Anonymous wrote:Before I begin, I fully recognize that everyone reacts differently to medication, and I’m not saying you will react this way. But since this has happened to me, many people have suddenly come out of the woodwork sharing a similar experience. So here we go.
TL;DR: I was sick and vomiting for a week from compounded semaglutide and ended up in the ER.
My BMI is 40, I am obese ok (not looking to lose 10 or even 30 lbs here). My insurance doesn’t cover any of the weight loss meds, and I’m only prediabetic, so no help there from my insurance. I went through one of the multiple online prescribing agencies to get a compounded version of semaglutide. I’m not naming the agency because I don’t want them to get a bad rap-what happened wasn’t their fault necessarily. They had me meet with a PA, and a nutritionist, prior to prescribing the med. It was compounded at an FDA-approved, sterile lab. I was put on the lowest dose to start, and injected the first dose on a Monday with no issues. Immediately felt the effects-lessened food noise, not hungry, etc.
Tuesday evening, around 8, my stomach started to feel uncomfortable and queasy. I had eaten a side salad with just a little bit of falafel for dinner, and a cup of vegetable soup for lunch without discomfort. The feeling got worse and worse until I ended up vomiting pretty much an entire undigested falafel salad. For the next day or two, nothing stayed down and I was in major pain. I could drink sips of water or Gatorade but even chicken broth made me feel overfull. Late Thursday I felt better and was able to have about 2/3 c chicken soup, mostly just broth. I ended up vomiting that up in the middle of the night, undigested. Friday I went to the ER and was in so much pain I had trouble breathing. I got fluids and zofran. Finally on Sunday I started feeling better, and could eat chicken broth. I improved from there.
I know many people have nausea as a side effect, but believe me, this was not sustainable. I was non-functional for a week, and I’m going to have hospital bills to deal with. Since this happened I have heard multiple stories from people who have had the same thing…but only with compounded meds. I just want to caution people since I feel it’s going to come out that the compounding is more an art and that the solutions aren’t as reliable, and may in fact be detrimental. It is an amazing drug, but as I haven’t heard too many stories like mine (at least until AFTER I took the meds 🙄), I just wanted to share. Feel free to ask any questions.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The compounded meds could be anything. Norvo Nordis has strongly advised again taking them. I don't know why anyone would based on that alone.
Norvo Nordisk makes Ozempic. Obviously they want to scare people into paying a much much higher price for their drugs.
Maybe not. Compounding is only legal because Ozempic and Wegovy are listed as in shortage by the FDA. Right now, NN is selling every vial they can make. If anything, compounded meds get people started, and to maintain, they will have to switch to Wegovy/Ozempic if/when it comes out of shortage. And if they work well, keep the hype going. What they do have a stake in is keeping badly compounded meds off the market. Side effects like OP’s give their product a bad name, even if NN has nothing to do with the manufacturing process.
There cannot possibly be a shortage of compounded, that's the whole point. Ingredients are cheap and readily available. Compounded products don't have competition from Ozempic at all until Ozempic lowers prices dramatically and produces much more.
Ingredients are NOT readily available because only Norvo-nordisk owns the patent for the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) -semiglutide. The APIs used in compounded preparations must be sourced from an FDA-approved supplier. Because Novo Nordisk, the only FDA-approved supplier of these semaglutide drugs, is currently facing a shortage, any compounded semaglutide is NOT being sourced from them. Furthermore, they’ve explicitly stated they do not provide semaglutide for compounding.
So where are compounded pharmacies getting semiglutide? This is the million dollar question! You don't know! Some compounding pharmacies are using a slightly different version using semaglutide salts, which are not eligible for compounding. Because the salt forms of semaglutide are not FDA-approved, they have not been the subject of clinical trials to demonstrate their safety or effectiveness and should not be used in compounded preparations as a semaglutide substitute. This is especially important because these “semaglutide” compounded preparations are administered as injections, allowing any unknown substances to enter systemic circulation immediately.
Anonymous wrote:Before I begin, I fully recognize that everyone reacts differently to medication, and I’m not saying you will react this way. But since this has happened to me, many people have suddenly come out of the woodwork sharing a similar experience. So here we go.
TL;DR: I was sick and vomiting for a week from compounded semaglutide and ended up in the ER.
My BMI is 40, I am obese ok (not looking to lose 10 or even 30 lbs here). My insurance doesn’t cover any of the weight loss meds, and I’m only prediabetic, so no help there from my insurance. I went through one of the multiple online prescribing agencies to get a compounded version of semaglutide. I’m not naming the agency because I don’t want them to get a bad rap-what happened wasn’t their fault necessarily. They had me meet with a PA, and a nutritionist, prior to prescribing the med. It was compounded at an FDA-approved, sterile lab. I was put on the lowest dose to start, and injected the first dose on a Monday with no issues. Immediately felt the effects-lessened food noise, not hungry, etc.
Tuesday evening, around 8, my stomach started to feel uncomfortable and queasy. I had eaten a side salad with just a little bit of falafel for dinner, and a cup of vegetable soup for lunch without discomfort. The feeling got worse and worse until I ended up vomiting pretty much an entire undigested falafel salad. For the next day or two, nothing stayed down and I was in major pain. I could drink sips of water or Gatorade but even chicken broth made me feel overfull. Late Thursday I felt better and was able to have about 2/3 c chicken soup, mostly just broth. I ended up vomiting that up in the middle of the night, undigested. Friday I went to the ER and was in so much pain I had trouble breathing. I got fluids and zofran. Finally on Sunday I started feeling better, and could eat chicken broth. I improved from there.
I know many people have nausea as a side effect, but believe me, this was not sustainable. I was non-functional for a week, and I’m going to have hospital bills to deal with. Since this happened I have heard multiple stories from people who have had the same thing…but only with compounded meds. I just want to caution people since I feel it’s going to come out that the compounding is more an art and that the solutions aren’t as reliable, and may in fact be detrimental. It is an amazing drug, but as I haven’t heard too many stories like mine (at least until AFTER I took the meds 🙄), I just wanted to share. Feel free to ask any questions.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, if you do more research (there are several very active reddit communities) you’ll find this is a very common reaction in some people to semaglutide period.
Yes, it could be it’s because of the compounding. But it could also be you don’t tolerate the medication as well. As mentioned on these sites, many people have the same reaction with Ozempic/Wegovy confirmed drugs.
I was going to say this. Could
Be the compounding or could be the active ingredient.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The compounded meds could be anything. Norvo Nordis has strongly advised again taking them. I don't know why anyone would based on that alone.
Norvo Nordisk makes Ozempic. Obviously they want to scare people into paying a much much higher price for their drugs.
Maybe not. Compounding is only legal because Ozempic and Wegovy are listed as in shortage by the FDA. Right now, NN is selling every vial they can make. If anything, compounded meds get people started, and to maintain, they will have to switch to Wegovy/Ozempic if/when it comes out of shortage. And if they work well, keep the hype going. What they do have a stake in is keeping badly compounded meds off the market. Side effects like OP’s give their product a bad name, even if NN has nothing to do with the manufacturing process.
There cannot possibly be a shortage of compounded, that's the whole point. Ingredients are cheap and readily available. Compounded products don't have competition from Ozempic at all until Ozempic lowers prices dramatically and produces much more.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The compounded meds could be anything. Norvo Nordis has strongly advised again taking them. I don't know why anyone would based on that alone.
Norvo Nordisk makes Ozempic. Obviously they want to scare people into paying a much much higher price for their drugs.
Maybe not. Compounding is only legal because Ozempic and Wegovy are listed as in shortage by the FDA. Right now, NN is selling every vial they can make. If anything, compounded meds get people started, and to maintain, they will have to switch to Wegovy/Ozempic if/when it comes out of shortage. And if they work well, keep the hype going. What they do have a stake in is keeping badly compounded meds off the market. Side effects like OP’s give their product a bad name, even if NN has nothing to do with the manufacturing process.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Compounded means the active ingredient (like semaglutide) is mixed with other fillers, but it’s not the trademarked mixture of Ozempic or Wegovy. Kind of like generic vs name brand. It is like 75% cheaper.
That is not what generic vs. name brand is. Generic is the EXACT SAME formulation.
Anonymous wrote:OP, if you do more research (there are several very active reddit communities) you’ll find this is a very common reaction in some people to semaglutide period.
Yes, it could be it’s because of the compounding. But it could also be you don’t tolerate the medication as well. As mentioned on these sites, many people have the same reaction with Ozempic/Wegovy confirmed drugs.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The compounded meds could be anything. Norvo Nordis has strongly advised again taking them. I don't know why anyone would based on that alone.
Norvo Nordisk makes Ozempic. Obviously they want to scare people into paying a much much higher price for their drugs.
Maybe not. Compounding is only legal because Ozempic and Wegovy are listed as in shortage by the FDA. Right now, NN is selling every vial they can make. If anything, compounded meds get people started, and to maintain, they will have to switch to Wegovy/Ozempic if/when it comes out of shortage. And if they work well, keep the hype going. What they do have a stake in is keeping badly compounded meds off the market. Side effects like OP’s give their product a bad name, even if NN has nothing to do with the manufacturing process.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The compounded meds could be anything. Norvo Nordis has strongly advised again taking them. I don't know why anyone would based on that alone.
Norvo Nordisk makes Ozempic. Obviously they want to scare people into paying a much much higher price for their drugs.