I Tried Wegovy for a Year and Here's Why I'm Never Going Back

We've all dreamed of that magic pill—the one that would effortlessly melt away unwanted pounds and transform our bodies overnight—and make these overconfident gym rats look at us with a rare glimpse of approval. But as Sierra Robichaud discovered, according to a YouTube video she posted, the reality of weight loss medications is far more complicated than the glossy advertisements suggest.

"I almost threw up. I do not want to go back. I don't want to go back to the way that I was." These raw words from Sierra capture the emotional rollercoaster of her weight loss journey.

A mother of two and brand owner, Sierra describes herself as an "excessive talker, shy but outgoing, wants friends but the not friendly, traveling homebody." Over the past year, she has been on a tumultuous journey with GLP-1 medications for weight loss. In this candid account, she shares her experiences with Wegovy and Saxenda, detailing the highs, lows, and everything in between.

Her Weight Loss Struggle

"I am 5 feet 6 inches, and my weight when I started on day one was 204. I had struggled with my weight for three years," Sierra shares in her video. "Prior to getting on the medication, I had my son in January of 2020. After I had him—two weeks after I had him—my weight went down to... okay, so when I delivered him, I was 217. Two weeks after I had him, my weight went down to 195, and from there until November of 2022, it was almost three years. I just fluctuated between 195 and 205. I could not lose weight. I exercised regularly. I was doing keto. I tried keto, I tried intermittent fasting... but my weight did not change. It would go down five pounds, but then it would go right back up, and then it would go down and right back up again."

RELATED: 20 Things You Need to Know About Ozempic and Weight Loss

Starting Saxenda

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Sierra explains, "So I went to my doctor and told her, I really don't know what else to do. I thought maybe she would send me to a nutritionist. I had never even heard of this medication before. So she told me about the medication, that it was shots. She said there was a weekly one, which was Wegovy. Ozempic, but that was back ordered. At the time there was low stock or I can't remember, there was some issue with it. So she started me on Saxenda, which is a daily injection, and I was on that for three months and I lost 20 pounds, 21 pounds I think."

Switching to Wegovy

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"So I went back to the doctor for my follow-up, and at that time, that was in February of this year, 2023. She said that the Wegovy was available now so that she could switch me to Wegovy, and that would just be easier because it was a weekly injection," Sierra recounts. "The only thing with the Wegovy is, or was at the time =, that they only had the higher doses. They didn't have the lower doses, but she figured since I had been on Saxenda for so long, for three months and I was on one of the higher doses, that I should be fine."

Her Experience with Side Effects

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Sierra describes her experience: "When I started on Wegovy, I could feel it immediately. The side effects were insane. I was so tired, just totally, completely wiped out. I had horrible headaches, constipation, nausea, on and off, nausea. I did stick with it and it did die down a little bit. There were some things that I did to kind of help with the side effects. One of them was drinking liquid IV in the morning because I noticed on Wegovy that I did not have the desire to drink water at all, and what I heard was that when you're not hungry, you're also not thirsty, and so you just don't have the desire to drink water."

RELATED:20 Possible Ozempic Side Effects

Stopping and Restarting

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"I stopped taking it in May, and by the end of June, I had gained back 12 pounds," Sierra admits. "I was up to 172, I want to say was the highest. I just was like, oh my God. I was really upset because I felt so comfortable at 60; I feel like that is my weight. Maybe I could go down to 155. I wouldn't mind fluctuating between 155 and one 60, but I felt real, really comfortable with myself and my body and the way that I looked at one 60 and I really wanted to stay there and I could start to tell as I was going up to one seventies, being in the low seventies, this is not what I want to do."

The Struggle Continues

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Sierra shares her ongoing battle: "I stopped taking at the end of September and my weight pretty much stayed the same for about five weeks, and then I started to notice I was very bloated, more bloated than usual, and with the medication, it really does reduce your bloating immediately. Every time I would take the shot, I lost a gallon of water out of my body. As I was feeling that bloated feeling like the scale started going up and every week the scale is just going up, up, up, up, and I'm like, okay, maybe there's a rebound effect where you've suppressed your appetite for so long that it has to go up a little bit and then stabilize."

Where She Is Now

"It has been two months since I've been off of it and I have gained 20 pounds. It just as quickly as it came off, it has come back," Sierra reveals. "I don't want to go back on the medication. I want to just figure this out on my own, and that's why I'm starting my new health journey of not drinking alcohol anymore and going to the gym in the morning and working on my eating, making sure that my nutrition is good because this is the thing. I feel so much better off the medication. I feel like a normal functioning human being. I feel like I have all the energy back that I used to have."

RELATED:What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Taking Ozempic

Her Dilemma

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Sierra concludes, "Now I feel good, but I don't like the way that I look, and I don't know where to go from here. I am trying to figure it out. If you have any advice in the comments for what to do other than go back on the medication, which I really do not want to do, please let me know because I just really want to go back to one 60. That is where I'm happy. 161 was what I was holding steady at today. I stepped on the scale and it was 181, and I almost threw up. I do not want to go back. I don't want to go back to the way that I was." And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss 20 Incredible Ozempic Success Stories of All Time.

Are you considering taking Ozempic to lose weight? Suneel Dhand, MD, is a physician specializing in Internal Medicine and Metabolic Health who shares lots of weight loss tips and tricks on social media. In one viral video, he outlines why you should think twice about taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or any other GLP-1 weight loss drug to drop pounds. “There is a massive craze right now for ozempic for weight loss, and I want to share with you in this video big reasons why I personally would never use it for weight loss,” he says in the YouTube clip.

Ozempic Is Being “Dished Out Like Candy”

While he’s all for people taking Ozemic for type 2 diabetes, he’s more concerned about “the probably hundreds of thousands of people across America by now who are either using or thinking about using ozempic for weight loss,” he says. “They might be mildly overweight or obese, but they don't have diabetes. This is a craze. It is being dished out like candy right now, not only by doctors but also in med spas across the country.”

It’s Primarily a Problem in the US

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“There is nowhere near enough oversight of this,” Dr. Dhand continues. “It hasn't been rolled out as widely across Europe, but in America, people can buy it pretty much anywhere. They can get their hands on it if there is enough supply.”

There Are Many Possible Side Effects

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He explains that the drug belongs to a class of medications called GLP-1 agonists. “The chemical name is Semaglutide. It's also known as Wegovy. Many of you may be familiar with it. You may know somebody who's on this medication. Maybe you've been on it, or you are on it yourself. And I have seen so many side effects and adverse events myself, and these stories are widely available out there,” he says

There Is No Such Thing As a “Wonder Miracle” Drug

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“The reality is that when we see any type of craze in the field of medicine, the last hundred years teach us that it usually doesn't end well. There is no such thing as a Wonder Miracle drug, especially in the field of lifestyle medicine,” he says.

Here Is Why He “Wouldn’t Even Consider” Using It

“I am concerned about this and the way it is being dished out and being used by so many people, and I'm going to explain to you big reasons why I wouldn't use it myself for weight loss. I wouldn't even consider it,” he continues.

RELATED: 20 Things You Need to Know About Ozempic and Weight Loss

The Question Isn’t Whether or Not It Works

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“Let me first share this recent tweet of mine with you, which I recently put out. Ozempic works just like opioids and Vioxx works. The question is not whether it works or not. The question is the addiction, toxic side effects, and human misery that go with it,” he says. “Yes, of course, Ozempic works. Any powerful injection, which in this case is a weekly injection, stops people from eating, which reduces the urge to eat and, therefore, reduces the amount people take in their calorie intake. Of course, that's going to work to lose weight. Same way as taping somebody's mouth shut would work to reduce weight. The question is the drawbacks that come with it.”

1. Side Effects

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The first issue is the side effects, he says. “Many people who start ozempic have to stop very quickly because of the disabling side effects. It is not the most pleasant drug, but it has gastrointestinal side effects, including nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. Remember, this medication essentially works by paralyzing the stomach so that you don't feel hungry and you don't want to consume food,” he explains.

There Could Also Be Long-Term Effects, he Says

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“I also have some concerns over long-term effects on the pancreas and even concerns about long-lasting inflammation or even malignancy in the future,” he reveals. “It's very difficult to tell with a relatively new drug, which is being prescribed to a mass number of people. Remember, this is not only for diabetics. This is now being prescribed to potentially hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people, and only time will tell what sort of effects a powerful weekly injection will have on people.”

RELATED: 20 Things to Avoid While on Ozempic

2. Muscle Loss

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“Number two, muscle loss as well as losing fat,” he continues. “Many people also lose muscle, and this is potentially a disaster on a metabolic level.”

Many People on the Drug Aren’t Working Out or Consuming Enough Protein

“I would hazard a guess that most people who are on ozempic are not regularly visiting the gym. They're not lifting weights. They probably aren't consuming enough protein. And when anybody loses muscle, this is a big problem because muscle is metabolically very active, and it plays an important role in many processes, including insulin sensitivity,” he says.

This Is Why People on Ozempic Oftentimes Look Gaunt

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“Muscle loss is known as sarcopenia, and this is why when you look at many people, you may have seen the pictures online, people who've been on ozempic for a long time, they start to look quite gaunt,” he points out. “They don't look healthy because they've also lost muscle in addition to the fat.”

3. The Cost

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His third reason is the cost. “This is a hugely expensive medication, thousands of dollars,” he says. “Many people do a course of ozempic for a few months, and they pay outta pocket. It is unlikely that insurance is going to cover the cost of these medications anytime soon. Maybe the medications will come down in cost over time, but I did hear a statistic recently that if everybody in America who is overweight or obese was prescribed ozempic and it was fully covered, that would amount to more than the GDP of the entire country. Several trillion dollars. Think about that.”

Many People Can’t Really Afford It

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“People are paying out of pocket thousands of dollars for a course of ozempic, and it never ceases to amaze me because many of these people aren't the richest people. It was a stretch for them to afford it,” he says. Instead, he recommends investing the money in “real, wholesome food, even organic food, a personal trainer and a motivational coach who would talk to them every day,” saying it “would actually be far cheaper than the amount spent on ozempic.” He notes that while “it might sound like an easy option, an injection,” it isn’t sustainable, “because most people can't keep affording this medication over the long term.”

4. “Medical Mob” Situations End Up Backfiring

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Number four is his “own intuition” and “common sense,” he says. “When I look at this type of situation and consider the history of medicine over the last few decades when you have this mass movement, I call them the medical mob when they jump on board something, something which is obviously making a lot of money in the short term. It really does end up backfiring very badly indeed.”

In a Few Years, We Will See More “Side Effects”

I really want to have this conversation again in five years' time when we have more stories about people for whom it hasn't worked. When we can see more side effects and adverse events because of the very idea that you can medicate, you can inject millions of people, hundreds of millions of people, many adolescents, and children with a medication every single week to stop them from eating and not address the toxic food environment is absolutely ludicrous,” he says. “And my own belief system, the way I try to look at the world with logic, and also the fact that I am a huge fan of stoicism, tells me that this is a huge mistake. The mob, as usual, will realize that they were doing everything wrong once they think about this problem in a fundamentally correct way.:

5. There Are No Shortcuts in Health

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“And number five, the basic rule that there are no shortcuts in health,” he points out. “I'm sorry to have to tell you that anyone who is under any illusion, our body is millions of years in the making. It cannot be tricked so easily without consequences. Our body is very smart indeed, when most people in the Western world, especially in the United States, are surrounded by a toxic food environment, and we completely neglect to ask ourselves, why do we need these medications?”

He Points Out That Generations Before Didn’t Experience Obesity Like This

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“Why did our grandparents and great-grandparents not need these medications?” he asks. “It is because we are surrounded by ridiculous food items, heavily processed, coming to us in packages. It is not natural. It is loaded with artificial ingredients, inflammatory ingredients, preservatives, fake sugars, and seed oils. People eat way too many carbs and sugars. There are a whole host of things that we are doing wrong now that we didn't do wrong a few decades ago, and that is the fundamental issue. Until we address that, until we change the culture, throw in more activity, more exercise as well, only that will save people.”

RELATED: 20 Possible Ozempic Side Effects

Ozempic Won’t “Save You”

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“I'm sorry to have to tell anybody out there. Ozempic is not going to save you. Most people who are using this for weight loss are not taking the right lifestyle approach, the one that will lead to sustained improvements and not being overweight or obese. That is a fact, and it is my duty as a doctor to be honest with people,” he says.

Most People Regain Weight After Stopping the Drug

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“That is why when most people stop ozempic, they immediately regain the weight because you haven't fixed the upstream problem,” he says. “The fact that you are eating the wrong food every day, nothing will save you from that fact, no injection.”

Changing Lifestyle Habits Is Key

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“It's in your best interest to really take a step back and look at your lifestyle habits. This isn't easy. It takes determination and motivation, but that is the only thing that is going to lead to improved health outcomes. And you are keeping those pounds off and being in the same shape as your grandparents and great-grandparents. For most of us, when we look back at pictures of our ancestors, they were in much better shape than the current generation. I mean, think about it on a logical level as well,” he says.

This Is an “Addiction” Issue

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“This is an addiction issue. It's an addiction to the wrong types of food and food corporations that make their products highly addictive. They have scientists, the same scientists who worked for big tobacco once to make cigarettes addictive, now work for food corporations, and they know what they are doing, creating these highly addictive fake foods,” he claims. “Would we deal with an addiction to alcohol the same way? Would we say, ‘Oh yes, you can keep on drinking, and we will give you an injection every week to lower the chances of you getting liver cirrhosis? Oh, you are a smoker. You smoke cigarettes, carry on smoking. We'll give you an injection, and maybe your risk of getting lung issues will be reduced.’ Absolutely not,” he says. “We would deal with the root cause, and we would say, you must stop drinking alcohol, and you must stop smoking if you have a problem. But we haven't reached the same level of enlightenment with ultra-processed foods and our toxic food environment.”

Eliminate Processed Food

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“The only way to really sustain weight loss and get healthy is to eliminate that terrible food from your life,” he claims. “70% of all calorie intake currently in the United States is ultra-processed foods. It's not far off in other Western countries, including the United Kingdom. But if we're serious about people being healthy, then that's what we should be focusing on.”

RELATED: What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Taking Ozempic

Go the Lifestyle Route

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“There are no shortcuts in health and wellbeing,” he reiterates. “So those are some reasons why I personally would never take Ozempic for weight loss. That would be my own decision. I would go the lifestyle route, and the truth is that well over 90% of people could do that as well.”

Make Your Own Decision

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“But I'm a great believer in healthcare freedom and autonomy. Everybody is free to make their own choices about what they want for their own health,” he says.

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But, Taking a Drug Will Likely Backfire, He Claims

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“But I believe that this is going to backfire. Everybody who is overweight or obese and wants to deal with that wants to fix problem has to think very carefully about how they are going to do that. But do not say you are not warned,” he says. “You can weigh up the risks and benefits yourself and make the decision for yourself. But I repeat again, there are no miracle drugs out there, and your body cannot be tricked so easily.” And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss 20 Incredible Ozempic Success Stories of All Time.