Wife is due in June and is already complaining about the weight-gain. As a ‘push present’, she’s requesting Ozempic. (I find dietary and exercise discipline cheaper, but each to their own.)
I know Ozempic is in short supply in Australia. Does anybody here have experience getting it supplied? Are there any reliable overseas providers?
Yup. Great summary.
I take it for diabetes (legit diabetes, had it for 26 years) and it gives me ZERO weight loss benefits. I don't get any of the affects that some do.
Don't care, makes management of the diabetes easier.
And yeah, part of getting onto it was huge issues with ..ummm… Needing the toilet often. And not in a pretty way. The gas was epically painful.
meaning they’ll have to take it for life
I’ve never understood this criticism. If I have high cholesterol, I’ll likely have to take that medication for life. Why is this inherently bad if it’s offsetting a serious medical condition?
It’s a drug that was specifically made to treat diabetes with the expectation that it’s a life-long condition, requiring permanent commitment to the medication.
However, the appropriation of the drug for weight loss has led to many people taking it short term and stopping after reaching their goal weight. Then being all surprised Pikachu face when they regain their appetite, fall back into unhealthy habits and stack the weight back on.
I think GLP-1’s absolutely have a role to play in much needed and carefully supervised weight loss. My issue is people taking Ozempic for vanity purposes and limiting the supply for those who basically need it to survive.
I also have concerns over the expectation that Wegovy and Mounjaro are only options if you can afford them, since it’s essentially supporting the idea that healthcare should only be accessible for the wealthy. That’s practically un-Australian!
I can also see the fashion pendulum swinging away from body acceptance and back towards medication-assisted emaciation and ‘heroin chick’. This is a toxic and dangerous message for youth, especially girls, in this social-media obsessed age. I work with patients recovering from eating disorders, so not to ‘canary in the coal mine’ about this, but I absolutely think it’s going to get a lot worse over the next 12-24 months. There will be a massive rise in the number of people with ED’s as they try to emulate their idols, without access to the medication or privileges that made them look that way.
It's "heroin chic" as if the emaciated look was appealing. I hope the term was ironic because there's nothing appealing about looking gaunt.
I also think validating and selling an unhealthy weight, as 'good body image' is toxic. It's now an industry. We've gone from one extreme of the normalising spectrum to the other.Both are wrong.
The underlying dominant messages being pushed is 'it's OK to be overweight'.And that it's not OK to say otherwise.
The focus from prevention has shunted to acceptance.
I currently take Mounjaro - have had no availability issues in inner-melbourne. $280 (plus needles - $5). Got a prescription online / bulk billed phone consult. Dropped 5kgs in the first 4 weeks.
In true Ozbargain style - get some insulin syringes to get a '5th dose' out of the pen - note: i'm not a doctor.
I thought you were only supposed to take a mini-dose for the first few weeks?
That is the loading dose of mounjaro, higher doses costs from 395 to 590
Yeah that was on the 2.5mg pen… the doctor suggested that I stay on that dosage for another month too
You're likely across this, but just in case. Once you scale up and things start getting more expensive, you can get the 15mg pen and take partial doses to get more longevity out of the pen. As long as you're diligent about storage and disinfecting the pen and the injection site. (Not a doctor)
Take into account what the mother will pass on to the baby via breastfeeding. It's not something I'd risk.
The government should make it illegal to prescribe Ozempic other than it's intended use for diabetic people.
it is now. cannot initiate ozempic unless for medical indications.
wegovy is available which is ozempic under a different brand just wack a higher price tag on it. peak pharma for you.
mounjaro is the other one that's available that's slightly more efficacious
if she's requesting it now even before birth she doesn't need ozempic she needs her concerns addressed sensitively by you and her GP.
I doubt "wegovy" is actually a higher price, its probably just subsidized less by the taxpayers.
I guess the trick is to "let yourself go" far enough that you actually end up diabetic, then get the "cheap" ozempic , gotta play the long game 😉
it's a higher price - just google the non-pbs price on chemist warehouse website $145 ozempic vs $249-$445 for wegovy of varied dose
There's zero subsidy from the taxpayer for Wegovy.
Its $450 per month at the full dosage… There is zero subsidation….
I don't think it's recommended to take ozempic while breastfeeding, if you planning on breastfeeding the baby.
Unlikely to get ozempic anyhow.
Doctors are now are directed to steer non diabetics to wegovy or monjaro to protect stock of ozempic.
Easily obtained off script if you have a bit of nous and know where to look. Retatrutide is the way to go though.
Yup, pilot and juniper at $400 a month. Though it's been said some of their stuff is home brew versions also.
Careful with this, they've been cracking down hard recently: https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/victorian-fined-a…
push present
😂 What a time to be alive.
A participation award 🤣
Push present? Wtf is this world coming to.
Wife should leave ozempic to the people that need it.
Should try natural ways to lose weight first. Also she should do some research and she will find that breastfeeding burns through calories, she will lose weight IF she sticks to a balanced diet, simple routine changes especially now with baby will burn through calories as well.
Don't go for the easy route straight away as there have been some long term use of ozempic that have caused some issues amongst some users.
As someone said, Ozempic is no longer perscribed for the purpose of weight loss.
Diabetics who actually use it to control their diabetes were struggling to get supplies so the company that makes it released a different version called Wegovy to battle weight loss.
Pretty much the same chemical except since it's not for medical treatment it's a crap ton more expensive.
Seriously any doctor will give this out if she asks for it. I've been on it for a while now and yeah I've dropped a bit of weight but its not some magic cure all drug.
Very much still prescribed for weight loss
Oh yeah I can still go onto it if I wanted, but personally I found the Wegovy was more effective than the Ozempic.
fascinating given they are exactly the same medication
@Ruddaga: yes and? wegovy runs up to a higher dosage than ozempic which tops off at 1mg per inj, but they are the same medication
@May4th: Gosh let me spell it out for you - Ozepmic doesn't have higher dosages. Thus being able to get the higher dosage of Wegovy, has made it more effective for me.
Why is that so hard to understand? Do I need to put it into Chatgpt and ask it to dumb it down even more?
@Ruddaga: because you said wegovy is more effective than ozempic which is a false premise and misleading considering they are the same thing under different labels, and you failed to make any reference to dosage.
personally I found the Wegovy was more effective than the Ozempic
wegovy comes in 5 different doses (the lower 3 are the same as ozempic), so what you said still doesn't make any sense . what you should have said is the a higher dosage of semaglutide >1mg (formulations available only in Wegovy) worked better to help you lose weight. but instead of accepting you miscommunicated you got all defensive and started lashing out like you've got a pineapple up your rear. very fascinating
@May4th: The fact you even quoted myself which is - Personally I found it more effective - The key word being - PERSONALLY, which means from my own personal experience (which is that of being on ozempic for nearly a year and then now being on Wegovy for 6 months - I plateua'd hard on Ozepmics max dose so switching to Wegovy's higher dose, which is my PERSONAL experience) is exactly what it is mate.
It's my own personal experience.
I didn't even bother reading the rest of what you said because you obviously don't comprehend basic English.
Have a nice day mate.
She won’t get ozempic, she will need weygovy. And can you afford $270 a month then it increases to 370 then 470 as you need higher doses.
Better off starting on Mounjaro, as you can easily get 12 weeks out of a pen because the dosing is linear (15mg pen with 5mg dose), down to 8 weeks at 7.5mg dose etc.
Works out to be $230/month for 5mg, still expensive but not ridiculous, just a high up-front price
Can you use the Mounjaro 15mg pens if starting out on a 2.5mg baby dose? Is that possible/hygienic enough to reuse the same pen for 6 times? After 1 month on the 2.5mg baby dose, it then goes up to 5mg for 1 to 3 months.
Also how long are people staying on Mounjaro on average in total? Just trying to work up the financial outlay, thanks.
If you look online you'll get completely wrong advice from Americans who have single-use pens that are much trickier to split.
In Australia we have Kwikpens, which have 4 doses each, and each dose is 60 clicks. So a 15mg pen really has 60mg in it, and 240 total clicks.
If you are prescribed 5mg/week, then you can count 20 clicks to get 5mg from a 15mg pen, lasting you 12 weeks.
The manufacturer says to use up the medication 60 days after the first use, so you can safely get at minimum 8 weeks from it. But you can easily extend that to 90 days with refrigeration and disinfecting the barrier pad after each use, as long as the liquid is still clear it's fine, never had an issue.
To start with, I'd just get the 2.5mg pen for the first month, as it's only $280 and most GPs want to know that you can tolerate it first. Then get 15mg, taking 1/3 of a dose (5mg, 20 clicks) each week.
I've been on 5mg for over a year, ideally I'd be using 7.5mg (using 15mg pen, 30 clicks), but would cost me $345/month instead of $230/month so I've stuck to it. I also take it every 8 days instead of 7 days to stretch it a bit further.
Expensive, but for about $3k a year (minus PHI rebate and lower food costs) it has been a gamechanger. It just kills that 'food noise' in the background, brilliant stuff.
For me, I'll probably be taking it until they make a better version, because it has done more for my ADHD than stimulants. But plenty of people only take it for like 6-8 months to drop down to their goal weight and stop, usually 1kg/month.
Tell your wife to leave ozempic for the people who need it, like single people trying to stay f-able
Just stop being fat, drop the jam donut and go for a walk
This has to be a troll post.
If only.
It never ceases to amaze, how people can't make time to invest $15 and 3 hours a week, in the most important asset they actually own. A gym membership would be a solid "push-pull-legs" present.
GLP-1 meds aren't a quick fix. It takes a while to up-titrate to a dose that works, and in the meantime, the side effects are horrendous. Living between bed and bathroom for a week at a time. The last thing someone needs with a newborn.
The effects in adults are also still being studied, as GLP-1 have been found to impact (improve) liver and kidney disorders, blood pressure, inflammation, PCOS, etc. in addition to insulin resistance. We're still years away from knowing the full impacts on adults, let alone the risk of passing it onto newborns via breastfeeding.
What a stupid, selfish request. You and your wife need to take a long hard look at yourself. If she had shown constraint during the pregnancy then she will bounce back within a few weeks. I feel sorry for this kid already.
This depends on your definition of "fine", I guess. @Cooperellie mumbled and scuffed his comment. But surely the sentiment is appropriate.
I would concur with the general notion of anyone looking to cut corners, has a much higher propensity to not be a great parent. Obviously, not a given. The pregnant are ****s. (Quote from Jim Jefferies Comedy special). Due to hormones and what not.
I, of course, wish your family the very best in the future. I'm sure @Cooperellie will join me.
And here i thought the push present was the baby you get .
Do a lot of research on Ozempic, there are side effects that you should be aware of. A lot of them.
Understand that going on Ozempic means a lifetime of taking it. Those who come off it have a 90% rate of regaining all of their weight.
I work in a pharmacy and get asked this question daily. The answer is: Ozempic demand is though the roof worldwide. Pretty much any diabetic worldwide who is uncontrolled on their tablets and can afford it has been prescribed Ozempic. Add to that demand everyone in the wealthier countries trying to get it for weight loss as well and you can see it's a worldwide problem. Novo Nordisk can't make it fast enough to fulfill demand. Police have raided online suppliers of compounded Ozempic here and the manufacturing conditions are disgusting. If local suppliers are that bad I would not count on overseas manufacturers being any better. The drug is required to be kept under cold chain conditions, so anything coming from overseas under room temperature conditions would likely be much less potent than the properly stored product, if not dangerous if bacterial growth has occurred in something you inject in to you.
Thanks for your informative reply.
Ozempic as a push present?
Maaaaaaaate are you serious?
Surely, just being able to take your baby home from the hospital would be the best gift?
Haha, time for a new wife, perhaps… and my condolences for the significant expenses in getting rid of the current one.
I would also mention — if your wife is planning to breastfeed. I would presume most drugs including Ozempic are off limits?
I'm one of the people that has Ozempic for weight loss, because the other medications I take for life threatening conditions cause weight gain, hunger and impact blood sugar. Before Ozempic I put on 60kg in 12 months, couldn't stop eating and was pre diabetic. After Ozempic I lost the weight, can control my hunger, and my blood sugar is fine. Not all fat asses take it for vanity reasons, so take it easy on the judgement until you know.
You put on 60kg in a year because you couldn't stop eating and were prediabetic.
But why couldn't you control your own eating? Sorry but I'm judging you already.
did you miss the bit about side effects of other medications?
go read up on things like Prednisolone, Methotrexate, Biologics, chemotherapy and infusions - pay attention to the side effects.
Feel free to judge, but at least do it with some knowledge and not just assume any idea that pops into your head must be true.
I still don't get it, I've been on biologics for a few years and had no change in weight. I also previously was on cortisone for years and had more water retention but wouldn't say I looked any different. I've also never heard of anyone putting weight on with chemo, everyone I know who had chemo lost a lot of weight.
I've shed a fair amount of weight over the last 6 months, simply from fasting. Hunger pangs, dreams of food… It takes self discipline. Saved a bit of money in the process also, which was nice.
I understand that many people don't have much discipline these days. Unfortunately I have a similar amount of respect for such folk. Inflation might have a beneficial effect in this area.
I too love taking short cuts without acknowledging the ramifications of laziness
Lol how fat is your wife she needs Ozempic man? A baby only adds around 14 kg to your original weight and you lose a fair amount of it quite quickly after birth.
Never mind all the judgemental, morally superior know-it-alls. Obesity is a complex issue affecting millions of people. Many, many women gain weight with their pregnancies that does not just 'fall off' after the birth. You are not bad parents because your wife is overweight.
Personally, I would encourage your wife to focus on other things during the pregnancy and the first months after birth. When she is ready, she can ask her GP about prescribing wegovy (ozempic for weight loss). Currently, availability is ok. The 'click method' may save some $$ if GP is familiar.
Eating too much or of the wrong foods or eating too often for the discharge of energy, or not enough exercising are also all drivers towards (yes, towards) a state of avoidable obesity. Lifestyle choice weight gain. The word obese has been hijacked and is being held ransom.
The new age Ozempic type drugs were jumped on before the print on the label dried, by the "how can I keep sitting around eating crap and take a pill to make me thin' movement.Now every man and his dog want a go.Almost every discussion about it here has been a request by a non diabetic to get it cheap,soon and without going through their own GP first.
Do you know anything about how semaglutide works?
Do you know how maths works.Do you not accept that people can go from a healthy weight to overweight to obese through their own choices or not? Well?
@Protractor: I fail to see the link between you commenting about a medication you know nothing about, and my level of numeracy
@larndis: You're not alone, there. That's my point.That's why the queue for this shortcut if filled with ppl unable or unwilling to join the dots. Even when they know their own body and metabolism inside out.
These drugs are hitting candy status, no thanks to that very phenomenon, and social media and 'influencers.
There's no point ping ponging here, if you can't accept lots of ppl could maintain a healthy weight without these drugs and not all those seeking them are medically incapable of doing so
@Protractor: No, what I won't accept is your need to make yourself feel superior by casting judgement on people dealing with a whole range of issues you know nothing about. Do you have medical qualifications, or have you published research on obesity? If not I have zero interest in your opinions.
@larndis: Hilarious. So if I have an opinion based on fact, that doesn't suit your agenda, I need a medical qualification.
I know enough about people overeating to know your viewpoint opinion is more apologist, than realist.
The obesity epidemic in Australia is not driven by medical conditions. That doesn't mean there are not medically diagnosed cases where people are obese. I've said that multiple times.
@Protractor: Mate, you clearly have a strong need to feel superior to overweight people. Do you know OP or his wife? My so-called "agenda" is that other people (and medical professionals) are best placed to judge what is best for them. I guess this is a difficult concept for you to grasp.
You're not overweight? Congratulations. You win! Maybe find some ways to enjoy life and contribute positively to society rather than ranting at strangers on the internet.
@larndis: How about you stop enabling and denying what in many cases is a purely avoidable outcome, and let the health system free up for the obesity cases NOT driven by choice.
@Protractor: Mate I genuinely don't understand - if ozempic or similar works, 'these people' will no longer be obese and will be freeing up the healthcare system to deal with other things? How does that possibly negatively impact you? It's literally a win-win.
@larndis: You have a real problem digesting the simplicity of what I have said to you multiple times, and that means your "incessance" has convinced me to block any more of your repetitious misinformation.This is the last response.*People with no original diagnosed medical condition that causes obesity, who choose overeating and under-exercising as a lifestyle, impact the health system and everyone contributing to it, eventually. Ethical GPs should and do refuse to swallow the mythical 'not my fault' pup.. A whole dangerous black market now exists to proliferate the products you love to promote, adding even more risk to the community. And in case you slept through it, the underground drug supply always involves criminality and ofetn unknown toxic substances.
Here's a parting gift>Eat well and exercise. Live long. Bye bye.
@larndis: Yep, this will provide a huge relief on our hospitals, saving the health care system enormous amounts of money with weight related medical conditions.
Freeing up doctors to help others in need of medical attention.
This will be very interesting to see the savings in 10 to 20 years once we have long term data on this.
its literally everywhere on the black market, and significantly cheaper, and it works. But as I say to anyone going on it, its best used as a tool to build and grow good lifestyle habits without dealing with the hunger. As A guy who bulks and cuts twice a year, Tirepatide (mounjaro) is the best!
"a tool to build and grow good lifestyle habits " LOL, ironic.
And yet all the enablers here say it's all about unavoidable obesity.
It takes self discipline
The shelves are empty
Seriously, if the don't exercise after giving birth . Taking this drug will make the a person all flabby..
Need exercise….
save ya money on an overpriced perscription that pharma is making a killing off and just get it underground lol. Its everywhere
God I'd laugh if that stuff was sugar pills.
Not tablets, but a beautiful red liquid apparently…
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/sydney-home-raided…
‘It is a reminder that when utilising medications off-label, be knowledgeable, inform patients, and seek and record consent, reduce your own and patient risks by utilising known and trusted pharmacies to support your patients.’
Exactly why ppl should be seeking medical advice,first and foremost. Always.
Not short-cutting. But if they don't seek it, that was also another lifestyle choice. So I guess we can soon add another avoidable anchor to the health system and a burden on all the hard working people inside it.
How did men fell into this "push present" scam? like com'on weak men
Not sure if you're channelling Dutton or Rogan.
I am channeling the truth mate
Maybe it's strong women?
Or both genders weak when it comes to the whole contemporary social media lifestyle? I mean you can't deny influencer as a thing is only evidence that there are hoards of gullible,pliable automaton humans ripe for the picking.
@Protractor: truth is most men in the west have been feminized to point where they become weak and anxious. Happy wife happy life and catering to every women whim is making men walking on egg shell so they get called m**gonist. So yeah push present is feminine idea. Calling your wife a partner is also same.
@ekstrabraket: Don't lose too much sleep.Just as many women have been 'masculinised'.
Such is life.
Think of the kids.
@ekstrabraket: Peak masculine fragility is having cry about it on an anonymous bargain forum. Maybe you need to work on your "masculinity" bro
Go away Kanye….
he knows its 18 years
@Chris17 send me a DM and I might be able to assist :)
The Ozempic 1mg dose (3ml) ones have been impossible to get since Christmas, but the lower strength one that dials to 0.25mg and 0.5mg should be readily available. My local chemist - Burke Road Pharmacy in Camberwell, Victoria has heaps in the fridge.
For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.
Weight loss via Ozempic without the mental fortitude and discipline required for diet and exercise is ultimately pointless. Unless you have the funds to maintain those injections forever.
Exactly!
There's not actually all that much overlap with "people who can't afford it" and "people who can afford to be obese."
Go for good old fashioned intermittent fasting. Why expect a pill to fix your bad eating?
I've seen it countless times. People have lunch and have a coke. Or have an energy drink in morning. Unless you have type 1 diabetes (genetic), most obesity is related to sugar. Those fatty people have too much sugar on them. The solution is simple. Stop eating and get the body to fast.
Of course ask a doctor to assess and monitor and have plenty of water. I did that and kept off 15kg. I was so fat I could not tie my shoelaces without falling off my chair 😅
Why go through the hassle when you can take a pill instead? Doing something the hard way isn't a virtue
A pill will have side effects. It's western medicine. Addressing the symptoms and not the cause
Anything that impacts your endocrine system , in the name of vanity , is beyond red light