4 ms·

My insurance stopped covering, now I'm looking at $450 for Zepbound / month. Just the weight coming back is making me more depressed...

jzkdroid2 3mo ago
You can probably use some coupons like goodrx to get it for $300 a month.
cjbgkagh 3mo ago
I get mine on the black market, 50c/mg for semaglutide, $3 per month at my current rate of usage. I’ve been on it for years, I was getting gray market at $12/mg for 3 years before RFK clamped down on that market. It’s exactly the same stuff (for me, no guarantee for others), had it tested in a lab and as the side effect profile is on point. It massively relieved my ME/CFS, back when I started there was no way I could have gotten a prescription let alone insurance to cover it.
- declan_roberts 3mo ago
  GRAY market is way undercounted in peptide use. Go to the gym and there's like 25% of the people there taking gray market peptides (some for weight, some for injury repair, etc)
  - phil21 3mo ago
    That would be black market, almost assuredly if you are talking about "injury repair" peptides. Exceedingly few prescribers in the US are writing for those. Grey market references stuff like HIMS where you are getting a real doctor to write you a prescription and a shady compounding pharmacy takes those Chinese black market peptides, compounds them, and ships them to your door. Black market is just going direct to the source in China and getting them for yourself without a prescription.
    - cjbgkagh 3mo ago
      Gray market includes research peptides in that they are legal to sell for research purposes, not for the purpose of human consumption.
faangguyindia 3mo ago
Without long term positive dietary changes most people are unlikely to keep the weight off unless you want to take this stuff for life.
- declan_roberts 3mo ago
  I have to exercise and go to the gym for life already?
declan_roberts 3mo ago
Gray market peptides are excellent. You can do you own independent lab testing, buy with a group who's testing, or buy from a reputable vendor who pre-tests before sales. Even after all that it comes down to like $50 a month at the highest dose.
- relaxing 3mo ago
  Where do you even start finding sources for all this?
  - declan_roberts 3mo ago
    Websites like Finnrick provide testing for gray market research peptides (including tirzepatide and retatrutide). There are no direct links to shops, etc., but you can at least see the current state of things, both good and bad. Cremieux is a popular biohacker on Twitter who has a paid Substack describing the process. That's enough to get anyone started.
whatthesmack 3mo ago
I had the same issue with Zepbound (tirzepatide) 10mg/0.5ml when they wanted to push me to Wegovy (semaglutide), even though Zepbound was already working and helping. Zepbound isn't even on their formulary now. I wrote the insurance company a detailed letter (helped by AI) containing evidence for the benefits of Zepbound over Wegovy and Zepbound over nothing, as well as documented the benefits I already experienced taking the medication. They approved coverage based on this pushback, and I just paid $25 for 3 months' supply. Might be a potential avenue for some folks...
gavinray 3mo ago
Posted prices of Chinese gray market bulk peptides on Twitter recently It's $95 for 10 vials of 30mg Tirzepatide, which at the highest dose of 15mg/wk, is still 20 weeks for less than $100... https://x.com/GavinRayDev/status/2067348581418434564/photo/1 https://x.com/GavinRayDev/status/2067348581418434564/photo/1 Finnrick will even test your peptides if you agree to them publicizing the results and the vendor: https://www.finnrick.com/products/tirzepatide https://www.finnrick.com/products/tirzepatide

jzkdroid2 3mo ago

You can probably use some coupons like goodrx to get it for $300 a month.

cjbgkagh 3mo ago

I get mine on the black market, 50c/mg for semaglutide, $3 per month at my current rate of usage. I’ve been on it for years, I was getting gray market at $12/mg for 3 years before RFK clamped down on that market. It’s exactly the same stuff (for me, no guarantee for others), had it tested in a lab and as the side effect profile is on point. It massively relieved my ME/CFS, back when I started there was no way I could have gotten a prescription let alone insurance to cover it.

declan_roberts 3mo ago
GRAY market is way undercounted in peptide use. Go to the gym and there's like 25% of the people there taking gray market peptides (some for weight, some for injury repair, etc)
- phil21 3mo ago
  That would be black market, almost assuredly if you are talking about "injury repair" peptides. Exceedingly few prescribers in the US are writing for those. Grey market references stuff like HIMS where you are getting a real doctor to write you a prescription and a shady compounding pharmacy takes those Chinese black market peptides, compounds them, and ships them to your door. Black market is just going direct to the source in China and getting them for yourself without a prescription.
  - cjbgkagh 3mo ago
    Gray market includes research peptides in that they are legal to sell for research purposes, not for the purpose of human consumption.

faangguyindia 3mo ago

Without long term positive dietary changes most people are unlikely to keep the weight off unless you want to take this stuff for life.

declan_roberts 3mo ago
I have to exercise and go to the gym for life already?

declan_roberts 3mo ago

Gray market peptides are excellent. You can do you own independent lab testing, buy with a group who's testing, or buy from a reputable vendor who pre-tests before sales. Even after all that it comes down to like $50 a month at the highest dose.

relaxing 3mo ago
Where do you even start finding sources for all this?
- declan_roberts 3mo ago
  Websites like Finnrick provide testing for gray market research peptides (including tirzepatide and retatrutide). There are no direct links to shops, etc., but you can at least see the current state of things, both good and bad. Cremieux is a popular biohacker on Twitter who has a paid Substack describing the process. That's enough to get anyone started.

whatthesmack 3mo ago

I had the same issue with Zepbound (tirzepatide) 10mg/0.5ml when they wanted to push me to Wegovy (semaglutide), even though Zepbound was already working and helping. Zepbound isn't even on their formulary now. I wrote the insurance company a detailed letter (helped by AI) containing evidence for the benefits of Zepbound over Wegovy and Zepbound over nothing, as well as documented the benefits I already experienced taking the medication. They approved coverage based on this pushback, and I just paid $25 for 3 months' supply. Might be a potential avenue for some folks...

gavinray 3mo ago

Posted prices of Chinese gray market bulk peptides on Twitter recently It's $95 for 10 vials of 30mg Tirzepatide, which at the highest dose of 15mg/wk, is still 20 weeks for less than $100... https://x.com/GavinRayDev/status/2067348581418434564/photo/1 https://x.com/GavinRayDev/status/2067348581418434564/photo/1 Finnrick will even test your peptides if you agree to them publicizing the results and the vendor: https://www.finnrick.com/products/tirzepatide https://www.finnrick.com/products/tirzepatide