Like treatments for other chronic conditions, medications to control obesity are designed to be taken long-term, even after reaching the weight-loss goal. Research shows that stopping taking medications can help you regain much of the weight you lost. Meanwhile, doctors say patients will need to take the drugs for years and probably for life to prevent them from gaining weight again. Now is the time to program the sleeve and I wonder what will happen when I stop taking the medication suddenly and have taken the sleeve. And even when you get back to 25, it doesn't return to baseline values; your hunger is higher than before you lost weight.
According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the use of tirzepatide in the trial resulted in a weight reduction of more than 20% in people with obesity, an average of 52 pounds per person. In general, weight is regained if a weight-loss medication is used and then the medication is stopped. Many patients have medical problems related to severe obesity, such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, polycystic ovary syndrome, sleep apnea, and pain arthritic joint. Although the statement is true: you regain weight when you stop treatment, I do recommend losing weight to achieve the healthiest weight before pregnancy and, after finishing breastfeeding, resume treatment.
Anti-obesity drugs act on the brain to help lower that reference point, allowing people not only to lose weight, but also to maintain lost weight. In my experience, maintaining weight loss is much more difficult than losing weight, and obesity gets progressively worse as the years go by. In the old days, it was thought that if a person could lose weight and not regain it for a while, the body would accept this weight reduction as a new reference point, and that regaining weight would be increasingly unlikely. As with any other chronic illness, most patients will need to take the medication throughout their lives to maintain benefits, which, in this case, means maintaining lost weight. The GLP-1-analog class of drugs has also been found to reduce the incidence of repeated heart attacks and strokes in people with type 2 diabetes.
Of course, this is between you and the doctor who prescribed it, but I would keep taking something or worry about regaining all the weight (Saxenda), or I could see if you are suitable for taking any of the oral medications. However, if you manage to maintain the weight loss with medication or lifestyle modifications, then the medication continues to work.
