r/Zepbound_Canada

Hi everyone currently on 7.5mg . So some background, when I inject into my stomach it gives me severe side effects (puking, stomach pains, etc) so I’ve been injecting into my thigh which surprisingly helped with the side effects.

Anyways, im going on vacation and plan to stop taking it for a week and then hop back on it because I don’t want to deal with the hassle of carrying it with me and all of that. But as anyone experience side effects when they stopped taking? Also did you have to start from 2.5mg again as I’m assuming the medication has entirely left the body. Thank you!

I am looking for advice for anyone who encountered issues with getting the approval for their prior authorization form by their insurance provider for Zepbound. My employer now covers weight management medication under certain conditions. My doctor first submitted the form with an incorrect BMI which Industrial Alliance rejected it because for BMIs under 35, a comorbidity factor is required. Fine, my doctor corrected the information ( my BMI is actually 36.7) and resubmitted the form. I don’t have a comorbidity so he left that section blank. Now they’re rejecting it again because there is no comorbidity factor, to which I am at loss of words. Their customer service is absolutely not helpful and I am at risk of not being able to afford my medication this month. Anyone has ever encountered a similar issue, particularly with a Canadian insurer? I feel like they’re purposefully make it very hard to approve these requests despite legitimate medical reasons.
Any help is appreciated.

I’m due for my 4th dose today and the pen won’t work. I have tried 3 different needles as well.

Do I contact Costco? Lilly? That’s a lot of money to just ignore. :(

Hey everyone!
I started Zepbound about 6 months postpartum (about 5 months ago) with my second and have lost all the weight I wanted to. I still have two pens at 7.5 dose but want to wean off to 5 and then 2.5 after that.

I am concerned about gaining the weight back. I exercise and eat well but have a large appetite which is why this has been a game changer. How has your experience been with keeping the weight off long term?

Also bonus question: I started losing a ton of hair! I didn’t have this issue at all for the last few months but it’s suddenly crazy.
Anyone else?

Hi all, I’m in BC and have been on Wegovy 2 years, last dosage being 2.4mg. My doctor switched me to Zepbound and by some miracle my insurance approved it. She prescribed me a 15mg Kwikpen and suggested I start at 10mg, but I may start at 5mg to ease into the new drug. I’ve been reading up on clicks and dosing and it all seems much more confusing than my old Wegovy pre-ready pen! Any tips for a beginner? I’m about 20 pounds from my GW (down 75 pounds overall) and then hope to move into maintenance. Ty!

I’m honestly so frustrated and confused right now
I gave Costco my new Zepbound savings card. Nothing has changed on my end — I’m still on my usual 7.5 mg dose — but when I went to pick up my prescription today, they charged me $395 instead of the $330 I normally pay.
I spoke with Costco and they told me, “This is the your new savings.” But I’m confused because I received an email from Zepbound saying that my savings amount isn’t changing. They said I have to call zepbound myself.
Has anyone else experienced this recently? Did your price suddenly go from $330 to $395 with the new savings card?
I’m trying to figure out if this is actually correct or if something was processed incorrectly.

Happy Wednesday!

I recently got my GP to prescribe Zepbound for me, as Wegovy unfortunately worsened my food noise even at the 2.4mg.dose.

Neither of my insurance plans (employer sponsored Manulife or PSHCP) cover Zepbound, whereas PSHCP had covered Wegovy (sleep apnea) in the past.

I guess my question is: has anyone had success in finding a private insurance plan that covers Zepbound? I know this is wishful thinking, but my logic is that if I could pay 1-2 hundred per month for insurance and have more than $200/month be covered by insurance... then it might be worth acquiring private insurance for the zepbound in the end. 😅 I'm located in AB if that helps.

TIA!

I called my pharmacy in quebec city (Familiprix) and they said they don't accept saving cards. Maybe I'll have more success trying out with Costco or Walmart? I wanted to see if anyone from Quebec had sucess with their pharmacy using the Zepbound saving card and which pharmacy it was.

Looking to save more money on my pen because I am going up a dose and my insurance won't cover the cost.

Right now, I do click counting on a 15mg pen, the golden dose, I pickup at Costco for the lowest price and use the savings card. Any other tips to save money that I'm missing? TIA 😊

I have made a post here in the past mentioning my NP is not willing to prescribe me Zepbound or any weight loss medication and asked me to follow diet and exercise. Just about 2-3 walk in clinics in my city and they only take first 15-20 patients so they get full very fast. I have a New Brunswick health card but I’m currently visiting Ontario. I’m wondering if there is any clinic in GTA that can prescribe me a weight loss medication. If I’m able to get it I’m thinking of picking up 3 months medication before I go back and then come back to Ontario for a refill if possible. Wondering if anyone could suggest something based on my situation.

Have been taking Zepbound since late April this year. Didn’t have any injection site reactions until a few weeks ago. Started small and at first thought it was from trying to stretch my 15mg pen (2.5mg dose). Saw my family doctor and she changed the prescription to a smaller pen (four doses in four weeks). Interestingly I have continued to get these welts. At first the size of a dime, increasing now up to about three inches in diameter and they are taking weeks to fade. So it’s not the dose or the pen that is the problem. It seems from doing a little research that smaller red injection site rashes are common but when they keep growing and not healing up within a week, I am likely having an escalation of an immune response. I have four injection site reactions over the last four weeks that are still visible. I may have to consider a change from Zepbound to another GLP-1 drug. Zepbound has worked for me but I’m stalled at a 20# loss and with these reactions only getting worse, I think I will have to change. Anyone else have this experience?

Hi everyone,

I just moved to Toronto from the US and have been on Zepbound for over a year (helped me tremendously). I just checked the drug search tool through Canada Life (insurance through my employer) and it says that I am not eligible for Zepbound. Does this mean there is no way for me to get Zepbound covered by my insurance even if my BMI is high?
Any suggestions would be helpful!

https://preview.redd.it/hdjhvk1d4thh1.png?width=2310&format=png&auto=webp&s=247a793c7258695dc64407dba461226f586d1eb3

Hi Everyone! After one year my prior authorization from SunLife is coming up for renewal and I am wondering if anyone can share how their renewal experience went.

I looked at the form and it seems too easy for renewal - am I using Zep in conjunction with health behaviour changes, and have I lost 5% of my body weight?

What makes me nervous is I am down 27% of my body weight (61lbs) and am now in the overweight BMI range whereas I was initially approved because of a high BMI. While I would hate to lose coverage I would absolutely make the budget work because the benefits I am feeling beyond the physical weightloss have been amazing but it would be nice to not have to do that.

TL; DR what was your renewal process like for your insurance prior authorization form?

Thanks in advance!

I started Zepbound about a month ago on 2.5 mg (Eli Lilly). I'm paying out of pocket, so it's expensive, but I had almost no side effects. The medication worked great for the first 4 days after each injection, then the appetite suppression wore off during the last few days of the week. By week 4, it wasn't suppressing my appetite much anymore, so my doctor and I decided to increase to 5 mg.

I lost 7.4 lb in my first month (starting weight 182 lb) and have now lost 11.4 lb total. My goal is 145 lb, mainly to improve my health and reverse my prediabetes. I'm still in my 30s with young children.

I took my first 5 mg dose last Saturday, and it hit me hard. I slept almost all day Sunday and felt very sick through Tuesday. I had severe abdominal pain that radiated to my back and side, felt extremely full, and couldn't eat or drink for about 24 hours. On Monday evening I managed about 350 calories (mostly cauliflower rice) and about ½ cup of water. I gradually started eating small amounts, and today I'm finally feeling like myself again.

I couldn't get a timely appointment with my doctor, and my next injection is due in two days. Has anyone successfully split the 5 mg KwikPen into 2.5 mg twice a week (for example, every 4 days) to reduce side effects? Or did your body adjust after the first 5 mg dose? I can't go through that again.