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.

Switching to the oral medication once the injectable has built up could be a temporary solution. I don’t know. There is a little piece of me that thinks the shortage is benefiting the companies a lot more than we know.

@KateWick It's not really benefitting Novo Nordisk, their reputation for forecasting and managing their supply chain has taken a big hit and their share price over the last 6 months has dropped somewhat (though it had skyrocketed before that).

Do we think that when the supply issues are resolved the cost will come down? There's a part of me that thinks people have paid these high prices and so the companies will continue to pay them.

I'm in two minds as to what to do. I am that user who hasn't had a huge weight loss, although I was starting to drop a pound a week from 0.5mg and knew going to 1mg would really help (but obviously haven't been able too)

I can see the benefits of continuing but equally feel it's pointless staying on a maintenance dose for the sake of it.

For those that have switched products have you found any major differences ?

Thanks. I don’t know or follow any of this information so I was probably being paranoid.

I have shares in Nova Nordisk, I'm acutely aware that they're being hopelessly out performed by Sage Accounting at the moment 🫢

I wonder if I should buy shares in NN too @mumwheresmyribena. If they ever get their act together I’d say it should do really well as there is such demand. I appreciate the fact it’s never going to be quick to bring a product to the market but it’s taken forever to get Wegovy launched here. It was supposed to be launched in Autumn 2022 as far as I remember. They must be kicking themselves that production is so constrained.

Anyway. I weighed today and have finally lost again. After quite a stall. Am now 12st 11.5.

Have one pen left and one ordered but no idea when or if it will arrive.

Morning all - just to report that I am now OVERWEIGHT!!!!!

From a BMI of 44 to one of 29. I never thought I would be so happy to be overweight

I'm only on 0.5mg now and have enough Ozempic for about 3 months so I'm eking it out and planning to transition to life without it. Hopefully I can keep losing. I think I have changed my lifestyle enough to do that. If supply improves in that time then I will reconsider.

I'll still keep posting on these threads and keeping track of you all.

Well done @Athena51 and @Peridot1 for your losses. Very impressive.

Great news @Peridot1 & @Athena51 you're both doing fabulously. I too should hit overweight this week. I have around 2.5 months supply left. I alternate between being hopeful and worrying about how it will play out if I can't source more; on the one hand I know I managed perfectly well with a moderate low carb and IF before my accident and weight balloonoing, however even then, holidays, uncertainty, life problems (or celebrations) could knock me back and it could take months to get back on track. That just doesn't seem to happen with Ozempic, since I've been on it, my life has been in the throes of a huge upheaval which will continue through to the end of the year but I've managed to keep on track and lose consistently even if only very slowly some weeks. In fact since Feb 15th I've only had a single week where my weight trend increased and that was only by 0.1kg.

I think that part of the supply problem is that Novo totally underestimated the demand for Wegovy. I think it's Wegovy that's the underlying issue not ozempic. The Ozempic problems are knock-on from that. They had problems with the outsourced factory that was filling the wegovy syringes plus the demand especially in the USA was much, much higher that they anticipated. Add to that the social-media hype and celeb "endorcements" and the ongoing trials into alternate uses such as alzheimers and they are having to juggle supply. They've already doubled supply this year but it apparently takes years to build and start production, they have a new factory they've started building but they say won't come onstream in 2026 (they have others that have been on the pipeline longer and will come onstream sooner).

@KateWick I pushed for a 1mg pen when they wanted to keep me on 0.5 specifically so I could get 8 doses from the pen due to the cost.
I dont want to risk side effects as I have none on 0.5 and as I am losing (slowly but without any effort or mindspace taken up obsessing about cals or points or syns) then I'm happy on this dose.
After the 8 weeks is up I'm coming off it and seeing what happens.

Should wegovy become available in the future or the price become more viable then I may go back on it again.

Congratulations @Athena51 and @Peridot1 you've both lost lots of weight since you started the journey and I think you have good prospects of sticking to a healthy weight even if you stop taking Ozempic in a few months as you both have such a good attitude. Wish you Luck.

That’s really great to know. I have minimal side effects on 0.5 also so it was a win-win for me. I’m going to stay on as long as Juniper is still viable and am very scared. I’m looking at this as a lifelong medicine because it has totally killed off my obsessing over food and no amount of building good habits can change that once I go back off. I’ve always been a healthy eater but I always ate too much. My parents are the same way and both very fat so I know some of it is learned behaviour and some is probably my DNA.

Thanks everyone - your kindness is much appreciated. x

Well done @Athena51 and@Peridot1 ! You are doing so well.

I just bumped into a friend I haven't seen since Christmas. She didn't recognize me at first. 😀

Well done, fantastic losses. I asked my (adult) son if I looked as if I've lost weight and his response was "well I still recognised you..."
So does my computer camera.

I have reached the 1 1/2 stone loss mark at last (started Ozempic nearly a year ago). A long plateau after I lost a stone but I have been working hard at the diet recently and the losses are coming.

Well done to everyone with their losses.

A work colleague just called me "the incredible shrinking woman" 😊

So lovely to get comments like that @Athena51!

I am on saxenda rather than ozempic but lots of same stock issues, rightangled seem to have 0.25 and 0.5 ozempic pens available. I have had few orders from them for saxenda and have been fine so thought may be of interest to some here

I was pretty chuffed @Peridot1 x

@Athena51 Great comment, what a boost that must be!

In other news, I've joined you all in "overweight-ness". My BMI 29.7 is today.

I've got a crazy few weeks, we're moving coss-country in 3 weeks, completing our house sale in 2 weeks and packing our stuff up to go to storage while we rent for a few months. This would normally send any good resolves into the abyss. Fingers crossed, it's not happened so far.

Has anyone else got ozempic from Bury Healthcare? If so how was it packaged? Mine came today and was in some kind of foil bubble wrap but no ice packs, which I've had from everywhere else. Missed the postie yesterday (we were actually in but didn't hear it, typically) so it was posted 48h ago and I'm a bit worried it's not been kept as cool as it should be and that could potentially affect how effective it is.

Also, well done everyone 😁. I'm almost 2 and a half stone down since March, and close to hitting overweight but have hit a bit of a plateau I think. Will up my water intake and watch what I'm eating more closely

I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to start tapering and extending the time within doses in order to get as much as possible out of the one and a half 1mg pens I have. I cannot afford the new prices, even if it was ever in stock.

I had been doing 0.75 doses that I'm going to reduce to 0.5. If I inject weekly that will give me a further 12 weeks of injections.

Once the school holidays are over I'm going to try and extend that weekly to every ten days, to try and get a little longer. It will take me over the shelf life of an open pen, although from what I've read, as long as the liquid remains clear, it's fine to inject.

The other option would be to use the last 1mg in 0.25 doses so I get a little longer with a small amount in my system, but I'm
Not sure if that would even be effective?

I'm nearly three stone down. If I can get down to a four stone loss before I have to come off it completely then I will be very very happy. Im doing this in conjunction with a complete lifestyle overhaul so hopefully I stand a chance of maintaining it!

I'm having to do the same thing but I don't think 0.5 is working for me anymore and I need to increase really.

I think if you leave the pen in the fridge between doses it should last. Pretty sure the 8 week shelf life for the pen is only if it's unrefrigerated.