i'm trying out zepbound
July 1st, 2025 at 05:36 amSo if you don't agree with these GLP drugs ozempic or mounjaro don't read this post. I am giving a straight up warning about it because this is my opinion about them and what I've experienced.
So on June 1st, I started on zepbound which is the mounjaro eli lilly shot for diabetes. I started it for a lot of reasons. Mostly I started it because I want to try to lose weight and see if I can reverse my pre-diabetes with the drug. I've been pre-diabetic for about a year.
A year ago in May I had a high A1C and high cholesterol and I decided to try to do something more about it. I changed to eating low carb and less red meat. In september nothing. I couldn't lose weight. I also started exercising more but again no weight loss and no changes in A1C or cholesterol. I also started a libre 3 continuous blood glucose monitor. It was pretty nifty and covered partially by insurance because of the pre-diabetes so I could see how my blood glucose was out of control and how I felt when it was. From this i can tell when my blood glucose is high and how tired and sluggish I feel. I still could not lose weight no matter what calorie counting i was doing. I was starving at 1500-1800 calories a day. I was always thirsty.
But I continued on until March of 2025. I came back from our cruise in February having talked to a nurse on the boat in the hot tub. She told me about everyone on Ozempic or Mounjaro. She told me her story. She suggested I go back and talk with my PCP. I said I would. I did and my PCP turns out had been on ozempic since April 2024 and looked great. She had also gone it for pre-diabetes and had lost some weight. She said she did offer it to me last year but I said I wanted to try to do it myself. It wasn't working. So we applied to my insurance.
My insurance refused unless i was diabetic. So I had a decision to make. Pay out of pocket or let myself go. I decided i would pay out of pocket. It is $349 for 2.5mg and $500/month for 5-15 mg. I sat there for a bit stewing and decided that my health was my priority. I would give up other things but not this. I wanted and needed a change. So I got the medication and took my first shot on june 1st, 2025.
I did my blood work and urine that first week in june and it found that my cholesterol has finally come down a bit from 210 to 195 and my A1C was 6.1 deown from 6.2 No weight loss, in fact over this past year I've been gaining weight. UGH. Don't get me w ronerg I'm overweight, in fact obese based on BMI. I started at 211, having gained almost 20 lbs in 1 year on my "diet" and exercise regime to bring down my a1c and cholesterol. I have no idea why. Possibly starving myself and eating the 1500-1800 made my body into starvation mode.
But it doesn't matter. I couldn't seem to do it. So my PCP said i'll see you 9/4/25. She herself went from 130 lbs to 100 lbs and it took about 1 year and she is no longer pre-diabetic. She is tiny at not quite 5'0". So that 30lbs meant a lot. She only meant to lose 20 lbs but vanity kicked in and she lost 10 lbs more. Her prediction was that I wouldn't lose much weight in 3 months but that my A1C and cholesterol would come down to normal levels.
Since I have a glucose monitor and a renpho scale I know what's going on. I had my 5th shot on sunday and I won't be able to step on the scale again until 7/7. But so far i've lost 5 lbs and 1" off my waist. My glucose went from an average of 118 (90 day average) to 99 for the past 7 days. It's gone from 104 for the past 30 days and 103 from the past 14 days. Every day its' going lower fast. I feel amazing. I don't have any side effects.
My suspicion from reading is that a lot side effects are for people on higher doses. It also is for people who aren't using it for hormonal regulation. My thought is that you do have to have a super high dose to have appetite suppression and stop the food noise. I don't have appeite suppression or food noise. I find myself eating pretty similarly to before. I feel like I still don't eat much ob but I can! I had olive garden. I had noodles. I eat everything in smaller portions but i don't feel sick after eating cars.
I do think that perhaps for people who only want it to lose weight but don't need it to stimulate insulin production or sensitivity or decrease glucose production from the liver or slow digestion. They are overstimulating things that aren't broken in their bodies so they feel it. Those of us who have the pre-diabetes or diabetes our bodies are not working properly. The hormones aren't regulated so getting the shot and feeling normal is better than how we feel.
I may not lose as much as those people who are using it to lose weight, but i feel so good I wouldn't stop. I also will continue to pay. I am unsure how this is going to go and maybe as I lose weight I'll feel the side effects. Apparently losing weight this much is like a paper towel roll. You just keep tearing off a sheet at a time and you don't really see the effects until much later.
I wanted to wait a month to see what i thought. Ask away any questions and I'll try to answer. I'll also maybe try to post weekly something interesting. If you want to warn me about the side effects or long term effects I know. But where I was wasn't feasible long term. Maybe this isn't a magic shot but maybe it is for those who need it.
Tomorrow I hope to write about chatgpt.