Any Feds on Wegovy or Saxenda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone other Kaiser have any luck?

And are these meds ultimately things you have to take forever or just to get you to a healthier weight?

Whatever is preventing you from losing weight now will come back after you go off the medication. I don’t know why people think this is a temporary medication. If you need a drug to help you lose weight why wouldn’t you need it to maintain the lower weight?

Because sometimes you need help getting started, especially when facing down a large amount to lose. Drugs plus habit changes could conceivably lead to maintenance without the drugs, just like I no longer used a food tracker when I was maintaining at my goal weight.

Whether that's true of these drugs I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Wegovy and Saxenda come with free weight loss programs like Noon or their own health coaches. It’s free. You are supposed to make lifestyle changes. My plan is to be in this for a year and then start increasing periods between injections .For wegovy I will titrate the dose down to minimally effective one and then increase my dosing interval to every 10 days then every 12 days etc before getting off. I know a few friends who were very successful with Saxenda this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCBS basic covers wegovy with a prior authorization

Do you know if BCBS basic covers Mounjaro as well with a prior authorization?

I have BCBS. You first have to try metformin and ozempic, then they will pay for Mounjaro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone other Kaiser have any luck?

And are these meds ultimately things you have to take forever or just to get you to a healthier weight?

Whatever is preventing you from losing weight now will come back after you go off the medication. I don’t know why people think this is a temporary medication. If you need a drug to help you lose weight why wouldn’t you need it to maintain the lower weight?

Being overweight has health risks. If losing weight were easy, we’d all be thin. Isn’t it great that we’ve found a way to help people lose weight and therefore reduce their risk of other health problems and reduce their risk of Covid complications? Yes, it is. And it’s ok to keep taking it if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone other Kaiser have any luck?

And are these meds ultimately things you have to take forever or just to get you to a healthier weight?

Whatever is preventing you from losing weight now will come back after you go off the medication. I don’t know why people think this is a temporary medication. If you need a drug to help you lose weight why wouldn’t you need it to maintain the lower weight?

Being overweight has health risks. If losing weight were easy, we’d all be thin. Isn’t it great that we’ve found a way to help people lose weight and therefore reduce their risk of other health problems and reduce their risk of Covid complications? Yes, it is. And it’s ok to keep taking it if needed.

So people plan on dishing out $1100/month to keep the weight off? I don't see that happening. People will take medication, lose weight, go off medication, gain weight back and start the cycle all over again.

I know losing weight isn't easy. It is hard. But being over weight is also hard. having medical issues from excess weight is hard. Having joint pain from carrying excess weight is hard. Choose your hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone other Kaiser have any luck?

And are these meds ultimately things you have to take forever or just to get you to a healthier weight?

Whatever is preventing you from losing weight now will come back after you go off the medication. I don’t know why people think this is a temporary medication. If you need a drug to help you lose weight why wouldn’t you need it to maintain the lower weight?

Being overweight has health risks. If losing weight were easy, we’d all be thin. Isn’t it great that we’ve found a way to help people lose weight and therefore reduce their risk of other health problems and reduce their risk of Covid complications? Yes, it is. And it’s ok to keep taking it if needed.

So people plan on dishing out $1100/month to keep the weight off? I don't see that happening. People will take medication, lose weight, go off medication, gain weight back and start the cycle all over again.

I know losing weight isn't easy. It is hard. But being over weight is also hard. having medical issues from excess weight is hard. Having joint pain from carrying excess weight is hard. Choose your hard.

I mean the options aren’t pay $1100 a month or go without. I pay $30 a month with my insurance.

[Anonymous]

Bumping. Anyone with UHC federal on Wegovy?

[Anonymous]

Update: UHC federal covers Wegovy now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone other Kaiser have any luck?

And are these meds ultimately things you have to take forever or just to get you to a healthier weight?

According to a lot of comments on Reddit not only does the weight come back, it comes back with a vengeance

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have Kaiser pay for these type of drugs?

[Anonymous]

You can find insurance formularies online

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have Kaiser pay for these type of drugs?

NP, but seriously? Kaiser covers next to nothing, so they'd be the last federal insurance that would cover these drugs. I couldn't even get my dermatologist to write a script for Differin for adult acne (I was there for skin cancer already).

[Anonymous]

I asked my family practice physician about Wegovy last fall. I am near 50 and my BMI is over 30. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I am a vegetarian with PCOS. My doctor said while I would be a good candidate for the medication she thought I should try weightlifting and becoming a full vegan for three months. If that didn't work she said she would recommend weight loss surgery. My blood work was excellent. I told her I am not interested in surgery and wanted to try Wegovy and she said "there are doctors out there who will prescribe it," and sent me on my way. Does anyone have a recommendation for a Virginia-based doctor who might be able to help? Should I just find a local endocrinologist and make an appointment?

[Anonymous]

I have BCBS and was just approved for Mounjaro but I have diabetes. Just an FYI, I was on ozempic and it’s true that pharmacies are prioritizing diabetics for this diabetes drug. Walgreens, CVS and Ralphs (I’m in CA) all told me they are prioritizing diabetics, because when your doctor sends over the prescription it’s coded at type 2 diabetes. I would use smaller pharmacies or mail orders since the bigger pharmacies (at least out here) fill diabetic prescriptions first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked my family practice physician about Wegovy last fall. I am near 50 and my BMI is over 30. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I am a vegetarian with PCOS. My doctor said while I would be a good candidate for the medication she thought I should try weightlifting and becoming a full vegan for three months. If that didn't work she said she would recommend weight loss surgery. My blood work was excellent. I told her I am not interested in surgery and wanted to try Wegovy and she said "there are doctors out there who will prescribe it," and sent me on my way. Does anyone have a recommendation for a Virginia-based doctor who might be able to help? Should I just find a local endocrinologist and make an appointment?

No doctor recs but your primary doc sounds horrible. PCOS is so hard to deal with - I hope you find a kinder and more compassionate doc