March 7, 2025 • 15 mins
Belinda & Paddy were invited onto national radio station Newstalk, to speak with Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder programme. 13 Feb 2025
This interview was to coincide the arrival of Mounjaro onto the market in the Republic of Ireland.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
The Hard Shoulder with Ciarán Cuddehy with the MG
Hybrid and Electric Range on.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Newstalk.
We're going to start by talkingabout weight loss drugs today,
because you would have seen thenews that, while Ozempic has
been available here for sometime, wegovy is on the way,
alongside what's the other onethat's on its way, monjaro, the
other, so basically the kind ofthe suite of weight loss drugs,
(00:25):
these famous weight loss drugsthat have been available in
other countries, going to beavailable to Irish patients and
consumers.
With me to talk about what lifeis like on them, how
transformative or otherwise theycan be, is Belinda Hogan, from
GLP1 Insights and Instagram,co-host of the Dose with Paddy
and Belinda.
The Paddy in the title is PaddyCunningham and he is with me as
(00:47):
well.
You're both very, very welcome.
Belinda, can I start with you?
When did your journey withOzempic start?
I think that was where youstarted.
Was it with that drug?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's correct.
Thanks for having me on Ciarán.
So I would have started onOzempic two and a half years ago
now and I would have started onMonjaro about a year ago, I
think now.
So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So two and a half years ago.
I'm trying to remember when westarted talking about it on this
show.
I'd wager you must be one ofthe first people in the country
on it, were you.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I was around about that.
Yeah, I would be one of thelongest standing people on it
for like weight loss.
Obviously, Ozempic was broughtin as a diabetic drug so, yeah,
I started taking it as a weightloss medication.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So how did that happen?
How did you get access to it orget onto it as a weight loss
medication?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so I.
First I read about it in thenewspaper.
An article had come out andthen I went to my doctor and
asked him would he prescribe itfor me?
He declined and then I wentonline and made it my business
to find it through an onlineprescribing doctor.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And were you nervous at all about getting it through
a doctor online?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No, I wasn't nervous about getting it from online.
I wasn't nervous about takingit.
I think I was so low at thattime.
I would have taken anything.
Well, not anything, but youknow, I would have tried
anything.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
So tell me about what it's been like then, the last
two and a half years, and howdifferent life is today.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah.
So I would have lived with thedisease of obesity for 30 years
and I would have spent decadesin the cycle of dieting, gaining
weight back and then relapsingover and over again.
And then, when I started takingOzempic, what would have
happened was I would have takenthe medication.
I would have went about my day,my week, my month and slowly,
(02:42):
slowly, slowly, things startedto change for me.
I felt that the food noise thatI had heard for 30 years in the
back of my brain was switchedoff.
That happened really quicklyfor me.
And then my sense of hunger,which I had I had a ferocious
hunger for my whole life thatjust disappeared, like literally
(03:04):
just disappeared.
It was like.
I know people say it's amiracle drug and I don't like to
refer to it as a miracle drug,but some things that happen to
you while you're on thismedication feels like a miracle
to you and so that kind of thatyearning for food or that hunger
, that switch, that gets turnedoff.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I mean, I'm trying to understand does it ever get
turned on?
Can you get kind ofparticularly hungry and still
kind of have a craving for food?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Not cravings.
No, that's all switched off and.
I'll say as well, like whenthat does switch off, you do go
through a small period ofmourning because you, you know,
some people would have binged,some people would have used food
for comfort, and then that'sgone, that's gone, and you have
to turn and look inwards and see, you know, do a little bit work
(03:54):
as well, and what am I going todo with that?
And fortunately I turned toPilates, the gym, swimming, you
know.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And does food as a kind of as a source of pleasure.
What does it mean to you today?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I still enjoy my food , but I enjoy very small
portions.
I now eat without guilt.
Ciarán, if I was to say,something that I would never,
ever have eaten would have beencheesecake, because I would have
really, really torn myself downand had that awful rhetoric in
(04:32):
my mind that you shouldn't haveeaten that and you're going to
have to walk this much to get itoff and how many calories are
in it.
I can sit down now and enjoythat food and push the plate
away when I'm full and that'sthe end of it.
I don't think about it againand I know there's millions of
people out there that can relateto that, as well, one listener
here is after getting in touch.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
I was morbidly obese in 2022 and I found out I was
diabetic.
The doctor prescribed meOzempic.
I've lost 13 and a half stonessince, complete life changer,
able to regularly exercise now,and I'm a million times
healthier.
So that's kind of one person'sexperience, shared in the text.
I mentioned Paddy Cunningham,your co-host on the Dose podcast
(05:13):
, the Dose with Paddy andBelinda.
Paddy, when did your journeywith the weight loss medication
start?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, cheers, ciarán, thanks for having me on.
So mine with the medicationstarted.
I started exploring it May oflast year, so I'd kind of
reached a point, I guess,similar to Belinda and a lot of
people that have lived withoverweight and obesity for their
life, of kind of constantdieting, trying to lose weight,
constant relapses, like I evenwent to the extent of in 2010,
(05:41):
2011, took part in a reality TVshow called the Biggest Loser
and lost six and a half stone.
After that, I went andqualified as a personal trainer,
worked as a personal trainermyself for two years and during
that period I could still feelmy weight coming back on.
And, of course, then I was likeGod, I'm doing the things I
know I should be doing, I'mtrying my best at this and I'm
still failing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I'm really, really failing at this.
In hindsight, why were youfailing?
Why was it going back up?
You were just eating too much,were you?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, I mean, if you want to bring it down to the
very basics, obviously that'swhat it'll come down to.
But I think the root cause thatwe now know thankfully because
the world of medicine andscience has progressed is that
it is down to your biology.
It is that it is down to thisinert difference in your body
that is driving you to tell youyou are not full, that you want
(06:28):
food, that you're constantlythinking about food.
So, like, the way that I kindof think about it now with
medication is that it's kind ofmy stabilizers that takes away
that food distraction so that itallows me to focus on my
movement, on my nutrition, on mykind of mental well-being as
well.
But where can?
I got to last year, like overthe years I regained all the six
(06:49):
and a half stone that I'd lostwhen I was on the TV show and
kind of got to a really badplace because I was beating
myself up about that, about I'mthe person that's meant to know
better, I'm the person that's aqualified personal trainer.
Like how have I failed at this?
And last year I reached myheaviest weight that I had been
ever in my life just over 24stone and I remember looking at
(07:10):
a photo of myself and justthinking, oh my God, how have I
got back to this point?
I thought I had dealt with allthis years ago.
So I started looking, thinkingthat bariatric surgery was going
to have to be the route that Iwould take, and I had started
investigating it and kind of Ihad almost prepared myself for
how invasive and how difficult aroad that is.
But I was like this is what Ithink it's going to take,
because when I looked at theimpact of longevity based on my
(07:33):
BMI which I know is a flawedmeasure, but it's what the
health system uses at the momentit was telling me that my you
know, my life expectancy wasgoing to be 10 to 12 years less
because of my weight.
And I was like I've lived thepast 30 odd years trying to
control my weight, or 20 oddyears, and it was during that.
Then I kind of learned moreabout Ozempic and at that stage
I kind of thought, oh, that'sjust for Hollywood, that's not
for Paddy down in Sligo.
(07:54):
But I started learning moreabout it in terms of actually
wait, this is a feasible type ofroute to investigate.
And then I found out aboutMunjarro.
So Munjarro, at that stage wasonly out in the UK about two
months and when I went to my ownpharmacy to get it they're like
you're actually our firstpatient ever to get this.
Now I say my own pharmacy.
I had to go up the north to getthis.
(08:15):
I'm very lucky where I livethat I'm very near the border,
so I was able to get aprescription down south and
bring that up the north from thepharmacy to get it dispensed up
there, because it was just anormal medication in the north
and in the UK and it has beenfor nearly the past year.
So I started the medication inJune of last year.
So in just over seven monthsI'm down almost seven stone now
(08:37):
and the thing that is reallyimportant to highlight with that
is that I'm not going to givethe medication all the credit
for that.
I have been working my ass offliterally in the gym like three
to four times a week since dayone, focusing on the nutrition,
focusing on that mentalwell-being, and that's, you know
, the side of the story that'sreally important for me to tell,
on my social media as well,that it's not just this skinny
(08:59):
jab, that it is a you need toput in so much effort.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And it's not.
It is not, under anycircumstances, a quick fix like.
Paddy just said.
I want to reiterate that I'vespent the past two years
watching what I'm eating, makingbetter choices, going to the
gym, going swimming, goingwalking.
But the thing that thismedication will do for you it
will give you the space in yourbrain to make better choices.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And what?
Because you kind of touched onit there to a degree, paddy.
But what do you say to thosepeople?
And you won't be surprised tohear they're texting in.
You know, listen, this isn't adisease, it's just kind of
gluttony or whatever, and thisis kind of the lazy way out.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And I think, look, I can understand again, as someone
that's qualified personaltrainer, I guess I can
understand why people have thatmindset.
But the reason people now havethat mindset is there's enough
information out there to provethem that they're wrong and for
them to be better educated andto do better and to be a better
member of society and friend andfamily member to those around
them that are living withobesity that if they were to go
(09:59):
and research it, they willquickly find out that that is
not the truth and that they willfind out, in the same way that
we no longer drill holes inpeople's heads, we no longer
tell people that you shouldavoid eggs holes in people's
heads, we no longer tell peoplethat you should avoid eggs.
You know this kind of thing wewill reach a point where finally
, people will realise actually,do you know what?
This is a chronic disease weunderstand that we are reaching.
We have some people like DundalShea, like McCruddy, like other
(10:20):
people like that, that are outthere pushing this narrative and
advocating for betterunderstanding within society.
But that needs to come with theunderstanding, as we say as
well, that society needs tounderstand that this isn't a
quick fix, that you just jab andgo.
And, equally, this is not amedication for people that, oh,
you come back from holidays andyou've overdone it on the buffet
and you come back a stoneheavier.
(10:41):
So I'll just get the pen andI'll be grand.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Well, yeah, actually on that kind of Belinda, who are
the people this isn't for, ifthat makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Well, I'm not a medical doctor.
I can't say who should andshouldn't be taking this
medication, but I do think thepeople that should be, it should
be made available to, arepeople with the disease of
obesity.
You know, and the thing is aswell, like myself and Paddy,
we're kind of making it ourmission to change the
(11:11):
conversation around GLP-1medications, you know, and it
isn't about vanity, it's abouthealth, longevity, and it's
about breaking free from asystem that's failed people like
us, year after year, decadeafter decade, you know.
So I'm not going to comment onwho shouldn't be taking this
medication.
Ciarán.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
What about side effects?
Did you have any side effects,Belinda?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I did back in the very start.
I did because I took Ozempicfirst.
Now the side effects of Ozempicare a little harsher than they
would be for Mongero.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Okay, Paddy did you have any?
Speaker 1 (11:48):
side effects.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Minimal, Minimal.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Ciarán Like.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I've been very lucky and like, even like my reviews
with the doctor andendocrinologist and that they
were kind of a bit surprisedthat, god, you've had minimal
side effects, like I mean, mostpeople, and this is where, when
people tend to go online, theywill find worst case scenario
about what the side effects are.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You're going to hear a horror story, but that's
because they're the sense it's.
They're sensationalized, aren'tthey?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
yeah, and there's there's a lot of scaremongering
goes on out there but in realityfor people that are on glp1
medications, most may have mildto moderate side effects, like
for myself back in when Istarted it the first weekend, I
felt freezing cold to know.
So that was grand.
I just went to the sauna andyou know I was happy out there,
out at the beach.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
But apart from that Changing from Osempic, sorry.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Go on.
Belinda For the most part, no,I've had minimal side effects,
Belinda.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Changing from Osempic to Monjaro was absolutely
seamless as well.
No side effects and no nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Paddy, listen Belinda's right.
I mean you shouldn't be givingout medical advice to people on
the radio.
But I guess what I was gettingat is this idea that and you
talked about it as the Hollywooddrug as well, like you were
what 24 stone Is that what yousaid last year when you looked
into this about people inHollywood who maybe weigh 13 or
(13:10):
14 stone or 12 or 13 stone,taking these types of taking
these jabs, so that they can getdown to kind of single figures,
high single figures, and maybecloser to the 10 stone mark.
And I just I'd kind of, I'djust be wary about kind of the
message people get from thosetypes of celebrities.
(13:32):
Of course, yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Absolutely, and I think this is where it is so
important that there isresponsible prescribing both in,
you know, gp, in doctorsurgeries and in pharmacies, and
in online prescribers orwhatever.
That bit is so important.
But the other thing as well isthat we need to make sure in
terms of the enforcement of,like the black market, because
that's another way that peopleare potentially looking to
(13:55):
access.
We had the RT Investigate showback in December that
highlighted, you know, so muchthat was going on on our own
doorstep in relation to theblack market of these drugs,
where people are literallytaking prescribed medication and
taking so many chances with,like you know, under-accounted
drugs from salons and placeslike that, which is so dangerous
.
But I think it comes back tothat responsible prescribing
(14:16):
that's so important for thesemedications.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Well, listen the other big issue as well is like
healthcare versus wealth care.
At the moment, the price pointfor these medications coming out
in Ireland are unobtainable formost people, completely
unobtainable.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well listen, the dose is the name of the podcast, the
dose with Paddy and Belinda.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Can I just say one last thing, Ciarán?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, just for the listeners out there, just if you
are listening and you feel likeyou've tried absolutely
everything, like your body hasbeen working against you your
whole life.
Nobody is alone.
That medication is out there.
You need to go to your doctorand you need to advocate for
yourself if you feel that that'sthe only way out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Belinda Hogan.
Paddy Cunningham, co-host ofthe Dose with Paddy and Belinda.
Thank you both very much.
The Hard Shoulder with Ciarán Cuddehy with the MG
Hybrid and Electric Range on.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Newstalk.
We're going to start by talkingabout weight loss drugs today,
because you would have seen thenews that, while Ozempic has
been available here for sometime, wegovy is on the way,
alongside what's the other onethat's on its way, monjaro, the
other, so basically the kind ofthe suite of weight loss drugs,
(00:25):
these famous weight loss drugsthat have been available in
other countries, going to beavailable to Irish patients and
consumers.
With me to talk about what lifeis like on them, how
transformative or otherwise theycan be, is Belinda Hogan, from
GLP1 Insights and Instagram,co-host of the Dose with Paddy
and Belinda.
The Paddy in the title is PaddyCunningham and he is with me as
(00:47):
well.
You're both very, very welcome.
Belinda, can I start with you?
When did your journey withOzempic start?
I think that was where youstarted.
Was it with that drug?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's correct.
Thanks for having me on Ciarán.
So I would have started onOzempic two and a half years ago
now and I would have started onMonjaro about a year ago, I
think now.
So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So two and a half years ago.
I'm trying to remember when westarted talking about it on this
show.
I'd wager you must be one ofthe first people in the country
on it, were you.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I was around about that.
Yeah, I would be one of thelongest standing people on it
for like weight loss.
Obviously, Ozempic was broughtin as a diabetic drug so, yeah,
I started taking it as a weightloss medication.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So how did that happen?
How did you get access to it orget onto it as a weight loss
medication?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so I.
First I read about it in thenewspaper.
An article had come out andthen I went to my doctor and
asked him would he prescribe itfor me?
He declined and then I wentonline and made it my business
to find it through an onlineprescribing doctor.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And were you nervous at all about getting it through
a doctor online?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No, I wasn't nervous about getting it from online.
I wasn't nervous about takingit.
I think I was so low at thattime.
I would have taken anything.
Well, not anything, but youknow, I would have tried
anything.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
So tell me about what it's been like then, the last
two and a half years, and howdifferent life is today.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah.
So I would have lived with thedisease of obesity for 30 years
and I would have spent decadesin the cycle of dieting, gaining
weight back and then relapsingover and over again.
And then, when I started takingOzempic, what would have
happened was I would have takenthe medication.
I would have went about my day,my week, my month and slowly,
(02:42):
slowly, slowly, things startedto change for me.
I felt that the food noise thatI had heard for 30 years in the
back of my brain was switchedoff.
That happened really quicklyfor me.
And then my sense of hunger,which I had I had a ferocious
hunger for my whole life thatjust disappeared, like literally
(03:04):
just disappeared.
It was like.
I know people say it's amiracle drug and I don't like to
refer to it as a miracle drug,but some things that happen to
you while you're on thismedication feels like a miracle
to you and so that kind of thatyearning for food or that hunger
, that switch, that gets turnedoff.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I mean, I'm trying to understand does it ever get
turned on?
Can you get kind ofparticularly hungry and still
kind of have a craving for food?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Not cravings.
No, that's all switched off and.
I'll say as well, like whenthat does switch off, you do go
through a small period ofmourning because you, you know,
some people would have binged,some people would have used food
for comfort, and then that'sgone, that's gone, and you have
to turn and look inwards and see, you know, do a little bit work
(03:54):
as well, and what am I going todo with that?
And fortunately I turned toPilates, the gym, swimming, you
know.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And does food as a kind of as a source of pleasure.
What does it mean to you today?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I still enjoy my food , but I enjoy very small
portions.
I now eat without guilt.
Ciarán, if I was to say,something that I would never,
ever have eaten would have beencheesecake, because I would have
really, really torn myself downand had that awful rhetoric in
(04:32):
my mind that you shouldn't haveeaten that and you're going to
have to walk this much to get itoff and how many calories are
in it.
I can sit down now and enjoythat food and push the plate
away when I'm full and that'sthe end of it.
I don't think about it againand I know there's millions of
people out there that can relateto that, as well, one listener
here is after getting in touch.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
I was morbidly obese in 2022 and I found out I was
diabetic.
The doctor prescribed meOzempic.
I've lost 13 and a half stonessince, complete life changer,
able to regularly exercise now,and I'm a million times
healthier.
So that's kind of one person'sexperience, shared in the text.
I mentioned Paddy Cunningham,your co-host on the Dose podcast
(05:13):
, the Dose with Paddy andBelinda.
Paddy, when did your journeywith the weight loss medication
start?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, cheers, ciarán, thanks for having me on.
So mine with the medicationstarted.
I started exploring it May oflast year, so I'd kind of
reached a point, I guess,similar to Belinda and a lot of
people that have lived withoverweight and obesity for their
life, of kind of constantdieting, trying to lose weight,
constant relapses, like I evenwent to the extent of in 2010,
(05:41):
2011, took part in a reality TVshow called the Biggest Loser
and lost six and a half stone.
After that, I went andqualified as a personal trainer,
worked as a personal trainermyself for two years and during
that period I could still feelmy weight coming back on.
And, of course, then I was likeGod, I'm doing the things I
know I should be doing, I'mtrying my best at this and I'm
still failing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I'm really, really failing at this.
In hindsight, why were youfailing?
Why was it going back up?
You were just eating too much,were you?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, I mean, if you want to bring it down to the
very basics, obviously that'swhat it'll come down to.
But I think the root cause thatwe now know thankfully because
the world of medicine andscience has progressed is that
it is down to your biology.
It is that it is down to thisinert difference in your body
that is driving you to tell youyou are not full, that you want
(06:28):
food, that you're constantlythinking about food.
So, like, the way that I kindof think about it now with
medication is that it's kind ofmy stabilizers that takes away
that food distraction so that itallows me to focus on my
movement, on my nutrition, on mykind of mental well-being as
well.
But where can?
I got to last year, like overthe years I regained all the six
(06:49):
and a half stone that I'd lostwhen I was on the TV show and
kind of got to a really badplace because I was beating
myself up about that, about I'mthe person that's meant to know
better, I'm the person that's aqualified personal trainer.
Like how have I failed at this?
And last year I reached myheaviest weight that I had been
ever in my life just over 24stone and I remember looking at
(07:10):
a photo of myself and justthinking, oh my God, how have I
got back to this point?
I thought I had dealt with allthis years ago.
So I started looking, thinkingthat bariatric surgery was going
to have to be the route that Iwould take, and I had started
investigating it and kind of Ihad almost prepared myself for
how invasive and how difficult aroad that is.
But I was like this is what Ithink it's going to take,
because when I looked at theimpact of longevity based on my
(07:33):
BMI which I know is a flawedmeasure, but it's what the
health system uses at the momentit was telling me that my you
know, my life expectancy wasgoing to be 10 to 12 years less
because of my weight.
And I was like I've lived thepast 30 odd years trying to
control my weight, or 20 oddyears, and it was during that.
Then I kind of learned moreabout Ozempic and at that stage
I kind of thought, oh, that'sjust for Hollywood, that's not
for Paddy down in Sligo.
(07:54):
But I started learning moreabout it in terms of actually
wait, this is a feasible type ofroute to investigate.
And then I found out aboutMunjarro.
So Munjarro, at that stage wasonly out in the UK about two
months and when I went to my ownpharmacy to get it they're like
you're actually our firstpatient ever to get this.
Now I say my own pharmacy.
I had to go up the north to getthis.
(08:15):
I'm very lucky where I livethat I'm very near the border,
so I was able to get aprescription down south and
bring that up the north from thepharmacy to get it dispensed up
there, because it was just anormal medication in the north
and in the UK and it has beenfor nearly the past year.
So I started the medication inJune of last year.
So in just over seven monthsI'm down almost seven stone now
(08:37):
and the thing that is reallyimportant to highlight with that
is that I'm not going to givethe medication all the credit
for that.
I have been working my ass offliterally in the gym like three
to four times a week since dayone, focusing on the nutrition,
focusing on that mentalwell-being, and that's, you know
, the side of the story that'sreally important for me to tell,
on my social media as well,that it's not just this skinny
(08:59):
jab, that it is a you need toput in so much effort.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And it's not.
It is not, under anycircumstances, a quick fix like.
Paddy just said.
I want to reiterate that I'vespent the past two years
watching what I'm eating, makingbetter choices, going to the
gym, going swimming, goingwalking.
But the thing that thismedication will do for you it
will give you the space in yourbrain to make better choices.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And what?
Because you kind of touched onit there to a degree, paddy.
But what do you say to thosepeople?
And you won't be surprised tohear they're texting in.
You know, listen, this isn't adisease, it's just kind of
gluttony or whatever, and thisis kind of the lazy way out.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And I think, look, I can understand again, as someone
that's qualified personaltrainer, I guess I can
understand why people have thatmindset.
But the reason people now havethat mindset is there's enough
information out there to provethem that they're wrong and for
them to be better educated andto do better and to be a better
member of society and friend andfamily member to those around
them that are living withobesity that if they were to go
(09:59):
and research it, they willquickly find out that that is
not the truth and that they willfind out, in the same way that
we no longer drill holes inpeople's heads, we no longer
tell people that you shouldavoid eggs holes in people's
heads, we no longer tell peoplethat you should avoid eggs.
You know this kind of thing wewill reach a point where finally
, people will realise actually,do you know what?
This is a chronic disease weunderstand that we are reaching.
We have some people like DundalShea, like McCruddy, like other
(10:20):
people like that, that are outthere pushing this narrative and
advocating for betterunderstanding within society.
But that needs to come with theunderstanding, as we say as
well, that society needs tounderstand that this isn't a
quick fix, that you just jab andgo.
And, equally, this is not amedication for people that, oh,
you come back from holidays andyou've overdone it on the buffet
and you come back a stoneheavier.
(10:41):
So I'll just get the pen andI'll be grand.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Well, yeah, actually on that kind of Belinda, who are
the people this isn't for, ifthat makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Well, I'm not a medical doctor.
I can't say who should andshouldn't be taking this
medication, but I do think thepeople that should be, it should
be made available to, arepeople with the disease of
obesity.
You know, and the thing is aswell, like myself and Paddy,
we're kind of making it ourmission to change the
(11:11):
conversation around GLP-1medications, you know, and it
isn't about vanity, it's abouthealth, longevity, and it's
about breaking free from asystem that's failed people like
us, year after year, decadeafter decade, you know.
So I'm not going to comment onwho shouldn't be taking this
medication.
Ciarán.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
What about side effects?
Did you have any side effects,Belinda?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I did back in the very start.
I did because I took Ozempicfirst.
Now the side effects of Ozempicare a little harsher than they
would be for Mongero.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Okay, Paddy did you have any?
Speaker 1 (11:48):
side effects.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Minimal, Minimal.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Ciarán Like.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I've been very lucky and like, even like my reviews
with the doctor andendocrinologist and that they
were kind of a bit surprisedthat, god, you've had minimal
side effects, like I mean, mostpeople, and this is where, when
people tend to go online, theywill find worst case scenario
about what the side effects are.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You're going to hear a horror story, but that's
because they're the sense it's.
They're sensationalized, aren'tthey?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
yeah, and there's there's a lot of scaremongering
goes on out there but in realityfor people that are on glp1
medications, most may have mildto moderate side effects, like
for myself back in when Istarted it the first weekend, I
felt freezing cold to know.
So that was grand.
I just went to the sauna andyou know I was happy out there,
out at the beach.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
But apart from that Changing from Osempic, sorry.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Go on.
Belinda For the most part, no,I've had minimal side effects,
Belinda.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Changing from Osempic to Monjaro was absolutely
seamless as well.
No side effects and no nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Paddy, listen Belinda's right.
I mean you shouldn't be givingout medical advice to people on
the radio.
But I guess what I was gettingat is this idea that and you
talked about it as the Hollywooddrug as well, like you were
what 24 stone Is that what yousaid last year when you looked
into this about people inHollywood who maybe weigh 13 or
(13:10):
14 stone or 12 or 13 stone,taking these types of taking
these jabs, so that they can getdown to kind of single figures,
high single figures, and maybecloser to the 10 stone mark.
And I just I'd kind of, I'djust be wary about kind of the
message people get from thosetypes of celebrities.
(13:32):
Of course, yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Absolutely, and I think this is where it is so
important that there isresponsible prescribing both in,
you know, gp, in doctorsurgeries and in pharmacies, and
in online prescribers orwhatever.
That bit is so important.
But the other thing as well isthat we need to make sure in
terms of the enforcement of,like the black market, because
that's another way that peopleare potentially looking to
(13:55):
access.
We had the RT Investigate showback in December that
highlighted, you know, so muchthat was going on on our own
doorstep in relation to theblack market of these drugs,
where people are literallytaking prescribed medication and
taking so many chances with,like you know, under-accounted
drugs from salons and placeslike that, which is so dangerous
.
But I think it comes back tothat responsible prescribing
(14:16):
that's so important for thesemedications.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Well, listen the other big issue as well is like
healthcare versus wealth care.
At the moment, the price pointfor these medications coming out
in Ireland are unobtainable formost people, completely
unobtainable.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well listen, the dose is the name of the podcast, the
dose with Paddy and Belinda.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Can I just say one last thing, Ciarán?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, just for the listeners out there, just if you
are listening and you feel likeyou've tried absolutely
everything, like your body hasbeen working against you your
whole life.
Nobody is alone.
That medication is out there.
You need to go to your doctorand you need to advocate for
yourself if you feel that that'sthe only way out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Belinda Hogan.
Paddy Cunningham, co-host ofthe Dose with Paddy and Belinda.
Thank you both very much.
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