My experience on a glp 1
Hi everyone, I’ve been on Zepbound for about 5 months now and with the online conversations around glp use, I thought I might lend my voice to anyone who may be thinking about it.
Some facts: I am currently on Zepbound 2.5mg and have been since January. This is the starting dose that everyone starts on. I get it through Lily Direct, the manufacturer for Zepbound as my insurance does not cover it. 2.5mg is $299 a pack, there are four vials in each pack. I inject it in either my arm or thigh with an insulin syringe.
Why I got on it: for almost all of my life I was a pretty healthy size for my height (5 foot, 125-130 lbs). Keep in mind though I ate like trash and never exercised. Barely ate vegetables growing up. I didn’t get my period until I was 17 though and even then, it was extremely irregular, I would go months at a time without getting it. But they were fine, it lasted 3 days and I never got cramps. In undergrad, I was put on birth control and it was fine for a few weeks but then I decided to stop after two months. Huge mistake because then my periods got longer and more painful but still very irregular. Fast forward to me getting married, I started bc again a month before I got married. My libido dropped significantly. After a two years, I decided to stop because I knew it was affecting me negatively in multiple ways. I also gained around 50 lbs. I started working out and eating healthy but the scale never budged. This coupled with my period becoming irregular again, I decided to go to the doctor and I was diagnosed with PCOS due to my irregular periods, weigh, and my inability to get pregnant. We weren’t trying but we weren’t using protection. I also had an enlarged ovary. I was put on metformin and I got pregnant, I kid you not, two weeks later. Bc I was pregnant, I stopped metformin.
After I gave birth, my baby was in the nicu for low blood sugar and size issues. He was born at 4lbs 7oz. All throughout my pregnancy people kept commenting about how small he was and that he was measuring 2-3 weeks smaller than he should. I then had an emergency c-section at 36 weeks and he was placed in the nicu bc his blood sugar was dangerously low and wasn’t stabilizing. Every single doctor that tested him asked if I had diabetes bc it didn’t make sense that he had blood sugar issues but I didn’t. I always was the passing score for the glucose test (if 59 was failing, I scored a 60). a doctor suggested it could’ve been my PCOS since it can affect hormones and insulin resistance but they couldn’t say it definitively since there’s no research on it. After a few weeks I started feeling really guilty about it. I started doing more research on PCOS when I read an article about how glps, specifically trizipetides were starting to be tested on PCOS and its effects. It literally took me no convincing to finally try it since I didn’t want this to happen to another baby since I want to have more kids. The weight loss is a great plus but I honestly just wanted to feel normal for once. I will put the name of the article below.
My experience/the cons: the first month was ROUGH. I lost 15lbs in the first three weeks, I was barely eating because I had virtually no appetite. I used to be someone who couldn’t go two hours without snacking and now I was only eating dinner, and the kicker is I was never hungry so I didn’t even feel it. I also lost all of my sugar and unhealthy cravings. No longer wanted cake, cupcakes, hot fries, fried foods, and my favorite, French fries. I only wanted really simple foods, albeit almost bland.
Now five months in things have stabilized. I’ve been losing .5-1 lbs a week if I actually go to the gym. If not, it’s stable but never goes up. I haven’t gone up a dose because I still have the positive affects and my doctor recommended that if I still feel good where I’m at, there’s no reason to go up even though it’s the standard thing to do.
I still struggle with the syringe lol takes me five minutes before I finally poke myself but it’s literally never bad.
The pluses:
My period is finally regular, I’m on a 28 day cycle and I know when I’m going to get it. This is sincerely the best plus since it’s something I’ve struggled with for more than 15 years.
My skin looks amazing.
I can eat a normal amount and no longer binge eat/eat more than I should causing me to be sick.
I crave healthier foods but can still have my unhealthy snacks in moderation. For example, instead of a 12 piece nugget, large fries, and milkshake combo from chicfila to which I will then eat a bag of chips an hour later, I do a five piece, medium fries, kale crunch salad and maybe a root beer slush if im feeling frisky (and even then I only drink half) and I feel completely satisfied.
My libido is back up.
Conclusion: this isn’t a post trying to convince you to get on it. There’s just so much misinformation and the assumption that people are only on it to lose massive amounts of weight that I wanted to dispel the myth. Also if there’s anyone else struggling with PCOS, specifically insulin resistance then I would look into it. I plan on being on it until medicine finds a better way to manage or cure PCOS, and hopefully my next baby won’t have insulin issues. Happy to answer any questions.
The study: Anala AD, Saifudeen ISH, Ibrahim M, Nanda M, Naaz N, Atkin SL. The Potential Utility of Tirzepatide for the Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. J Clin Med. 2023 Jul 10;12(14):4575. doi: 10.3390/jcm12144575. PMID: 37510690; PMCID: PMC10380206.)
