Ozempic

If you've been following this blog at all, you know that I've always strugged with my weight and have tried nearly everything that wasn't a miracle yo-yo diet in order to drop it. My PCP has been very accomodating in this regard because I think a lot of them would just tell me to get off my ass and exercise because there isn't a pill that can cure fat. I mean, although that is techically true, exercise is only about 10% of weight loss, and motivation can be a bitch, especially when you know that fact.

Here is a list of things I've done/tried so far:

Qsymia (I never published this post. Oops lol. It's basically a mix between phentermine and topiramate, which are both appetite suppresants. The problem with these kinds of pills is that they become less effective over time.)

Potato Diet (Okay, that one would be considered yo-yo I guess lol)

Bionic Gym (Problem here is that it's a pain to put on and works better if you're standing)

5:2 (intermittent fasting)

Ideal Shakes

Mindful Eating and Peptide YY (I still use Peptide YY to my advantage)

Phentermine (I still consider this the pinacle of weight loss medication. This stuff is amazing. But its effectiveness dwindles so quickly)

Whole30 (This diet was great, but way too difficult to maintain)

The Fat Diet (It's not a diet, it's a mindset. It was also hard to maintain, just not as hard as Whole30)

hCG

Belviq (Never really worked for me. It was supposed to help supress hunger cues. Instead, it was recalled for causing cancer or something. Joy)

Glucomannan (It's the fiber from the Kojac plant. It just absorbs a ton of water in your stomach to help keep you full. It's still a great thing to try between meals or with a smaller meal)

Plenity (An FDA approved version of Glucomannan, basically. It's just some kind of gel that expands in your stomach. But it was $100 a month and didn't really work any better than Glucomannan)

And through all of this, I had been eating healthy (I mean, I do a lot of research
and know what is healthy and what isn't) and had an account with the YMCA for a while where I did cardio or weights and signed up for classes.) So it's not like I was expecting this stuff to do all the work for me. But there's nothing on this list that had lasted me long term besides coffee. Coffee has always been there for me (Go Peptide YY!).

Enter Ozempic. This is the only medication that my insurance was actually willing to pay for, and I couldn't even tell you why. It's actually quite frustrating because our company always pushes being healthy and wanting us to do stuff in order to make extra money to put in our HSA accounts, but then when it comes to medications that might help keep us at a healthy weight, they refuse to pay for them. However, Ozempic is listed as a diabetic medication first, with a corrallary to weight loss, so maybe that's why. Since I have high risk of diabetes in my genes and am overweright, maybe my insurance was like "oh, ok." (It's funny, because I had tried to get a script for Wegovy a few months ago but was denied. It's basically Ozempic but FDA approved as a weight loss medication.)

Ozempic is a once-a-week shot that regulates blood sugar [spikes], which cause hunger, and slows gastric emptying. I've been slowly ramping up my dose over time in order to avoid side-effects, and so far it's working amazingly well. It feels like this might be something that will keep working in the long term. The only issues I've had are occasional bouts of diahrrea (which usually only happen the day of the shot), or bloating (only once per week if that).

It's taken a while to get the weight loss started, as the dosing starts at .25mg (which basically does nothing) and each ramp up takes 4 weeks. So I'm just now on my 2nd week of .75mg and I am seeing quick progress. I'm eating less per meal and less often. I've lost about 6 lbs so far. At $55 a month, it's a do-able amount of money in the long term as well. Wish me luck!! <3