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I started GLP-1 drugs in January 2024 at age 70, and two years later, I’ve lost 90 pounds – and more importantly, my arthritic knees are pain-free! (Plus, I’ve gone from a size 3x size 26-28 dress and shirt and jeans size to a small– size 8 – shirt and dress size and size 10 jeans.) Even the loose skin beneath my previously double chin has begun to recede – no miracle potions, just time.
When I first posted about starting my GLP-1 journey in January 2024, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it work? Would I stick with it? What about the side effects – I’d heard the horror stories. (Not to mention the price tag.) I’ve checked in a couple of times since then, most recently in the autumn, but this update feels different – because this time, I walked out of my doctor’s office with the best news I’ve gotten in years.
Let me start with the why. It wasn’t the scale. It was my knees. It was the fact that I’d cruised coastal Britain and taken only the “easy” shore excursions. And even those were arduous for me.
Getting on and off that tour bus and hauling my painful knees up the steps. Going nowhere without my trusty cane. (Not to mention that navigating a huge cruise ship several times a day left me a bit huffy and puffy!)
It was around the time that GLP drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro were being shown to be really effective for weight loss as well as diabetes control. I’d asked my primary care physician (PCP) if I might be a good candidate and if it was really true that weight loss might make my arthritic knees better (I was terrified of the looming prospect of knee surgery!). He said that for every pound I lost, it would be equivalent to eight pounds of pressure off my knees. Not propaganda, but medical fact, he insisted. It is a physics (mechanics) equation, pure and simple. I was on board. I had been obese since childhood, and nothing else worked.
GLP-1s are hugely expensive and were very rarely approved for weight loss for non-diabetics. But my persistent PCP won the day and got my prescription approved.
“Wow.”
Fast-forward 26 months. That was the first word out of my doctor’s mouth when he walked into the exam room yesterday for my annual wellness visit. Just– wow.
I’d seen him in July, and I’m about 15 pounds lighter now than I was then. But he looked at me and said I appeared to have lost far more than 15 pounds since that appointment. His explanation? Muscle. I’ve been building it, and it shows. The scale seldom tells the whole story – and that’s a good thing.
I could relate to you an entire litany of the Non-Scale Victories (NSVs in social media parlance), from fitting nicely into an airline seat (and not using a seat-belt extender), to traipsing around Iceland cane-free, to being free of the need to go to plus-size shops.
My doc was genuinely impressed. Not in the polite, clinical way doctors sometimes are. Actually impressed.
The Medication Conversation
I’m currently on 15mg Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and 1000 mg/day metformin supplement. When my doctor asked about side effects, I gave him my honest answer: constipation, and a noticeable fading of the Mounjaro’s appetite-suppressing effect by around day six of the week, that last day before my next injection when the medication’s punch seems to wear thin.
His response was thoughtful and practical. He suggested bumping my metformin from two tablets a day to three (I can eventually go up to four, but we’re doing it gradually to monitor for any new side effects). The reasoning was two-fold: The higher metformin dose may actually help with the constipation, and the two drugs work synergistically – they complement each other in ways that can enhance overall effectiveness. I’m going to give that a try.
He also halved my blood pressure medication. He was clear that I may not even need it anymore soon, but that a very low dose serves a secondary purpose: It’s protective of the kidneys. So I’ll stay on the minimal dose as a precaution, which brings me to the most remarkable part of the visit.
The Best Surprise: My Kidneys!
Some background: in 2019, I suffered an acute kidney injury that led to chronic kidney disease, which had stabilized. My numbers improved over time once I started on the GLPs – enough that by my last round of tests, it was no longer an active concern. But they still hadn’t fully normalized.
Until now.
My blood tests came back yesterday, and everything – everything – was perfect. Normal. Right in the middle of the normal range. Including the entire kidney panel.
I want that to sink in for a moment. A condition that has shadowed my health for the better part of five years has, by every measurable standard, resolved. My doctor didn’t hesitate to call it a real bonus of the GLP-1 medication. The research is still catching up to what many patients are experiencing, but I am living proof that the benefits of these drugs extend far beyond weight loss. Talk about a Non-Scale Victory!
Knee Pain and GLP-1
So, back to my knees. The knee pain is all but gone. No Tylenol. No anti-inflammatories. Nothing. It turns out that carrying 90 fewer pounds is the most effective knee intervention I’ve ever tried.
On It for the Long Haul
I expect to be on these medications for the rest of my life. I want to say that clearly, because I know some people see that as a downside or a failure. I don’t. Not even a little. It’s a medicine to fix a part of my brain that refuses to tell me when enough (food) is enough. I love eating. I love pizza. I love ice cream (just don’t eat an entire container) and birthday cake (and maybe can’t quite finish that one piece). A good piece of steak.
I still eat them; it’s just that not as much is required before I’m satiated. I go to restaurants, and I eat cruise food (I love to travel and try new foods). My cravings for potato chips are gone. I can eat French fries, but stop at two or three and don’t eat an entire “large.” I no longer want to eat three donuts. One (or a half) is enough. That’s the GLPs at work, filling in for what my brain is unable to do.
I am healthier right now – at 71 – than I have been since high school. My kidneys are healthy. My blood pressure is controlled on a near-homeopathic dose of medication. My joints don’t hurt. My blood work is perfect. I have more muscle than I did a year ago.
If staying on Mounjaro and metformin is the price of that, it is the best deal I have ever made.
Is GLP-1 Right for You?
I will be an advocate for GLP-1 medications for the rest of my life. I’ve watched the discourse around these drugs – the skepticism, the moral judgments about “the easy way out,” the concerns about long-term use. I’ve heard it all.
And I am here to tell you: At 72, with a renewed body, perfect bloodwork, and knees that let me live my life – I have no patience for any of it.
If you’re on the fence, talk to your doctor. If your doctor isn’t listening, find one who will. If insurance is the obstacle, don’t give up – it was for me too, and here I am.
This isn’t magic. It’s medicine. And for me, it has been nothing short of life-changing.
