thirds of patients put the pounds back on just a few months after they stop taking the medication, and most will need to take injections throughout to maintain their results.

Dr Christopher McGowan, a weight loss expert based in North Carolina, told DailyMail.com that using the weight-loss drug is a lifelong ‘commitment’ – making it a golden ticket for big pharmaceutical companies looking to cash in on America’s obesity crisis.

Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug that mimics the effects of a hormone produced naturally in the human stomach and pancreas.

These hormones tell the brain that it does not need to eat, reducing the person’s appetite and reducing the desire for food.

It also slows gastric emptying and increases the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.

Ozempic was originally designed for diabetes, but doctors began to notice that it has an additional benefit in weight loss.

This prompted the creation of Wegovy, a version of the drug designed specifically for weight loss.

McGowan told DailyMail.com that the two drugs were the same.

Experts warn that a relapse is inevitable because the drug works by roughly blocking the production of hunger hormones.

It is taken by weekly injection, with the dose gradually increasing each month, starting with 0.25 mg and rising to 2.4 mg by the fifth month.

Most people access Wegovy by prescription and insurance covers it in most cases.

Some people who are not obese but try to use any drug will pay over $1000 out of pocket for it.

Dr McGowan told DailyMail.com: “Starting Wegovy is really a commitment to stick with it,” he said.

As soon as you stop taking this drug, your body will begin to encourage weight regain again. It’s a relentless process.

“It’s very similar to treating other diseases like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. If you start taking a drug, if your cholesterol and cholesterol improve, you don’t stop taking the drug. Stay on it.’

A study by the University of Liverpool in the UK, published in April, found that patients who used the game-changing weight loss drug lost 18 percent of their body weight after 68 weeks of use. But after ditching the weekly injections, users would regain two-thirds of their weight over the next year.

A study published earlier this year in the journal Diabetes, obesity and metabolismfollowed 336 participants for two years.

Of this group, 232 received weekly injections of semaglutide – the main drug in Ozempic and Wegovy.

The other 104 people who were part of the placebo group lost only about two percent of their weight over the 68-week period.

While the first half of the study shows Wegovy’s remarkable effectiveness, the final stage alarmingly showed that weight maintenance could be a challenge.

The participants who were on Wegovy went off the drug the following year and resumed their lives with diet and exercise alone.

After 52 weeks, their weight was only six percent lower than at the beginning.

However, not all users know that weight loss is not permanent.

Two women DailyMail.com spoke to, Mandy Sasser Fitez and Ana McKenna, who use the drug, both said they have had success with the drug but plan to stop using it once they reach their goal weight.

The drug also has some other disadvantages.

Some women they report that they cannot taste their favorite foods like coffee and ground beef.

dr. Ed Walker, chief scientist at New Zealand government-funded Plant & Food Research, told DailyMail.com that this could be related to the way the drug is taken.

Since the injections are given once a week, the body will have days when levels of the GLP-1 hormone are greatly elevated.

This is unnatural – the body releases hormones only when needed.

However, these side effects did not stop the start of the drugs.

Wegovy is so popular that new patients can’t start using it right now because its manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, has been unable to keep up with demand.

This has prompted many to turn to Ozempic – which is just as effective – which is now also facing a shortage.