These are valid concerns and worth discussing openly with your care team. A few things to consider:
We don't frame insulin for T1D or SSRIs for depression as "dependency" — we frame them as treating chronic conditions. Obesity has a strong genetic and neurobiological basis, and framing pharmacotherapy as long-term management rather than a temporary fix is more consistent with the science.
That said, the pragmatic concerns about access and cost are very real and not trivial. The hope is that as generics and more competitors enter the market, access will improve. The FDA is also considering pathway guidance for GLP-1 RA biosimilars, which should eventually bring costs down significantly.
As for adolescent-specific concerns: there IS emerging data suggesting that treating obesity during adolescence may be more effective long-term than treating it in adulthood, because you're intervening before decades of adipocyte hyperplasia and metabolic set-point entrenchment. Whether that translates to better sustained outcomes post-discontinuation is an open research question.
One practical thing — if your son does start, have a conversation with his school. We didn't initially and my daughter's teacher flagged a concern when she stopped eating lunch. The school nurse thought she had an eating disorder. We had to get her endo to write a letter explaining the medication and its appetite effects.
Also, some football programs do weight checks and have rules about rapid weight loss. His coach should be in the loop so nobody panics.
honestly the thing that tipped the scales for us (no pun intended) was the mental health component. Our son was 14, severely obese, and had started saying things like "I don't want to be here anymore." His psychiatrist actually recommended we pursue GLP-1 treatment because the psychological damage of untreated obesity in adolescence was, in her words, "the more immediate and measurable risk."
He's been on sema for 10 months now. Down 41lbs. Still in therapy. But he's a different kid. He made the basketball team. He has friends. He doesn't hate himself anymore.
Sometimes the right decision doesn't feel safe. But not deciding is also a decision.
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View ResultsOP here. Thank you all so much. I've read every response multiple times. We have a follow-up with his endo next week and I think we're going to move forward. The point about the psychological harm of doing nothing really hit home — my son has said similar things and it breaks my heart.
I'll keep this forum updated on how it goes. Appreciate this community more than you know.