Started my first 0.25 dose Sunday night before bed. Day 2 hit me with the food noise quieting almost immediately, which felt surreal after 20 years of fighting cravings. **Things nobody warned me about:** - Drink way more water than you think. The constipation is real. - Eat slowly. Like, *really* slowly. Otherwise you'll learn the hard way what "sulfur burps" means. - Protein first at every meal. I aim for 30g before I touch carbs. Anyone else have a Week 1 they'd add to this list?
Sharing in case it helps anyone fighting BCBS right now. After two flat denials they approved on the third appeal once my doctor sent: 1. Documented BMI history (need 27+ with comorbidity, or 30+) 2. Failed conservative weight loss attempts (Noom and a registered dietitian both counted) 3. A letter of medical necessity referencing the SURMOUNT-1 trial The whole process took 4 months. Don't give up.
Started at 247, hit 225 this morning. I'm a 5'9" guy, 38, type 2 diabetic. A1c went from 8.1 → 6.4 in the same window which honestly matters more to me than the scale. My boring routine: - 5 mg weekly, Sunday morning - 130-150g protein/day - Walk 8k steps minimum - One "normal" meal a week so I don't feel deprived Happy to answer anything.
Three weeks in on semaglutide and the sulfur burps are ruining my life. Tried: - Smaller meals → still happens - No high-fat food the day of injection → still happens - Pepto → marginal help, lasts maybe 2 hours My NP suggested Pepcid AC the night before. Anyone tried that? Or Beano? Willing to try anything at this point.
The appetite suppression is great until you realize you have to eat *something* and nothing sounds appealing. My go-tos when I genuinely don't want food: - **Greek yogurt + berries + a scoop of plain whey** (30g protein, 5 minutes) - **Cottage cheese + everything bagel seasoning + cucumber slices** (20g protein, weirdly good) - **Premier Protein shake blended with frozen banana + ice** (30g protein, like a milkshake) - **Rotisserie chicken + a string cheese** (30g protein, no cooking) What are yours? I'm running out of ideas.
Lost 28 lb the first 3 months on Wegovy, scale hasn't moved in 5 weeks. I'm on 1.7 mg right now. Doctor's offering to bump me to 2.4 next refill but I'm nervous about side effects since 1.7 was a rough adjustment. For those who pushed through to 2.4 — did the loss restart? Or did your body just adjust to the higher dose without much change?
Was on compounded sema for 5 months (Hims, $199/mo), insurance finally kicked in for Wegovy so I switched. Two pens in, here's what I noticed: - **Appetite effect:** about the same, maybe slightly stronger on Wegovy week 1. - **Side effects:** Wegovy gave me more nausea, but compounded gave me worse fatigue. - **Injection:** brand pen is way easier than drawing from a vial. Neither is magic. Both work. The pricing is the only real differentiator if you have insurance access.
Hit my one-year mark on Mounjaro this week. 247 → 197. I want to talk about the stuff that doesn't show up in progress photos. - I don't think about food constantly anymore. That alone is worth the cost. - My knees stopped hurting around the 30 lb mark. - My resting heart rate dropped from 82 to 64. - I sleep through the night now. Used to wake up at 3am every night. The scale stuff is real but the quality-of-life stuff is what makes me say I'd never go back.
Picked up my Wegovy refill yesterday. Got home, opened the box, it's a vial labeled "semaglutide compounded" from a place I've never heard of. No phone call, no warning. I called the pharmacy and they said "oh we substitute when there's a shortage." My insurance was billed for the brand. Has anyone else had this happen? Pretty sure this isn't allowed but I want to make sure before I call my insurance.
Three weeks on 2.5mg and I'm dreaming like I'm in a movie every single night. Not nightmares, just hyper-vivid weird stuff — last night I was teaching algebra to a moose. I checked the side effect list and it's not officially listed but I keep seeing scattered reports online. Is this a thing for anyone else? Wondering if it's the medication or just because I'm sleeping deeper now.
Posting this because someone DM'd me asking. Decisions about food were exhausting me even when I wasn't hungry. Now I prep 3 "slots" Sunday and rotate: **Slot A** — chicken thighs, roasted broccoli, jasmine rice (~40g protein) **Slot B** — turkey meatballs, marinara, zucchini noodles (~35g protein) **Slot C** — ground beef taco bowls, black beans, salsa (~35g protein) Snacks are always the same: cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, jerky, string cheese. I don't miss variety. The decision fatigue going away is its own win.
Going to a wedding next weekend. Cocktail hour is all carb-heavy passed apps (mini grilled cheese, etc.) and dinner is pasta or chicken parm. I usually eat protein first and stop when full but I literally can't with this menu. Do you eat beforehand? Bring a protein bar in your purse? Just embrace the carbs for one night and move on?
Resting heart rate is normally around 70. The day of and day after my Mounjaro shot it's been climbing to 90-95 just sitting on the couch. My BP is normal. No chest pain or anything scary, just feels weird. My doctor's office said "that can happen, monitor it." Anyone else experience this? It mostly goes away by day 3 post-injection but I'd love to know I'm not the only one.
Their Premier Protein 4-pack is like $7. I've been blending one with: - 1 cup frozen mixed berries - 1 tbsp PB powder - A handful of ice - Splash of unsweetened almond milk 40g protein, tastes like a smoothie shop drink, and I can actually finish it on days when food feels impossible. Cheap, fast, repeatable. I have one most mornings now.
Hit my goal (lost 65 lb) two months ago. I've been hovering within a 3-lb window since, which technically is maintenance, but I'm still on 2.4 mg. My doctor wants to taper to 1.7 then 1.0 and see how I do. Anyone done this taper successfully? I'm scared of regaining. The studies on stopping show pretty bad rebound but tapering's barely studied.
SURPASS-2 update came out yesterday. TL;DR — at 72 weeks, tirzepatide 15mg outperformed semaglutide 1.0mg by about 6 percentage points on weight loss (~22% vs ~15%) in adults with type 2 diabetes. With the caveat that this isn't a head-to-head at the highest sema dose (2.4 mg Wegovy). But still — this is the cleanest comparison data we have so far. Link to the abstract in comments.
I'm always tired the day after. Trying to figure out if other people structure their week around the shot or just push through. Curious about: - What day of the week you inject - Morning vs evening - Anything you do differently the day of (lighter food? more water?) - How long until you feel "normal" again I'm Sunday night, and Monday is rough, so I might switch to Friday night and let the weekend absorb it.
Two months in, my scale had moved 4 lb. Side effects were brutal. I genuinely thought about throwing the pen away. My NP convinced me to do one more dose increase. Within 2 weeks the appetite suppression hit different, the side effects calmed down, and the scale started moving 1-2 lb a week consistently. I'm now down 41 lb at month 7. If you're in that miserable Week 6-8 window: hang on. The dose ladder exists for a reason.
Insurance covers Zepbound but my copay is still $580/month. Found two discount options and I'm confused about stacking: 1. Lilly's manufacturer card: knocks it down to $25 if commercially insured 2. GoodRx coupon: shows $1099 cash price So manufacturer card is the no-brainer right? Anyone successfully use it month after month or do they cap it at a few uses per year?
I felt great on 0.25 mg. Almost no side effects, mild appetite suppression. So when month 2 came I figured I'd jump to 1.0 and skip the 0.5 to lose faster. Reader, I do not recommend this. I spent 4 days unable to keep water down and ended up with an ER visit for dehydration. The titration ladder isn't a suggestion, it's how your gut adapts to the slowdown. Going up too fast is how people end up hospitalized and giving up on these meds entirely.