Anonymous
10/26/2024 14:41
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
OP my PCP prescribed Zepbound. BMI of 31 and high blood pressure. Jumped through every insurance hoop ever with doctor support and they still wouldn't pay so I did 2 months at $1200 out of pocket/mo. My PCP started compound shots because so many patients couldn't get insurance coverage. I did that for 4 months then switched to Emerge since I knew I could handle it on my own. Couldn't be happier. $350/mo. No problems with compound or delivery. I haven't moved past the starter dose. And may stay on it forever. I feel great and look even better. Down 35 lbs in 9 months.
Anonymous
10/26/2024 14:27
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
There are a few weight loss clinics in the area, you could start there. I went through Regenics for compounded semaglutide (paying out of pocket).
Anonymous
10/24/2024 20:33
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:Could someone just give me the basics-can I go to an online doctor? Do they take insurance? How much does everything cost? I am fat, but don't want to deal with my primary care doctor.
Why don't you want to go through your primary care, especially if you're fat?
Anonymous
10/24/2024 16:39
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
I made an appt with Inova Obesity Medicine. It took about 6 months to get in for an appt. BMI of 30, elevated cholesterol. After bloodwork, they started me with topiramate, which I tried while attempting (again) to do Weight Watchers. The topiramate gave me pretty bad anxiety, so I didn’t last long on it. When I went back in again (6 months) they prescribed Wegovy, and shockingly my insurance approved it and my local pharmacy had it in stock on the first try. So it took a long time to get there, but when I finally got the prescription, things happened fast.
I think the obesity medicine folks really know how to do the prior authorization requests. Also they had a failed trial with a cheaper drug on record, and documentation of 6 months on WW.
I’ve been on it since early June and averaged a pound a week loss. I’m nervous about my insurance dropping it in January, but so far so good. I like that I have a specialist who knows her stuff, that I have all the required insurance documentation, and that I have the “real thing.” Also that I only pay $25 copay.
That said— if my insurance drops semaglutide as a covered drug, I will absolutely go the compounded route.
I think the obesity medicine folks really know how to do the prior authorization requests. Also they had a failed trial with a cheaper drug on record, and documentation of 6 months on WW.
I’ve been on it since early June and averaged a pound a week loss. I’m nervous about my insurance dropping it in January, but so far so good. I like that I have a specialist who knows her stuff, that I have all the required insurance documentation, and that I have the “real thing.” Also that I only pay $25 copay.
That said— if my insurance drops semaglutide as a covered drug, I will absolutely go the compounded route.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 15:40
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
I used to be morbidly obese until age 28.
Lost weight through a 12 step program.
Have regained about 20 pounds over my ideal weight.
Am 73. So I have maintained a massive weight loss for over 40 years. No drugs no surgery.
I asked nothing my PCP and cardiologist if they thought I should use a drug now. Both said "not unless you really want to and want to take it for tge rest of your life because even with a restrictive food intake tge drug changes your metabolism and you would quickly regain whatever you lost."
I said never mind.
Lost weight through a 12 step program.
Have regained about 20 pounds over my ideal weight.
Am 73. So I have maintained a massive weight loss for over 40 years. No drugs no surgery.
I asked nothing my PCP and cardiologist if they thought I should use a drug now. Both said "not unless you really want to and want to take it for tge rest of your life because even with a restrictive food intake tge drug changes your metabolism and you would quickly regain whatever you lost."
I said never mind.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 15:35
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Could someone just give me the basics-can I go to an online doctor? Do they take insurance? How much does everything cost? I am fat, but don't want to deal with my primary care doctor.
This makes me so angry.
I know docs are conservative and risk-averse but the fact that people don't even want to approach their PC docs means that these docs are unreasonable. Not to make this about me but I'm having statin pressure and I'm sick of it.
I would love for your doc OP to be inviting you to look at some different options! They should be working with you and helping you. Because guess what, nobody wants to go in, get shamed, get same old lecture on diet and exercise and then meds from 20 years ago.
(and a bonus print out on the Mediterranean diet - and I weigh 125. Can you imagine.)
It's funny, I always thought diet and exercise was what they said when they couldn't say 'it's genetic and unless you quit your job and devote yourself to wellness you'll be over weight' Now there is a medical solution and they still stick with diet and exercise despite the literature not supporting it
A little louder for those in the back!!!!
Anonymous
10/24/2024 15:34
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Could someone just give me the basics-can I go to an online doctor? Do they take insurance? How much does everything cost? I am fat, but don't want to deal with my primary care doctor.
This makes me so angry.
I know docs are conservative and risk-averse but the fact that people don't even want to approach their PC docs means that these docs are unreasonable. Not to make this about me but I'm having statin pressure and I'm sick of it.
I would love for your doc OP to be inviting you to look at some different options! They should be working with you and helping you. Because guess what, nobody wants to go in, get shamed, get same old lecture on diet and exercise and then meds from 20 years ago.
(and a bonus print out on the Mediterranean diet - and I weigh 125. Can you imagine.)
I don't know if that's a fair assumption. I know several people who've resorted to compound pharmacies to get their hands on semaglutide and they all are just slightly overweight (less than 25 lbs), not in any medical danger from excess weight. I genuinely think it's a miracle drug, but the side effects are serious and I don't think it should be the first stop for someone looking to lose weight. I started it when I was morbidly obese, working out 4-5x a week, and eating 90% home-cooked, low carb meals. I still had some hard weeks where I wondered if it was worth it, and I know from being in Facebook groups about the meds that I had it easier than some of the patients in terms of side effects.
But OP specifically says in the OP that she is fat.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:49
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:I am not going to judge how overweight anyone feels they must be to access medicine. The hassle/cost/stress will keep people from messing around for a few pounds.
Easiest one is Emerge - but do not expect customer service because you are paying through the nose for a peptide pharma has know about for decades and only recently marketed.
Insurance: 1. You call YOUR insurance. QUESTIONS: Is it on their formulary FOR WEIGHT LOSS (Wegovy/Monjaro) [NOT for type 2 diabetes (Ozempic/Zepbound, you need to evidence A1C to a certain level; Pre-diabetic? No meds for you! You want Oz/Zep? Gotta get diabetic.]. 2. Will YOUR insurance PLAN cover it (might have had to pay for an extra Rider-type add-on when your employer negotiated your coverage) even if it is in their formulary. 2. Does YOUR insurance demand a prior authorization? 3. Does the prior authorization HAVE to show clinical notes that you have tried other medicines and made you sick/had no effect.
Once you sort out your insurance demands you can play the doctor lottery to see if you can get a doc who believes in weight loss meds.
At the George Washington University Medical Faculty Docs - I had a doc that would NOT engage in a conversation about meds. Instead, you get sent to “weight loss hell” - I mean clinic and told “six-month wait to get onto a list to someday get an appointment.” Then - a week or so later, I got a call “we here at weight loss hell have a wait list to get on the list to someday get an appointment - looks like its about a nine month wait - call back every week and see if we are taking names for the list.”
So THAT is why we hop online and talk to a rando doc and get medicine.
Anyone who says “move more, eat less” can go F off. I have lost 30-60#s on and off time after time over my life - I know more about moving more and eating less than you ever will, I promise you. 40% of adults are obese and the number will continue to rise — so you just keep judging away.
It is the other way around. Zepbound is for weight loss, mounjaro is for diabetes.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:48
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Gain another 50 pounds then it's easy to get.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:43
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:go to HenryMeds. Fill out the intake form. Tweak your height and weight a bit (I added 10 lbs and reduced my height). Then, you schedule a quick nurse video call, and the drugs are mailed to you in about a week.
This is an excellent idea! Lie to health professionals who are going to prescribe you a potentially dangerous medication that has serious side effects. Really, really, really smart.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:41
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Just deal with your primary care doctor. No, the online services do not take insurance. And they are peddling compounded semaglutide, which my doctor won’t prescribe because of safety concerns. The compounds aren’t long for this world anyway, as the shortage is about to end, and Wegovy is still on patent.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:34
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
Anonymous wrote:My doctor was really supportive fwiw. She’s pretty research based though.
By that I just mean I don’t think she has any moral hang ups about it, or at least she keeps them to herself. She just explains options, risks and research about outcomes.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 13:34
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
My doctor was really supportive fwiw. She’s pretty research based though.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 11:37
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
I’d really give your doctor a shot at this. But if you absolutely won’t, try the Weight Watchers online version that does this. My sister has had a great experience. They work with your insurance for you and even help find it if your pharmacy is out.
Anonymous
10/24/2024 11:34
Subject: Have pity on me and just explain the easiest way to get diet medication
If you want to work with a human rather than online, you can also go to a place like Dermacare, where you go to get your botox. I went to see a plastic surgeon about a tummy tuck and he suggested I lose some weight first so I am getting the compounded stuff through his office where I am being monitored by medical personnel. They required labs before they would prescribe.