Is Weight Loss Medication Right for Me?

This medication is not appropriate during pregnancy, while trying to conceive, or while breastfeeding. It is not appropriate for people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. It is not appropriate for people with a history of pancreatitis without careful evaluation. And it requires an individual assessment for anyone with significant gastrointestinal disease.

Those are not opinions and they are not judgment calls the practice makes on the day — they are the conditions the evaluation works through. If any of them apply to you, that is information to bring to the appointment, not a reason to stay away from it.

There are situations where the medication may be clinically available to you but is not the right thing to reach for right now:

• You are looking for a short-term fix before an event. This is a medication with real side effects and a real question about what happens when it is stopped. It is not a tool for a specific date.
• You have not thought about what happens when you stop. Appetite returning when the medication ends is part of the picture, and it should be discussed before starting rather than after.
• You are not able to eat adequately or maintain nutrition while your appetite is suppressed. A smaller appetite is not the same as a well-nourished one. What you eat still matters.
• You are already restricting your eating in a way that worries you or the people around you. That is something to bring to a clinician rather than a reason to be disqualified without a conversation. How it is handled depends on the individual, and it is part of what the evaluation covers.

None of these automatically disqualify you. They are reasons to slow down and talk, which is what the appointment is for.

The evaluation covers your history, your current medications, what has been tried before and how it went, what you are actually hoping for, and whether that expectation is realistic. It is a conversation, not a checklist. The point is to work out whether this is the right tool for you, in your situation, right now — and to say so plainly if it is not.

It happens with Keanna — in person or via face-to-face telehealth. She is the one who decides whether this is appropriate for you, and she is the one responsible for your care if it is.

If this is not the right tool for you, you will be told that directly. There is no consolation-prize upsell, and there is no different service offered in its place as a substitute. Being told no is a legitimate outcome of an appointment. It means the evaluation did what it was supposed to do.

The full medical weight loss programme is on the main weight loss page, including how it works, the side effects, and the questions worth asking. Read it before you decide whether to book.

Compounding means a licensed pharmacy prepares a medication for a patient rather than a manufacturer producing a mass-produced, FDA-approved product. The FDA does not review compounded formulations for safety or effectiveness the way it reviews approved drugs.

More about what that means — including the questions worth asking anyone who offers it — is on the compounded semaglutide page.