The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
The wonder slimming jab just approved for NHS-use has been hailed by celebs as a miracle drug.
Wegovy, which contains the powerful drug semaglutide, helps users lose weight by hijacking the brain to suppress appetite and reduce calorie intake.
As word has spread about the jab’s ‘miracle’ weight-loss effects, demand has surged, resulting in global shortages.
But does the jab described as one of the ‘most powerful pharmaceutical tools to date’ actually work?
Danielle Breckenridge (pictured before the weight loss, left, and after, right) says she also lost more than 2st after taking semaglutide injections
Danielle Breckenridge, Dublin
A mother in her thirties lost 2st (28lbs/12.7kg) and was able to resist party food after taking semaglutide.
Danielle Breckenridge, an office administrator, weighed 13st (182lbs/82kg) after giving birth to her daughter — and had a BMI of 35 classing her as ‘obese’
Ms Breckenridge said she gained 4st (56lbs/25kg) during pregnancy after developing gestational diabetes.
This is when blood sugar levels are high because the body is struggling to make enough of a hormone to bring them back down.
Ms Breckenridge from Stevenage, Herts, had assumed she would lose the added weight after giving birth.
But she struggled to lose it and a year later tests revealed she was borderline diabetic, which came as a ‘huge shock’.
Her doctor advised her to go to Slimming World, but Ms Breckenridge said she ‘needed something a bit more effective’.
After researching options online she signed up for a four-week course of Saxenda — a weight loss injection similar to Wegovy, but that must be taken daily.
After this course she switched to a month of Ozempic — which contains a lower dose of semaglutide than Wegovy and is targeted at patient’s with type 2 diabetes.
Ms Breckenbridge told The Telegraph in 2021: ‘I had a bit of nausea (after the jabs) but I just wasn’t hungry any more and wasn’t even tempted by party food, my usual weak spot.’
She said she switched to Ozempic because it required a weekly rather than daily injection, as she admitted to often forgetting to take it each day.
Ciara Lawless, from Dublin, lost 2st (28lbs/12.7kg) in May 2020 after getting semaglutide injections when she weighed around 12 and a half stone. She said she maintained her weight after coming off the jab through healthy eating and a weekly treat but has since used the jab ‘for help’ when she ‘needs it’
Alex Guevara, 47, (pictured) is a paramedic practitioner from Milton Keynes. He has three children, and lives with his wife Christina, 29. He said: ‘When a friend told me about semaglutide I felt I had nothing to lose. I went to a private clinic, and paid £250 a month for six months’
Ciara Lawless, Dublin
Ciara Lawless also lost 2st (28lbs/12.7kg) after getting the Ozempic weight loss injection.
The sales assistant from Dublin told The Telegraph that she signed up for the jab after seeing it on Instagram.
At the time she was 12.5st (175lbs/79kg).
After getting the injections in May 2020, she said: ‘All the diets I went on never seemed to work.
‘I feel so much better about myself now and my confidence is so much higher.
‘I did maintain my weight with clean eating and having a weekly treat but it’s nice I can come back for help when I need it.’
Alex Guevara, 47, Milton Keynes
Alex Guevara, 47, a paramedic practitioner from Milton Keynes, started to ‘balloon’ in weight in 20217 after a severe lung infection left him housebound for months.
The dad-of-three says he always struggled with his weight due to having a sweet tooth.
He said his deteriorating health made him so miserable that all he could do was eat, so he began packing on the pounds.
By April last year Mr Guevara weighed almost 20 stone, at just 5ft 11in tall.
He said his joints were sore and that he had developed sleep apnoea — where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing.
‘I had no willpower,’ he said. ‘I’d have three bowls of cereal at breakfast as well as toast.
‘Meanwhile, I was on a barrage of medication for depression and asthma. I even felt suicidal.’
After a friend told Mr Guevara about semaglutide, he felt he had nothing to lose, so went to a private clinic and paid £250 a month for six months.
He added: ‘Within a few days of starting the drug I just stopped feeling so hungry.
‘There were a few side-effects, such as nausea, constipation and diarrhoea. But my sleep apnoea disappeared and I felt so much happier.’
By December last year, Mr Guevara started tapering off the medication and had gotten into the habit of exercising and eating a healthy diet. He is now back to 15st and is hoping to lose more.
Mr Guevara said: ‘Some people may see semaglutide as lazy or a quick fix.
‘But I needed something dramatic to break the cycle and stop me hurtling towards type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
‘Semaglutide should be available to anyone who needs it.’
