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My nurse practitioner tried to get me on Ozempic to lower my A1C (family history of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes). My insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) wouldn’t cover it. Then she tried to get me on Mounjaro. My insurance wouldn’t cover it. So I started on Metformin recently (it’s cheap, so my insurance *will* cover it) and the bit of weight loss progress that I had been making came to a screeching halt. 🙄

I dug around in my insurance coverage information and found where it said it would not cover a “weight loss” drug…even if losing weight would resolve other health problems. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Never mind that some of these GLP-1 drugs are geared to lowering A1C and the risk of cardiac events. Weight loss for some people is just a bonus.

I considered looking into Hers.com for a compounded GLP-1; guess that’s not going to happen. I sure wish the prices of the drugs would come down. I have read story after story of people whose lives have drastically improved after using them.

My wife is a type 1 diabetic with an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. She also uses Ozempic. The down side is Ozempic causes delayed gastric emptying. Her blood glucose is a roller coaster. It takes very little to spike high and she fights a low almost every night. Trying to eat something that doesn't cause a spike is subverted by the delayed gastric emptying. We have "spray up the nose" glucagon as a "rescue" from a severe low. Ozempic often brings stomach cramps and diarrhea the day of injection. That improves over a few days. While it helps with weight loss and lowering A1C, it brings a circus of other side effects. One really bad side effect is harming circulation to the optic nerve to the point that blindness results.

Your mileage may vary. It is not without potential harm.