Semaglutides for Weight Loss
Channel: BioBalance Healthcast
Date: 2023-08-07

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog
Every physician and every overweight patient have struggled with achieving effective weight loss that was effective for most people, until now!  Almost simultaneously 6 weight loss drugs hit the market approved by the FDA for different uses.  The only drug approved for just weight loss is called Wegovy, a once-a-week injection that causes loss of appetite as well as a feeling of fullness when only a fraction of volume of an American meal is eaten.  It also works by limiting the hormone glucagon that dumps stored blood sugar into the blood when blood sugar levels get low, and it decreases the craving that many overweight patients complain of. The majority of overweight people have been eating a high carbohydrate diet filled with sugared soda, bread, pasta, cereals, candy, cake, cookies, chips, crackers etc.  This is the average American diet, and it is killing us!

Years of eating this diet has made us fat and insulin resistant, as well as malnourished. Humans need food for fuel, and we have made it into entertainment! We need a varied diet of proteins, fats, and carbs. Our genetics dictates how much of each group we need; however, the one size fits all mentality of the FDA and the US government has led citizens to believe that cereal and bread is the basis for diet because America grows grain and sells it to our citizens…it is a diet based on GNP not our metabolism. Simply said this has left most children and adults obese and fatigued because they are not getting the right nutrition from their food intake.  Now we have to work backward, and the insurers of this country will not pay for the drugs we need to reverse the process.

The drugs above are all variations of the generic name Semaglutide.  The only drug that is different is Mounjaro or Tirzepide. It is more effective for treatment of diabetes and obesity, however Ozempic and the only oral version, Rybelsus, are also effective for both Diabetes and weight loss.  We generally prescribe Wegovy for weight loss without diabetes, and we can try to get it approved by insurance for weight loss. However, this is generally not approved.

The requirements for insurance to pay for these drugs for weight loss includes:

BMI over 30
Two other illnesses that are associated with being overweight, eg hypertension, heart disease, prediabetes.
Even with these requirements fulfilled they usually don’t pay for it!  The price is $ 1,500 for one month!  Three months is around $4,500.  This is prohibitive for everyone.

To solve this access problem, Dr Sullivan has contacted several compounding pharmacies who will make the drug for weekly self-injection at a much lower price!  The price is $540 for 3 months compared to $4,500. We have been recommending this avenue when we cannot get the drug paid for.  The only difference is that patients must draw up the small amount of semaglutide in an insulin syringe and inject themselves with a needle instead of a “pen”.

This is the way we have been accessing this medication for our patients and we have seen unbelievable results!  People who could never lose weight are losing and very obese patients who did not have the staying power to continue dieting to get appreciable weight loss are now approaching ideal weight.

The only people who cannot take this medication are those with a history of a specific type of thyroid cancer or a disease of the endocrine system called MEN II.  You know it if you have one of these rare problems. Others love to eat so much that limiting their intake is a problem for them.

Special Cases: Those people who genetically are “never full”, or “always hungry”, this is the drug for them to make them feel full for the first time in their life…..  Obesity from never feeling full or always hungry is genetic.

Dr. Maupin:

“I never understood those kids and adults who had to eat 24-seven or who could eat 2-3 plates of dinner. .I just had never walked in their shoes until I was pregnant…At that time in my life being 118 lbs and 5-3  when I got pregnant I never could catch up by eating enough calories to feed both of us. I felt full at the beginning of a meal but was always hungry, so I had to eat every 30 or 40 minutes.  I was hungry all the time!  It literally ruled my life, and it made me think about food all the time.  I felt like I was in a prison of low blood sugar restricting my activities. NOW I understand how terrible a genetic albatross having the “never full” or “always hungry” is! Except for pregnancy, I know that inherited genetics make some people always hungry, and others never feel full, and my heart goes out to them.  These GLP-1 drugs work well for people with these genes. PS.  I was thrilled to deliver my daughter, and it was both the happiest day of my life to see our beautiful baby, but I was also so relieved not to be hungry anymore!”