– I could wake up in the morning with chocolate all over myself and bedclothes, and not understand anything. Marthe Syrstad Kofstad (39) describes the first months after she stopped taking the slimming drug Saxenda. In the middle of the night she could wake up with an intense hunger. The next moment she was raiding cupboards and drawers for sweets and food. And when she ate, she wasn’t full, says Syrstad Kofstad. The phenomenon is often called wolf hunger. – Even though I had eaten three portions, I felt that there was not enough food. I was never full. – I have never felt that hunger before, neither before nor after I started at Saxenda, says Syrstad Kofstad. DEMANDING: The slimming drug produced rapid weight loss, but put her to the test when the supply suddenly ran out. Photo: Stig Jaarvik / news The 39-year-old from Råholt has had “yo-yo weight” for many years. After pregnancy, she gained a lot of weight. Syrstad Kofstad has also been diagnosed with a hormone disorder that can contribute to weight gain. PAIN: Marthe Syrstad Kofstad talks about pain when she was at her worst. Here from the Danish boat in 2022. Photo: Privat / news In the spring of 2022, she consulted a doctor, and got Saxenda on a blue prescription. When she started the medication, she weighed 105 kg, she says. In just over six months, she lost close to 40 kilos, she states. But then the authorities said stop. On 1 February last year, the drug was removed from the blue receptor system. As a result, Marthe Syrstad Kofstad and 22,000 others who had been subsidized by Saxenda had to pay for it themselves. NOK 3,000 a month was too much for a disability benefit. With the sudden stop came the wolf hunger, she says. – It’s one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of. It was such an inner hunger that no food could satisfy, says Syrstad Kofstad. Consumption is increasing. There are different varieties of what are popularly known as diet pills. GLP1 analogues are the common name for drugs such as Saxenda, Ozempic and Wegovy. GLP1 is a natural hormone in the gut that regulates blood sugar. The drugs contain a substance that mimics this hormone, and were developed to treat type 2 diabetes. A side effect was that the feeling of satiety increased. Many patients experienced significant weight loss. EXPENSIVE DROPS: Saxenda, Wegovy, and Ozempic come in a pen-like container. The liquid should be injected into the skin of the upper arm, the thighs or the stomach. Photo: Jim Vondruska / Reuters In 2023, over 175,000 people in Norway were prescribed at least one of these drugs, according to figures from the Medicines Register. On 1 July, the authorities tightened the rules for Ozempic. Today, in practice, only diabetics receive “diet for weight loss” on a blue prescription. But more and more Norwegians are getting obesity medication on white prescription. The most popular is Wegovy, which in the number of packs sold has increased by 33 per cent in the last six months. Back to old eating patterns Mette Svendsen is a clinical nutritionist at the Department of Endocrinology, Morbid Obesity and Preventive Medicine at Oslo University Hospital. At the clinic where she works, they often treat patients with Wegovy. Wolf hunger is not a foreign concept to Svendsen. – We see that very often. When you stop taking a drug, the effect disappears. You stop with something that has curbed your appetite. The body has good mechanisms to regulate the weight back to peak weight, she says. TREATS PATIENTS: Mette Svendsen is also chairman of the board of the Norwegian Association for Obesity Research. She has clinical experience of what happens when patients stop taking diet pills. Photo: Stig Jaarvik / news How hunger manifests can vary from person to person. It depends on what eating behavior the patient had before the treatment, according to Svendsen. – Some have eaten large amounts of food. They will find that the need to eat the same amounts returns. Others have eaten more reward food, and then that need will also return, she says. SOMETHING FOR YOUR COFFEE? NO, THANK YOU: The café is a regular stop on Marthe Syrstad Kofstad’s daily walks. Here she also gets training in keeping her willpower the same. Photo: Stig Jaarvik / news – Requires long-term follow-up In Norway, the Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) approves and monitors medicinal products. Unit leader in DMP, Rita Hvalbye emphasizes that the so-called slimming drugs are not a “quick fix” for obesity. It seems she could have been better informed. Rita Hvalbye is unit manager in the Directorate for Medical Products (DMP). Photo: Hallgeir Aunan / news – Studies show that patients at group level gain weight after finishing treatment with these drugs. It’s not something the manufacturer has put a lot of emphasis on in its marketing, says Hvalbye. It is the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk that produces Saxenda, Wegovy and Ozempic. Press contact at Novo Nordisk, Tor Egil Frostelid, says that obesity is a chronic disorder that requires long-term, and in some cases lifelong, follow-up. Tor Egil Frostelid is community and authority contact at Novo Nordisk. Photo: Lasse Moe / Novo Nordisk He takes the medicine Wegovy as his starting point when he comments on weight gain. But what he says also applies to Saxenda, which Kofstad attended. – Medicines such as Wegovy only work as long as the treatment is ongoing, in the same way as medicines for most other chronic diseases. Clinical studies have shown that body weight increases when treatment with Wegovy ends, says Frostelid. – This is stated in the drug’s approved summary of product information, he adds. Two tips to keep the weight off When Marthe Syrstad Kofstad stopped taking Saxenda, she gained a few kilos, she says. But then she forced the weight back down. – It was rock hard. But now I had lost so many kilos that I refused to put them back on, she says. The fact that she managed it is all about sheer willpower, she believes. Still, she has some tips. SMALL JOYS: As a reward for the exercise trip to the cafe, Syrstad Kofstad usually buys himself a coffee with something sweet in it (artificial sugar with 1 kcal). Photo: Stig Jaarvik / news – The most important thing is to get active. It doesn’t have to be hard training sessions. A walk can be more than enough. And take into account that you are going to have a bang or two, she advises. – It is completely normal. If you’re going to make a lifelong change, you can’t cut out all the goodies in life. You can allow yourself a bowl of crisps or a chocolate now and then, she says. The gain for the weight loss has been great, she says. – At my heaviest, my knees hurt so much that going to the store was horrible. Now the pain is gone. Recently I walked five miles in a week. Published 18.07.2024, at 18.06
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Got “wolf hunger” after suddenly stopping dieting medicine: – Never got full
