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Many People Who Come Off GLP-1 Drugs Regain Weight Within 2 Years, Review Suggests (cnn.com) 175

Posted by msmash from the PSA dept.
Many people who stop using weight loss drugs will return to their previous weight within two years, a new review of existing research has found. CNN adds: This rate of weight regain is significantly faster than that seen in those who have lost weight by changing other lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, rather than relying on GLP-1 medications, researchers from the University of Oxford report in a paper published Wednesday in The BMJ journal.

GLP-1, which stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, is a hormone naturally made by the body that helps signal to the brain and the gut that it's full and doesn't need to eat any more. Weight loss drugs mimic the action of this hormone by increasing the secretion of insulin to lower blood sugar. They also slow the movement of food through the digestive tract, which helps people feel full more quickly and for longer, and they work in the brain to reduce appetite.
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Many People Who Come Off GLP-1 Drugs Regain Weight Within 2 Years, Review Suggests More

Many People Who Come Off GLP-1 Drugs Regain Weight Within 2 Years, Review Suggests

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  • No doubt they want you to stay on them for life (Score:5, Insightful)

    by magzteel ( 5013587 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:06PM (#65926768)

    It's not surprising that people would regain weight after coming off the drugs. They didn't actually fix anything. Besides, as Chris Rock said, the money is in the medicine, not the cure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • I don't think it's malicious. Most people who lose weight by any sort of diet end up putting it back on. The whole concept of a "diet" is inherently flawed. It should be looked at more like treating alcoholism or drug addiction, except that you can't go cold turkey, and you probably can't even control your lifestyle.

      What we fundamentally need is a device that monitors our calorie intake and our calorie expenditure and starts asserting itself when our budget is off. The one nature provided isn't working out.

      • Treating alcoholism: what, something like AA (where you admit that you're putting your trust in a higher power) or NA?
        You do realize some people's bodies are wired different, so they'll gain weight if they even look at a pizza, and others (like me) can eat anything without gaining or losing anything (weighted within 1-2 pounds either up or down for the last like 18 years).

        Of course, the weight comes back when you stop using the appetite suppressant and you go back to eating what you ate before when you gai

        • Because people shouldn't be going on temporary diets or taking drugs to suppress appetite. If you want to loose weight and for it to stay off you need a complete lifestyle change. Eat less better foods and exercise more FOREVER not just for 6 months before that wedding you want to fit into that dress for.

          • Well, yeah, that's the real idea, but nobody can be bothered with taking the long, slow approach when there's a significantly faster way to do it... who cares what the cost is... start eating better and have it take years or get a pill/injection that takes a few months.
            Of course, the same applies to 'dating'... take the long, slow approach (locally), or pay (oddly, about the same, maybe more) for a dating site.

      • Re:No doubt they want you to stay on them for life (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Frobnicator ( 565869 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @03:54PM (#65927226) Journal

        The whole concept of a "diet" is inherently flawed. It should be looked at more like treating alcoholism or drug addiction

        A couple issues with that.

        First issue in English is that "diet" is both a noun and a verb.

        * As a noun it is fine. Every living thing has a diet. Some people have a diet of junk food, others a more balanced diet.

        * As a verb it is a little more complex. There are trends of diets that are popular this year. One year fats are the problem, the next carbs, the next it's everything about 'heart healthy'. Lots of people are against gluten yet have no idea what it is or what it does. This year the hip and trendy folks are getting their GLP Ones to drop a few pounds. Those are all unhealthy. However, it can be done in healthy ways.

        The second is that for morbidly obese people, diet is almost never the root of the problem.

        The data show clearly that it is complex and that most people who are obese have multiple factors. Physical activity is lifestyle related, hitting career, geography, friends, and age, contributing to a spiral. Genetics is a factor, with quite a few genes identified that have a major role. Stress is a huge factor, and people with stress-related eating often become obese. That ties into clear socioeconomic links, as being poor increases stress and limits access to quality food. Lack of sleep is both a causal issue and a consequence of obesity, contributing to a spiral. Many medications can affect weight, some triggering it or disrupting signals around hunger; whether that's antidepressants, birth control pills, insulin, or a person's marijuana use. Several health conditions can increase weight gain or help people lose it, and this is one GLP-1 agonists can help with.

        If it were as simple as willpower and changing what food people buy for their diet, nobody would be fat. For most people it is a mix of addressing psychology, changing social groups, making adjustments to career choices or what is done within the career, and overcoming a lifetime of habits, all are quite resistant to change.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rta ( 559125 )

          With you on stress as it has insidiously led to my falling off the wagon several times without really noticing.

          but absolutely not on the "access to quality food" part (and the "food desert" thing)
          from 2018:

          A new Chicago Booth study finds that food deserts have no meaningful effect on eating habits. Exposing low-income households to the same products and prices as those in high-income households reduces nutritional inequality by only 9 percent while the remaining 91 percent of the nutrition gap is driven by difference in what shoppers prefer to buy, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper published recently.

          https://news.uchicago.edu/stor... [uchicago.edu]

          afaik that theme has held up since.

          What IS true is that we in the US live in a food environment that is very hostile in the obesogenic sense. For most people you have to actively ignore like 95% of the things people are trying to sell you as food in supermarkets or corne

    • Re:No doubt they want you to stay on them for life (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Smidge204 ( 605297 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:38PM (#65926888) Journal

      No conspiracy needed.

      The drug suppresses your apatite. It does not change the underlying habits or permanently alter your urges. So when you stop taking the drug, you end up right back on the road that got you there in the first place.

      Frankly, a drug that DOES permanently alter your behavior would be far more troubling.
      =Smidge=

      • The drug suppresses your apatite.

        I think that's the practical effect, not specifically how it works, but that's splitting hairs for a general discussion.

        It does not change the underlying habits or permanently alter your urges.

        Nor does it change your genetics or metabolism, which are probably the main drivers.

        So when you stop taking the drug, you end up right back on the road that got you there in the first place.

        Yup, as with anything that simply interferes with but doesn't/can't change the underlying conditions or facts.

    • Re:No doubt they want you to stay on them for life (Score:5, Insightful)

      by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:51PM (#65926940) Journal
      as Chris Rock said, the money is in the medicine, not the cure.

      Which is why Big Pharma cured the world of smallpox and Rinderpest. Think of the hundreds of billions of dollars they've lost by getting rid of those two. If you include how close we were to getting rid of polio, their losses would easily top $1 trillion.

      But sure, let's talk about cures. Start with cancer. Which of the 200+ varieties do you want to work on first? Once you've settled on one, figure out how one cure will work for everyone taking into consideration the vast amount of genetic differences. Hint: black people react differently to many standard drugs than do caucasians.

      It's nice to blame Big Pharma for some things (price gouging), but claiming they're not trying to cure people because they want to make money is stupid, no matter what Goldman Sachs has to say [cnbc.com].

      • Well Chris Rock has a long history and understanding of the medical industry, just like when he made fun of someone's genetic condition that caused them bodily disfigurement on television, a person that worked in an industry and had a gender where looks are important.

        But at least he got bitchslapped for that. It was the funniest part of his routine.

      • You almost were correct with the statement in your post. Of course Big pharma will cure anyone from ailments that kill you, especially in your earliest years. Because that means they have the rest of your lifetime to make much, much more from you and your much longer lasting and more severe ailments. Of course big pharma cures you from other ailments in your pre-teen and teenage years as well. Because that allows you to build up a life and a much larger income for longer, so you will actually have serious m

      • If there was a cure to be found, if you dont do it, someone else will do it.

        May as well get the fame for curing something and earn something rather then earn nothing.

    • I have type 2 Diabetes. I get that it's hard to diet. I also understand that most food in the US is a war-crime. I still eat horrifically but stay thin. With the world changing , it's hard to imagine we'll get around to just eating healthy. These drugs are a poor solution that seem conveniently set to a very high price.
      • Pill form Wegovy is now out for $150/month, or $25/month if your insurance covers it. Yeah, Mounjaro is still over $1000/month.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Vrallis ( 33290 )

      They absolutely do fix something, it's just not permanent.

      Being on these meds are the first time in my life that I have any clue what 'full' feels like. My brain chemistry is broken. This fixes it.

      For decades the push was always "just change your eating habits, that will fix it over time." For many of us, no, that won't do shit. I could put myself near starvation for months at a time, and while yes I could drop weight it didn't fix anything with my appetite. You can only push your sanity so far be

    • It is slightly surprising. These drugs are appetite suppressors, but there's also evidence that eating less causes a reduction in appetite over time as your body gets used to signalling your are full with a smaller meal (this is why the myth that your stomach shrinks persists. It's not a physical change change in the stomach but rather a psychological one in the brain)

      I am actually surprised that the brain doesn't adapt to accept the druged state as the new normal food level as it does with people who under

    • From an engineering perspective, taking a drug that just curbs your appetite is a hack. Your metabolic rate is encoded into your DNA. That explains why among people who eat exactly the same thing and have the same amount of activity don't weigh the same (or have the same BMI or whatever metric you choose to use). It also explains why some people who were at a reasonable weight and gained weight for a specific reason are able to lose it. By the same token, going to a gym or becoming a slave to a diet nev

    • You know what else loses efficacy if you discontinue it?

      Diet and exercise.

    • Exactly if you don't fix the bad habits that caused you to get fat to begin with then just simply using the drug for a year to cut the lbs then going cold turkey isn't going to work out very well.

  • It's not really a surprise (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:08PM (#65926772)
    The goal of these kind of drugs isn't to be a long-term solution it's to get your weight down so that you can start exercising again which can be hard to do for a variety of reasons.

    It becomes a death spiral. You get a few health problems that make it difficult to exercise and you start gaining weight because it's tough to cut back on the calories you're used to eating back when you were physically able to exercise.

    From there the weight gain exasperates the problems you have and lather, rinse repeat.

    Drugs like this can be useful for breaking that cycle. Something to remember is that when your body loses weight it keeps the fat cells around they're just smaller. Once you've gained weight like that your body is adapted to gain weight. When you lose it all your body really knows is that there was a huge calorie deficit at some point. And it's going to adapt to deal with that calorie deficit because it looks more like famine than healthy weight loss

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by madbrain ( 11432 )

      GLP-1 drugs are absolutely a long-term solution to lose weight and keep the weight off, if you take the drug long term.

      I lost a lot of weight successfully before through a low-calorie, high protein diet, not through exercise - about 40 lbs, to get me back to healthy BMI. Most diets are not sustainable over the long term, unfortunately. Mine was no exception. Within 2 years, I regained all the weight. And 10 years later, an extra 10.

      With the GLP-1 drugs, I lost 20 lbs in about 5 months. I have another 30 lbs

    • The goal of these kind of drugs isn't to be a long-term solution it's to get your weight down so that you can start exercising again which can be hard to do for a variety of reasons. It becomes a death spiral. You get a few health problems that make it difficult to exercise and you start gaining weight because it's tough to cut back on the calories you're used to eating back when you were physically able to exercise. From there the weight gain exasperates the problems you have and lather, rinse repeat. Drugs like this can be useful for breaking that cycle. Something to remember is that when your body loses weight it keeps the fat cells around they're just smaller. Once you've gained weight like that your body is adapted to gain weight. When you lose it all your body really knows is that there was a huge calorie deficit at some point. And it's going to adapt to deal with that calorie deficit because it looks more like famine than healthy weight loss

      Drugs like these are accidental discoveries. Scientists don't really fully understand metabolism and there are so many variables that are not understood. If you're genetically lucky?...you started skinny as a kid and got fat once you ate too much or got out of shape. For my entire family, they all start off chubby and their equilibrium weight is chubby...they get too reckless and get fat?...it's easy to get back to chubby...go nuts with diet and exercise?...any small slip and they go back to equilibrium.

    • The ORIGINAL goal of these drugs was to treat diabetes, which is does a great job of, with an unfortunate side effect of weight loss. But us diabetics intend to keep taking it for the rest of our lives, because it will make us live longer. And yes, weight loss makes you live longer.

    • The goal of these kind of drugs isn't to be a long-term solution

      Someone should tell the people taking them. We've seen 10% of the population start taking the drug, not 10% of the population suddenly sign up for gym memberships.

  • It's their lifestyle that made them obese in the first place. Much easier to just live in denial and keep taking a pill that damages your system than actually address the root causes.

    • How else are you going to address a root cause if it's an outsize compulsion to eat?

      I mean, I know nothing about your weight, but could you quantify for me how much mental effort is necessary to maintain that weight so that I can judge you? Judge you more accurately, that is.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      False. People are obese for many different reasons, one thing they all have in common is not wanting to be obese.

      "...keep taking a pill that damages your system ..."

      What damage?

      "...than actually address the root causes."

      Which you clearly do not know, but you certainly feel superior about.

    • That's a nice way to oversimplify a complex issue.

    • Yes, and depressed people just need to smile more

  • You can treat the symptoms but you probably need to change your habits too.

    • Is that how you feel about birth control too?

    • You can treat the symptoms but you probably need to change your habits too.

      Or just plan to stay on it long-term, probably at a reduced maintenance dose. That's what my doctor recommends. The good thing is that given how GLP-1 drugs work (just slightly increasing the supply of naturally-created compounds), there's not much reason to expect that it will do any harm to stay on them for decades. And there's obviously a lot of benefit to being thin.

      But, yeah, people should also focus on eating better, and on getting into a workout regimen as soon as they've lost enough weight to m

      • There's not one of these drugs that "just slightly increas(es) the supply of naturally-created compounds." They are absolutely not to be found in the unmedicated human body- they are agonists, meaning they find to the cell receptors that the naturally-occurring hormone does. Though I don't know these current drug molecules' origins, I do know the research started with gila monster venom.

        • Grandma always told me to stay away from Gila Monsters. I loved roaming around in the desert behind her house.

  • In 10 years- (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bonedonut ( 4687707 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:21PM (#65926836)

    Have you or anyone you know ever taken a GLP-1? If so, you may be entitled to compensation.

  • So we can assess the problem, please let us know out of what number of people taking these drugs this is: "many" or "many, many" ?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      A quick google showed this:

      Diabetes: Over 40% of adults told they have diabetes have ever used GLP-1s, with usage highest in middle-aged adults (50-64).
      Obesity/Overweight: About a quarter of adults told they are overweight or obese have used these drugs.
      Heart Disease: Around a quarter of adults with heart disease have used GLP-1s.

      This isn't the same as "are using", but it would suggest the answer is "many, many", particularly given that these drugs are fairly new

    • So we can assess the problem, please let us know out of what number of people taking these drugs this is: "many" or "many, many" ?

      Consider this. Everyone knows reckless behavior causes weight gain. Most would rather cut the sweets and beer than inject themselves, by needle, with refrigerated drugs, so if the weight was caused by abject stupidity and you had the ability to not be stupid, you'd have already lost the weight. So GLP-1 patients are probably not the easiest patients to begin with.

      OK, so let's assume everyone taking them doesn't have the ability to easily lose weight without them. That leaves 3 groups:

      1. those with

  • Is this not common knowledge? (Score:3)

    by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @02:44PM (#65926910)

    Everything that I have heard and read about GLP-1 drugs, this fact is among the first that people point out.

    The point is getting a positive feedback loop started.

  • Shocking, you mean being lazy isn't a solution? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Murdoch5 ( 1563847 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @03:12PM (#65927040) Homepage
    I hate GLP drugs, they're "solving" issues by ignoring issues, Some people really need them, I won't deny that, but the amount of off label use is ridiculous. If you couldn't drop the weight without the GLP-1, then you go off it, why would the weight stay off, being you made no changes?

    The number of people I know on GLP-1, is stupid. In one case, literally one, is the person diabetic, and using it on label, so let's ignore him. All the other people found a doctor off Facebook, got diagnosed pre-diabetic, aka not having diabetes, then got prescribed Ozempic. Why do they need it? I'll paraphrase:

    1. I've tried everything, and nothing works.
    2. I've cut my food intake down to basically starving myself.
    3. All I do is workout, all the time.
    4. I keep extremely active, I play sport X, Y and Z.

    Okay, so:

    1. No, you've objectively tried nothing, calorie def's work, they are effective, if you stop eating, you will lose weight. I don't suggest you starve yourself, but, it proves you can cut using a calorie def. What else have you tried? Crying, whining, ignoring, making excuses? Oh, that didn't work? Shocking. You want evidence you do effectively nothing, you got diagnosed pre-diabetic, as in you don't have diabetes, and you need to fake that you do, or will, to use the drug.

    2. No, you moved to eating ultra carb meals. Every single person I know, on GLP-1, also LOVES carbs. All of them will cry about being fat, then sit down to 5 kg of paste, covered in high sugar sauces. All of them will discuss their love of salad, but then cover the salad in high sugar dressing. What they didn't do, was move to eating high-protein meals, balanced out with some carbs, like a body builder would do. Let's not mention the snack excuses: "You bought bear paws, and I saw them and ate them, but you should hide them in another room."

    3. Nope, you went to the gym twice this month, each time went on a bike for 15-minutes, then did 10-minutes of weight lifting and stretched for 25-minutes. What you didn't do was get a workout plan of intense lifting 3x a week, and stick to it. If you pair this with proper food intake, guess what happens?

    4. Nope, sports won't actually help, you're active for a few minutes at a time, then go drink and eat with the team, and sit on your ass for the day. You're using sports as an excuse, and you know it.

    You know what objectively does work, get off your lazy fat ass, workout, eat properly, and guess what! That's why if you stop GLP-1 drugs, since you didn't do anything to help yourself, they can't chemically keep the weight off.

    • This is overly reductive.

      I was an amateur competitive cyclist and swimmer for years and years. It left me with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia for a long time, because I DO happen to be good at dieting and eating less. I don't actually recommend it to people, honestly.

      But many people have something called 'food noise'. When they're not eating, they're always thinking about food. GLP-1 cuts the food noise down considerably. I have a friend who's never been fat, but she's microdosing GLP-1 because it h

      • It's the overuse of it that I'm pointing out, as I said some people do need it, and there's no problem with that. It's the people who are on it, but shouldn't be that are the issue, for instance the people who think pasta covered in thick sugar sauce, paired with a salad, covered in sugar dressing, that complain they can't lose weight. The people who think a productive workout session is 10 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of stretching, then complain they tried tirelessly to work out, haven given a great

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by spitzak ( 4019 )

          The butter is in that pasta you are complaining about. They are eating plenty of butter.

          • My point was more their food choices are terrible.

            Since snacking is awesome, and enjoyable, just keep high-protein snacks around. Cook up extra Sausage, Pork, Chicken, Steak, Bison, Elk, Veal, Salmon, Perch, Bass, and have it on hand. Make tons of extra rice, and if you need a snack, pair rice with those meats, and there you go. If you want more snack style food, no problem, take popcorn, which you'll make at home, and whip up a quick protein salted caramel, cover the popcorn, and you have a solid swe

  • Wow, who coulda seen that coming? I mean seriously- you're telling me that people who lose a lot of weight quickly -regardless of cause- tend to gain it back?

    Truly earth-shattering news.

  • The secret that let me lose ~45 lbs (Score:3)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Thursday January 15, 2026 @04:44PM (#65927402) Journal

    The secret that let me lose ~45 lbs is that I ate less and exercised a little bit. Not a lot of exercise, mostly just walking.

    It took over a year but the weight has stayed off for 5 or more years now.

    Just promise me that you won't tell anyone this secret, okay? It's crazy but it works.

  • "Weight regain was faster after WMM [GLP-1] than after BWMP [behavioral changes] (by 0.3 kg (0.22 to 0.34) monthly)"
    https://www.bmj.com/content/39... [bmj.com]

    Reading between the lines, keeping weight off is difficult. You are either on Ozempic for the rest of your life, or paying close attention to what you eat for the rest of your life.

    • The statistic about weight regain is just borderline academic dishonesty in my opinion.

      Pick 100 people and prescribe just behavioral changes. Say 10 of them lose weight, an average of 10 lbs for a short while and then regain it at an average of 1 lb per week until they're back where they started.

      Also pick 100 people and prescribe GLP1. 80 of them lose weight, an average of 30 pounds for as long as they stay on it. After a few years you take some people off to see what happens and they regain 2 lb per

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rta ( 559125 )

        AFAICT it's legit, and it also makes sense mechanistically.

        With any other sort of diet as a free living person (vs metabolic ward maybe) you have to come up with behavioral and psychological methods to not eat outside the plan even though you want to and have the opportunity.

        So SOME of those this stick around. with GLP-1 almost you just didn't feel like eating. So little of the dealing with cravings or temptation machinery is trained up.

        next, these things lower endogenous GLP-1 secretion even when you eat

  • Remember the lapband surgery that shrunk patient's stomach to nothing then they got thin and then got fat again because they didnt change any eating/exercise habits? Yeah well, what did you expect?

  • Everyone knows that if they ate more healthily and exercised more, they would lose weight. If you have these good intentions, but just cannot fulfill them (for whatever reasons) then surely the options are:
    1. Keep meaning to lose weight whilst actually getting fatter.
    2. Take GLP-1 and lose weight, then gradually regain the weight over a couple of years.

    At least with option 2, you will be less fat for a few years and may get lucky and keep the weight off.

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