4 ms·

I'm on Mounjaro and was on Ozempic before that - the supply issues for both have been a serious impact on my health. The thing about these meds is, if you miss

by Aloha 4y ago

I'm on Mounjaro and was on Ozempic before that - the supply issues for both have been a serious impact on my health. The thing about these meds is, if you miss weekly dose (by more than about 3-4 days), you are essentially going back to the beginning, and your blood sugar will be unstable for 3-4 weeks as you adapt again to the medication. You only see the real benefits from it after being on it continuously for more than a month, but so far, I've not been able to get a consistent supply for more than a month at a time since.. summer I'd guess. Its been really frustrating for me, and has caused me negative health effects. So while I get, yes, you should lose weight - and this drug does that (and has a whole bunch of other positive health effects), the idea of this going to someone who might only be 30-40 lbs overweight who does not have T2D, infuriates me. Without it, even on insulin, even fasting, my liver pumps out glucose constantly, I can fast for close to 24 hours before my blood sugar falls off enough to start to be low.

colechristensen 4y ago
I would be more mad at the sources of the supply problems not being aggressively dealt with than the medicine available going to the “wrong” patients.
- Aloha 4y ago
  I have some grief with the supply issues, but there are some pretty obvious logistics limits to how fast you can scale up production, and I suspect with mounjaro the main limiter is the delivery mechanism (its special).
  - peteforde 4y ago
    As someone who spends a lot of idle time wondering why these companies don't ramp up production as quickly as possible, I would be genuinely excited to hear your thoughts on what these limits are. It seems like there are so many billions of dollars in nearly-pure profit to be made, so why is it not a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it?
    - Aloha 4y ago
      I suspect its a mix of regulatory and practical limits. The delivery mechanism on the pens for Mounjaro are.. highly complex spring loaded devices. On top of that, you have the whole License Raj around pharma manufacturing - we only scaled as fast during COVID with the vaccine because some of the rules were functionally waived.
      - peteforde 4y ago
        I have no particular insight into the rules, but that makes sense; even if it is frustrating, it's more frustrating to die. The delivery mechanism part is less convincing, given that the product is already in the market. I'm not saying that it isn't complex/hard, but it's precisely the kind of thing that throwing money around actually can solve.
        Aloha 4y ago
        The other medications in the class use different delivery mechanisms (more of a twist dial pen kinda apparatus) for all I know the delivery mechanism for this was picked because they had excess capacity.
raincom 4y ago
FDA approved Wegovy for overweight people with co-morbidities. Ozempic is for T2D; Wegovy(double the dosage of ozempic) is for obesity.
- Aloha 4y ago
  Oh yes, I'm quite aware.
  - likeabbas 4y ago
    I was on Ozempic for a few months until I got frustrated with the supply chain issues. FWIW I transitioned to just intermittent fasting with a high protein & fiber diet and am finding practically the same results with less of the side effects
    - upsidesinclude 4y ago
      Get the message out there and keep up the good work of caring for your body and your health
      - likeabbas 4y ago
        Thanks man. Been battling weight issues my whole life. It's just about focus on eating well, drinking less, and working out more and the weight comes off on its own.
- RobotToaster 4y ago
  They're both just brand names for semaglutide.
peteforde 4y ago
First, thank you for your comments in this thread. Sadly, things are worse in Canada; they won't even give us a timeline on Wegovy availability. I can only imagine what this means for everywhere else in the world. I've been incredibly frustrated by the lack of support I've received from my slightly fat-shaming MD when it comes to being freaked out by the lack of consistent availability. I've pushed back on starting before supply chain issues are resolved, citing concerns about missing doses being worse than doing nothing at all - even before the cost factor is considered. It really comes uncomfortably close to the moral failure side of things. "Oh, you won't even try with a reduced dosage? I guess you're not as serious as you said" type BS.

by Aloha 4y ago

colechristensen 4y ago

I would be more mad at the sources of the supply problems not being aggressively dealt with than the medicine available going to the “wrong” patients.

Aloha 4y ago
I have some grief with the supply issues, but there are some pretty obvious logistics limits to how fast you can scale up production, and I suspect with mounjaro the main limiter is the delivery mechanism (its special).
- peteforde 4y ago
  As someone who spends a lot of idle time wondering why these companies don't ramp up production as quickly as possible, I would be genuinely excited to hear your thoughts on what these limits are. It seems like there are so many billions of dollars in nearly-pure profit to be made, so why is it not a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it?
  - Aloha 4y ago
    I suspect its a mix of regulatory and practical limits. The delivery mechanism on the pens for Mounjaro are.. highly complex spring loaded devices. On top of that, you have the whole License Raj around pharma manufacturing - we only scaled as fast during COVID with the vaccine because some of the rules were functionally waived.
    - peteforde 4y ago
      I have no particular insight into the rules, but that makes sense; even if it is frustrating, it's more frustrating to die. The delivery mechanism part is less convincing, given that the product is already in the market. I'm not saying that it isn't complex/hard, but it's precisely the kind of thing that throwing money around actually can solve.
      - Aloha 4y ago
        The other medications in the class use different delivery mechanisms (more of a twist dial pen kinda apparatus) for all I know the delivery mechanism for this was picked because they had excess capacity.

raincom 4y ago

FDA approved Wegovy for overweight people with co-morbidities. Ozempic is for T2D; Wegovy(double the dosage of ozempic) is for obesity.

Aloha 4y ago
Oh yes, I'm quite aware.
- likeabbas 4y ago
  I was on Ozempic for a few months until I got frustrated with the supply chain issues. FWIW I transitioned to just intermittent fasting with a high protein & fiber diet and am finding practically the same results with less of the side effects
  - upsidesinclude 4y ago
    Get the message out there and keep up the good work of caring for your body and your health
    - likeabbas 4y ago
      Thanks man. Been battling weight issues my whole life. It's just about focus on eating well, drinking less, and working out more and the weight comes off on its own.
RobotToaster 4y ago
They're both just brand names for semaglutide.

peteforde 4y ago

First, thank you for your comments in this thread. Sadly, things are worse in Canada; they won't even give us a timeline on Wegovy availability. I can only imagine what this means for everywhere else in the world. I've been incredibly frustrated by the lack of support I've received from my slightly fat-shaming MD when it comes to being freaked out by the lack of consistent availability. I've pushed back on starting before supply chain issues are resolved, citing concerns about missing doses being worse than doing nothing at all - even before the cost factor is considered. It really comes uncomfortably close to the moral failure side of things. "Oh, you won't even try with a reduced dosage? I guess you're not as serious as you said" type BS.