{"id":404484,"date":"2026-01-10T16:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404484\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T16:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:29:07","slug":"people-who-go-off-glp-1s-are-experiencing-a-sudden-and-terrible-hunger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404484\/","title":{"rendered":"People Who Go Off GLP-1s Are Experiencing a Sudden and Terrible Hunger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, like the popular weight-loss jabs Wegovy and Ozempic, have proven to be immensely effective. Beyond allowing patients to significantly reduce their weight, they\u2019ve been shown to have a constellation of other health benefits<\/a>, like lowering the risk of heart disease<\/a> and staving off diabetic kidney disease<\/a>, Parkinson\u2019s<\/a>, and Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the harsh reality of what happens when monthly injections stop<\/a> is raising a grim wrinkle: will patients ever be able to stop taking these extremely expensive drugs, or are they signing onto a lifetime habit they won\u2019t be able to break without suffering severe consequences?<\/p>\n

A new study<\/a> led by researchers at the University of Oxford, which reviewed 37 existing weight loss medication studies involving over 9,000 participants, has found that patients who stopped taking GLP-1 weight-loss medications regained weight four times as fast as those who used alternative behavioral programs, like diets and physical activity.<\/p>\n

On average, participants returned to their original weight just 1.7 years after stopping the medication. Patients who went off the drugs told the BBC last month<\/a> that the hunger came roaring back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like something opened up in my mind and said: \u2018Eat everything, go on, you deserve it because you haven\u2019t eaten anything for so long,’\u201d Tanya Hall, who has been on and off GLP-1 injections, told the broadcaster at the time, adding that she felt \u201ccompletely horrified\u201d by the amount of food she was consuming after just a couple of days.<\/p>\n

Worse yet, the Oxford-led research team found that the secondary health benefits of the drugs dissipated as well. They observed that health markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, bounced back to original levels within an average of 1.4 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis review found that cessation of [weight management medications] is followed by rapid weight regain and reversal of beneficial effects on cardiometabolic markers,\u201d the researchers wrote. \u201cThese findings suggest caution in short-term use of these drugs without a more comprehensive approach to weight management.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers suggest that the drugs alone don\u2019t form lasting lifestyle changes that persist after you stop taking them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis faster regain could be because people using drugs don\u2019t need to consciously practise changing their diet to lose weight, so when they stop taking the medication, they might not have developed the practical strategies that could help them keep it off,\u201d said senior author and Oxford associate professor Dimitrios Koutoukidis in an official statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The scientists are now calling for a more careful approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese medicines are transforming obesity treatment and can achieve important weight loss,\u201d said lead author and University of Oxford research scientist Sam West in the statement. \u201cHowever, our research shows that people tend to regain weight rapidly after stopping \u2014 faster than we see with behavioral programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, that doesn\u2019t mean GLP-1 drugs aren\u2019t still astonishingly effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a failing of the medicines \u2014 it reflects the nature of obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition,\u201d West added. \u201cIt sounds a cautionary note for short-term use without a more comprehensive approach to long-term weight management, and highlights the importance of primary prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others advocate for a more holistic prescription model.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeight loss drugs can be effective tools for managing weight and type 2 diabetes risk \u2014 but this research reinforces that they are not a quick fix,\u201d Diabetes UK research communications lead Faye Riley told The Guardian<\/a>. \u201cThey need to be prescribed appropriately, with tailored wraparound support alongside them, to ensure people can fully benefit and maintain weight loss for as long as possible when they stop taking the medication.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on GLP-1s: Something Grim Is Happening to People Who Go Off GLP-1s<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, like the popular weight-loss jabs Wegovy and Ozempic, have proven to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-404484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}