Semaglutide Forum: Game Changer for Weight Loss

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Mark A. Moyad, MD, MPH & Martin M. Miner, MD, discuss the potential benefits of semaglutide, a newly approved weight-loss drug.

Semaglutide is a medication that has been approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes and has also been approved for obesity management under the brand name Wegovy [1][3]. It helps with weight loss by suppressing appetite, which can lead to a reduced intake of food [2].

Semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is naturally produced by the body. GLP-1 plays a role in regulating blood sugar levels and appetite. Semaglutide affects several processes in the body, including increasing the release of insulin, reducing the release of glucagon, and delaying gastric emptying [2].

The increase in insulin helps lower high blood sugar, while the reduction in glucagon release also contributes to better blood sugar control. Delaying gastric emptying means that food stays in the stomach for a longer time, which can help with satiety and decrease appetite [2].

The typical dose of semaglutide for weight loss is 2.4 milligrams, administered weekly as subcutaneous (under the skin) self-injections [3]. While semaglutide has shown promising results in weight loss, it is important to note that its effectiveness is dependent on continued use, and some experts are skeptical about its long-term safety and limitations [1].

In semaglutide studies, participants experienced significant weight loss. In one clinical trial, participants who received semaglutide lost 5% or more, 10% or more, 15% or more, and 20% or more of their baseline body weight at week 68, compared to those who received a placebo [1]. On average, participants taking semaglutide lost 15% of their body weight [2]. Some individuals lost as much as 40 pounds while participating in a clinical trial of the drug [2].

In another study, after 68 weeks of treatment, the semaglutide group lost an average of 16% of their baseline body weight, equal to 37 pounds. This was compared to a 5.7% average weight loss, or 14 pounds, for those assigned to intensive behavioral therapy combined with a placebo [3]. These results demonstrate the significant weight loss potential of semaglutide in clinical trials.

There are a few ways to save on semaglutide for weight loss, which is available as the brand-name medication Wegovy. One option is to use a copay savings card from the manufacturer. If you have commercial insurance, you may be eligible to pay as little as $25 for Wegovy using this savings card [1]. More information about the copay savings card and other coverage options can be found on the Wegovy website [2].

It's important to note that the cost of Wegovy before insurance is around $1,627 per month, and coverage for weight loss drugs like Wegovy can vary widely depending on the type of insurance you have and your location [3]. The $25 copay card provided by the manufacturer may help ease the cost, but only if your insurance plan covers the medication [3].

A more affordable way to get semaglutide when insurance does not pay is to have your doctor fax a prescription to a compounding pharmacy like EmpowerPharmacy.com. Their price runs approximately $350 per month.

 

Semaglutide is a glucagon like peptide-1 which consists of at least 30-31 amino acids technically called a polypeptide. Since it is pretty short, it is considered to be very stable because they go through the lyophilization process in which water is removed from a product after it is frozen and placed under a vacuum. If a compound pharmacy has automated fast-flow peptide synthesis instrumentation this peptide can easily be made. Even reconstituted it is good for about 56 days stored in the refrigerator. In fact, quite a few peptide companies sell it as well as the Chinese are pumping out tons of it.

 

you can buy this poison on peptide sites like peptidesciences for pennies.
this stuff is to be avoided like the plague.

 

Semaglutide is a glucagon like peptide-1 which consists of at least 30-31 amino acids technically called a polypeptide. Since it is pretty short, it is considered to be very stable because they go through the lyophilization process in which water is removed from a product after it is frozen and placed under a vacuum. If a compound pharmacy has automated fast-flow peptide synthesis instrumentation this peptide can easily be made. Even reconstituted it is good for about 56 days stored in the refrigerator. In fact, quite a few peptide companies sell it as well as the Chinese are pumping out tons of it.

I guess the lab grade refrigerator at home and FDA approved coolers were just for show the companies provided. Also the Incretin memetic Molecule is unstable outside 41 degrees and the molecule has a shelf life of 7 days at ambient temperatures

 

I tried semaglutide again and will never try again!!!! I was very sick and resting heart rate up 20 points. I know it works great for many but not for me!

 

Straight from a Semaglutide manufacture.....Store unused semaglutide pens (Ozempic) in the refrigerator (36°F to 46°F [2°C to 8°C]) but do not place them near the refrigerator cooling element. Once a semaglutide pen is in use you can store it at room temperature (59°F to 86°F [15°C to 30°C]) or in the refrigerator. Do not freeze. Do not use semaglutide if it has been frozen. When traveling, pens that are in use can be stored at room temperature (59°F to 86°F [15°C to 30°C]) (not in a car glove compartment or other hot place). Make a note of the date you first use a semaglutide pen, and dispose of the pen after 56 days, even if there is some solution left in the pen.

You don't need a lab grade refridgerator to hit 36°F to 46°F. If your home refridgerator is not cooling to those temperatures then it is broken. But no doubt a compound pharmacy has not only lab grade refridgerators but lab grade freezers. Might go visit one.

Incretin mimetics.......are agents that act like incretin hormones, of which are glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Semaglutide, which was created to act like a GLP-1, to create the incretin effect, which involves appetite suppression and inhibition of glucagon secretion.

 

you can buy this poison on peptide sites like peptidesciences for pennies.
this stuff is to be avoided like the plague.

WHY? Please back up statement? Peptide Sciences sells a 3ml vial for $120, not exactly pennies.

 

Straight from a Semaglutide manufacture.....Store unused semaglutide pens (Ozempic) in the refrigerator (36°F to 46°F [2°C to 8°C]) but do not place them near the refrigerator cooling element. Once a semaglutide pen is in use you can store it at room temperature (59°F to 86°F [15°C to 30°C]) or in the refrigerator. Do not freeze. Do not use semaglutide if it has been frozen. When traveling, pens that are in use can be stored at room temperature (59°F to 86°F [15°C to 30°C]) (not in a car glove compartment or other hot place). Make a note of the date you first use a semaglutide pen, and dispose of the pen after 56 days, even if there is some solution left in the pen.

You don't need a lab grade refridgerator to hit 36°F to 46°F. If your home refridgerator is not cooling to those temperatures then it is broken. But no doubt a compound pharmacy has not only lab grade refridgerators but lab grade freezers. Might go visit one.

Incretin mimetics.......are agents that act like incretin hormones, of which are glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Semaglutide, which was created to act like a GLP-1, to create the incretin effect, which involves appetite suppression and inhibition of glucagon secretion.

You cut and paste well. But don’t understand this class of drugs or the protein molecule. If you’re getting it from a compounding pharmacy it’s not glp-1. So I’m not sure what people are injecting. Be careful

 

WHY? Please back up statement? Peptide Sciences sells a 3ml vial for $120, not exactly pennies.

120 is like 1/5 of ozempic? this is the cheapest i've seen.
too many s/x. too many horror stories. moms friend got pancreatitis, took months to recover. i'm all for biohacking, this seems like a very bad shortcut to loose weight. go on keto, cut all seed oils, go to the gym, optimize hormones.....
it is virtually impossible to do any serious workout while taking this stuff

 

Yes, lots of us cut an paste, kind of a simple skill.

Now what part of this are you not understanding? This is not the endogenous hormone it is a synthetic version, the exact same as the one produced by Novonordisk (Ozempic). Have youu ever seen a box of Ozempic in the pharmacy? Tell me how it is stored? Anyway, Semaglutide seems to have passed clinical trials and its not that big of a chore to copy generic formulas and synthesize peptides. The risk is not any worse than any other medication the FDA approves.

 

120 is like 1/5 of ozempic? this is the cheapest i've seen.
too many s/x. too many horror stories. moms friend got pancreatitis, took months to recover. i'm all for biohacking, this seems like a very bad shortcut to loose weight. go on keto, cut all seed oils, go to the gym, optimize hormones.....
it is virtually impossible to do any serious workout while taking this stuff

For some people losing weight is very hard. My wife for instance is very experienced with diets as she is a former IFBB Pro in the heavy weight BB division. She has been on diets all her life. But as she ages nothing seems to work. She cut all see oils years ago, has been on keto most of her life, goes to the gym 4-5 tims a week, etc etc. She has a leptin issue and can't control her hunger. She insisted on doing this stuff and it has so far worked pretty well.

Side effects occur in almost anything we take. I took the supplement cissus and ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis. Like all supplements and medications, buyer beware. The incident of pancreatitis is rare with this semaglutide, but if you are one of the ones who get it, the incidence is too high. Metformin for me works very well. I can take 500mg/d and drop 10 lbs in a few week, eating the same calories. I will not be trying semaglutide anytime soon.

 

All glp-1’s are stored no matter what refrigerated. From the manufacturing facility. To the distributor. To the pharmacy. When they are shipped to the reps. They are shipped in coolers with ice packs delivered ups overnight by 10:30 am. What you’re buying is not a glp-1 agonist. I have sold and been trained on these medications since 2005.

 

peptidesciences sells in a powder form, you have to mix it yourself. i tried it, i can tell you it is 100% legit. I could eat NOTHING for days after a 0.125mg dose.
maybe it is just me who didn't react well to this, but I read my reaction was very very common (checked reviews on drugs com). had to take ondansetron for days.
there is about a million other things i would do before taking this, even amphetamines do seem safer to me.

 

All glp-1’s are stored no matter what refrigerated. From the manufacturing facility. To the distributor. To the pharmacy. When they are shipped to the reps. They are shipped in coolers with ice packs delivered ups overnight by 10:30 am. What you’re buying is not a glp-1 agonist. I have sold and been trained on these medications since 2005.

My friend who is a biochemist in China sent me the below paper on how they make Semaglutide in his lab. Semaglutide is a newly discovered, long acting GLP-1 RA with 94% homology to natural GLP-1. Semaglutide was obtained through modifying three amino acid residues of natural GLP-1 (Ala8 altered to Aib, Lys34 altered to Arg, and a side chain introduced to Lys26, respectively). Previously, the synthetic routes of semaglutide are all based on solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), which leads to high production costs. The Chinese figured out a way to make the same formula yet keeping the price down so it is affordable, plus being able to produce more product.

More of my cut and paste skills:

....we applied a newly developed soluble hydrophobic-support-assisted liquid-phase synthetic method to the total synthesis of semaglutide and established a simple and efficient route for the total synthesis of semaglutide through elaborate optimizations of the reaction conditions and innovation of the post-synthesis treatment method

Things have changed since 2005 when Semaglutide had not been sent to market.

 

Ozempic and prescription GLP-1s vs lyophilized raw powder. Ozempic is reconstituted and has the following added: disodium phosphate dihydrate, 1.42 mg; propylene glycol, 14.0 mg; phenol, 5.50 mg; water. The lyophilized raw powder has to be reconstituted but has none of the additives. Ozempic has to be refridgerated since it comes reconstituted. The lyophilized raw powder also has to be refridgerated after reconstitution. Ozempic does warn that no products are real only theirs.....oh their patend runs out on 12/5/31. Obvioulsy since patents are public information (I have a copy of theirs) the formulas are very easy to copy. But in their defense, they sell a product using pre-lloaded pens and most of the others just sell the lyophilized raw powder.

 

I read somewhere that Semaglutide produces antibodies which make it less effective as time goes on. I’m concerned about anything that has the potential to form antibodies because we don’t know the long term effects of how this plays out on our bodies. Any thoughts on this?

 

Tirzepatide seems to be even better but more expensive. 50mg semaglutide is about $280 from China and 100mg Tirzepatide is around the same but the dosing is different making it more expensive. Even though I almost have no body fat I want to experiment with one of these drugs. I have a prescription for liraglutide and it literally did nothing. These other drugs are supposed to be stronger.

 

I read somewhere that Semaglutide produces antibodies which make it less effective as time goes on. I’m concerned about anything that has the potential to form antibodies because we don’t know the long term effects of how this plays out on our bodies. Any thoughts on this?

I admit I an no where near an expert on this but have read most of the literature incuding patents, but where did you find out Semaglutide produces antibodies that make it less effective. I would sure like to read over this.

 

I admit I an no where near an expert on this but have read most of the literature incuding patents, but where did you find out Semaglutide produces antibodies that make it less effective. I would sure like to read over this.

I believe your body produces antibodies to most peptides, initially, but then you adjust and then no longer produce them. I am using Tirzepatide and a few months into it began to get a rash around the injection site (an inch or two) that was easily treated with Cortizone. That lasted a month or two and now I do not get the rash. Lilly says some people are more sensitive to the antibodies but often those sensitivities resolve.

 

This online telemedicine company helps you get a prescription of semaglutide

Hello! Any idea of total cost for screening etc..,

 

This online telemedicine company helps you get a prescription of semaglutide

Hello! Any idea of total cost of screening etc..