I’ve Regained Weight Since Stopping Saxenda and Wegovy, But I’m Not as Tired All the Time
Key takeaways:
Sierra Robichaud was 50 lbs above her pre-pregnancy weight for years.
She took the prescription weight-loss medications Saxenda and Wegovy to help shed the baby weight.
Despite the side effects, Sierra says weight-loss medication can be a great jump start on a health journey.
As a mom of two and a business owner in Cohoes, New York, 35-year-old Sierra Robichaud’s days are busy. After having two pregnancies and then taking care of young babies, losing weight was the least of her concerns.
But as her children grew older, Sierra had a hard time getting back to her healthy pre-pregnancy weight. For years, she kept losing and regaining the same 10 lbs. She exercised. She tried the keto diet, which is low in carbohydrates and high in fat. She tried intermittent fasting. Nothing worked.
Frustrated, she went to her doctor.
“I was like 50 lbs over what a normal weight for my height should be, [which is] also the weight that I was prior to having kids,” Sierra says. “I was just having such a hard time losing the weight after my second pregnancy.”
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Weight-loss medications weren’t on her radar, but Sierra’s doctor mentioned that she would be a candidate because of how much weight she had to lose. There are many weight-loss medications that can help lower appetite, manage cravings, and reduce food intake. Her doctor recommended Saxenda, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) prescription injectable medication designed for weight management.
Losing 20 lbs on Saxenda
Sierra started taking daily injections of Saxenda in November 2022. At the time, she was 204 lbs at 5-foot-6. Because her body mass index was over 30, Sierra’s insurance covered the cost of the medication.
“With Saxenda, I didn’t have a ton of side effects. I did have some stomachaches and a headache in the beginning, but those went away,” she says.
Sierra started with a low dose of Saxenda. When she moved to a higher dose, she noticed more pronounced side effects, like stomach pain and gas.
Over 3 months, Sierra lost 20 lbs.
“With the medication, it really just makes you eat less. It’s like you get fuller faster and you don’t eat as often,” Sierra says. “My diet was not great on medication. When I would eat salads, it would give me a stomachache or diarrhea, so I gravitated more toward carbs.”
Drinking Liquid I.V., an electrolyte hydration beverage, helped her manage some of the side effects.
Switching to Wegovy, then stopping, then regaining weight
In February 2023, at 183 lbs, Sierra switched to Wegovy. It’s a similar prescription GLP-1 weight-loss medication, but it involves weekly injections instead of daily ones.
Lower doses of Wegovy were out of stock at the time, so Sierra started on a higher dose than she had previously been taking with Saxenda.
“The side effects were a lot worse,” Sierra says. “I had such bad fatigue. I was completely wiped for a very long time.”
She lost more than 20 lbs, getting down to the high 150s and then settling in the low 160s. But by the end of May, Sierra decided that the fatigue was too much. Her children were about to be home for summer break, and she couldn’t afford to be exhausted. She stopped taking the medication.
A month later, she was up 12 lbs.
A slightly lower dose of Wegovy became available in July, so Sierra restarted the medication for a couple of months until she got down to her preferred weight in the low 160s.
She says the side effects were better on the lower dose but not gone.
In September 2023, Sierra decided to try maintaining her weight without medication. Her weight went up 20 lbs and then held steady.
“I would prefer to be at the weight that I was. I felt comfortable being at my lowest weight. But at the same time, I just felt like it wasn’t worth being tired all the time,” she says. “So I stopped taking the medication just to see what would happen. If I started gaining more than 20 lbs, I probably would just go back on medication, honestly.”
If even lower doses of Wegovy are available in the future, Sierra says she may reconsider. For now, she’s focusing on health, diet, and exercise.
Focusing on health instead of weight fluctuations
Despite the side effects and weight fluctuations, Sierra says she has no regrets about taking weight-loss medications. She says it changed her perspective and provided much-needed encouragement on her weight-loss journey.
“I felt like I was stuck for so long that I was discouraged and didn’t think it was even possible to lose weight,” she says. “Once I took the medication, lost the weight, and felt like my old self again, it gave me hope that I could do it on my own.”
Sierra didn’t shy away from telling people that she was taking Saxenda and Wegovy when asked about her weight loss.
“There’s a lot of judgment with medication,” she says. “People were surprised I would admit to the fact I was taking medication.”
Sierra started making TikTok and YouTube videos about her experience to change the narrative around weight-loss medication and combat some of the negative perceptions.
“A lot of people just don’t even know where to start. Medication can be a good jump start for people while they’re figuring it out,” she says. “It’s not a lifelong decision. It’s a personal decision, and there should be no judgment.”
To this day, Sierra gets comments on social media saying she should just eat healthier or exercise more to lose weight. But that’s only part of the picture.
“It’s not for everybody, but there are people out there — like myself — that really could benefit from taking the medication,” she says. “You shouldn’t feel bad about whatever option you take to make your life healthier.”
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