What is the cost financially, physically and mentally?
For me, for Rybelsus, on our medical plan, $7.50 per pill. Once per day. Strange directions. You take one pill with a couple sips of water only when you wake up and then NOTHING for half an hour to an hour after. THEN you can take your daily pills and food and liquid. One pill per day.
There are 3 stages for Rybelsus. You test your body with it at 3.5mg. For me, it took a couple weeks before any changes. Then, pretty suddenly, my appetite disappeared and I started losing weight continuously. Felt fine. No problems. Then felt better and better as I stayed on it. After a number of weeks, you plateau. Nothing else changes except you stop losing weight.
Then they move you to 7mg. Same identical thing happens. After a couple weeks you get your 2nd weight loss and eventual plateau.
Last stage is 14mg. Each time you’re checking for side effects. For me, never any. Same delayed weight loss and I haven’t reached the plateau yet.
With 23 out of 1,000 semiglutide patients experiencing possible life-threatening pancreatitis, there’s no way in hell I’d take one of these.
Possibly 23 out of 100,000 would be an acceptable rate.
And plenty of other common adverse effects.