Ozempic - for those of us a few months in - Part 2

[Peridot1]

Just spotted the other thread had filled up so started I new one.

I have had an email to say my order from Bury has been dispatched today and should arrive tomorrow (Friday). (Paid last Thursday evening, Phone consult on Tuesday)

Oh that's reassuring @SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun
Maybe they've just had an awful lot of orders to process
I will unclench a bit!

I need a bit of advice. I've been taking 0.5 for about 10 weeks now and it's been working slowly which I've been fine with however the previous 2 weeks I've maintained and despite making efforts this week to shift the scales I have somehow put on 2lbs.

I have 7 1mg doses remaining but pretty realistic that this may be all I can get for a while. What would everyone do? Up to 1mg? Go to 0.75?

Will there be the option to use rybelsus once I'm out of Oz or are there shortages of that too?

It's a well known medication for plateauing, I stayed the same for almost 6 weeks before things started moving down again. Are you making note of everything you are eating? Is it likely more is sneaking in than you realise? I would persevere as you are if you aren't having side effects

Thank you, I panicked when I saw the scales and never considered a plateau. I've made a real effort to minimise sugar this week but think I will start logging on my fitness Pal to make sure I'm not suffering from calorie creep. I'll stick on 0.5 and see where I am this time next week.

I'm in the same boat- in a month I've managed to.put on a pound. I've also been on .5 for 10 weeks now.

I've lot one and a half stone in total which I'm pleased about. Also dreading it ending as I have the same again to lose.. I want to try the tablets if I can get them.

@WhyDoesItAlways I'm in a similar situation and opted to go up to 0.75mg. After very slow losses and STS on 0.5mg, my first week of 0.75mg I've lost two pounds. Vile nausea and headache are back with a bang though. After this pen runs out I'll be forced to go back to 0.5mg then probably stop as it doesn't do that much for me and I worry the 0.5 will be hit by shortages too.

Just to say my Ozempic arrived safely from Bury. Took about a week after I sent payment.

Oh that's good. I paid on Tuesday and haven't had a health questionnaire yet. I can live with it being a bit slow

@MotherofTerriers I also paid on Tuesday. I phoned them today and they did the consultation by phone then and there, then said my pen should be shipped at the start of the week. Might be worth giving them a call. Fingers crossed they still have the pens!

This thread makes me see red.... no stock for people with diabetes yet you're all out here chucking money at it

Should be solely for the NHS

@noozempicforme I get why you see red. But the majority of us here are desperately trying to avoid actually being diabetic in the first place.

I think we are mostly accepting that we will have to take a break. Most of our last orders went in before the patient safety directive came out which was literally in the last couple of days.

We are trying to take responsibility for our health and reduce our BMIs so as not to put a strain in the NHS. The NHS does want to make the drug available for weight loss when it can.

noozempicforme or the NHS could make it more easily available for those at risk of becoming diabetic as so many people with type2 are diabetic due to weight issues. It could save them money in the long run if people who tried really hard to lose weight but make really little progress, could access the drug without having to buy it off label.

They can't do that at the moment can they, as there is such limited stock they need to conserve it for their already diabetic patients, who should take priority.

Agree that if there were no stock issues the NHS should make it also available to those at high risk of developing diabeties due to obesity.

But the reality is there is very limited stock at the moment, hence the need to conserve it for those who need it most medically.

Ozempic isn’t licensed for weight loss so the NHS can’t prescribe it for that. Wegovy is and will hopefully be prescribed once it finally becomes available.

@noozempicforme - I get what you are saying. It’s wrong that people can buy it so easily in a lot of ways but some people were desperate. I know I was. I certainly don’t agree with people lying and using it to lose a stone for a holiday or similar. But I was definitely at risk of T2 diabetes and was five stone overweight. Had tried everything over the years. Ozempic has been a game changer for me and lots like me. I still have two stone to lose but know I will probably have to come off Ozempic soon. However the thought of losing two stone doesn’t feel as insurmountable as losing five did. Hopefully once Wegovy is available and people can access it through pharmacies like Boots etc these shortages won’t occur.

Thanks @SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun good to know

I have an unopened 0.5 in my fridge from juniper.
I have 3 more doses left in my current pen but I am just a the point that I can't tolerate the side effects. No matter what I do I struggle with nausea. and also awful fatigue on days 1 and 2 after injection and migraine.
I really don't want to waste it but I just want to stop 😭😭😭

Bluntly, no. Take your entitled faux-moral outrage away.

People need to start taking personal responsibility for their own health. And that’s exactly what everyone in this thread is doing. Seeking out (and paying for) a drug to make them healthy. We take responsibility because we can and should.

There is no point pretending that you don’t know how the world works. Since you will have less/more than others around the world - and you know it. You are hardly protesting how you have headache tablets but people in developing countries can’t afford etc.

This is a new drug. No-one on here is ‘depriving’ someone else because the idea that this drug is free and available is nonsense. It would be a lottery with someone paying the cost regardless.

In our case, we pay it, not the tax payer.

What a harsh attitude!

I am diabetic but have always managed it through diet and exercise. However, after treatment over the past 12 months for breast cancer, I have been prescribed a drug that is known to increase HbA1c. It has - my levels are far higher than they should be, and have been historically. My GP cannot prescribe Ozempic due to the shortage, as they have to keep existing patients supplied.

I would not slate anyone for taking action to help their own health, especially if they are able to afford the massive costs of Ozempic now, but I think a little empathy for those who are caught in the diabetes trap - through no fault of our own - would not go amiss.

@ajandjjmum It wasn’t a harsh attitude - it was a blunt response to a poster coming onto this thread with the sole aim of trying to make people feel bad or guilty for taking control of their health. There was no need for @noozempicforme to post except to vent anger. And that is not OK.

Fat people are endlessly vilified. Everyone here is taking personal responsibility and doing their best. Ozempic is not some long-enshrined right. It’s a very recent pharmaceutical development with lots of possibilities.

The NHS is going to drown if people are shamed for going out and spending their money to get healthy. Everyone on here has a million different places they could be spending that money - but they are prioritising their health - and no burden to the NHS. Good for them.

Thanks @gingerbubs I'll try phoning them
Not sure if they will respond over the weekend but worth a try and if not Monday

And for those complaining about supplies being bought like this - I am diabetic, my GP is happy that I am taking Ozempic but can't prescribe it for me. No new NHS prescriptions here, even from the specialist diabetes clinics, until at least 2024.

So buying it is the only way I can obtain a supply.

So you're in a similar position to me @MotherofTerriers . I actually have a phone appt with my GP on Monday to ask what will happen if I pay for Ozempic (assuming I can get it), and it helps my HbA1c level to get to 'normal'. Will the GP still prescribe when it is allowed on the NHS, or will I have to stop and let things deteriorate before before they will prescribe for me.

Just worried to leave things until supplies are available, as I am having no other treatment for the high HbA1c level that I have. Metformin was offered, but I don't feel I want to take that in addition to all of the other tablets!

@ajandjjmum I was prescribed ozempic by my gp in early june. Waited 2 weeks for my first 0.25 pen and have had no issues getting the 0.5mg pens since, have only waited a few days. The pharmacist told me that all pharmacies can only order ozempic from one supplier. Strange how different practices are telling their patients different things, seems so unfair.