Was placing a pick up order and saw this (and promptly added it to my order). This stuff can be expensive. Apparently on sale until tomorrow, Sunday the 16th.
This three pack has ninety days worth. For comparison, most 45 day supplies on Amazon are about $15-16.
Happy “Lax”ing 😂
EDIT--THIS POST IS ABOUT THE FDA RECALL FOR APOLLO CARE SEMAGLUTIDE
I added that head because my simple question obviously was relevant to many so I want to ensure anyone who needs to sees it. Will cross post in a sema sub too.
OP:
Do some of our telehealths still use Apollo Care to distribute semaglutide? I’m asking because I received a score of FDA reports today on recalls of sema. I’m happy to elaborate if it’s relevant. I know it’s or tirz, but many of our providers offer both, so I am curious.
I thought I'd share my experience because as many here know, I travel internationally often. Today I went through the same airport where I have traveled many times--not my favorite, but it was the easiest option. They have the worst security scanners and pretty much every bag ends up getting secondary screening. Today was rather surprising because of my biogel icepack--which of course is allowed when carrier for medical reasons.
I use a 4AllFamily cooler. When plugged in to a power source it holds meds between 2º and 8ºC for an unlimited amount of time. When you do a lot of travel, you sometimes get stuck for hours and hours in delays, if not overnight. Since I travel for more than 21-28 days, it's not totally relevant that my meds are good at room temp for X days because I will have more than one vial/pen and so I just elect to keep them cool. I run the cooler through separately. Usually the thermos won't scan, but no problem this time. It was my bag that had a half moon size HARD and FROZEN biogel, which is a back up if I lose the power source (I will be in transit for three days).
Security: What's this?
Me: Oh, that's an ice pack gel.
Security: Unfortunately you won't be able to travel with that.
Me: Oh, no, it's for my medical cooler.
Security: Medical cooler? Do you have a prescription?
Me: (Shocked actually! But still polite and fine because security was genuinely not grasping--they were very nice). Yes.
Security: (Still flummoxed by this thermos). What kind of medicine is it, can I ask? (He wanted to be sure it was medicine and see it!)
Me: It's diabetes medicine. (Truth as far as WHAT it is, and way easier to answer in a short honest phrase than say "It's a tirzepatide vial and Mounjaro pens.")
Folks, this was a new one for me! But I unscrewed the cap, and I lifted off the end cap on the inner cooler. I had four Mounjaro pens in there, but on top of the pens I had laid my last unopened vial of tirzepatide I'd brought, as that was the only way it would fit. The vial seemed to do it. When he saw actual injectable medication (needles were in my checked bag since I could buy those again easily if my bag is lost), he then appeared to realize. He explained that, due to the Euoropean heatwaves, he thought maybe it was another person trying to bring a drink or ice through. I suppose some have tried. This is one of the only major airports in the region that does not yet have CT scanners, so they still have a smaller capacity size on liquids as well.
About that time a lady came up, not because of any issues--this was all very friendly. He just didn't get it and was fine when he did. But the lady was also security and saw me lifting the thermos to show him. So she got in on the act.
Security #2: What kind of medicine is that?
Me: Diabetes medicine that needs to be refrigerated between 2º-8ºC, so this cooler holds it at a steady temperature.
Security #2: (Genuinely interested) Ah, well we are always learning new things!
That was it. Of course I had prescriptions and proof if needed, and truly they just didn't know what to do, but were great once I answered the questions (keep in mind security officers are always trained to watch how we respond also. It was obvious what I was explaining, and there was no reason for suspicion of course. Still, in all the flights to several European/UK airports, and a trip over the border to Mexico, as well as numerous domestic flights where sometimes they need to swab my cooler to be sure it's not any dangerous substance because it flagged in the scanner, I have never been asked what it is, or to show them! But they certainly do have a right to ask.
I have shared many times that I have never had any issues, and while I don't know I'd call this an "issue," I would say that it's worth it to carry an escript/prescribing info, and I guess even be asked to show them. This was a major (one of the largest on the Western side) European airports.
Again, it was fine, but a good reminder to actually be ready in case.
Oh, and I got to keep my whopper of a biogel!
On to the next international leg tomorrow--if I ever get to sleep! (at an airport WITH CT scanners so up to 2L of liquid is allowed).
This is the NYTimes piece from today’s hearings (day 2), linked below. Will also post the link of the NYT summary of each peptide from a separate article in the first comment.
From the lede (I’m quoting! Not agreeing with the way it’s written!):
“A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended broader use of six unproven peptides, raising concerns that wellness and telehealth companies could adopt a once-obscure pathway to bring unapproved drugs to the commercial market.
“The votes directed the F.D.A. to add some peptides to the list of substances that specialized, so-called compounding pharmacies can make for patients. That kind of prescribing, typically meant for exceptional cases, has grown into a booming business that has largely been limited to copycat GLP-1 drugs.”
Gifted link:
There’s another day of meetings on Friday, but I thought some of you might want to see this if you had not.
This link below is a gifted article, so unless you click this link, you may be paywalled if you do not have a subscription.
Interesting paragraphs buried at the bottom of this that remind me why 503As remain safe, and currently there doesn’t seem to be much of a threat anywhere:
“A number of people offered testimony repeating that argument and suggesting that the F.D.A. make the peptides available with conditions such as purity testing or requirements for reports of harm.
“But F.D.A. officials said they did not have power over state pharmacy boards — which are the dominant overseer of the specialized pharmacies that would produce the peptide products — to make those things happen.”
Article:
F.D.A. Panel Endorses Peptide Treatments Over Scientists’ Objections
In an all-day hearing, the agency’s scientists argued against allowing broad access to unproven drugs that the agency had banned three years ago.
Just wanted to tell you all that from the time I started looking at these subs over a year ago, I haven’t seen anyone as consistent as BEWL. To see you still at the top of a list, chosen by we fickle Redditors is high praise (Also 😂 that my autocorrect just tried to change “Redditors” to “predators” 🤣🤣🤣). I rest my case there!
I know there are a lot of people on these subs who make rash judgements based on personality. But at the end of the day, it comes down to good healthcare, good customer service, and good people working hard to help everyone they serve.
You are truly a class act, and your consistency over this extended period of time shows it.
🎉👏🏽
All the talk we (women) do here about perimenopause and menopause had me busting out laughing at the name of this support group. I mean, they’re not wrong 🤣🤣🤣
We talk so much here about food noise vs. hunger. This article appeared a couple weeks ago and delves into the developing research on food noise. A couple highlights I'll pull below, but here's the direct link:
Food Noise: a Real Phenomenon Deserving of Being Treated
Of note:
Researchers have made an attempt three definitions of the phenomenon of food noise, as well as on developing clinical tools to assess it.
Definition 1:
“[H]eightened and persistent manifestations of food cue reactivity, often leading to intrusive thoughts and maladaptive eating behaviors.” - Travis D. Masterson, PhD, director, Health, Ingestive Behavior, and Technology Laboratory at Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania
Definition 2:
[P]ersistent, intrusive thoughts about food that are disruptive to daily life and make healthy behaviors difficult.- Hanim E. Diktas, Louisiana University System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and colleagues
This team also developed the “Food Noise Questionnaire” (FNQ), an assessment instrument, validated in adults with obesity.
Definition 3:
“[P]ersistent thoughts about food that are perceived by the individual as being unwanted and/or dysphoric and may cause harm to the individual, including social, mental, or physical problems.” -An expert panel led by Allison and Emily J. Dhurandhar, PhD, then chief scientific officer of Obthera, Inc., now at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas
This team developed the RAID-FN Inventory (Ro Allison Indiana Dhurandhar Food Noise Inventory), which captures three dimensions — preoccupation with food, persistence of thoughts, and dysphoria arising from those thoughts.
Notable to me in this article:
>Beyond definitions and measuring tools, the mechanism(s) behind food noise also are under investigation. Dhurandhar pointed to the Minnesota Starvation Experiments, when volunteers starved themselves so researchers could explore how to help people recover from starvation. Accounts from that research, she said, bear “an uncanny similarity” to how people describe food noise today, leading to a hypothesis that food noise may be triggered by semi-starvation.
“Weight loss is by definition a semi-starvation state, and repeated cycles of dieting may compound it,” she said. Both the FNQ and RAID show associations between food noise and frequency of dieting for weight loss, which supports that hypothesis.
and:
>Masterson suggested that food cue reactivity and craving happen in the brain, and that GLP-1s bind to receptors there, functioning as a signal to slow or stop eating. “If you take a GLP-1,” he said, “you’re essentially telling your body you’re eating when you’re not, and that helps explain why [the drugs] seem to quiet food noise so dramatically.”
That hypothesis also explains why food noise returns when patients stop the drugs. “When the drug clears your system, you’re back to the state you were in,” he said. “You’re no longer getting the added benefit of that hormone.”
And, finally, to all folks out there who have been told to just "suck it up and diet and exercise":
>“Food noise is a problem that is a bit more complex than many clinicians may be prepared for,” Masterson said. “Instead of telling patients to exercise or eat a certain way, we suggest referring to an obesity medicine specialist who has the clinical training and the proper set of treatments to help.”
For patients who don’t have a fatty liver and aren’t obese or diabetic but still have food noise, Allison suggested starting a GLP-1 at a modest dose and monitoring as appropriate. “As long as the patient is a sane adult who is fully informed of the facts and wants to take a GLP-1 agonist to diminish food noise, I think it’s totally appropriate.”
Read the full article, and the links if you can. Bookmark them. Ignorance vanishes when we educate those folks who like to tell us we just needed to "have more willpower."
This was posted by one of the article’s authors in the Mounjaro sub yesterday. It is a peer-reviewed study. I’m including the text the author posted in the OP. I tried to repost but apparent this sub doesn’t allow reposts. I do know it permits scholarly journal articles though 😁. We get many questions and concerns regarding GLP-1s and menstrual cycles so maybe this is useful for some.
OP’s text below (and the direct link to the study and post both are at the end of this):
“My co-authors and I just published a study on menstrual side effects in women taking GLP-1 medications in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the official journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is considered the most prestigious peer-reviewed publication in women's health, which means this went through rigorous independent peer review before it saw the light of day. I wanted to share it here because communities such as this have long spoken about these menstrual irregularities.
“Part of what motivated this work was a study published earlier this year that used AI to analyze posts and comments across multiple Reddit communities about semaglutide and tirzepatide. Out of everything users were reporting, menstrual complaints stood out, making up 3.8% of all adverse event mentions, which is a striking proportion when you consider how many different side effects people were discussing. That kind of patient-generated signal is hard to ignore, and it pushed us to look at whether the same pattern showed up in formal regulatory data.
“We analyzed over 14 million FDA adverse event reports, restricted to women aged 12–55, and looked at whether menstrual complaints were being reported at higher-than-expected rates for semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), and liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza). Semaglutide had the strongest signal by far, heavier periods, spotting between periods, heavier clotting, fewer periods overall, and possible disruption of ovulation. Tirzepatide showed signals for spotting and clotting. Liraglutide did not demonstrate a signal for any menstrual event.
“One finding we think is important: missed periods, painful periods, and irregular periods were not elevated for any of these drugs. If this were purely a weight-loss effect on hormones, you'd expect to see those too. The more specific pattern we found suggests there may be a direct pharmacological effect on reproductive tissue, not just a downstream consequence of weight change.
“The honest limitations: this type of study identifies signals, it doesn't prove causation. Voluntary reporting databases have real biases, and we can't fully rule out confounding from obesity itself. Prospective studies with proper cycle tracking are still needed.
“But the gap between what women have been reporting and what the peer-reviewed literature has acknowledged is part of what motivate this work. If your period changed after starting one of these medications, it's worth raising with your doctor, particularly heavier bleeding or mid-cycle spotting.
“We hope this information is useful for folks navigating these medications!
“Link to the study: https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/abstract/10.1097/aog.0000000000006367~association-of-glucagon-like-peptide-1-receptor-agonists?redirectionsource=fulltextview
“I can provide the full text upon request”
I don’t post much about my progress here but as a shorty with pretty small bone structure, my weight loss has also meant sizes that would be small for average height females are big for me. While still abroad for the summer I figured I’d shop here because UK and EU sizes are even smaller typically than a US size (and let me be clear: that is no fun on the other end of the spectrum—my location until this year!
Turns out I am now in the smallest female adult size at my favorite UK store and I just had to order three items online from them because they didn’t have a small enough size in stock! I never thought that that would be a “problem.” I’m so grateful for tirzepatide.
I’m also grateful for this supportive community (the ones who are 😂. If you’re not, be kind; we’re all human and struggling here!). It’s such a great place to be and to learn. I’ve never shared my stats or story but it’s been a year now, so I’m starting to write it… maybe for later.
And you know this Diet Coke addict purchased them too. Durable grocery bags—with the little red heart included ❤️
You all notice how sometimes we get these over-general questions that seem to want our opinion/experiences? Or how new places just crop up like magic?
This report from 404 Media sure makes sense! I have noticed a few things that I am sure are spam, or I know is related to a rotten company, but I also cannot prove it. We’re not “biohackers,” but this stuff happens here too. Reader beware, I guess. And the real takeaway is to stop using ChatGPT and Google AI for answers because that is what they are manipulating.
Apologies for the archive link, but the site requires a sign in (free) to read—to avoid spambots!—and I wanted to be sure anyone could see it.
Link here—and excerpt:
“But what I’m seeing that is way scarier to me is that there are companies that will reverse-engineer the actual prompt patterns that are prioritized by LLMs, and so you’ll see someone post a super clickbait, high-traction, vague question like ‘Is all the hype around Vitamin D actually worth it?” they added.
“And that thread will do really well because everyone on biohackers actually has an opinion, so it gets engagement and prioritized by LLMs, and then brands will sneak in and they’ll embed their brand mentions in those threads in the exact right places in a seemingly organic way. But none of it is organic, the entire thing is a strategy by an agency to prioritize brand mentions or a narrative within an LLM.”