Frequently asked questions
When starting a medicine or even considering taking a medicine you are bound to have questions. While your healthcare provider is always the best source for answers, you may also find some help below.
Things you want to know before making the plunge in starting your weight loss journey.
How much weight can I lose?
Results do vary, but in a 68-week medical study of 1,961 adults living with obesity or excess weight with a related medical problem, adults lost ~35 lbs (or ~15% body weight). People taking placebo lost an average of 6lbs (or ~2.5% body weight). The average starting weight for both groups was ~232 lbs.
How profound is this new medicine for weight loss?
Previously, the most commonly used medications for weight loss were amphetamines. These amp up your system and make you jittery. Once you stop taking them, people were gaining back the weight. In addition, there was always concern about the effects to your heart. Now, this new medication is so profound and stands out because it doesn’t have that impact nor negative side effects. You simply aren’t hungry enough to overeat and the medication does the work for you. In fact, there’s documentation that this is proven to be more effective than gastric bypass surgery! In the process of lacking hunger, patients are learning new eating habits because their stomach is shrinking and they’re happy with fewer calories.
You take the custom-blended medicine once a week, but how exactly does it work?
The medicine is essentially a protein. It’s naturally occurring, but the problem is, over the years, the protein begins to diminish. There was a study done that looked at patients who had gastric bypass surgery. After that surgery, the body was secreting this protein at 10x the amount as they were before surgery. So, really, the body naturally released that protein to control appetite after surgery. So the medicine is naturally occurring and the protein sends a message that you are satisfied so your appetite is reduced and you feel full and satisfied eating a reduced diet.
Will I still get all the nutritional value I need in my diet?
Absolutely, this brings you back to the ability to feel satisfied eating the portion size that is right for your build. Now, you will lose weight at a dramatic speed. For patients who are larger, we will mandate that they take a multivitamin – not because they aren’t getting the nourishment that they need, but because they are losing weight so rapidly and returning to the diet that will work for them once they achieve their goals. It’s just a recommendation for support.
How do you customize the medicine for each patient?
The protein that we’ve described does the bulk of the work. This is what will cause you to feel full. You know typically you go to the steakhouse and order a big steak and complete the whole thing. With this, you can't out eat this protein so you're going to take a couple of bites and you're going to feel full. That's what we call satiety. But, there are other things that we know that can help on the periphery. For example, we might add B12 to your customized blend to support your metabolism and give you increased energy. We have several custom ways that we blend support in based on your lifestyle to maximize results for each patient.
What is it that determines how much weight a patient will lose and how quickly it will it happen?
Like most diets, the higher your BMI and the more weight you need to lose, the more dramatic the pounds lost will be. However, even those with just 20 or 30 pounds to lose see dramatic results rapidly and at a nice consistent rate.
