I feel like food noise is a lot of my issue. So it is really interesting to me to hear how the meds help with this - thank you for sharing!
I have a vacation coming up at the end of January and am worried about timing the delivery of my next month of meds with when I am leaving. It’s only a week of vacation and I can give myself a shot a few days before I leave. I too am worried about eating too much on the vacation if I am unable to take a shot with me.
I think I did pretty good over the holiday. I made a lot of cookies and definitely tried one or two along the way, but I did notice that sweets, when I do have them, now taste overly sweet to me. I have my favorite ice cream in the freezer but when I tried it, I could only get a few spoons down before I couldn’t eat any more. I haven’t touched it since. Christmas dinner was a few bites of filet and some mashed potatoes (I make excellent ones!) We also had lobster tails, but I didn’t eat any.
Well hello 2026. Just found out that my insurance isn’t covering GLP-1’s for any reason other than diabetes anymore. Most frustrated that my employer never communicated this and so I found out when I got to the pharmacy today and they said it would be $1200. (gulp and no)
So, if I don’t want to miss another shot day, I now have a week to figure out a more reasonable solution. I think compounding is going to be the most likely option but I’m nervous about efficacy.
What should I be looking for or staying away from?
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I started with compounded GLP-1 through Weight Watchers before going on Ozempic. It did the job and at the time was about $300/month I think.
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I also started with a compounded Ozempic from an online company (you can Google and get ratings & reviews). I paid $300/mo. no matter what the strength was. I liked the company - I could easily do an online visit, there were no monthly fees, no problems with shipment.
I did have lots of nausea, but they also prescribed anti-nausea meds. I lost weight but decided to switch to the Lilly Direct program for Zepbound to see if I could jump start the weight loss a bit. For the lowest dosage on Zepbound, this also costs me $300/month (but I can use my HSA/FSA to pay, which I could not do with the compounded version).
I’m tolerating the Zepbound well so far. I don’t feel as full as being on the compounded Ozempic (but I was on the strongest dose of the Ozempic) but I do think the Zepbound is working. I may decide to bump up to the next level of Zepbound and see if I notice any difference. Bumping up to the next level will increase my monthly spend an additional $100.
Another reason for switching from the compounded Ozempic was that being on the highest level meant having to inject half a dose, twice a week (their reasoning was that it lessened the side effects). That seemed a little sus to me, and I didn’t want to inject twice a week.
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I believe the lowest dose of zepbound is “only” $300/mo direct from Lilly.
Does anyone know how effective the new Wegovy pill is supposed to be?
Correct. It goes up by $100 increments for the increased dosage levels.
Thought I would report back after I finished my second and final monthlong trial.
I lost four pounds. That’s kind of disappointing, but then I thought about those two months. I’m one of those people who gains the average seven pounds over the holidays, so maybe I’m really 11 pounds lighter? I love being an optimist. 
I also had a nasty bout of Flu A last month and really am just now able to resume the running program that I had built up.
I tracked my eating and saw that I was regularly eating 1,000 calories less per day than usual so I figure that if I can maintain that level then I can keep losing weight on my own. I never intended to do this long-term – just not in the budget. And it’s not like I had a lot to lose. I just wanted to drop the 20 pounds I regained while taking care of my now-late mom. Now seeing how difficult it has been to re-lose this weight, I think I can settle for a little more weight on me than my previous low.
Having said that, I absolutely noticed a difference with the food noise. It’s been great. If the pill form becomes widely available and is significantly cheaper I absolutely would take it.
Good luck, everyone!
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Has anyone else gotten a notice from their insurance company saying that you now have to go through their third party app (Vida) for GLP-1 prescriptions and not your doctor? I have SO many issues with this. Since I get my insurance through work, it is everyone employed by any town in MA.
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GAH! I am so annoyed with my insurance! So we switched to new insurance with the new plan year, because my old insurance would no longer cover my meds (Zepbound). New insurance does cover the meds. Great.
Except - you need to get pre-authorization. Ok, I get that the old one doesn’t transfer over, get the doctor to send the memo.
Except no, it’s denied. Apparently you need to try Wegovy first, because that’s the preference under the plan. So my doctor sends an appeal, noting that I’ve been on Zepbound for 18 months and lost 55 pounds, and we want to stick with what works.
And the insurance company says nope, that’s not sufficient, denied.
So ok, we decide we’ll try Wegovy. She writes the Rx, then submits to the insurance company for pre-authorization of Wegovy. Which is, mind you, the one they told me to try rather than the Zepbound I wanted.
And what happened? THEY DENIED THE WEGOVY! They said they had evidence in my file that it didn’t work for me, so it wouldn’t be covered. Well the only “evidence” they could possibly have is the letter asking to use the other med - which they also denied. So WTH am I supposed to do?
Meanwhile, it’s now been five weeks since I’ve had any shots, and I’m eating like it’s going out of style. I am trying to stay to a plan, but I am so hungry all the time. GOing from the top level to nothing and getting stuck here is not working for me at all.
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Ugh! That is annoying
I wonder if they have AI doing the first round of approvals and you are stuck in a loop of deniability
Can you call the speciality pharmacy and ask to talk to a supervisor/pharmacy technician?
My husband had a different but similar experience with his specialty pharmacy. Finally he asked to talk to a pharmacist and they were able to figure out where his prescription was in the process and correct it.
Oy. Insurance is such a menace. I’m sorry this is happening. 
My husband once spent weeks on hold and going round and round trying to figure out why our insurance was rejecting claims it had previously covered, and finally we figured out – after much gnashing of teeth – that the billing code had changed from M54.5 for “lower back pain” to M54.50 for “lower back pain, unspecified.”
THAT was the reason for the rejection. Not even kidding.
Hope you’re able to reason with them!
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Yes!
We just went through this. Rejected because the doctor prescribed the generic but needed to prescribe a certain generic not any generic
And the outsourced customer service team could not tell us why the medicine kept defaulting to the brand name. That wasn’t covered.
It was a 4 week ordeal to figure out
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Funny to be rejected for not prescribing a generic enough generic.
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Picked up my Ozempic and it cost $11. Medicare Part D. Prescribed for blood sugar. Of course I had to pay the deductible last month but still. Last year it was $230/month and now it’s $11.
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After complaining about having to go through Vida to get my meds due to a my insurance now demanding a 3rd party subscriber, I’ve been humbled. I actually like my provider better than my primary care physician and she definitely knows more about GLP-1’s than my regular doc. While I was afraid she’d look for a reason to kick me off, it was quite the opposite. She applauded my slow loss and actually knew the ins and outs of getting insurance approvals through my plan. Hopefully, the nutritionist will be just as good. Unfortunately, I can’t get in to see her for another month.
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Thought I’d share this here. The Alo fitness app is now free. I thought there was a catch or it would be just a free trial, but I looked into it and it’s legit. It’s a beautiful app with better filters and more quality and quantity than any of the other apps I’ve tried and I must have tried 20 by now. If you like strength training, pilates, HIIT, yoga, meditation or barre, or want to try them, it’s definitely worth signing up.
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Here’s my weight loss graph. Can you tell when the cruise was, ha? I’m about down to where I was on February 6, the day we left for Florida.
I started phentermine at the right end of the horizontal line towards the very top. I can’t wait for my annual exam in a couple of weeks! 
9 pounds until I hit my goal weight of 150.
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My husband started Zepbound this week.
Any recommendations for calorie counters? He’s looked at a couple, but they give conflicting, sometimes very conflicting, numbers for the same food. TIA
When I have tracked my food, I have typically used MyFitnessPal. It’s free, but if you are a Premium subscriber, you can scan barcodes on packaged items.
At the beginning of the year, my insurance started requiring use of Teledoc in order to continue to have my Wegovy approved. It has its own food tracker built in.
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