Datasets:

---

innovation-hacking2

/

shitposting_dataset1

like 0

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes..." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick.", ">\n\nCan't help but wonder if they are keeping supplies low to justify higher prices." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick.", ">\n\nCan't help but wonder if they are keeping supplies low to justify higher prices.", ">\n\nPhysician here and I can’t stand the amount of patients that have come in to see me in the last 6 months asking for Ozempic. When I advise them or guide them towards a specific diet regimen and/or exercise routine they just cut me off and say “can you just give me the Ozempic?”. I refuse to because nothing comes without side effects and it’s much better for people to actually do the diet and exercise way but people are lazy and medicine is turning into McDonalds where patients come in and order what they want. It’s annoying and is burning me, and other younger doctors, out badly.\nE - so I guess I need to clarify what I meant by “lazy”. I’m talking about people walking in and sticking their hand out demanding the treatment who haven’t even tried cutting their food down or meeting more. They just want it “because it works” and they “don’t wanna give things up cuz it’ll be too hard.”" ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick.", ">\n\nCan't help but wonder if they are keeping supplies low to justify higher prices.", ">\n\nPhysician here and I can’t stand the amount of patients that have come in to see me in the last 6 months asking for Ozempic. When I advise them or guide them towards a specific diet regimen and/or exercise routine they just cut me off and say “can you just give me the Ozempic?”. I refuse to because nothing comes without side effects and it’s much better for people to actually do the diet and exercise way but people are lazy and medicine is turning into McDonalds where patients come in and order what they want. It’s annoying and is burning me, and other younger doctors, out badly.\nE - so I guess I need to clarify what I meant by “lazy”. I’m talking about people walking in and sticking their hand out demanding the treatment who haven’t even tried cutting their food down or meeting more. They just want it “because it works” and they “don’t wanna give things up cuz it’ll be too hard.”", ">\n\nAssuming you are not talking about the person with a bmi of 26 who just wants the easy way out of the last 10 lbs…. I suggest spending some time reading a bit more literature on obesity. On a population level diet and weight loss just don’t work. Not because restricting calories and exercise don’t work but because its not maintainable indefinitely for most once their metabolism is screwed up from overeating. If these people had the willpower they wouldn’t be coming to you in the first place.\nPut more simply diet and exercise fail when look at in light of “intention to treat”. Its like prescribing a drug that is 100% effective but has intolerable side effects so no one will take it.\nYou can moralize all you want about it, but you are doing your patients and society harm by not offering effective aids to help people lose weight. It would be like refusing to give chantix because its just a “willpower” thing. The possible side effects of a GLP-1 are VASTLY outweighed by the side effects of severe obesity. It isn’t even close. The NNH of wegovy is like 117 while the nnt is near one if weight loss is the goal and that has huge health benefits in everyone.\nI get the “demanding” shit is annoying, and again you may be referring to patients who really aren’t appropriate for it (eg: dont meet criteria) so I apologize if thats the case." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick.", ">\n\nCan't help but wonder if they are keeping supplies low to justify higher prices.", ">\n\nPhysician here and I can’t stand the amount of patients that have come in to see me in the last 6 months asking for Ozempic. When I advise them or guide them towards a specific diet regimen and/or exercise routine they just cut me off and say “can you just give me the Ozempic?”. I refuse to because nothing comes without side effects and it’s much better for people to actually do the diet and exercise way but people are lazy and medicine is turning into McDonalds where patients come in and order what they want. It’s annoying and is burning me, and other younger doctors, out badly.\nE - so I guess I need to clarify what I meant by “lazy”. I’m talking about people walking in and sticking their hand out demanding the treatment who haven’t even tried cutting their food down or meeting more. They just want it “because it works” and they “don’t wanna give things up cuz it’ll be too hard.”", ">\n\nAssuming you are not talking about the person with a bmi of 26 who just wants the easy way out of the last 10 lbs…. I suggest spending some time reading a bit more literature on obesity. On a population level diet and weight loss just don’t work. Not because restricting calories and exercise don’t work but because its not maintainable indefinitely for most once their metabolism is screwed up from overeating. If these people had the willpower they wouldn’t be coming to you in the first place.\nPut more simply diet and exercise fail when look at in light of “intention to treat”. Its like prescribing a drug that is 100% effective but has intolerable side effects so no one will take it.\nYou can moralize all you want about it, but you are doing your patients and society harm by not offering effective aids to help people lose weight. It would be like refusing to give chantix because its just a “willpower” thing. The possible side effects of a GLP-1 are VASTLY outweighed by the side effects of severe obesity. It isn’t even close. The NNH of wegovy is like 117 while the nnt is near one if weight loss is the goal and that has huge health benefits in everyone.\nI get the “demanding” shit is annoying, and again you may be referring to patients who really aren’t appropriate for it (eg: dont meet criteria) so I apologize if thats the case.", ">\n\nI appreciate the insight, but I’ve done a good amount of research into obesity. Over the last 2 years the patients who take my advice have lost over 2,500 lbs. What I was referring to in my initial comment is that nobody wants to “try” and just want a quick fix for things. Same holds true for mental health.\nAnd before anyone jumps on me - there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule. Despite non medical treatments, some people need medications to help with weight loss, anxiety, depression etc… I’m not a pill pusher and get a little annoyed when someone comes to me and literally has tried zero lifestyle modifications." ]

[ "I'm guessing this is why my doctor was asking me yesterday whether my pharmacy was having difficulty delivering my trulicity to me. I had a three month supply so I haven't had to fill it lately. Here's hoping I can get it when I need it.", ">\n\nI'm on ozempic, my pharmacy gives me a month's supply even though it's supposed to be 3 months. The hassle between them and insurance has been epic", ">\n\nI’m not on ozempic but it really is fucked how any step of the process can just override your doctor and say nope! This is all you’re getting! Or just refuse to dispense/cover a drug at all, even if they’re not supposed to. Appeals and bureaucracy don’t mean shit when you need your medicine TODAY.", ">\n\nI’ve had a wicked cough going back to November. My doc prescribed me a couple drugs to help and he wrote the scrip for the generic versions. Get to the pharmacy and learn my insurance doesn’t cover generic. I had a wtf moment. I’ve ordered generic through them in the past with no problems and can’t figure out why they are forcing us to spend more money on the branded stuff.", ">\n\nThat's so bizarre when my insurance for example will not pay for brand at all. you're paying essentially cash unless the only reason is that the generic is unavailable. why would anyone pay a penny more for \"brand\" chemicals??? I get that sometimes there are weird time release systems, or anti-abuse mechanisms such as with ADHD meds, but in most cases it's like paying $100 more for baking soda because it's \"Moderna Sodalite\" brand baking soda, now in 4 yummy colors!", ">\n\nThat’s where I’m confused. Why are they forcing us to pay for a higher cost item? Makes no sense.", ">\n\nBecause that fattens the wallets of the board and shareholders of “higher cost item’s” company. \nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.", ">\n\n\nPrivatize it already. Healthcare should never have been allowed to be treated like a fucking commodity in the first place.\n\nThe same standard should apply to ANYTHING required (in the medical sense, not in the consumerist societal sense) to live. The basic minimums should not be commodities that earn a profit.\nThose basic minimums should only be able to charge a regulated cost that covers absolutely no profit anywhere in the entire chain.\nIf a person wants more than the basic minimums, then of course they should have the choice to pay for those.", ">\n\nI was on a migraine medication that is also popular for weight loss. I did lose a lot of weight, which wasn't bad but I also would sometimes not feel my nose, had weird out of body feelings sometimes and boughts of nausea. Finally stopped taking it because I realized it really did live up to its nickname dopamax.", ">\n\nOh God Topomax is awful. I have been on that in the past and it really does affect your memory and cognition.", ">\n\nSame with Sumatriptan.", ">\n\nSumatriptan is a nasty drug. Temporary relief that builds into rebound headaches when you take it too often.", ">\n\nSumatriptan, rebound headaches are the worst! Sumatriptan - Imitrex does work great with minimal side effects but you have to be very careful with it and only take a small dose in frequent if you don’t want those horrid rebound headaches", ">\n\nI've had severe migraines since I was a small child (34 now) and I've tried basically all the anti-migraine drugs in existence. The only thing that works for me - without side effects that are basically just as bad as the migraine itself - is to quickly realize I'm about to have one and take 3 Excedrin within minutes of first starting to feel the pressure behind my eyes. It's a short window, and if I miss it, the Excedrin can't really do much. I guess it interrupts whatever cascade of events turns into a migraine. Excedrin is just acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine, so I'm not sure how it does it, but it works for me.\nMy headaches were so bad when I was a kid that I used to vomit and then pass out from the pain, and the funny part is they came on a schedule (around 2pm every Tuesday) so I guess they were technically cluster headaches. I'm just glad puberty made them less severe, although they're pretty random now so I can't schedule around them.", ">\n\nThat’s awesome Excedrin will work for you. I tried it, and it made no difference. But I agree like taking it within a small window when you just start to feel it is key. That’s key for whether it’s Excedrin, or sumatriptan.\nOne good thing about getting into my early 40s my migraines are much less severe than when I was younger.", ">\n\nI used to laugh when people would tell me to take that for my headaches. When one starts if I don’t catch it I’m doomed. The neurologist looked surprised when I told him they last about 11 hours. Sometimes I think he should retire.🙄", ">\n\nOh man, it’s the worst when medical professionals don’t understand migraines and are dismissive. There’s hardly anything worse than an extreme migraine. Even a basic migraine that I don’t catch soon enough with medication will cause me a days worth of debilitating pain, nausea, and wearing my sunglasses because of light sensitivity.", ">\n\nI got a migraine after taking a physical exam with a new sinus infection that I hadn’t caught on to yet. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I took about 30 minutes to try to relax and catch my breath before getting in my car, and still had to pull over once I got out of the parking lot", ">\n\narticles like this will increase the popularity of Ozempic as a weight loss drug. The irony.", ">\n\nWell they mention it like 10x during commercials, so seems to be the plan. How else they gonna be able to overcharge and things like that.", ">\n\nReally, the commercials I see for it don't mention what it does - it even makes a point of not telling you. I find these ads should be outlawed, if you advertise a medical product you should be required to disclose what's it's used for. Maybe it's just a Canadian thing. And of course I cannot find these ads now.", ">\n\nCanada has laws against drug advertisements, which the drug companies get around by not telling you what it does and saying to simply \"ask your doctor about it\".\nPersonally, I think that all drug advertisements to the general public should be illegal. Including the ones using this loophole. Let the doctors worry about which drugs their patients should be on, and don't advertise directly to the patients at all. \nCanada has the right idea, but the law doesn't go far enough.", ">\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\nAlso why I've turned to 'alternative sources: for TV.\nI'm not going to ask my doctor about drugs - that's his job. I bring the symptom, he brings the cure. Nothing else needs to be said.", ">\n\n\nAbsolutely. I'm tired of watching a show and being bombarded by drug ads for 10 minutes every time and their 500 side effects.\n\nOh, man. That reminds me of one I saw a while back where listing the side effects took longer than the actual ad. Who sees something like that and thinks, \"Yeah, that sounds like something to talk to my doctor about!\"", ">\n\nIt's when they say 'other cancers and death have been observed' that you think...'hmm...maybe ill just stick with what i've got'.", ">\n\nFyi for anyone on ozempic struggling to get it, I manage a pharmacy and one of the reps came and talked to me a few days ago. They’ve supposedly greatly increased their ability to manufacture the product and expect the shortages to be just about fully resolved. 2 of the strengths are “order only” so will only ship with a valid script, the other is in full distribution, can’t remember which dose that was though. But hopefully they’ve resolved most of their issues. Carry on", ">\n\nThey've been saying this since I was originally prescribed it last June. I ended up being put on an earlier version, Saxenda (Liraglutide) until it \"became available again\". I will believe it when I see it.", ">\n\nWegovy’s site says they should be open/distributing to most retail pharmacies. Try calling them, especially cvs, which apparently has a special thing with them or something idk.", ">\n\nThat’s unfortunately where my script has been sitting for six months lol. Probably need a new one at this point. But there’s always Terzepitide!! (The newest of the class of drugs, name brand Mounjaro)", ">\n\nI tried messaging my doctor about it but unfortunately it was intercepted by a nurse who said “it sounds like things have changed for you! You should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss these changes.” I’m like no?? it’s literally the same medication but you just have to specify ozembic for a pre-diabetic instead of wegovy??", ">\n\nThe idea that an insurance company or pharmacy can limit what your Doctor prescribes is probably one of the most insulting and criminal things. Period.\nIt’s gross in it’s conflict of interest for pharmaceutical companies to dictate anything about medical supplies. Because let’s be serious here, that is who is running this game. The whole American Healthcare system is run by these companies for no other reason than to make infinite money every year in perpetuity for their share/stakeholders. Patients, doctors, pharmacists be damned. It’s not to provide healthcare to people.", ">\n\nLack of universal health care w/o control by pharmacy and provider cartels is one of the top threats to the stability of the US. The entire nation becomes less healthy every year so where is Congress? Not being forced to act because it's hard, they have theirs and without it being an issue partisan propaganda loses a big deal. Citizens need to demand better.", ">\n\nThere’s been several people in my bariatric surgery men’s support group online that have posted recommending Ozempic to help boost weight loss, and quite a few people have replied calling them selfish assholes for using it even after having WLS and making it hard to get for diabetics who actually need it.", ">\n\nof course, being overweight is a huge cause of type 2 diabetes so ....\nseems like a pretty appropriate use actually", ">\n\nI'm an obesity and weight management scientist. It's a fantastic use. All of this family of drugs are going to be used primarily for weight management in the future. We have way less effective interventions for obesity than diabetes, and for the majority (but certainly not all) it will reduce the number of new cases of diabetes.", ">\n\nIt's too bad they are all 800 to 1k a month atm.", ">\n\nMy doctor actually just recommended ozempic for me to try for weight loss. It was $2000 with my insurance so we went with metformin and it’s $7. It’s been working well for me as a appetite suppressant.", ">\n\nOn the bright side, metformin has been shown to have anti cancer and anti-aging effects in humans.\nSource - NCBI\nSource - Harvard", ">\n\nApologies for being that person, but my dad is an example of the flip side of this. He'd been taking Metformin, and it damaged his kidneys. Worse, his doctor had noticed signs of kidney failure and didn't communicate that to him, so they kept prescribing it to him.\nHis doctor retired, and the new one saw all of this in his chart and immediately stopped the Metformin. By that point, it was stage 4. My dad is now on dialysis with 10% kidney function.", ">\n\nSorry to hear that. Sounds like he had a crap doctor.", ">\n\nI am an obesity and weight management researcher. Although I have worked on studies involving diabetes, most of my work is explicitly focused on weight management, eating, and obesity rather than diabetes itself.\nBecause of that, my NIH funding comes through NIDDK, the institute focused on diabetes. Most researchers and clinicians are excited by being able to use this class of drugs for folks with obesity and overweight. It likely would have a bigger impact on diabetes than as a direct treatment for diabetes. The problem with finding them varies based on the specific drug but often relates to the actual delivery mechanism rather than the drug itself being in shortage. But that varies. The use for cosmetic reasons is very questionable, but also not likely to be a major driver of shortages.\nUnfortunately obesity (and to a lesser extent diabetes as well) is often treated as a moral failing like drug and alcohol abuse with people more focused on blaming the folks with it rather than on actual effective solutions. Not only is this unhelpful, but it also involves an extremely simplistic understanding of both the biological and behavioral factors involved. It's always so disheartening to see.", ">\n\nJust look at some of the comments here alone. Many people saying “stop being lazy and move more” as opposed to accepting that obesity is out of many peoples control and some people are even genetically predisposed to be overweight. Ive seen and read about fecal transplants as a way to change the bacteria in your belly to help with obesity. \nFor many people it is not a matter of “move more, eat less”.", ">\n\nIdk I’m definitely aware that there are genetic factors and stuff but if people “move more and eat less” they will lose weight. Often times people just can’t control their cravings or don’t have the energy to move more. It can’t all be genetic, when we know for a fact that the rate of obesity has increased so quickly in America. This is why ultimately I think the blame falls on environmental factors and what are the environmental factors unique to America? Unbridled Capitalism, that is what I think is ultimately to blame. Overworked, tired people without enough money, hope, or free time.", ">\n\nNo, you are right. At its simplest form, that is correct. Move more, eat less, lose weight. True. Honestly I am not arguing that. My point is that, for many people, that isn’t enough. You make a great point, maybe some people confuse genetically predisposed with environmental factors. Many people I know were raised that “growing boys eat more” or “dont leave until your plate is empty” and your plate is like 4 days worth of meals. This is ingrained into many peoples cultures and minds, creating bad habits that eventually become a families normal, which is then passed down, creating new generations of obese people who only know these habits. You make another good point; poor, tired, overworked people wanting fast easy meals. “I just worked 12 hours, i have $8, mcdonalds is right there…” which becomes a multiple time a week trip now. \nI believe these drugs are a great tool to add to the arsenal of weight loss changes. These drugs can help you get to a healthier base, and hopefully many of these people are creating new habits along with these weight loss tools, which ultimately will be what keeps the weight off. But i am all for using these drugs to help the obese population. Many of these people are already prediabetic, so why not stop the prediabetes before it becomes diabetes.", ">\n\nTo add to this, a lot of people don’t realize that most obese people also intersect with poverty since cheap fatty/processed food is much cheaper and more readily available in a lot of poorer communities than fresh/healthy or unprocessed foods.\nUnless you live near farms in rural areas, most of the people in the same income bracket only have access to shitty food that forms shitty habits and creates more obese people.", ">\n\nHonestly, living in a rural area near a farm (at least in the US) likely makes your food quality worse, not better. When there is nothing but corn and soy for miles around, your fresh veggies are just the leftovers from whatever city is closest.\nThe only real option there is to find someone with a large garden or to grow your own.", ">\n\nIf you live out in a rural area surrounded by farms there's a good chance the only store for a long ways around is a Dollar General or Family Dollar and whatever produce or whatever is growing around you isn't even being sold there.", ">\n\nI'm Canadian, so we don't get a lot of drug commercials the way that the US does, but even cinemas here have started showing Ozempic ads before the film. It's insane the hold this drug has on people.", ">\n\nHonestly - these drugs are magical for people who have struggled with weight issues their whole life. I’m not surprised it’s become so popular.", ">\n\nMagical for people with diabetes as well. In some cases they can go from daily shots to one weekly injection. Not to mention the tie in of diabetes and weight issues.", ">\n\nIt helped my blood sugar control better than anything else I’ve tried for a month. Probably because of the constant nausea. The weight loss crowd can have at it.", ">\n\nI understand the frustration, but preventative care is a valid reason to get on semaglutide. Imagine if all diseases could be prevented? \nI’m pre-diabetic and am on it to prevent T2D, which my dad struggled with.", ">\n\nthe thing is, ozempic is approved by the fda for blood sugar management only. there are similar drugs, wegovy, saxenda, approved specifically for weight loss. it was those going on backorder & being expensive that caused people to start wrecking the supply of ozempic (going off-label.)\nwe get that losing weight can prevent type 2 diabetes but it's so so frustrating that diabetics that have been having good results with ozempic (a once weekly injection that also needs to be titrated to their prescribed dose) suddenly have to switch, go without, or manage with daily injections and whatnot. \n(I work in a pharmacy but just a tech)", ">\n\nI know that. wegovy and ozempic are literally the same drug with different doses and \"approved\" indications. ozempic shortages werent an issue until those other ones went on backorder. That's why docs went off label. \nIt just blows for people who use it and have been using it for their diabetes to deal with shortages. the pens arent like insulin pens that can be dialed to a specific amount of units prn. so its not like people can ration their ozempic.\nall that being said, this situation sucks for everyone. i wish everyone could get the medication they needed.", ">\n\nMaybe losing weight will help decrease the number of diabetics?", ">\n\nThis situation is probably more complicated than the article is describing. They talk about the life-threatening consequences of uncontrolled diabetes but fail to clearly explain how morbid obesity can be equally life threatening. \nMany of you may already know about comorbidities: a condition where two or more diseases exacerbate one another in a way that makes both of them difficult to treat. The simplest example I can think of is a knee pain and weight gain. A knee condition makes it difficult for the patient to exercise, so they gain weight. Carrying an additional 10 pounds of weight puts an additional 50 pounds of pressure on the knee. This makes the knee pain worse and the cycle continues. An appropriate treatment plan will need to consider both conditions or neither will meaningfully improve.\nMorbid obesity is dangerous because it can complex with numerous conditions; the most dangerous of which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and asthma.\nIt should additionally be mentioned that a person may need to lose weight before they can undergo surgery. Surgery can't be performed safely over a certain weight and they may not have 3 years to lose weight. They'll need something quickly.\nYou might think that \"all a fat person needs to do is stop eating\". But again, it's more complicated than that. For example, a glaring indication of uncontrolled diabetes is uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss. Comorbid conditions can interfere with the way the body stores or releases energy from food, this making weight loss without medication exceedingly difficult.\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state. I'm sure there are doctors that would proscribe it frivolously, but that can be dealt with the same way prescription pain killers are dealt with: force doctors to document, fine them when they don't.\nWhat I'm saying is that both diabetics and the obese may genuinely need this medication. We should be focusing on alleviating the bottleneck instead of judging the patients that use it.", ">\n\n\n\"But what about people that are using the medication to lose 10 pounds while they eat poorly?\" The article didn't say whether these people would qualify for a prescription. When I worked in a bariatric clinic, a patient had to have a BMI of 35 or 28 with 3 comorbid conditions before they could be prescribed medication. In other words, you had to be in a serious state.\n\nI had basically this typed up as a response to someone saying that people shouldn't be taking medications needed to control diabetes \"just\" to control their weight.\nThis is dead on- I am a weight loss surgery patient who took Ozempic temporarily just before my surgery. My GP is the one who prescribed it, not my surgeon, because my pre op labs indicated that while my fatty liver had improved with the ~30 lbs I lost in that 6 month pre-op window, it was still of concern for surgery. I lost about 15 extra pounds and between that and the 2 week liquid diet my liver was in perfect condition for surgery.\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it. It's actually really hard on the body, too, and I actually developed acute pancreatitis as a side effect from it. When a doctor prescribes this medication they are doing so because the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. And as much as insurance companies love to deny medications that they deem \"not medically necessary\" I can promise you that no one is taking this to lose weight unless they have to.", ">\n\n\nNo one is prescribing this drug for people who are not in dire need of it.\n\nTell that to the owner of my company who is using it for casual weight-loss. He's not even a big guy by any definition, he just put a few extra on over the last couple years, has the means, and is paying cash. \nThere are definitely doctors out there who will prescribe pretty much anything you want if you are in their circle.", ">\n\nTime to make it public domain and pay off the patent owner. When a medecine is that efficient at treating a disease, we need to make it easier to produce.", ">\n\nPatent bounties have been proposed as a possible alternative incentive structure. If you create a useful drug, you get a fat cash prize from public coffers. Then anyone can manufacture the drug, and market competition will bring costs down for consumers.", ">\n\nI’ve seen several friends complaining about people taking this for weight loss being selfish but wouldn’t losing weight help prevent those people from becoming diabetic? If they become diabetic wouldn’t there also be more people trying to get the drug for diabetes management?", ">\n\nYes. \nObesity also causes sleep apnea, severe joint pain, amongst many other issues. Getting weight off reduces and prevents these. \nOzempic can treat more than one disease just like many other drugs. Doctors aren’t doing anything wrong prescribing it to help with obesity.", ">\n\nWhat's up with all the medication shortages. I can't get my adhd meds either.", ">\n\nDoesn’t it require prescription?", ">\n\nWas on Ozempic, was doing great to help my T2 under control and lose weight. \nNow on the Oral form. Actually much cheaper for me.", ">\n\nHey man that's awesome :)", ">\n\nObesity is also a dangerous medical condition that is a risk factor for many dangerous illnesses (including diabetes type 2)\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\nIf this medicine can successfully lead to weight loss without too many dangerous side effects than obese people also have a medical need for it.", ">\n\n\nThe VAST people fail to change their eating behavior on their own.\n\nThis is what gets me. I try to not belittle peoples health struggles and remind myself that it's more complicated than this, but it seems like a lot of people would rather choose to die than eat different foods.", ">\n\nSo, if this is how you think. Why can’t diabetics just stop eating all sugars?? If I follow your logic, they should also be able to fully control their disease just by eating differently.", ">\n\nYea, you'd think so.", ">\n\nWell to be fair, losing weight is a great way to prevent diabetes...", ">\n\nThat’s not fair to the people who already have the deadly disease.", ">\n\nWell blame the company for falling short on supply not the people who are using it for legit medical reasons.", ">\n\nDoesn’t matter for me my insurance it is still almost $1000 a month. Type 2. Oh well.", ">\n\nObviously not as important as medicine for diabetes but also ADHD medication (adderall & it’s generic) are out of stock until at least June because it’s being prescribed off label for tiredness associated with long Covid. They probably could have used that for weight loss. Maybe they tried. These off label uses need to be tracked for the purposes of tracking production. When it is making it hard to find medications that keep people alive it’s time for a look at how things are broken.", ">\n\nAs someone with ADHD my medication is important. \nThis idea that any medication is more important is weird.\nAlso have been on dex since March of 2021. Done nothing for weight loss.", ">\n\nI agree. I have adhd and I can’t function without mine. But thankfully I won’t go into a coma. I can handle a brief shortage although it will disrupt my life but I’d be terrified if I needed something that literally kept me alive. Thankfully they haven’t messed with Ritalin yet or I may sing a different tune.", ">\n\nAnd a cousin drug, Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will likely be even more effective looking at the Surmount trials. 10 and 15mg groups lost on average 20% of body mass over 72 week period and sustained losses. That's gastric bypass realm of weight loss", ">\n\nThat and the fact that it's $904 for one pen make it pretty unobtainable. My insurance \"covers\" it, but not before I spend $2,000 myself lol.", ">\n\nClicked this as an Ozempic ad plays on my mom's TV lmao.", ">\n\nI took it for a few months, didn't really feel hungry at the end of the day. But then the pharmacy said it was on back order for months, so I ended up going back to Glipizide, which was cheaper, not used as a weight loss drug and easily in stock.", ">\n\nLiterally 7 posts after this on Reddit I get an Ozempic add of a happy guy playing guitar. Ozempic, yay!", ">\n\nMaybe there's a shortage because reddit gives me ads for Ozempic in my feed constantly. Lose Weight, Feel Great!", ">\n\nWell they literally advertise about its weight loss on TV ads not sure what they thought would happen", ">\n\nOn one hand, I’m glad there is a drug that can help people lose weight, reverse insulin resistance, and stop the metabolic issues before they turn into diabetes. \nBut damn, having diabetes sucks enough. I feel for those who are on this med and can’t find it. \nI’ve had it with American pharmaceutical companies, the DEA, the FDA and every other 3 letter acronym. First Aderrall and Ritalin, then amoxicillin, now this? What will be next? And how is this drug shortage problem remedied?", ">\n\nIt's funny cos if they didn't take the pill they'd end up needing it for it's intended purpose anyways", ">\n\nIt's not a pill, it's a shot. And you have to be in it forever because you'll gain it back when you stop.\nEdit: \nCleveland Clinic: Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\n\nExperts think as many as 80 to 95% of dieters gain back the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose.", ">\n\nI know someone that's been on it for about a year now. She lost a ton of weight (too much, in my opinion) and swears by it. However, she also has nightmares now that wake her up every night and are causing lots of anxiety and other issues in her life. I definitely think this is for people with no other options. Not for casual weight loss.", ">\n\nYes, I think it's off-label but accepted as a weight loss drug for obese people. It's not for people who want to lose a few pounds.", ">\n\nYeah. Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss; Ozempic is technically only approved diabetes. That said, the only real difference (at least in terms of active ingredient) is that Wegovy is a higher strength.", ">\n\nWell and ozempic is far more likely to be covered by insurance. I’m not aware of a single insurance plan that even partially covers Wegovy", ">\n\nUnited health just approved mine and the copay was only $24 for a month supply", ">\n\nSo make more. Hire temporary workers. Make them permanent. Drug company is making money hand over fist. They have plenty of profit they can plow onto hiring and expansion.", ">\n\nI'm diabetic. Have used the daily form of this (Victoza) for years. When I tried switching to Ozempic I ended up developing terrible stomach pain and ended up in the emergency room. So, yes, I suppose that WILL help a person lose weight!", ">\n\nThis article was researched well enough but good god it's poorly written.", ">\n\nThe problem here is: PHYSICIANS prescribing Ozempic for off-label use.", ">\n\nWegovy is the exact same medication by the exact same manufacturer and specifically for weight loss. It is on-label for treatment of obesity, approved by the FDA for that purpose and everything.\nIt's just two different pens with two different labels. Same exact medication.", ">\n\nMy mom (who is not obese) was keeping her diabetes under control really well with Ozempic until the supply basically dried up due to what her doctor called “the Kardashian effect” of all these fuckers using it as a cosmetic weight loss drug. Now we don’t know how she’s going to manage without it. \nYou know what, screw it, I’m a fatass myself. Prescribe me some of this stuff so I can get it for my mom.", ">\n\nThey had to come up with a completely new request type for prior authorizations at my job just because of the shortages for these medications being used for weight loss. Now it's not just Ozempic, but also Trulicity and other medications that are \"diagnosis restricted\" and cannot be covered for weight loss. Pharmacies have to enter a diagnosis code for type 2 diabetes to get paid claims for medications that didn't used to require any sort of prior authorization. I'm sure other pharmacy benefit managers like my company have had to do the same thing.", ">\n\nMy doctor put me on it. Took my first dose on Monday. First time in my life I haven’t craved food. Insane. And I’m only on a quarter of the dose you eventually end up on. It should be free to all of us diabetic fatties.", ">\n\nI'm one of these people. It's annoying, but...\nUltimately this is great news, because it means a particular medication is highly effective and makes things better for everyone. The only problem is supply, which will take time to fix.", ">\n\nI'm a diabetic who had to get off Ozempic thanks to this. I'd have to run around to multiple pharmacies just to find a pen. Sometimes, I'd have to order two weeks in advance to get one.\nI'm so pissed off to find out this is why.", ">\n\nOh no people are trying to prevent developing diabeties. Those bastards.", ">\n\nThis is a good example of why the US should ban pharmaceutical advertising. People see those commercials and think they absolutely need those drugs and then there's a shortage for people who actually do need the drug as instructed by their doctor without pressure from the patient.", ">\n\nI was given 6 week ozempic samples from my doctor because we couldn’t get it filled. Now my insurance is denying the pre-auth he provided for both \n/either Ozempic and Mounjaro. \nIt’s a shitshow.", ">\n\nI guess those stupid \"OH...?\" commercials are more effective than I thought. The ones where they show people doing fun and meaningful things to distract you while the announcer lists off all of the horrible potential side effects.\nRIP the guy teaching group guitar lessons.", ">\n\nMy dr is going to start me on it for weight loss but we’re going to go through a compounding pharmacy.", ">\n\nHusband has had trouble getting it filled when they increased his dose.", ">\n\nSo is this a drug diabetics are meant to stay on indefinitely? What happens when you get off it and maintain your caloric surplus?", ">\n\nThis feels like an advertisement", ">\n\nnot just Ozempic, any semaglutide. And it being a weightloss drug isn't new, they knew that it could help with this.", ">\n\nPretty sure 60 minutes just did a thing about this.", ">\n\nPlus that banging ass theme song.", ">\n\nThe problem is two fold. None of my wholesalers have it and even if they did most insurance claims are in the red. I'm at the point now where I probably won't dispense it at all", ">\n\nNot on Ozempic, but this made me wonder if the same thing has anything to do with the constant adderall shortage?", ">\n\nThis stuff is great. I keep a supply in my drawer in case I want to lose a few pounds here and there.", ">\n\nThe demand is insane. It’s been mfr back ordered for months and when we do get some in we have a massive backlog of orders to catch up on.", ">\n\nSame, it fucking sucks. Same with Adderall. Please people reading this don't be angry at your pharmacy staff. We order this shit every day and they usually just don't send it to us. \nIf you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at the drug manufacturer that force feeds you ozempic ads every day and yet can't meet the demand for the product. \nLike hey assholes, maybe if your product is 6 weeks backordered you could hold off a couple weeks on the advertisements.", ">\n\nYou can thank celebrities for this", ">\n\nYep celebrities are literally throwing “ozempic parties” and shooting each other up to lose weight as if they don’t have the means to get weight loss surgery instead and a lot of them aren’t even fat. It’s a disgusting trend.", ">\n\nSauce? Celebs have a million different methods to lose weight, they can afford personal chefs and entire gyms. They don't need this.", ">\n\nall of those methods still require discipline. this drug takes that requirement away since it drastically lowers appetite", ">\n\nMy mom takes this to keep her A1C in check. Idk what to do if i cant get it filled for her. She needs it. Its the only one her insurance will cover. Otherwise its 3000 for a 3 month supply. She pays 9.95.", ">\n\nI have been on this for my diabetes for six months and lost 1 pound. If you are spending 1k a month for this miracle drug you would be better off with a personal trainer.", ">\n\nPeople out there just don’t want to accept that a caloric deficit is the way to go", ">\n\nI feel so bad for my partner, he’s got a good attitude but it just sucks watching the uncertainty, trying to find samples, planning for extended periods of no meds and what could happen. Has to pay ALOT this month due to insurance change he selected months ago?", ">\n\nMeth also helps with weight loss", ">\n\nAlso on Ozempic for diabetes and had to go 2 weeks without it because my pharmacy couldn’t stock it.\nPeople using it for weight loss should go on a wait list.", ">\n\nHeres an idea….\nDONT PRESCRIBE IT TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED IT.", ">\n\nType 2 Diabetes people who are mostly overweight/obese and have other medications to manage their Type 2 Diabetes vs Obese/fat people who have no medicine to manage their disease and might actually avoid Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Strokes etc with this medicine.\nDo you treat people that have alternative medicines or do you treat people with no medicines?", ">\n\nSome diabetes medications don't work as well as ozempic and/or have side effects the patients can't manage such as nasuea, vomitting, etc that prevent them from utilizing other medications.", ">\n\nObese people have no medications and Type 2 diabetes patients have quite a few medicines to work through including insulin.", ">\n\nTYPE 2 DIABETICS. Type 1 diabetics don’t need ozempic and don’t like the generalization of “diabetics” in this.", ">\n\nGoogle “celebrity ozempic parties”. Mindy Kaling, Oprah, Adele and others are rumored to be using it for weight loss with I think kaling going on record. \nAs is usually the case, rich people ruining things for everyone else.", ">\n\n\nrumored\n\nDon't believe everything you read on gossip sites/Facebook.", ">\n\nThis is so pathetic. People will do anything to avoid putting in effort. Anything to avoid actually working out.", ">\n\nAmazon Pharmacy doesn't seem to have any issue stocking it.", ">\n\nIt comes with unpleasant side effects and when you quit, many are constantly ravenous and put on more weight than they lost. I was taking Metformin for many years and it destroyed my appetite and i Iost way too much weight. My doctor took me off it in September and my appetite slowly came back, and now I'm hungry all the time, but not ravenous. Metformin seems to be a milder form of this stuff, which is meant for obese diabetics, who really need it.", ">\n\nThe upside of this is less people developing diabetes.", ">\n\nThis woman I know was bitching because her doctor wouldn’t give her Metforman. I kept trying to explain that stuff drys you out and can put you into an early menopause but she didn’t care, she wanted to lose weight the easy way.", ">\n\nMetformin is not an easy way to lose weight.", ">\n\nYa. She’s dumb and crazy which is a horrible combination. Welcome to the World Wide Web. She was my therapist that I quickly fired.", ">\n\nFucking infuriating that diabetic people keep getting the short end of the stick.", ">\n\nCan't help but wonder if they are keeping supplies low to justify higher prices.", ">\n\nPhysician here and I can’t stand the amount of patients that have come in to see me in the last 6 months asking for Ozempic. When I advise them or guide them towards a specific diet regimen and/or exercise routine they just cut me off and say “can you just give me the Ozempic?”. I refuse to because nothing comes without side effects and it’s much better for people to actually do the diet and exercise way but people are lazy and medicine is turning into McDonalds where patients come in and order what they want. It’s annoying and is burning me, and other younger doctors, out badly.\nE - so I guess I need to clarify what I meant by “lazy”. I’m talking about people walking in and sticking their hand out demanding the treatment who haven’t even tried cutting their food down or meeting more. They just want it “because it works” and they “don’t wanna give things up cuz it’ll be too hard.”", ">\n\nAssuming you are not talking about the person with a bmi of 26 who just wants the easy way out of the last 10 lbs…. I suggest spending some time reading a bit more literature on obesity. On a population level diet and weight loss just don’t work. Not because restricting calories and exercise don’t work but because its not maintainable indefinitely for most once their metabolism is screwed up from overeating. If these people had the willpower they wouldn’t be coming to you in the first place.\nPut more simply diet and exercise fail when look at in light of “intention to treat”. Its like prescribing a drug that is 100% effective but has intolerable side effects so no one will take it.\nYou can moralize all you want about it, but you are doing your patients and society harm by not offering effective aids to help people lose weight. It would be like refusing to give chantix because its just a “willpower” thing. The possible side effects of a GLP-1 are VASTLY outweighed by the side effects of severe obesity. It isn’t even close. The NNH of wegovy is like 117 while the nnt is near one if weight loss is the goal and that has huge health benefits in everyone.\nI get the “demanding” shit is annoying, and again you may be referring to patients who really aren’t appropriate for it (eg: dont meet criteria) so I apologize if thats the case.", ">\n\nI appreciate the insight, but I’ve done a good amount of research into obesity. Over the last 2 years the patients who take my advice have lost over 2,500 lbs. What I was referring to in my initial comment is that nobody wants to “try” and just want a quick fix for things. Same holds true for mental health.\nAnd before anyone jumps on me - there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule. Despite non medical treatments, some people need medications to help with weight loss, anxiety, depression etc… I’m not a pill pusher and get a little annoyed when someone comes to me and literally has tried zero lifestyle modifications.", ">\n\nYeah I agree there are certainly a good subset of people that lack motivation and might do well if they took better care of themselves. Its obviously hard for us to manage that in a 15-30 min session with 8 other problems on the table as well. Patients that aren’t motivated to take care of themselves suck to manage for sure. It is dissatisfying on both sides since they want an instant fix and we usually cant offer one, though I would argue the new glps are close to one. Even if they aren’t motivated I see it as harm reduction at this point in my patients with major downline effects like OHS.\nI agree also asking most patients to try lifestyle modifications first is totally reasonable, and SHOULD generally be done. Your initial post seemed a little ridged but im sure thats just the frustration plus a quick reddit post doesnt lend to nuance lol." ]