Me on Ozempic

The jaunty jingle for Ozempic based on the pop hit “Magic” by the Scottish band Pilot (1974), is an ear worm just like the original. Besides humming along when the commercial aired on TV, I didn’t think much about it until my doctor told me this past summer that my admittedly anemic efforts to lower my blood glucose levels needed a boost.

Anyone who hasn’t gone off-grid is probably aware of the medications that have come on the market to great acclaim purporting to reduce blood sugar levels and promote weight loss. For clarity, Ozempic is a brand name for a drug called Semaglutide:

Semaglutide is an analogue to “glucagon-like peptide 1” (also known as GLP-1, and it’s taken weekly as a subcutaneous injection. Like GLP-1, semaglutide acts on the parts of your brain and gut that control appetite and fullness … orginally semaglutide was approved strictly for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. But researchers quickly discovered an added benefit: weight loss.

At the sixth month mark of taking Ozempic, I have an appointment with my doctor to review what’s happened since she prescribed the drug. Prior to the appointment, I went in for a blood draw, and one of the tests provided my new Hemoglobin A1C value. The test for A1C is a better determinate of one’s blood glucose level as it provides an 3-month average as opposed to the snapshot that a finger prick test provides. As I expected, my new number is 5.7% compared to the 7.3% that was computed last September in the doctor’s office. As the test results state,

For someone without known diabetes, a hemoglobin A1c value between 5.7% and 6.4% is consistent with prediabetes and should be confirmed with a follow-up test. For someone with known diabetes, a value <7% indicates that their diabetes is well controlled. A1c targets should be individualized based on duration of diabetes, age, comorbid conditions, and other considerations.

Bottom line: in six months, Ozempic has eliminated my Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Remarkable! As an added bonus, I have also lost about 15 pounds, mainly through the appetite suppression that semaglutide induces. Finally, my desire to consume alcohol has disappeared, and I haven’t darkened the door of the liquor store for months.

Sounds like a miracle, right? Well, there are a few downsides to taking Ozempic:

• The monthly cost for the drug, taking into account the subsidy that Medicare provides, is $250. The medication comes in the form of a “pen” that dispenses four doses–one per week. And, as far as I know, there is no end to taking the medicine if you want the benefits to continue.
• The constipation side affect is real. I’ve never had this problem in the past, and it’s not pleasant. Together with my enlarged prostate, going to the bathroom is often an exercise in painful frustration.
• I really like to eat and food has always been a treat. Now, I frequently push away my plate when an internal switch trips and my meal becomes uninteresting. This could be viewed as a positive, I suppose, but I feel like it has rendered one of my favorite pastimes less enjoyable.

So, I have a few things to discuss with my doctor. My feeling at the moment is that the benefits outweigh the downsides; however, it’s hard to know if that assessment will stay the same over the long haul. I’ll stop here, knowing that it’s likely I will return to provide an update.