GLP-1s: A Lifesaver In The Wrong Hands
I know most of you are sick and tired of hearing about GLP-1s (myself included), but I'm going to talk about them here.
My entire life, I've struggled with binge eating, using food to cure my depression, and constant food noise. Understandably, I was and still am very overweight. I faced a lot of shame for it from family and friends alike, which only made me binge more and eat to ease that pain, too. Efforts to lose weight were short-lived and accompanied by rebounding to binge eating, only gaining more weight in the end.
When I finally decided to work on my eating habits, I found a great doctor who was empathetic, kind, and easy on me. He was a lifesaver. I tried a couple medications such as Metformin, but they didn't work too well and gave me terrible side effects. Then, he prescribed me Wegovy, which wasn't too well-known back then.
My food noise felt like drowning, and being on Wegovy was the first time I could breathe. I wasn't constantly thinking about eating, and I wasn't inclined to use it as an emotional crutch. I was able to make healthier choices. I felt better emotionally and physically. As much hate as GLP-1s get, they sincerely help me.
Except, then it went out of stock for months on end. Pharmacies were sold out completely. This was when GLP-1s started gaining traction, and soon, people who could afford them without insurance could use this life-changing medication for vanity. I went months without Wegovy, and usually when I tried to start them again with a new kind of GLP-1, the same thing would happen.
Pharmaceutical companies recognize the demand, too. At a conference on genetic cancer a few years ago, I spoke with someone at Eli Lilly, who told me their entire company is now working on GLP-1s. Labs that previously focused on cancer medicine now tried to pump out GLP-1s fast enough to keep up with the demand. And yet, the people who need GLP-1s most (like myself) couldn't get them anywhere.
This increased demand prompted insurance companies to stop covering GLP-1s for everyone except those with type 2 diabetes. Thanks, advertisers. Now the $40 medication that changed my life costs $400.
(Don't get me wrong, I'm glad those with T2 diabetes can still get this medication; after all, it was developed for them initially.)
When advertisers found out about GLP-1s, it was... well, it wasn't great, let's start there. Worse, they were advertised heavily during the Super Bowl, where hundreds upon thousands of people were watching. Not only did it fuel these issues, but it exposed people going through eating disorders and body dysmorphia to see them and have adverse emotional reactions. Fuck, I would too.
NBC News referred to GLP-1s as "blockbuster drugs"; begrudgingly, I agree with that term. Now they're viewed as a magic pill for obesity (or the 2 pounds some poeple want to lose so badly they steal from people who need the medication).
One industry that have used GLP-1s for appearance and not health is the bridal industry. Oh, the fucking bridal industry. So many places advertising GLP-1s are just... so transparent. When GLP-1s were first developed and rich people got their hands on them, they would at least try to lie and say it was for their health (even if they were a fraction of my size). Now, it's blatant.
GLP-1s aren't for people wanting to fit into their perfect wedding dress. They're not fucking magic, and they don't exist for vanity. They're for people who struggle, like I do, with food noise, binge eating, self-medicating depression with food, who have been overweight their whole lives.
And yet, that's how they're being used.
The supply issues for GLP-1s have eased. I can get my medication easily enough nowadays, the price tag being 10x as much notwithstanding. Unfortunately, I don't expect this obsession with GLP-1s to end anytime soon. They make money - who cares about those they're screwing over? Not just the people who need this medication, but the people whose self-esteem they're hurting. We don't even know the long-term side effects of GLP-1s; hell, the side effects while you're on it aren't pleasant.
The thing that inspired this post was a Facebook ad of an AI generated comic - a doctor saying "you don't need GLP-1s, you're not overweight enough" then "this company will prescribe you GLP-1s to lose those 10 pounds!"
And that... yeah. That describes it perfectly.