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Tell me about Ozempic (Wegovy, etc)


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Saw some discussion of this in the weight loss thread but I didn't want to take over the discussion over there and figured these meds deserve their own thread.

One question I have is if there's a minimum amount someone has to be overweight to get prescribed this stuff.

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45 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

Saw some discussion of this in the weight loss thread but I didn't want to take over the discussion over there and figured these meds deserve their own thread.

One question I have is if there's a minimum amount someone has to be overweight to get prescribed this stuff.

You don't even have to go to a real doctor to get this stuff. I have a friend who owns a franchised non-opiate "medical" clinic-- they shoot people with this stuff (semiglutide I think it's called) on a walk-in basis.

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18 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

You don't even have to go to a real doctor to get this stuff. I have a friend who owns a franchised non-opiate "medical" clinic-- they shoot people with this stuff (semiglutide I think it's called) on a walk-in basis.

I bet business is booming

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7 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

1) you have to have it prescribed

2) you need a bmi of over 30

3)most (or all?) insurance won’t cover it for weight loss, only diabetes treatment (could change with further studies)

4) it’s like $900 a month without insurance

#3 is the only thing I think is absolutely true. The other three might be true in your experience, but I think it's more gray area now. Here is my buddy's clinic language that is broad enough that they basically give it to 10 out of 10 people who want it.

It is a cash-only / non-insurance thing, and it's not even close to $900/month.

Quote

Weight loss with Semaglutide can be an effective option for many individuals. It’s typically recommended for adults who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, which is considered obese. It may also be a good option for adults with a BMI of 27 or higher, which is considered overweight, if they also have at least one weight-related health issue, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or type 2 diabetes.

 

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It’s definitely magic.  A friend is/was pre diabetic and got on it a month ago.  Down 20#.  Said you gotta literally set a reminder to eat.  Appetite totally gone. 
Gotta meal plan to make sure you get enough protein and veggies and everything.  He said electolytes need to be a focus too?

He also thinks if you don’t do the meal planning thing it could be dangerous.  You’ll literally starve to death.

The “no doctor walk in clinic” thing scares me.  Seems we’ve had problems with those before?

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53 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

You don't even have to go to a real doctor to get this stuff. I have a friend who owns a franchised non-opiate "medical" clinic-- they shoot people with this stuff (semiglutide I think it's called) on a walk-in basis.

are they shooting folks up with those chinese peptides?

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Posted (edited)

The thing about this stuff is that it only works as long as you take it. So you shoot it up, get to your target weight, and then you get on a maintenance dose forever.

As soon as you stop taking it, for most people and like most things in life that are being managed by a prescription only with no lifestyle or habit change (or healing), people go right back to being obese.

Reminds me of the lyrics of that one song:

Quote

Run into these type chicks NOTHING is up
Shorty lost her sponsor that was cuffin' her up
I'm like hot damn ho here we go again
Your [man] cut you off, broke scenario again
No more Felipe, you eating cereal again
No more lipo, you big as Terio again

 

Edited by BeardIP
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7 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I'm a little suspect of a place offering a hard to get, extremely popular now medication at a walk in clinic for way less than other places. Something doesn't add up there.

They are compounding the primary medication (semiglutide) with other chems to make an equivalent to the name brand version.  Results vary - I have several friends who have gone this route and are perfectly happy.  I'm visiting another in the hospital today - she's been there a month now and this shit almost killed her.

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I know ~50% of the moms on my street have gotten back to their marriage weight in the last 6-9 months.  And I’ve been told it’s between $750 and $950 a month.   I expect another flood of babies on the street in the next year. 

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1 hour ago, Parliament said:

You Millennials are soft.  When I was fat I fixed it with cocaine and cigarettes.

A line doesn’t sound too bad. 
 

 

Only thing I can tell you about it is that every time that fucking commercial comes on, I want to punch the tv. 

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1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I'm a little suspect of a place offering a hard to get, extremely popular now medication at a walk in clinic for way less than other places. Something doesn't add up there.

season 4 doctor GIF

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Parliament said:

 

He also thinks if you don’t do the meal planning thing it could be dangerous.  You’ll literally starve to death.

That sounds a little dramatic. I was hungry less often, but I don’t think I would have stopped eating

 

I got mine through low T center. BMI was 30. Costs me 200 insurance not covering for what would normally be a month, but first few weeks are at lower dose so it was 6-7 weeks.  Started ~2/10/24
 

I had some diarrhea and some pretty rough heartburn but they both went away. I was planning on doing a second vial (one more month) but I lost a solid 10 lbs during that time and so far my eating habits have remained good and I’m down almost another 5. 
 

Would recommend 5/5

eta - now I just need to find a way to convince my wife to start taking it  with it appearing it was solely her desire and I didn’t care either way. 

Edited by UT_OB1
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That sounds a little dramatic. I was hungry less often, but I don’t think I would have stopped eating

He might be overplaying it.  But good on him for following a regime.

Quote

 now I just need to find a way to convince my wife to start taking it  with it appearing it was solely her desire and I didn’t care either way. 

Make sure she sees all the neighborhood Karens checking out the new, buff UT_O81.  She has competition now, and needs to up her game.

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4 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

I know ~50% of the moms on my street have gotten back to their marriage weight in the last 6-9 months.  And I’ve been told it’s between $750 and $950 a month.   I expect another flood of babies on the street in the next year. 

Username checks out.

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15 minutes ago, Slacks said:

Username checks out.

I’m telling you, these 35-45 women aren’t playing around here.  Haven’t see anything crazy, but lots of them in the 25-40# loss.   Should have bought me some NVO a year ago.  

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Posted (edited)

I'll try to give the short version from the weight loss thread.  Back in 2019, after having surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon, I ballooned up to 249 lbs.  Once my arm healed, I got back to working out and trying to eat more healthily, but couldn't get it kick-started.  I got a prescription from my doc for Ozempic (covered by insurance) and within no time, dropped 20 lbs.  From there, I stagnated for the next year.  You just get used to it.  After a year, we upped the dosage from 0.5 ml to 1.0 ml.  Over the next three months, I lost a couple of pounds, but no major changes other than even more heartburn/GERD.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I developed intractable hiccups.  I'm talking, hiccups for three hours (bad hiccups), which would abate for an hour and start again.  I was prescribed Thorazine, which did nothing to abate the hiccups and made me feel awful.  I stopped that after a day or so.  My doc said to discontinue Ozempic, but because it stays with you for a week or so, the hiccups continued.  After about 5 days of it, I stumbled onto a Reddit where the OP said he had this problem and resolved it (after an ER visit) by taking a probiotic (Lactobacillus).  Desperate, I picked some up, took two, and another two before I went to sleep, and it worked.  I had maybe one more bout of hiccups, which abated quickly.  I've been taking about 4 Billion cultures of Lactobacillus daily since then. 

 

I worried about coming off Ozempic and putting the weight back on as most people do.  I got very serious about my diet (during the week) and, over the next four months, I dropped another 30 lbs and have leveled out at just above/below the 200 lbs mark.  Honestly, I'd like to lose a little more, but I'm not taking Ozempic ever again.  Intractable hiccups was quite convincing on that score.

 

As with any medication, YMMV

 

Edit to add that my non-medical opinion is that because Ozempic causes the amount of time food spends in your stomach to increase, over time, your gut flora/fauna gets pretty wrecked and a daily probiotic would be a good idea. 

Edited by dcbc
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17 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I'll try to give the short version from the weight loss thread.  Back in 2019, after having surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon, I ballooned up to 249 lbs.  Once my arm healed, I got back to working out and trying to eat more healthily, but couldn't get it kick-started.  I got a prescription from my doc for Ozempic (covered by insurance) and within no time, dropped 20 lbs.  From there, I stagnated for the next year.  You just get used to it.  After a year, we upped the dosage from 0.5 ml to 1.0 ml.  Over the next three months, I lost a couple of pounds, but no major changes other than even more heartburn/GERD.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I developed intractable hiccups.  I'm talking, hiccups for three hours (bad hiccups), which would abate for an hour and start again.  I was prescribed Thorazine, which did nothing to abate the hiccups and made me feel awful.  I stopped that after a day or so.  My doc said to discontinue Ozempic, but because it stays with you for a week or so, the hiccups continued.  After about 5 days of it, I stumbled onto a Reddit where the OP said he had this problem and resolved it (after an ER visit) by taking a probiotic (Lactobacillus).  Desperate, I picked some up, took two, and another two before I went to sleep, and it worked.  I had maybe one more bout of hiccups, which abated quickly.  I've been taking about 4 Billion cultures of Lactobacillus daily since then. 

 

I worried about coming off Ozempic and putting the weight back on as most people do.  I got very serious about my diet (during the week) and, over the next four months, I dropped another 30 lbs and have leveled out at just above/below the 200 lbs mark.  Honestly, I'd like to lose a little more, but I'm not taking Ozempic ever again.  Intractable hiccups was quite convincing on that score.

 

As with any medication, YMMV

 

Edit to add that my non-medical opinion is that because Ozempic causes the amount of time food spends in your stomach to increase, over time, your gut flora/fauna gets pretty wrecked and a daily probiotic would be a good idea. 

Like most things, there is a segment of the population that will have weird and negative side effects. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos by those 10% who get bad gastro issues, bad results, immune responses, etc. but for 90% (it seems, made up numbers) it seems safe and easy button.

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Posted (edited)
56 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I'll try to give the short version from the weight loss thread.  Back in 2019, after having surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon, I ballooned up to 249 lbs.  Once my arm healed, I got back to working out and trying to eat more healthily, but couldn't get it kick-started.  I got a prescription from my doc for Ozempic (covered by insurance) and within no time, dropped 20 lbs.  From there, I stagnated for the next year.  You just get used to it.  After a year, we upped the dosage from 0.5 ml to 1.0 ml.  Over the next three months, I lost a couple of pounds, but no major changes other than even more heartburn/GERD.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I developed intractable hiccups.  I'm talking, hiccups for three hours (bad hiccups), which would abate for an hour and start again.  I was prescribed Thorazine, which did nothing to abate the hiccups and made me feel awful.  I stopped that after a day or so.  My doc said to discontinue Ozempic, but because it stays with you for a week or so, the hiccups continued.  After about 5 days of it, I stumbled onto a Reddit where the OP said he had this problem and resolved it (after an ER visit) by taking a probiotic (Lactobacillus).  Desperate, I picked some up, took two, and another two before I went to sleep, and it worked.  I had maybe one more bout of hiccups, which abated quickly.  I've been taking about 4 Billion cultures of Lactobacillus daily since then. 

 

I worried about coming off Ozempic and putting the weight back on as most people do.  I got very serious about my diet (during the week) and, over the next four months, I dropped another 30 lbs and have leveled out at just above/below the 200 lbs mark.  Honestly, I'd like to lose a little more, but I'm not taking Ozempic ever again.  Intractable hiccups was quite convincing on that score.

 

As with any medication, YMMV

 

Edit to add that my non-medical opinion is that because Ozempic causes the amount of time food spends in your stomach to increase, over time, your gut flora/fauna gets pretty wrecked and a daily probiotic would be a good idea. 

I'm no doctor, but I do believe that, as another side effect, it's possible you might commit murder a few years down the road.

Link:  Hiccup Girl Jennifer Mee found guilty of first degree murder

Quote

Some jurors cried as the verdict was read, but all 12 agreed on one thing Friday: Jennifer Mee, once known as the "Hiccup Girl," is guilty of first-degree murder.

. . .

Mee's notoriety began at age 15 when she had a case of hiccups that lasted weeks. In 2010, she was arrested along with two roommates and accused of murdering Griffin, 22, in St. Petersburg.

 

Edited by South Austin
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On 4/1/2024 at 11:38 AM, Mittens said:

Getting a prescription isn't the hard part - finding a pharmacy that has Wegovy in stock is the real issue.  

I don't stock it because of audit risk and insurance underpayment

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Posted (edited)

i've been on semaglutide for almost a year and have lost 25 pounds. initially, my biggest issue was constipation. i am very regular and always had a BM in the morning. at first i would go 2-3 days wihtout a bowel movement which sucked. i've since gone back to being regular. i pay $180 for a refill that lasts about 10 weeks

my a1c numbers went from 5.7 to 5.2 within 3 months, and sugar levels from 126 to 73. my blood pressure is now 120/80.

for me it's been great, but i don't plan on being on it for much longer. i'd like to be able to eat more than a handful of food once in a while. it sucks smoking a bad ass brisket only to be able to eat one small slice

Edited by El Tri
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2 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

I don't stock it because of audit risk and insurance underpayment

my guess at your meaning:

Audit risk = State checks your sales vs. prescriptions or alternatively some check of medicines that are prescribed vs diagnosis.  If so, what is your pharmacy's liability?

Insurance underpayment = Insurance co decides not to pay?  I thought the pharmacy already has verified benefits with the insurance co before the prescription is filled.  Again, if that is the case, what is your pharmacy's risk?

I don't know anything about either situation, but it just surprised me to see your comment.

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3 hours ago, El Tri said:

i've been on semaglutide for almost a year and have lost 25 pounds. initially, my biggest issue was constipation. i am very regular and always had a BM in the morning. at first i would go 2-3 days wihtout a bowel movement which sucked. i've since gone back to being regular. i pay $180 for a refill that lasts about 10 weeks

my a1c numbers went from 5.7 to 5.2 within 3 months, and sugar levels from 126 to 73. my blood pressure is now 120/80.

for me it's been great, but i don't plan on being on it for much longer. i'd like to be able to eat more than a handful of food once in a while. it sucks smoking a bad ass brisket only to be able to eat one small slice

Where do you get the semaglutide from?

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On 4/1/2024 at 11:44 AM, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I'm a little suspect of a place offering a hard to get, extremely popular now medication at a walk in clinic for way less than other places. Something doesn't add up there.

Very likely also patent infringement and pharma doesn't tend to fuck around with that.  The FDA might have some questions, as well. 

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10 hours ago, BeardIP said:

Like most things, there is a segment of the population that will have weird and negative side effects. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos by those 10% who get bad gastro issues, bad results, immune responses, etc. but for 90% (it seems, made up numbers) it seems safe and easy button.

How is your taint?   Any chapping or bleeding?

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7 hours ago, orange dream said:

my guess at your meaning:

Audit risk = State checks your sales vs. prescriptions or alternatively some check of medicines that are prescribed vs diagnosis.  If so, what is your pharmacy's liability?

Insurance underpayment = Insurance co decides not to pay?  I thought the pharmacy already has verified benefits with the insurance co before the prescription is filled.  Again, if that is the case, what is your pharmacy's risk?

I don't know anything about either situation, but it just surprised me to see your comment.

Audit risk is insurance recouping the claim because it wasn't filled for a correct diagnosis. This is why we have to document an ICD 10 code on these orders, otherwise we can't prove it's for diabetes and the claim is pulled. Some insurance companies only allow us to bill for 30 days so what am I supposed to do when the dr writes for a box that lasts 56 days? I can break the box and dispense fewer pens but I'll never dispense the other pens so I'm stuck with $800 of inventory I can't move.

Insurance will only pay us AWP minus a certain percentage. It's all predetermined via third party contracts so I have to find the drugs at the cheapest possible price. What happens if the cheapest I can find is $1000 but they only pay $750 because that's the lowest price they can find on the secondary market? I'm out $250. You're not allowed to ask the insurance where they got the $750 figure from. It's proprietary information. 

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I live in a small town and nearly every one I know and interact with have used it or are currently using it.  You can certainly tell the difference at the little league games...

I actually was on it for about 2 months and lost 15 pounds and stopped taking it.  Didn't really need to lose much weight, but the weight I was was losing felt like muscle mass so I quit taking it.  Also it's supposed to reduce cravings, including alcohol cravings, but for me that didn't work very well.  Very easy to get, just a phone consultation and then a zoom meeting and then the shit showed up on my doorstep about a week later.

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14 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

Audit risk is insurance recouping the claim because it wasn't filled for a correct diagnosis. This is why we have to document an ICD 10 code on these orders, otherwise we can't prove it's for diabetes and the claim is pulled. Some insurance companies only allow us to bill for 30 days so what am I supposed to do when the dr writes for a box that lasts 56 days? I can break the box and dispense fewer pens but I'll never dispense the other pens so I'm stuck with $800 of inventory I can't move.

Insurance will only pay us AWP minus a certain percentage. It's all predetermined via third party contracts so I have to find the drugs at the cheapest possible price. What happens if the cheapest I can find is $1000 but they only pay $750 because that's the lowest price they can find on the secondary market? I'm out $250. You're not allowed to ask the insurance where they got the $750 figure from. It's proprietary information. 

sounds like the insurance system needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up

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There’s definitely some mental aspect to this too.

Everyone I know that is taking it currently has some major mood swings and having erratic behavior. It’s to the point where some people we keep at an arms length away because the behavior is so unpredictable and not worth the headaches.

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There’s definitely some mental aspect to this too.

Everyone I know that is taking it currently has some major mood swings and having erratic behavior. It’s to the point where some people we keep at an arms length away because the behavior is so unpredictable and not worth the headaches.

Were they already unpleasant to be around at times beforehand? I have a theory that it’s a lot like the supposed “roid rage” that some people believe in (much like the Easter bunny, it’s not real). They don’t make you something you’re not, but they can absolute amplify pre-existing behaviors/characteristics.
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1 hour ago, Grimas said:

I saw an article the other day that Costco will be selling doses of their semiglutide mix via their telemed service for ~$180 a dose. (can't find the link now)

the $180 is for a  3-month "plan" that covers the doctor virtual sessions. 

The cost of medication is not included in the $179 three-month plan, and Sesame warned on its website that without insurance, GLP-1s can cost between $950 and $1,600 per month.

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