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.

@cordiality - I bought the 0.5 in desperation really. I was on 1.5 at one point and have dropped down to 1mg which isn’t having the same effect. I am thinking of taking 0.5 every five days for a while. I have a full 1mg pen and will hopefully get the 0.5 pen. If there are still issues then I am going to stop completely until Wegovy is launched.

Doesn't look like there'll be any 1mg pens available anytime soon so I've ordered 2 x 0.25 from Right-angled (£200 each). They'll keep me going at 0.5 for another 8 weeks.

@cordiality there is something called distance selling regulations which means that they legally have to allow you to cancel in 14 days of order. I looked and it says it applies to NHS prescriptions so not sure if it covers private but it specifically says NHS. So if you wanted to cancel you could quote that to them.

However, like others have said I think it'll be really difficult to get a 1ml. I e had to go down to 0.5mg with juniper. Like you I lost nothing on 0.5, once I went to 1mg I started losing.

Hi all. I’ve decided to not purchase anymore pens because of the cost. I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled but it seems impossible to get 1mg currently. I’m only 2lbs from my goal weight, and I have two doses of ozempic left - so really hoping they do the trick.

I’ve lost 42lbs total, gone from an obese BMI of 33.5 to a current BMI of 26, which I feel great about. My waist measurement has gone from 35 inches to 26 inches (pear shaped so small waist when I’m not too overweight) & I feel SO much healthier.

Starting on ozempic at the end of last year is probably one of the best choices I’ve made in adulthood - when the stock issues/price resolves, or when wegovy becomes available, I’ll definitely get back on it.

But in the meantime once I run out I’m going to focus on maintaining my loss - the statistics aren’t great, they show most people regain all of the weight lost fairly quickly. I’m going to continue tracking everything I eat, and stick to eating low carb for the rest of my life (except weekends!) because eating anything like bread/processed or high carb foods in general makes it impossible for me to not gain weight and really amplifies ‘food noise’ (which I suspect is related to hormonal/insulin/leptin issues)

fingers crossed for all of us - it’ll be interesting to see how we all manage with maintenance!

Also really disappointing to hear Juniper has let down so many customers - I was with them previously but left due to cost. If they advertised the plan as a 6 month plan with a particular titration schedule, it’s really not on that they don’t actually have the stock to fulfil what they promised. The .25 and .5mg aren’t even ‘therapeutic’ doses, I’d want my money back if they hadn’t even managed to get me to a therapeutic dose.

You have done really well @Capuccinopup. I’m kicking myself as I haven’t had my head in the game and haven’t been doing as much as I could to help myself along the way. So I’m giving it a full proper effort with what I have left.

That was how it sounded on the phone! I think she said this would be the last 0.5 they were getting, maybe they will still get 0.25, but that is just crazy expensive as all the pens are the same price, regardless of dose 😕

Hi @SarahC50 I wouldn't call it hunger, more like uncontrollable sugar and carb craving, how I used to be before where every half hour I am craving a sugar boost.. I have regained a few kilos in the last month. It was ok for a couple of weeks, I managed to stick to my calories for weight maintenance, as I think there was still Ozempic in my system after I stopped taking it, but now I think it must have worn off and that is why i'm back to bad habits.

Have you listened to the Zoe podcast episode about Ozempic? It is really interesting and I do think that those of us who need it and have had success with it have underlying blood sugar issues. Maybe not full diabetes, but something that causes us to crave more sugar than some people, and that is why we are obese in the first place.
I really don't believe that willpower has much to do with it, I think my experience with the Ozempic has shown me that when your body tells you to binge carbs/sugar due to blood sugar, you don't have much chance against that! 😞 So for that reason i hope things like Semaglutide can be used more easily in future...
I also really noticed it helped my mood, and the way I felt physically as well and I am sure this is just how people with 'good' blood sugar control feel all the time!
The thing about Wegovy is that it comes in larger doses, so even if it costs a lot, we could maybe make a pen last longer, bringing down the price-per-injection
Sorry for long rant! Fingers crossed for us all 😬

@Poppyseeds03 yes I've listened to the Zoe podcast I too found it so interesting and helpful.

That's what I feared the severe sugar and carb cravings I had them pre ozempic. Without ozempic I won't be able to maintain my low calories, I will try but I don't think it's sustainable for me

I like the plan for wegovy I never thought of that, that with it being a bigger dose we could eek it out. I'll probably try and get on it when it's released. Ozempic has been life changing for me but like others I have a long way to go.

Thanks for sharing your experience it's really helpful x

@Capuccinopup I'm with juniper and they were really clever to sell it as a six month treatment plan but only in the small print a monthly contact. Many of us have left scathing reviews in trust pilot. They are not a nice company

Very interesting that there are a number of very good reviews for Juniper on Trustpilot in a very short space of time over the last couple of days 🤨

Wegovy isn’t in the same sort of lens as Ozempic. They are spring loaded doses -
4 in a pack. You can’t alter the dose.

Wegovy comes in 0.5, 1:0, 1.7 and 2.4 doses

Hmm if we can’t change a Wegovy dose I might get a 0.25 pen from QuickMeds if it’s true they won’t get more 0.5. Is the 0.25 definitely the same overall amount as a 0.5? Juniper told us to dump the extra in that one and I didn’t know better at the time.

Hi everyone, I'm so undecided about how to move forward with my doses.

I've got a 1mg pen left and just taken delivery of a 0.5mg pen from juniper. I've lost over 2 stone, have about 5 to go.

On 0.5 I barely lost a thing but consistently lost from 1mg.

How is everyone else dealing with their dosing with their last remaining 1mg pen? I'm not sure whether to just do the 1mg then 0.5 or whether to go for 8 weeks 0.75 or do week about 1 week 0.5/ 1 week 1ml.

I'm so confused!

Bury currently have 4 of the 1 mg in stock

@Kfjsjdbd have you ordered from them before? I’m very wary of paying via bank transfer only - as there’s zero protection against any disputes.

Yes ordered twice and no issue

Thanks @SwimmingFree I was hoping to be able to invoke something like this but they've sent me their t&cs and I'm outta luck! I had to actually go into my account and press 'cancel' before dispensing, not just send an email that said 'please cancel'... as they can just ignore that! Living and learning over here...

I've ordered a couple of times from Bury. Once they couldn't supply the pen but were very responsive on email and in the end I requested a refund which they organised quite quickly. The other times they have dispatched quickly, v straightforward. I like that you can just call them up and have a chat if you're not sure. Last time I did that before I transfered the money.

Saw this posted on Reddit suggesting that UK regulations are amplifying the shortage.

so doesn’t look like ozempic availability will pick up anytime soon sadly.

@Poppyseeds03 Novo Nordisk make Wegovy in lots of doses from 0.25 upwards, it was problems with the lower doses that caused the knock-on supply problems that transferred over to Ozempic in the USA.
Also, I think that in the USA at least, Wegovy comes in single dose pens like Trulicity, so the dose isn't adjustable. They may have changed this for Europe, iirc it was the company that was filling the single dose pens that had QA problems that kick-started the supply problems.

Rightangled has two 1mg pens in stock as of 11.06

Out of stock now

Aaarrrggghhhh @Andrasa

Rightangled have 1mg in stock again