Mounjaro/Ozempic/Wegovy Thread

[volinbham]

Anyone using one of these diabetes/weight loss drugs?

I started Mounjaro 9 weeks ago and it's pretty amazing how it works for diabetes (Type 2) and weight loss. That said, the side effects can be unpleasant. Just had my dose upped and it knocked me on my a$$ for 3 days; moving back down to previous dose. Have lost between 15-20 lbs (about 2/week).

 

[VolNExile]

Anyone using one of these diabetes/weight loss drugs?

I started Mounjaro 9 weeks ago and it's pretty amazing how it works for diabetes (Type 2) and weight loss. That said, the side effects can be unpleasant. Just had my dose upped and it knocked me on my a$$ for 3 days; moving back down to previous dose. Have lost between 15-20 lbs (about 2/week).

I’ve read a lot about problems that patients have had getting insurance approval/ discounts for these, trying to classify them as primarily “vanity drugs” (weight loss.) Are you having to go out-of-pocket? And how are your glucose/ HgbA1C levels doing? Do you feel that it’s worth it so far?

Feel free to tell me to mind my own business. lol

 

[Pennheel]

I took Ozempic for about a month ,and it was a horrible experience for me. I could literally look at food and get nauseated to no end. I could only eat a few bites a day and had to force myself to eat anything without my sugar bottoming out due to feeling too nauseous to eat anything. It felt like I had a gastric bypass,and was on portion control. Never could get over the side effects so I had to call it quits. Yeah,I lost some weight,but anyone will lose weight if you don't eat anything and feel sick when you try to eat.

I hope that yours works out for you ..
@volinbham

 

[butchna]

Been taking Ozempic for a year. Helped me drop my A1C to almost normal levels and I’ve lost a reasonable amount of weight. No side effects that I would consider negative. I don’t expect to be on it this time next year.

 

[VolNExile]

Been taking Ozempic for a year. Helped me drop my A1C to almost normal levels and I’ve lost a reasonable amount of weight. No side effects that I would consider negative. I don’t expect to be on it this time next year.

Nice to read about the a1c drop!

It’s really maddening to me that insurance companies focus on immediate cost to them, while ignoring the much greater down-the-road costs to them from diabetes - )amputations, blindness, kidney disease and failure (—> dialysis, kidney transplants, etc.

 

[volinbham]

I’ve read a lot about problems that patients have had getting insurance approval/ discounts for these, trying to classify them as primarily “vanity drugs” (weight loss.) Are you having to go out-of-pocket? And how are your glucose/ HgbA1C levels doing? Do you feel that it’s worth it so far?

Feel free to tell me to mind my own business. lol

covered as diabetes treatment so ridiculously inexpensive for my insurance (25 bucks/mo)

haven't checked A1C yet - was in the 6s with Metformin so under control already. my fasting blood sugar was always high but now in the 90s so it's definitely helped

how much of that is the drug impact on blood sugar vs how much is due to weight loss I can't say but all my diabetes #s are good. I've been officially Type 2 for a little over a year after years of pre diabetes. The Metformin got me under control but did nothing to help me lose weight.

this stuff works but causes some nausea, some constipation, some fatigue. I'm halfway to my weight goal and then I'll try to stop using it

 

[volinbham]

Nice to read about the a1c drop!

It’s really maddening to me that insurance companies focus on immediate cost to them, while ignoring the much greater down-the-road costs to them from diabetes - )amputations, blindness, kidney disease and failure (—> dialysis, kidney transplants, etc.

well only Wegovy is FDA approved for weight loss - most of what i see is people who aren't diabetic wanting these drugs covered.

but I agree that insurance should cover this if you are diabetic

 

[volinbham]

I took Ozempic for about a month ,and it was a horrible experience for me. I could literally look at food and get nauseated to no end. I could only eat a few bites a day and had to force myself to eat anything without my sugar bottoming out due to feeling too nauseous to eat anything. It felt like I had a gastric bypass,and was on portion control. Never could get over the side effects so I had to call it quits. Yeah,I lost some weight,but anyone will lose weight if you don't eat anything and feel sick when you try to eat.

I hope that yours works out for you ..
@volinbham

my last dosage increase was similar to this - had to force myself to eat. dropping back a level but was never as bad as you had it. have seen in forums that people who had trouble with Ozempic did better with Mounjaro

it is crazy how it does portion control though - I stop eating way before i used to.

 

[VolNExile]

well only Wegovy is FDA approved for weight loss - most of what i see is people who aren't diabetic wanting these drugs covered.

but I agree that insurance should cover this if you are diabetic

After you jogged my memory, I think I’ve seen news about pre-diabetics being denied Ozempic by their insurance companies, bc they wanted to lose weight to avoid getting a DM diagnosis.

 

[kiddiedoc]

One of my best friends is a weight loss surgeon and an expert on these meds. If any of y'all have specific questions, I can ask him over the football weekend while we are hanging out.

 

[hog88]

One of my wife's friends started Wygovy a little over a year ago, don't know how much weight she's lost but it's pretty substantial. She says she started taking it she's had no desire to drink or smoke and she used to like her booze and cigs.

 

[volinbham]

One of my wife's friends started Wygovy a little over a year ago, don't know how much weight she's lost but it's pretty substantial. She says she started taking it she's had no desire to drink or smoke and she used to like her booze and cigs.

In my experience it kills consumption desire - definitely drinking much less both in frequency and quantity. It all adds to the weight loss.

Two non-diabetic friends of mine on Mounjaro are both down at least 50 lbs.

 

[volinbham]

one of the downsides for me is that it isn't encouraging healthy eating. because you are often only vaguely hungry I'm not motivated to move to more fruits and vegetables. that said I've definitely reduced my bread/potato intake because they fill you up so quickly.

I'm using it as a jumpstart and going to try to ease off it to a healthier eating regime. At this point I'm halfway to my weight loss goal. I've been running about 2 pounds/week and would be fine with that slowing to 1/week until I hit goal.

 

[volinbham]

One of my best friends is a weight loss surgeon and an expert on these meds. If any of y'all have specific questions, I can ask him over the football weekend while we are hanging out.

Thanks for the offer. I'd be interested in any strategies to transition off (Mounjaro) without gaining the weight back. Or if there are maintenance dosing strategies (ie, low dose, longer intervals, intermittent use, etc)

 

[Sudden Impact]

I have been on the drug as has my wife. Get a Colonoscopy and check/monitor the results.

 

[chatsworth_vol]

I've just taken my 8th dose of mounjaro last night. I'm on the 2.5mg dose. My doctor tried to get me approved for ozempic/wegovie back when I was only pre-diabetic. My insurance refused to cover wegovie, and would only cover ozempic if I was actually diabetic. I got diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic back in August and Dr wanted to put me on the mounjaro. It took almost a month to get the insurance to approve it. I'd already changed my diet and started trying to lose weight back in May when I was 471#. After that change and being on mounjaro for 8 weeks I'm down to 410#. Like some of yall have already said, I don't eat as much. I feel full a lot quicker, and feel that way longer. I've just been trying to eat more balanced than before. I felt nausea a couple days after my first dose but beyond that I've had no issues. I've been told that it might change when my dose goes up to 5mg next week. I'm supposed to get my a1c rechecked in December to see how it looks.

 

[Pennheel]

I've just taken my 8th dose of mounjaro last night. I'm on the 2.5mg dose. My doctor tried to get me approved for ozempic/wegovie back when I was only pre-diabetic. My insurance refused to cover wegovie, and would only cover ozempic if I was actually diabetic. I got diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic back in August and Dr wanted to put me on the mounjaro. It took almost a month to get the insurance to approve it. I'd already changed my diet and started trying to lose weight back in May when I was 471#. After that change and being on mounjaro for 8 weeks I'm down to 410#. Like some of yall have already said, I don't eat as much. I feel full a lot quicker, and feel that way longer. I've just been trying to eat more balanced than before. I felt nausea a couple days after my first dose but beyond that I've had no issues. I've been told that it might change when my dose goes up to 5mg next week. I'm supposed to get my a1c rechecked in December to see how it looks.

Congrats on the weight loss. Way to go! I wish Ozempic would have worked for me. Even off of it,I've somehow managed with my diabetes to lose around 35 lbs this year which still amazes me even with cutting back like I have. I'm down from 288 to 253 so far.

 

[Regulator]

I’ve been on 0.5mg Ozempic for about three months. My A1c was 6.1 so my doc said he wanted me to try it. I haven’t had my A1c rechecked yet (it’s about time for that) but I have lost 20lbs. No real side effects for me. I did have one day that first week that I was nauseated and I kept burping up my lunch from the day before but I’d also ran out of my Omeprazole at the same time and hadn’t had that for a couple days. It’s definitely suppressed my appetite. I don’t get sick or nauseous when I eat, I just fill up quicker and don’t get hungry again for longer stretches.

 

[butchna]

I’ve been on 0.5mg Ozempic for about three months. My A1c was 6.1 so my doc said he wanted me to try it. I haven’t had my A1c rechecked yet (it’s about time for that) but I have lost 20lbs. No real side effects for me. I did have one day that first week that I was nauseated and I kept burping up my lunch from the day before but I’d also ran out of my Omeprazole at the same time and hadn’t had that for a couple days. It’s definitely suppressed my appetite. I don’t get sick or nauseous when I eat, I just fill up quicker and don’t get hungry again for longer stretches.

I've tried to wean myself off of Omeoprozale. Be successful for a stretch and then wake up in the middle of the night coughing violently with acid reflux. Makes me procrastinate.

 

[Regulator]

I've tried to wean myself off of Omeoprozale. Be successful for a stretch and then wake up in the middle of the night coughing violently with acid reflux. Makes me procrastinate.

I’ve been on some kind of PPI for probably 25 years, and they’ve all worked equally well for me, with the exact med varying depending on my insurance. My Rx had expired recently so I figured, “Hey. I’ll try life without it and see how it goes.” That lasted about 4 days and then I was willing to do whatever my doc required for me to get it refilled. Office visit, blood work, got my refill and got on Ozempic.

 

[kiddiedoc]

Thanks for the offer. I'd be interested in any strategies to transition off (Mounjaro) without gaining the weight back. Or if there are maintenance dosing strategies (ie, low dose, longer intervals, intermittent use, etc)

Oh I'll discuss with him this weekend. I know his office does intensive nutritional counseling and strict dietary plans for both medication and surgical patients.

 

[OldandStillaVol]

Thanks for the offer. I'd be interested in any strategies to transition off (Mounjaro) without gaining the weight back. Or if there are maintenance dosing strategies (ie, low dose, longer intervals, intermittent use, etc)

Here is official product information for Mounjaro. More than you wanted to know but efficacy is clearly dose related.

https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/product-information/mounjaro-epar-product-information_en.pdf

It will be a long time before serious studies of how best to get off the drug are published. But it’s certainly not going to be to abruptly stop taking the drug when you hit your target weight. My guess is that you want to get acclimated to a healthy diet while on the drug and then VERY SLOWLY lower the dose when you and your physician decide to. You could be on the drug for quite some time as you slowly lower dose and observe your weight/hbA1c. Just my opinion.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

I took Ozempic for about a month ,and it was a horrible experience for me. I could literally look at food and get nauseated to no end. I could only eat a few bites a day and had to force myself to eat anything without my sugar bottoming out due to feeling too nauseous to eat anything. It felt like I had a gastric bypass,and was on portion control. Never could get over the side effects so I had to call it quits. Yeah,I lost some weight,but anyone will lose weight if you don't eat anything and feel sick when you try to eat.

I hope that yours works out for you ..
@volinbham

Exactly my experience. I felt terrible all the time. I took it for a month ($250/mth) and was about to increase dosage. I started reading and watching videos about the long term effects (stomach paralysis?!) and I decided to get off it.

 

[VolNExile]

As there have been a few dismissive cracks here about fat people, I thought I would post this. Weight is way more than calories in/ calories out.

Some people are just born with a tendency to put on weight. And when they're mocked despite all their efforts, it's not good.

If the article is behind a paywall, please let me know, and I'll see if I can spring it.

Bariatric Surgery at 16

If childhood obesity is an ‘epidemic,’ how far should doctors go to treat it?

www.nytimes.com

 

[kiddiedoc]

As there have been a few dismissive cracks here about fat people, I thought I would post this. Weight is way more than calories in/ calories out.

Some people are just born with a tendency to put on weight. And when they're mocked despite all their efforts, it's not good.

If the article is behind a paywall, please let me know, and I'll see if I can spring it.

Bariatric Surgery at 16

If childhood obesity is an ‘epidemic,’ how far should doctors go to treat it?

www.nytimes.com

Yes, I see it regularly. Obviously, diet and exercise are key and work for most when taken seriously, but there are some people with just crappy genes. I haven't had a kid undergo surgery yet, but I am considering offering medication if I get to the point that I am satisfied with safety studies.