Yes, 24 hairs is not a normal amount of hairs to be in telogen with the “raking” test (unless you hadn’t brushed your hair in a few days.) Definitely do the raking test daily for the next few days and write down the results so that you have that data for the dermatologist.
Seeing that all these hairs have telogen root balls, it is literally impossible that this was caused by something recent. Hairs cannot “pull up their roots” so to speak and form the little ball overnight, it takes a number of weeks to months for this process to occur.
Ozempic can be at room temp, but my Mounjaro box says to keep refrigerated (and the pharmacy hands it to me cold). I used to take interferon daily, which had to be kept cold. Was a real pain to travel with!
ETA: Just looked it up online and it said you can leave it out. Nevertheless, we go through many temperature swings on our current trip, so it seems safer not to risk it.
A few years ago I talked with a nutrition consultant (due to high-ish A1C). She convinced me it would be healthier to drink more water and get more fiber. About half of the time for breakfast I have Fiber One ORIGINAL Cereal (not the sweetened flake version)….plus fruit (half of a banana OR berries fresh or frozen).
A 2/3c serving of has 18g of fiber, 1g fat, zero sugar
Now plenty of people, including my husband, don’t care for this cereal. But I really like it. Sometimes I add it (or nuts) to yogurt for some crunch texture. For folks wanting more fiber it’s worth a try… either on its own or mixed with another favorited cereal.
Other fiber boosters I like: avocado, chia seeds, fiber one bars, date/coconut snacks from bulk store, oatmeal, harvest snaps (dehydrated peas, fiber gummies
Travel cases! Never heard of that! Good to know. We drove cross-county in 2003 and I was on daily interferon injections. We bought a little car fridge that plugged into the 12 V adapter for the meds. International hotels (at least the cheap ones we stayed at) didn’t have fridges in the room and we’d have to ask if we could use their fridge.
I took my Mounjaro just before we left for the airport. Knew I’d be ok because I’d stretched doses out during the months it was unavailable. Of course, if I were on something for more serious issues, it’d be a different conversation.
My insurance requires being in a weight loss program for 3 months prior to approving Wegovy or any others. My doc has been giving me the office samples of Ozempic to tide me over. Weight Watchers has a special program now for people on gpl1s. It focuses on getting the nutrition you need instead of just points. A lot more protein than I was accustomed to. The combo seems to working slowly.
My insurance bases it on BMI, thankfully. That was great about your doc tiding you over. And good point about protein! I generally eat lo carb so more protein, but I’ll be extra aware of that, thanks!
I am not on any of these (although should be, and will ask during my next appointment).
BUT- everyone I know who is on says that the key (cannot stress it enough) is hydration. Folks our age laugh at the young kids/20’s who walk around with these ginormous water bottles which they compulsively fill and chug and fill and chug… but the only way to manage the digestive changes is with water and lots more than you are used to drinking. That clunking pastel accessory is your friend.
Public service announcement (every get together with friends now has their hulking thermos sitting right on the table).
Those on GLP-1 meds do need to monitor their water intake in a way they didn’t before starting the meds. This is because GLP-1 meds actually decrease motivation to drink on the level of the brain similar to how they decrease motivation to eat on the level of the brain. In other words, while on these meds you won’t just feel less hungry, you’ll also feel less thirsty. So you can’t just let thirst be your guide the way you can when not on these meds; you have to make sure you are actually drinking 48 oz/day (~6 glasses of fluid.)
There really isn’t good evidence for going beyond that however. Certain doctors and nutritionists may set higher water intake goals, but the studies (at least as of now) don’t really support it. In particular, there is little evidence it helps the constipation associated with GLP-1 meds. So if you are on these meds and experience constipation, it can’t hurt to try increasing water for a week to see if it helps. But then if you are still constipated, do not let your nutritionist try to tell you that “the only way to manage the digestive changes is with water and lots more than you are used to drinking” because that just isn’t true and you shouldn’t have to suffer untreated constipation.
I’ve had a rough couple of days. Right before I was scheduled for my fourth injection, I woke up very nauseous, took the nausea med prescribed to me, drank some water, got sweaty and shaky and then barfed all the water I drank. Then the laxatives kicked in and I was crampy and in the bathroom all day and night. Not fun.
Just seems like a weird time to get so nauseous to the point of vomiting - a week since the last dose.
And Annoyed that it coincided with me probably taking too many laxatives, but I went two or three days without any relief, so I was taking something every day. Metamucil one day, and then two ducolax pills for two days (it said you can give a child three tablets more than once a day!). I definitely need to figure out a better regimen.
On the bright side I’ve lost 10 pounds in three weeks. My goal is just ten more so I feel that I’ll accomplish that easily.
Compounded Ozempic. I’m feeling much better and that was the only rough day I’ve had so far.
I was taking Saxenda before, but my Insurance decided to stop paying. I had no problems at all on taking it, but the weight loss is not as significant as the two more popular meds. I lost 7 lbs while taking it for about two months.
I’m sorry you were sick. I don’t mean to start a debate but I wanted to share that my doctors (cardiologist and gynecologist) both recommended that I not to take compounded versions of Zepbound, noting that compounding isn’t regulated by the FDA and that the FDA has reported cases of illness from compounded versions of semaglutides. I hope you feel better and it doesn’t happen again!
I’m on Zepbound, on week nine I think? I did the lowest dose for the first month and have been on the next dose up since then. I’m reasonably sure that I’ve lost weight because my pants are looser, but I don’t actually own a scale - I used to weigh myself in the clinic at work but then I changed jobs and this one doesn’t have a health unit, so I pretty much only weigh myself at the doctors office. But it FEELS like less.
Like everyone else, I’ve noticed the food noise, and snacking, is much quieter. Not gone, but quieter. Like today, I was working from home, and the work for today wasn’t time sensitive and was really boring. This is normally a snack trigger for me - I work for a bit, then take a walk to the kitchen, because I’m bored. I still had to get up, but instead of walking to the kitchen I went and put away laundry.
I have had some downsides though - on the 2.5 dose I had some constipation, bad enough that I bought some psylium husk powder to mix in with things to try to help move things along.
But now that I’ve moved up to the 5 dose it’s the opposite. I seem to be fine the day of the shot and a day two and three, but then day four I feel like I’m in the bathroom many times per day, and it’s very, uh, watery. The first time this happened I thought it was something I ate - I had gone out with a girlfriend for lunch and, while I didn’t eat much in terms of quantity, the meal was in a very very rich creamy sauce. So I’ve tried to really just not eat anything like that - and sometimes it seems to help, and sometimes I’m just sick anyway, and have no idea why.
I don’t like it, but I’ll take a day of feeling crappy (ha ha) if it can help me focus and dial the noise down. I really need some help. When I started I was at a weight that was more than 100 pounds over where I was when I got married 22 years ago (and I was a size 14 then, so not exactly skinny). I’d love to lose enough to get close to that again. Or, hell, to get into numbers that start with 1 instead of 2.
If anyone is paying full price for zepbound, Lilly has decreased the price of the 2.5mg and 5mg if you buy direct from them, don’t file insurance and are ok with using a vial instead of the single dose syringes.
It’s going well! I’ve lost about fourteen pounds, and I haven’t had any serious side effects. My main issue is finding the stuff, as it seems like constant shortages. I’m staying, with doctor’s agreement, on 2.5 for now because it seems to be working really well. I’ll consider going up if it plateaus for long.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time reading labels and working on getting enough protein and fiber, and drinking a lot more water than I’m used to. It’s definitely a journey! I have found the Zepbound Facebook groups to be really helpful for advice and camaraderie.