Lose Weight Like a Billionaire with Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro
Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it sure can help you slim down in style.
Say goodbye to the keto craze, there's a new sheriff in town: Semaglutide's!
Ozempic and Wegovy are taking the weight loss world by storm, and it's no wonder why. The elite, including the likes of Elon Musk and Oprah, are turning to this high-society solution to drop pounds fast.
1. Why now?
A surge of media interest from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, New York Post and Vanity Fair has spiked interest in a class of diabetes drugs with one notable side effect: weight loss. These drugs, which include Wegovy and Ozempic, are frequently taken by weekly injection, has users reporting 15-20% weight loss within a year with minimal side effects.
2. What’s this newsletter?
This free weekly newsletter will be a place to share news, success stories and notable tidbits on semaglutide & tirzepatide from around the web including success stories, podcast interviews and summaries of studies.
3. Tell me more about Wegovy.
First approved by the FDA on June 4th 2021, Wegovy was the first drug since 2014 to be approved for weight loss for overweight or obese adults who had at least one related health condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol. Notably, Elon Musk credits Wegovy for his weight loss:
Wegovy is typically prescribed for 16-24 weeks with dosage gradually increased monthly from 0.25mg/week to 2.4mg/week. It comes in a single-use injection pen, which doesn’t allow for dosage adjustments. There is a Wegovy savings card available, with users reporting pricing from $0 to $1500/month depending on insurance coverage. A thread of insurance co-payments can be found on Reddit.
Wegovy’s safety and efficacy were studied in four 68-week trials as part of the FDA approval process.
4. Tell me more about Ozempic.
Fist approved in 2017, this is perhaps the most famous diabetes-turned-weight loss drug at the moment, and thus has become quite hard to come by. Many doctor’s have turned to prescribing Wegovy as an alternative.
Ozempic is manufactured by Novo Nordisk in dosing ranges from 0.25mg to 3mg and is taken via weekly injection. Doctors frequently increase (step up) the dosage every 4 weeks to minimize side effects over several months. Unlike Wegovy, the Ozempic pen allows you to adjust the volume, so you can fine tune your dose… if you are paying out of pocket, buying the largest volume pen possible is the best option.
Once injected, it mimics GLP-1, a hormone produced in the gut that regulates insulin and blood sugar levels . Ozempic users feel fuller for longer periods of time, reducing hunger pangs. A University of Alabama study showed participants losing an average of 37 pounds.
“This is a game-changer,” said UAB’s Timothy Garvey, M.D., co-author of the JAMA article and Butterworth Professor of Medicine in the Department of Nutrition Sciences. “We have not seen this degree of weight loss with any previous medication.”
Read more on Mayo Clininc, including a list of *floxacin drugs that you should avoid taking while on Ozempic.
The manufacturer offers a Ozempic savings card here. You may be eligible to pay as little as $25 for a 1-, 2-, or 3-month prescription (maximum savings of $150 per 1-month prescription, $300 per 2-month prescription, or $450 per 3-month prescription.
5. Is there research supporting this?
JAMA published a study of 175 patients: the total body weight loss percentages achieved were 5.9% at 3 months and 10.9% at 6 months.
NATURE covered a STEP 5 trial against a placebo of 304 patients. The mean change in body weight from baseline to week 104 was −15.2% in the semaglutide group versus −2.6% with placebo.
In September 2022, a meta analysis of obese or overweight patients without diabetes was published analyzing the results across 4567 patients showing a 10.09% reduction in body weight with 95% confidence interval. Additional positive effect on blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and lipid profiles, were noted.
We’ll be taking a closer look at these studies and new ones in future issues:
5. Ozempic on TikTok
Ozempic TikTok is a thing. #myozempicjourney has racked up nearly 32 billion views and counting with people tracking their weight loss progress and talking about side effects and dosing regiments.
5. What is Rybelsus?
Rybelsus is a once-daily semaglutide tablet prescribed for diabetics to help them control blood sugar, in 3mg, 7mg and 14mg dosages manufactured by Novo Nordisk (who is also behind Ozempic and Wegovy). It is the only GTP-1 antagonist available in pill form, which is great if you don’t want to self-administer injections (or find a doctor or nurse willing to do it for you).
There are multiple discussion threads on Reddit for people taking this drug “off-label” for appetite suppression and weight loss. One user noted going from 224 to 174 pounds in 6 months. A 31F on Reddit went from 280lb to 198lb in 6 months.
6. What is Trulicity? Should I consider it as an alternative to semiglutide-based drugs?
Frequently mentioned in the same breath as Ozempic and Wegovy, Trulicity is also an injectable Type2- diabetes drug: this one manufactured by Lilly with a list price of $930/month. Unlike Wegovy, has not been FDA approved for weightloss.
Technically, Trulicity is in a class of its own. It is a Dulaglutide drug which The Lancet has noted is inferior to a semiglutide:
“At low and high doses, semaglutide was superior to dulaglutide in improving glycaemic control and reducing bodyweight, enabling a significantly greater number of patients with type 2 diabetes to achieve clinically meaningful glycaemic targets and weight loss, with a similar safety profile.”
Reddit users have noted moderate success across multiple threads with using Trulicity for off-label for weight loss.
7. Tell me about Mounjaro for weight loss.
First approved in May 2022 by the FDA, this dual GIP & GLP-1 receptor antagonist has generated quite a bit of buzz for its weight loss benefits. Manufactured by Eli Lilly Diabetes, this once weekly injectable lowers A1C and people have reported losing up to 25 pounds at the 15mg dosage. It is not FDA approved for weight loss.
Mounjaro has been hailed as a game-changer by many medical experts in the larger field of endocrinology and metabolic health because it is a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist.
The SURMOUNT-1 study showed very promising results across 2,539 participants with an average starting body weight of 231 pounds:
At the lowest dose—5 mg—participants lost 15 percent of their body weight over 72 weeks.
At higher doses—10 and 15 mg—participants lost about 20 percent of their body weight over 72 weeks.
Total fat mass changes: 8.2 percent decrease on the placebo vs. 33.9 percent decrease taking Mounjaro.
Blood pressure, triglycerides, body mass index (BMI), A1c and cholesterol all improved for the Mounjaro study participants.
What got the most buzz though was that the Mounjaro study “results in greater weight loss than Ozempic” (about 5.5kg). An earlier 2018 study also noted superior efficacy vs Trulicity.
Mounjaro side effects were mostly digestive symptoms and discomfort. The study noted that “side effects were severe in the first few weeks as the medication dose was gradually increased to the appropriate treatment dose. Once participants reached their treatment dose, these side effects subsided dramatically.”
Mounjaro is priced at a premium to both Ozempic and Trulicity.
This newsletter is not medical advice. These medications should only be taken when prescribed by, and under the supervision of a qualified doctor.
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