My first experience with semaglutide/documenting my journey

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fatboy1234

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How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
 
fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Legal is something attorneys argue over constantly — that's the whole reason trials exist. Still, plenty of people would argue these are legal, easy to get, and very inexpensive. Since I'm currently on my 4th flight in 4 days, it crossed my mind that GLPs ought to be required for flight attendants, so I'd stop getting a butt cheek smacked into my shoulder every single time one of them comes down the aisle.
 
Gt3294a said:

fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Legal is something attorneys argue over constantly — that's the whole reason trials exist. Still, plenty of people would argue these are legal, easy to get, and very inexpensive. Since I'm currently on my 4th flight in 4 days, it crossed my mind that GLPs ought to be required for flight attendants, so I'd stop getting a butt cheek smacked into my shoulder every single time one of them comes down the aisle.
Click to expand...
That's a fair observation 🤣
 
$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
 
fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Have you ruled out tirz? It suppresses appetite well and costs less than reta . . .
 
woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I still can't wrap my head around how dumb that decision was... In my mind, the fully legit path would've run me $1000 each month (ozempic/wegovy).

woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
If I get down to something like 170-180 from 250, dropping my dose or stopping entirely doesn't bother me. Eating more and putting on weight would simply let me add muscle and make gym progress. The real issue for me is entirely mental. Food occupies my thoughts from morning to night, my whole day centers on eating, I snack out of boredom, and eating is where I get my pleasure. Thinking about it now, maybe I should just remain on GLPs indefinitely because food noise is my worst adversary. My weight has been up and down my whole life.

AngieHolmes said:

fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Have you ruled out tirz? It suppresses appetite well and costs less than reta . . .
Click to expand...
Now you've got me looking into tirzepatide. If lowest cost is the only goal, semaglutide looks absurdly inexpensive. I did hit issues where hunger and food noise would push through pretty strongly mid week. By day 5/6 before my next injection, I was relying on nothing but willpower to keep from overeating, though upping the dose probably fixes that.

I don't know how tirz is dosed. It appears you need significantly more mg than with reta/sema. From my limited look into required dosing, it would only come out a bit less expensive than reta. I do have some small worries about the glucagon aspect of reta. Sema did the job for me, and adding the glucagon activation seems like overkill.

I've got roughly a week to decide.
 
fatboy1234 said:

woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I still can't wrap my head around how dumb that decision was... In my mind, the fully legit path would've run me $1000 each month (ozempic/wegovy).

woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
If I get down to something like 170-180 from 250, dropping my dose or stopping entirely doesn't bother me. Eating more and putting on weight would simply let me add muscle and make gym progress. The real issue for me is entirely mental. Food occupies my thoughts from morning to night, my whole day centers on eating, I snack out of boredom, and eating is where I get my pleasure. Thinking about it now, maybe I should just remain on GLPs indefinitely because food noise is my worst adversary. My weight has been up and down my whole life.

AngieHolmes said:

fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Have you ruled out tirz? It suppresses appetite well and costs less than reta . . .
Click to expand...
Now you've got me looking into tirzepatide. If lowest cost is the only goal, semaglutide looks absurdly inexpensive. I did hit issues where hunger and food noise would push through pretty strongly mid week. By day 5/6 before my next injection, I was relying on nothing but willpower to keep from overeating, though upping the dose probably fixes that.

I don't know how tirz is dosed. It appears you need significantly more mg than with reta/sema. From my limited look into required dosing, it would only come out a bit less expensive than reta. I do have some small worries about the glucagon aspect of reta. Sema did the job for me, and adding the glucagon activation seems like overkill.

I've got roughly a week to decide.
Click to expand...
If you explore this site, you'll find plenty of valuable accounts from people who've used tirz, reta, and even combined them. I believe you'll develop a fairly well-rounded understanding of both medications by looking around. From what I've heard anecdotally, tirz tends to be superior for addressing food noise, which seems to be your primary concern. You might want to weigh sema -- which is cheaper but less effective -- against tirz -- which could be more effective for your specific needs and potentially a quicker, simpler fix. Many people find that tirz manages the psychological aspect more effectively.

It's a good sign that you're already thinking about remaining on your chosen medication for an extended period. Many individuals begin with the same mindset as you -- "I'll simply lose 70 pounds and then stop the medication" -- and I doubt most of us can accurately predict that without having actually used them. Being receptive to that idea is a plus.

I concur that raising the dose might address your food noise; perhaps give that a shot first if tirz is too expensive? Regarding willpower, the wonderful thing about these medications is how effectively they can eliminate it from the picture, particularly tirz. Picking the appropriate medication and dosage ought to resolve that for you. Wishing you the best of luck! It's somewhat enjoyable to experiment and discover what suits you best
 
Plenty of folks on here have posted about their own journeys. Honestly, I'm still figuring things out as I go.

fatboy1234 said:

woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I still can't wrap my head around how dumb that decision was... In my mind, the fully legit path would've run me $1000 each month (ozempic/wegovy).

woundcarping said:

$1138 for 25mg of Sema is remarkable. Retail on a 5mg kit (50mg) comes in under $50… though part of that $1138 was paying for the doctor and so on.

Talk of "building habits" usually grates, because it is what people say when they plan to lean on medicine to learn the habits and then come off and keep it off unaided. For you, I suspect it is worth working out what drives the binging, then staying clear of it.

My capacity for food used to be cavernous, largely from decades of drinking heavily while eating because of EoE. Working out my new portion size has been a mostly fun journey. Now and then I overdo it, though most days I make a real effort not to. One exception: my child took me out for dinner on my birthday. I had already eaten and was not remotely hungry, yet got through most of a regular meal. Worth it.

Restrictive diets are not for me, but anything that heads off binging would be worth it.
Click to expand...
If I get down to something like 170-180 from 250, dropping my dose or stopping entirely doesn't bother me. Eating more and putting on weight would simply let me add muscle and make gym progress. The real issue for me is entirely mental. Food occupies my thoughts from morning to night, my whole day centers on eating, I snack out of boredom, and eating is where I get my pleasure. Thinking about it now, maybe I should just remain on GLPs indefinitely because food noise is my worst adversary. My weight has been up and down my whole life.

AngieHolmes said:

fatboy1234 said:

How things went for me using semaglutide through a compounding pharmacy.

The cost was $300 each month. A single vial arrived every 3 months. After month 4 I stopped, and months 5 and 6 were never billed to me. All told, $1138 went toward 25mg of semaglutide...

Weeks

1-4: 5 units (0.25mg)

5-8: 10 units (0.5mg)

9+ : 20 units (1mg)

Back in 2017, while I was young, I managed to get lean "naturally." My weight dropped from 190 pounds down to 155 pounds, extremely lean. Once I hit 155 pounds, binge eating became almost impossible to stop. I stayed around 180 pounds until I relocated to a car only state and took an office job. Eventually my weight shot up past 250 pounds. On semaglutide, over roughly 5 months, I dropped from 250 pounds to about 210 pounds, so it worked.

The initial months opened my eyes. Food noise, and a life centered on food, disappeared. Whenever I attempted to binge eat or eat for fun the way I always had, a few bites left me FULL. It was great. Around the same period I also got braces, which might have contributed to my reduced desire to eat, since my jaw and teeth were entirely sore. For a chronic binge eater, someone who copes through food, using a GLP is a life changing experience.

Around month 4-5, I believe the effects wore off. I could go back to my binge eating habits (a whole bag of chips plus several protein bars as lunch). Raising the dose would have meant paying roughly another $100 per month. So I chose to leave semaglutide behind because of the expense.

My weight crept back up and food took over my life once more. I'm at 250 pounds again, though I did add some muscle and stayed consistent at the gym for nearly a year. I wish these chemicals were legal and readily available to the public. Now I'm getting ready to try reta.
Click to expand...
Have you ruled out tirz? It suppresses appetite well and costs less than reta . . .
Click to expand...
Now you've got me looking into tirzepatide. If lowest cost is the only goal, semaglutide looks absurdly inexpensive. I did hit issues where hunger and food noise would push through pretty strongly mid week. By day 5/6 before my next injection, I was relying on nothing but willpower to keep from overeating, though upping the dose probably fixes that.

I don't know how tirz is dosed. It appears you need significantly more mg than with reta/sema. From my limited look into required dosing, it would only come out a bit less expensive than reta. I do have some small worries about the glucagon aspect of reta. Sema did the job for me, and adding the glucagon activation seems like overkill.

I've got roughly a week to decide.
Click to expand...

I hope you've considered all the details carefully—best of luck! 😉
 
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